PROVINCIAL CHAMPION!

Yes, Cory is a Provincial Champion ski racer!

Racing was held on Saturday, April 25, on the Jolly Green Giant run on Whistler Mountain. Under absolutely ideal conditions with brilliant sunshine, about -2 degrees C, and hard-packed "racer" snow, 44 athletes from around the province competed in two runs on a Giant Slalom course, each with 30 gates, for the DSABC Provincial Championship. There were 7 categories for this race - visually impaired male & female, sitting skiers male & female, standing skiers male, cognitive/developmental disability female, and Cory's category, Cognitive/Developmental Disability male, with a total of 17 skiers.

Cory posted a time of 45.25 seconds for the 1st run, putting him in second place. In the second run, Cory improved his time to 44.83 seconds, giving him first place, a gold medal, and the title of Provincial Champion! He is indeed a very happy, and very proud ski racer today.

In fact, waking up the morning after his race, he came down the stairs of the condo we had rented in Whistler for the weekend with his gold medal around his neck and proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee (another one of his passions), put his feet up, and savour the moment:

Here's Cory just after his medal presentation, with the bronze and silver medallists, as well as two Canadian Paralympic team members who presented the medals:

And a video of his 2 runs - though of poor quality. Working with a new camera (broke the old one but that's a story for another post!), filming in bright sunshine where I couldn't see the screen, and unfortunately, they are mostly out of focus:


top part of the 1st run:

bottom of the 2nd run:

But, now, let's go back to the beginning of this championship weekend. It started on the evening of Wednesday, April 22, with Cory packing up his Atomic Race bag with his equipment and his VASS Blue Streak jacket. Cory participated in this race as a member of the VASS (Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports) Blue Streaks, with whom he has been training twice a week since January. To participate with VASS, Cory must become a member of the Disabled Skiers Assocation of British Columbia, and he therefore is qualified to race in their annual Provincial Championships.

So on Thursday April 23, we're off along the scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, me - Cory's dad - his mum Jenni, and Cory in the backseat. About a 2 hour drive, but I always love a gorgeous sunny day drive like this:

Approaching Squamish, BC - the large rock formation directly in front is called the "Stawamus Chief", a very popular climbing destination, and is the second largest granite monolith in the world.

And there's Whistler Mountain - worth a close look:

And the entrance to the Village, note the sign:

And the view of Blackcomb Mountain as we approach at sunset:

And finally at our rented condo:

With a little bit of R&R before skiing the next day:

The Provincial Championship race is preceded by an optional training day and Cory always takes advantage of such opportunities. So on Friday, April 24, we have a day of training which includes several runs on a race course on the same run that will be used for the race.

So 8:00am Friday morning, Cory dons his race suit and we head out to the base of Whistler Mountain to sign in and meet up with coach Roger and Cory's teammate Mark:

Cory and Mark with Coach Roger getting ready for some training at the top of Whistler on a truly spectacular day:

Heading towards....

So now that Cory has won a Provincial Championship on this race course, I will never forget this special run - what a wonderful couple of days we had!

Cory on the training course:

a bit too much vertical body movement here:

And a water break, somehow ignoring the great view from the Whistler Roundhouse:

And looking good in this training run...keeping a good high line through the gates, hands in front of his body, and tucking when appropriate:

And finishing the day on one of Cory's favourite runs at Whistler - The Saddle - and it's in fantastic shape, hard packed, smooth, steep, and very fast. We tucked right from the top and we think we hit close to 100 kms/hr on the way down. Sorry, but I wasn't about to do any camera work at that speed. Our two Blue Streaks are aptly named.

And finally, with a lot of bare patches at the bottom of the mountain, and racing on the same skis the next day, it was best to download to get back down. And it's a pretty quiet ride down, our Blue Streaks seem tired after working hard for several hours:



Cory now has 2 pairs of racing skis, one for slalom races and one for giant slalom races. A slalom race requires a lot more tight turns and slalom skis are shorter and better for turning. A giant slalom race like the one which will be held during the Provincial Championship the next day, requires more speed, still a lot of turning but not as tight as in a slalom.
But Cory has only acquired a pair of GS skis this year and has not skied on them as much as his slalom, so he is not as confident in his GS skis as he is in his slaloms. Coach Roger strongly recommends that Cory use his GS skis and I try to explain to Cory that it is a matter of using the right tool for the right job.

I ask him if he would use a tiny paint brush or a large paint brush to paint a really large wall. He answers correctly that a large paint brush would be best. So I connect that to his skis - it's best to use the best tool to do the best job, so for a GS race, use GS skis. He's not totally sold, but he has had a good day of training in his GS skis, so he decides to use GS skis in the race too. So another step in Cory's development as a racer. Now that he's won on those GS skis, he won't hesitate again to use them in an appropriate situation.

Well, that's it for now. Our next post will tell all about race day and coming home. And Cory makes a very responsible and mature decision that may just have given him the advantage he needed to become the Provincial Champion that he now is.