Oh oh...there are new kids in town!

Well, Cory did not win any of his races at Special Olympics' Alpine Skiing Regional Qualifiers last weekend at Kimberley, BC.  But he was certainly the most consistent racer, finishing 2nd in Giant Slalom, Super Giant Slalom, and Slalom, while two different racers took 1st place.  Which means Cory actually earned the most number of points (pending confirmation of results, hopefully in the next few days) in his Advanced Division.  So Cory remains the overall best racer in British Columbia.

Qualifying for the Provincials in Alpine Skiing is, unlike other sports, pretty straightforward and Cory will definitely qualify for Silver Star, near Vernon, in 2019.  Then, he will definitely be challenged to qualify for the 2020 National Games in Thunder Bay, if these new racers compete there too.  Both of them are under 20 years of age, one of them is actually 17, so it remains to be seen if they are as committed to alpine skiing as Cory is.

We've been to Kimberley twice before, both times for the Canadian Adaptive Snow Sports Annual Festival, and we drove.  All 13 hours of it!  This time we were treated to a 90 minute flight.

And both times before was in late March and there had been little snow remaining...not this time....a substantial snowfall just before we arrived.

Cory has a race routine that includes some gentle leg swings as a minor warm-up...

but time to pose for a team picture with the other 4 athletes from Special Olympics BC - Surrey and the team Head Coach:

And in another of Cory's pre-race routines, he takes a longer-than-average amount of time to do his course inspection, and he prefers to do it on his own, rather than with his teammates...

but catches up to his teammate David at the end of the course - and that is terrific racer snow you see there, hard-packed deep base with a touch of soft BC champagne powder on top...

The view from the start hut during course inspection...

Time to race!  Cory's 1st of two Giant Slalom runs, taken from the finish line with his signature touchdown finish....he had to work on getting his hand down sooner as in earlier training he was late getting his hand down and it would only get low enough after he crossed the finish...but here he's down nice and early and stops the clock a fraction of a second sooner than he would had he not touched down.  I did not notice any other racer trying a touchdown finish...




His second run, taken from a flat area about half-way down the course, getting plenty of encouragement from the Provincial Head Coach at the start and more from another coach as he moves across the camera...but his body position is not as forward as it could be...so room for improvement there for next year...




After lunch it's the Super G...the view of the course up towards the start hut on the left...

It will be only one run for the Super G on this day, and Cory looks really good and fast...and nails a great line through a series of  gates with little offset just after he passes by my camera...the other racers I watched made longer turns through that section so Cory's line is shorter and faster - excellent decision-making at full speed, really good race instincts...

The next day is Slalom day, and something truly special happens even before the race starts.  After breakfast, the team is ready early, and are the first in the lift line.   The lift attendent walks over and offers to let us on the chair a half hour before it is due to open.  So under terrific conditions, the team gets to do a run with no one else on the mountain, except a few ski patrollers.  What a special - and rare! - moment.  To enjoy a glorious run all by ourselves...freshly groomed soft corduroy to enjoy!

And enjoy they do!

So it's all smiles from the team!

Final equipment check for slalom includes helmet plus arm and shin guards...

Another lovely day to race...Kimberley at its best for us once again...

And that armour does its job...Cory brushes just about every slalom gate, using as straight a line as possible and look just terrific!  Slalom was not his favourite when he first started racing but it is certainly his best event now...you can hear the "clack" when he hits the gates....

And a "carbon copy" for Run #2....some of his best racing ever I'd say...maybe even better than he raced at the 2016 Nationals in Newfoundland, when he was the 2nd best in Canada

But on this day, it's 2nd best in BC...but Cory sure doesn't seem disappointed at all....

2nd place, Giant Slalom

2nd place, Super Giant Slalom

2nd place, Slalom

Kimberley (actually Cranbrook Airport) gives us one last wonderful view as Cory heads home...

but soon to fly again - to Whitehorse Yukon! - for an indoor soccer tournament, not skiing - in a couple of weeks.

Cory's ski season will end shortly, with perhaps a couple of days of fun skiing in May at Whistler, we've had some great days there in late season.

Plenty of time now to enjoy his accomplishments, enjoy a few more days of fun skiing, and then plan to get ready to challenge those "youngsters" to another head to head duel next February at the 2019 Special Olympics British Columbia Winter Games at Silver Star, near Vernon.  After all, he is still the best overall ski racer in BC!