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Alpine Racing - Red Mountain Racers finish strong

Rossland girl takes third at Whistler Cup

Red Mountain Racers continue to carve their way into the elite of the ski-racing world.

Rosslander Soleil Patterson took home bronze in the K1 women’s slalom at the Whistler Cup last week, a competition that highlights the world’s best young racers.

The 12-year-old laid down two solid runs and finished with a combined time of one minute 12.90 seconds.

Coach Philip Patterson said as far as he knew, it was the first podium finish for a Red Mountain Racer at the event now in its 19th year.

Soleil also finished ninth in the combined and 13th in the giant slalom.

The performance follows close on the heels of her second place finish in slalom and two fourth placings at the Teck K1 B.C. championships at Mt. Washington in    March.

The Whistler Cup is an international event for ski racers aged 11 to 15. This year 450 racers burst out of the gates representing 25 countries.

Rowen Stevens, 12, also raced, finishing 31st, in kombi, 32nd in slalom, and 38th in giant slalom. The Rossland native skied well, dramatically improving his 50th place start position.

Due to his stellar season, FIS Red Mountain Racer Hansi Schwaiger has been asked to train with the German development team. Schwaiger will join the team when he returns home to Germany after finishing his studies with Red Academies at Rossland Secondary School.

In addition to many podium finishes in junior categories, the 16-year-old also finished fourth and fifth in slalom races at the GMC Cup held at Red Mountain in February.

“Hansi impressed coaches and skiers at each of the events this year often ending up on the J1 or 15-to 16-year-old podium,” said Patterson.