The cream of the next crop of Canada’s elite skiers will be tackling Red Mountain over the next four days.
The GMC Cup, a developmental ski series, will make a stop at the local resort for slalom and giant slalom races featuring almost 200 athletes.
The competition, hosted by the Red Mountain Racers, begins Friday morning with the men’s slalom and ladies giant slalom on Red Mountain’s face and back trail. A second men’s slalom and ladies GS will be held on Saturday.
Sunday and Monday will see the racers switch with the men moving to the GS course for two days while the women compete in a pair of slalom races.
“This series is important to our local ski racers, and this race is an important stop,” said race administrator Lora Fry in a press release.
“We are very excited to be able to participate and bring Rossland’s alpine ski racing community together again. As always, we hope that all the competitors do well, and expect to see great results from the local athletes.”
Homegrown talent like Steven Fry, Iain McMillan, Kali Butler and Una Trivanovic will face a daunting challenge against some of the top skiers on the circuit.
Ontario’s Brandon Sutton, who currently sits second overall in the men’s points race, is scheduled to race along with Whistler’s Ford Swette, fourth in points, and Calgary’s Filip Gigic, who is sixth overall.
Fry added many of the male skiers from the Canadian prospects’ team expected to compete, such as Erik Read and Trevor Philip, had to withdraw from the race due to training commitments in Alberta.
Whistler’s Tianda Carroll, who won the only other western-based GMC Cup race held at Lake Louise in January, is part of a strong cast in the women’s field.
The four-day battle will see five of the top-10 racers in the women’s GMC Cup points standings including Vanessa Albiou of Calgary and Jocelyn Ramsden of Whistler, who sit one-two in the overall total. Other top-10 racers include Carroll, Nicole Poleschuk of Calgary and Alix Wells of Prince George.
The series, which makes seven stops throughout Canada, wraps up in late March at the Canadian championships at Nakiska.