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Whistler Spring Invitational

Posted by Whistler Mountain Ski Club at Apr 16, 2022 3:45PM PDT ( 0 Comments )

After two years of no Whistler Cup, this year’s Spring invitational was a nice steppingstone to get us back to the full event next year.

We invited a total of 240 U14 and U16 athletes from around the Province, Ontario, and Quebec for 3 days of racing action, a GS, Slalom and Dual team event.

Friday presented a lot of condition challenges for the race organizers and volunteers, with a rain crust that broke through, but thanks to some amazing shovellers, the race got off.

The weather turned in our favour for the weekend and mother nature delivered some of the best racing conditions we could ask for. It was a wonderful year end celebration of racing that pushed the athletes to perform the skills they’ve been working on all season.

We even got to gather for a wonderful social and awards that make it feel like old times, kids meeting kids from other clubs and parents catching up and making new friends.

A big big thank you to all the volunteers, coaches and athletes who made this event run, you are the reason this sport is possible.

Check out some fabulous pictures at this link

Thanks to our photographer Albert Han!

A Celebration of Life for Jonny Kellock | Sat, April 16

WMSC is holding two events on April 16th to celebrate our friend and coach Jonny Kellock. There will be a new start named after Jonny (formerly know as Beauty start) on the Dave Murray National Training Centre. We will reveal the new signage at approximately 2 pm followed by a reception back at the club cabin staring at 3:30pm.

2:00 PM : Jonny’s Start Unveil on DMNTC

3:30 PM : Après at Whistler Mountain Ski Club — Join us for drinks, food and community.

End of the Year BBQ and Awards Ceremony | Saturday, April 23 by RSVP

Join us on Saturday, April 23rd at the Whistler Secondary School to recognize our athletes’ performances and successes. The day will be filled with fun: a club race for all age groups – parallel slalom on Gandy, Blackcomb Mountain followed by a bbq and awards ceremony at WSS starting 4:30 pm.

We will appreciate your registration to the weekend’s events to help us with organization and logistics. The events are at no cost.

Athlete registration to club race and scavenger hunt | Sat and Sun. Apr 23 and 24
Family Registration to BBQ and Award Ceremony | Sat, Apr 23

( please register every member of the family attending the BBQ and Awards)

Rob Boyd Bursary | Nominations Deadline extended to Sunday, April 17

Athletes, if you haven’t nominated a teammate, do it now! Deadline extended for few days. Please email the WMSC Bursaries Committee at bursaries@wmsc.info

​For the 4th year, Rob is awarding 2 deserving athletes a $1,000 bursary each that will be credited to their WMSC account.

Nominations should be submitted preferably by teammates or coaches directly to the WMSC Bursaries Committee at bursaries@wmsc.info explaining why the individual should be considered for this award. Submissions should be in letter form and include anecdotes or examples that exemplify the individuals’ character and/or actions deserving of recognition and support

Coaches Appreciation

In the next few days, each family will be charged for end of season tips ($50 per athlete) that go to the coaches for the enormous commitment that they make throughout the season. Tips are distributed amongst the coaches within each age category relative to the days that they worked through the season and coaches will get their tips at the end of the season.

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BC Cup Spring Series | April 1 – 7, 2022 | Panorama, BC.

Hill Conditions: Varied. Cold starts, warm finishes.
Weather Conditions: a bit of everything – sun, overcast, snow
Travel (how/any issues/long/ weather?): Jonny Kellock birthday tribute along the way.
Interesting Stories/Situations: 4th trip to Panorama this season.

Head Coach: Richard
Assistant Coaches: Henry & Sarah
Parents/Volunteers: Brownlies, Smiths, Jason Shorter, Cathy Husken, Susie Thomas, Rob Boyd, Patrick Maloney

Day 1 Event: SL on Hay Fever. Cold start, sunny skies to finish. Many DNFs. 50+% for Men, close to 50% for Women.
Ladies WMSC Top 3: Alexa B. 6th, Erin H. 23rd, Ella K. 24th, Kaitlyn M. 39th (MOST IMPROVED!).
WMSC: 1 Top 10, 3 Top 30! Field of 92 women.
Mens WMSC Top 3: Jasper S. 39th (MOST IMPROVED!), Nick M. 42nd.
Big field of 103 racers with CAST and BCST in the mix.

Day 2 Event: SL on Hay Fever. Snowy start, sunny finish.
Ladies: Alexa 7th, Erin 17th, Ella 21st, Kaitlyn 45th (MOST IMPROVEDAGAIN!).
1 Top 10, 3 Top 30 REPEAT!
Mens: Sascha 26th, Felix 34th, Jasper 44th.


Day 3 Event: GS on Old Timer. Overcast skies, hill in good shape.
Ladies: Alexa 19th, Erin 26th, Izzy 29th.
All WMSC ladies finished both runs! 3 in the Top 30.
Mens: Sascha 22nd, Adam 41st, Felix 54th.
CAST sweep of the podium.

Day 4 Event: GS on Old Timer. Snowy!
Ladies: Alexa 7th, Ella 12th, Erin 14th.
3 in the Top 30, 1 in the Top 10! Very tough course with 35 DNFs on the 1st run.
Mens: Sascha 22nd, Adam 41st, Felix 54th.

Day 5 Event: SG on Old Timer.
This event was the NATIONALS SG.
Ladies: Erin 30th, Jacqui 33rd, Izzy 35th.
Mens: Sascha 18th, Adam 35th, Jack & Felix tied for 48th.
Sascha made the podium in U19! 3rd place – WELL DONE!!

Day 6 Event: SG on Old Timer.
Ladies: Erin 24th, Ries 40th, Jacqui 41st.
Mens: Sascha 18th, Adam 29th, Felix 34th.
2nd day in a row, all men made it across the finish line – no small feat!

Day 7 Event: SG on Old Timer.
Ladies: Ella 9th, Erin 29th, Jacqui 38th.
Another Top 10 for the ladies! As well, all the ladies made it across the finish line!
Mens: Sascha 28th, Felix 25th, Adam 40th.

BC CUP POINTS Season End results: Erin 2nd, Alexa 3rd, Sascha 2nd.

For complete results please go to http://bcalpine.com/news/

Liz Brownlie, davelizbrownlie@telus.net

From COACH RICHARD:

“The WMSC has had a successful campaign at Panorama for the BC Cup Finals. The series consisted of 2 Slalom starts 2 GS starts and 3 Super G starts. This series was a highly competitive block of races that include our National Championship SG event. In attendance was an international field, most of Canada’s fastest skiers from the provincial ski teams from BC, Alberta and Ontario and including many of our National team athletes from both men’s and the women’s teams. Our WMSC athletes put in some great performances on challenging slopes, including the local test piece slalom track Hayfever. Conditions have been excellent partly due the work that went into the race surface from hosting the World Junior Championships just a few weeks earlier. This made for some great racing where our athletes got to test themselves against some the countries fastest skiers. Skiing with the WMSC alumni who are now currently on the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the BC Ski Team I know has been an inspiration to our athletes and has brought some the best WMSC performances of the season.

The season is not over yet as some racers will be jumping over to the Great Divide to race at The Alberta Cup Finals where there will be some more great racing at Nakiska, AB, the host site of Canada’s first winter Olympic Games.”

From ATHLETES:

“Panorama is a lot nicer when the temperature isn’t -30 degrees.” Felix.

“Superstition before a race is you have to eat a celebration cookie with peanut butter. Because you are celebrating the new victory. Unexpected highlight of the trip was crashing the last gate and straddling the first gate.” Ries & Ella.

“Where better to finish the season than where we started?” Jasper.

“Your future needs you.” “Progress over perfection in any area of life.” Kaitlyn & Erin

“The best part about going away for races is to do your best race day, learn from your mistakes, try and fix them the next day and have fun travelling to new places with friends.” Nick, Alec & Yuki.

“The best part of going away for races is truly building that ‘second family’ in that since when we’re away all we have is our team and that’s who we rely on. And it is easy to do that because we have all know each other for a long time.” Jacqui.

“There’s a lot more snow than the first Pano camp.” Jack.

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Spring like temperatures greeted a group of WMSC FIS athletes that recently ventured south of the border for a 6 race series at Mission Ridge Ski Resort just outside of Wenatchee Washington. A large field and a broken chairlift created some scheduling challenges which unfortunately forced the cancellation of one of the girls GS races.

In many ways Mission Ridge is like stepping back in time. The access road leads to a large dirt parking lot with a dated but cozy day lodge with spotty WIFI and intermittent cell service. We even saw the return of an old school paper scoreboard as Live Timing was so unreliable the timing shack simply turned off the connection.

The warm temperatures had almost no impact on the racing surface which held up brilliantly throughout the race series. For many of the athletes it was their first time riding fixed grip two seat chairlifts without safety bars but everyone agreed that the terrain made for a great race hill.

The 20 minute drive back to town each day provided great views of the Wenatchee Valley apple orchards and the spectacular Columbia River that flows right through town.

Podium highlights for the WMSC:

3rd Place: Alexa Brownlie March 12 SL

2nd Place: Alexa Brownlie March 13 SL

Other Notable Top 10 WMSC Results:

4th Place: Felix Shorter March 12 SL

7th Place: Felix Shorter March 13 SL

8th Place: Adam Usher March 14 SG

9th Place: Jack Thomas March 14 SG

10th Place: Adam Usher March 16 GS

8th Place: Ella Kaufman March 16 SG

8th Place: Ella Kaufman March 17 SG

9th Place: Adam Usher March 17 GS

Hard Charger “Attack From the Back” Awards:

Ries Holmes SL

Jack Thomas SG

Full Results can be found at

A Celebration of Life for Jonny Kellock | Sat, April 16

WMSC is holding two events on April 16th to celebrate our friend and coach Jonny Kellock. There will be a new start named after Jonny (formerly know as Beauty start) on the Dave Murray National Training Centre. We will reveal the new signage at approximately 2 pm followed by a reception back at the club cabin staring at 3:30pm.

2:00 PM : Jonny’s Start Unveil on DMNTC

3:30 PM : Après at Whistler Mountain Ski Club — Join us for drinks, food and community.

Rob Boyd Bursary | Nominations Deadline Sunday, April 10th

The ‘Rob Boyd Bursary’ is awarded annually, to the next seasons U18 athletes, making current 2nd year U16’s eligible for the award as well.

​For the 4th year, Rob is awarding 2 deserving athletes a $1,000 bursary each that will be credited to their WMSC account. In time, as the fund grows, additional bursaries may be awarded.

Candidates should embody the ‘WMSC Teamship Values’ and include (but not limited to):

​ * Passion for the sport – ski racing as well as knowledge/skills/desire to ski all aspects of the mountains.

  • Fairplay – showing positive attitude, assisting fellow athletes and appreciation for officials/volunteers (on or off the slopes).
  • Be a role model/mentor/ambassador for the sport (yet perhaps have a bit of a wild side?!?).
  • Work ethic – arrive early, stay late (to take one or two more runs – off piste?), show a willingness to assist coaches, collect/transport training equipment and gear when necessary
  • Show potential and desire to be successful in racing, and when appropriate, give back to the sport.

Nominations should be submitted by teammates or coaches directly to the WMSC Bursaries Committee at bursaries@wmsc.info explaining why the individual should be considered for this award. Submissions should be in letter form and include anecdotes or examples that exemplify the individuals’ character and/or actions deserving of recognition and support.

Dave Murray and Jordan Schick Bursaries | Nominations deadline Sunday, April 10th

All 2nd year U16 to U21 Athletes who are enrolling to 2021-2022 WMSC season are eligible to receive any of the WMSC Bursaries. These are financial awards which can be applied to further your participation in pre-season camps and races. Rob Boyd, Dave Murray and Jordan Schick set an example in the Ski Racing community and it is in this spirit that we are pleased to honor them with these bursaries.

The purpose of the WMSC bursaries is to support, promote, encourage and sponsor WMSC Teamship Values, sportmanship, leadership and passion for ski racing. These bursaries recognize U16 to U21 athletes who exemplify these qualities.

Dave Murray Bursary – Dave Murray is well known as one of the Crazy Canucks! He ski raced in the same hills as our athletes race today. He left us a legacy: The Dave Murray Bursary of $750 and plaque or trophy awarded to one racer, either gender.


Nominations will be made by coaches for 2nd year U16 athletes moving to U18, U18 or U21 racers with financial need, committed to the the sport; that shows athletic ability and potential to rise in alpine ski racing.

Jordan Schick Bursary of $750 and plaque will be awarded to one racer, either gender

The family of Jordan Schick awards this bursary to a racer at WMSC in Jordan’s memory. Jordan lost his life in a car accident while he was a WMSC racer.

Nominations will be made by coaches and the bursary will be awarded to one racer in the 2nd year U16 moving to U18, U18 or U21 program.

For specific details and criteria, please visit WMSC Awards and Bursaries

Extra Days | April Registration

Extra Training Days will be available for purchase from December 2, 2021 to April 24, 2022.

Registration opens every Sunday evening and closes every Tuesdays at midnight.

Costs: U12 and U14 $75/day | U16 and FIS $80/day.

For specific details visit our website www.wmsc.info | Programs |select your page (U12 to FIS) | Extra Days

U12 Extra Training Days

U14 Extra Training Days

U16 Extra Training Days

FIS Extra Training Days | Contact your coaches