Telemark skiers race in Canmore on show stored since spring

Thirteen Team Telemark nordic athletes took part in the annual Frozen Thunder ski races at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Alberta.

Frozen Thunder is an early-season ski trail made of stored snow. Snow is made in the previous spring and is†stored for the summer in a shaded location. The early season trail is two-kilometres in length and allows nordic athletes access to reliable, and some of the earliest, snow in North America.

A new record was set with 160 skiers from both Canada and the U.S. attending the two days of racing.

The first race day consisted of a classic technique sprint qualifier followed by a “King’s court” format where skiers continue to race three more heats with other competitors who are close to their own speed.

This is unlike a traditional sprint race event where only the top 30 skiers qualify for the sprint heats and are then eliminated as the event progresses. The “King’s court” format allows all of the athletes to get in a hard day of highly competitive racing.

In the senior men’s category, qualifier Gareth Williams qualified eighth, Alex McDonald 13th, Greg Kilroy was 19th and Grayson McKinnon was 20th.

In the senior women’s category, Hannah Mehain qualified fifth.

In the junior men’s qualifier, Tallon Noble was second, Ian Williams fourth, Cole Turner seventh, Tristan Lee 12th, Donny Boake 23rd, Hugh Warkentin 30th and Ian Mayer 31st.

For the junior women, Jenna Sim qualified in 19th place.

The junior categories were for skiers under-19 with many Telemark members racing athletes up to five years older.

In the Ànal heat, Canadian junior national team member Tallon Noble skied to gold and Ian Williams skied to bronze in the junior men’s Ànal.

Hannah Mehain picked up a silver medal in the senior women category. Canadian National U25 team member Gareth Williams moved up to place sixth.

The Ànal race day was an individual start skate race. The men raced 10 kilometres and the women raced 7.5 km.

In the senior women’s category, Hannah Mehain raced to 12th and in the junior women’s, Jenna Sim skied to 19th.

In the senior menís category, Gareth Williams was 18th, Greg Kilroy was 25th, Alex McDonald was 27th and Grayson McKinnon was 30th.

In the junior men’s, Tallon Noble was fourth, Cole Turner sixth, Ian Williams ninth, Hugh Warkentin 14th, Donny Boake 15th, Ian Mayer 16th and Tristan Lee 18th.

Head coach Adam Elliot was pleased with how the athletes have started the races. The athletes are now back to dry land training which involves roller skiing, running, and weight training.

The next set of races are Nor-Am races Dec. 89 at Sovereign Lake Nordic, near Vernon, followed by races Dec. 13-16 at Whistler.

Team Telemark nordic athletes are part of the Telemark Nordic Ski Club racing program.