Coach’s Corner

Did you know that over 16 different teams—more than 300 people—have come to Sun Peaks specifically to train on the OSV this year? The race center’s gaining momentum and is generating more and more interest for teams to race train at Sun Peaks in November and December. An estimated $500,000 in revenue has come to Sun Peaks so far directly because of the center. This is an awesome center and thanks to Sun Peaks Resort for making it one of the best training centers in North America.

Adaptive racer Pramod Thapa collected his first Nor-Am points in Colorado in December at his first international ski race.

“Ten days on the road working with the top para teams in the world of alpine ski racing opened our eyes as to what it will take to reach Pramod’s goal of an Olympic début,” explains “Captain” Jim Knowles, Thapa’s coach.

“We both realize that the heights that these athletes and coaches have achieved come from many days, months and years on skis. It’ll be a tough climb ahead, but both of us have made the decision to buckle down, strive ahead and keep reaching for Pramod’s dream.” Sun Peaks Alpine Club is fully committed to helping Promo, as Thapa is known, reach all of his goals.

The Sun Peaks Racers competed at Apex against racers from the Okanagan in a Slalom time trial. Our local racers did very well and had tons of fun. Some of the top 10 finishes, out of the 130 competitors, were: Zanna Farrell, 2nd; MacKenzie Duff, 3rd; Claire Madill, 5th; Myka Jardine Arnold, 6th; and Sara Kate Smith, 10th. In the boys we had Evan Monroe, 3rd; Josh Jacoby, 6th; and Jackson Phillips, 7th. The next races are at Sun Peaks on Jan. 14 and 15, and are expected to draw 500 people to the village.

There’s big news this month for Sun Peaks racer Elli Terwiel who scored in her third ever World Cup start in Courchevel, France. Elli got a chance to go to Europe to race World Cup with the Canadian National Team after some solid skiing in Colorado and Panorama Nor-Am races. The race almost didn’t happen because of the massive amount of snow that fell, but the skies cleared and the sun shone on race day. In World Cup Slalom and GS, you have to finish in the top 30 in order to get a second run. Elli started 47th and finished 27th in the first run and 16th in the second run for 23rd overall.

“I saw an opportunity and I went for it. The conditions were better than I thought they’d be. It was a great race and I’m ready to keep going,” said Terwiel about her second run.

Elli raced another World Cup on Dec. 20 in Flachau, Austria, but straddled a gate in her first run and didn’t finish. Her next World Cup starts are Dec. 28 in Lienz, Austria and Zagreb, Croatia on Jan. 3.