Currie brothers win in Whistler

THREE LOCAL SKIERS TRAVEL FOR SKI CROSS RACE

Two brothers from Sun Peaks stood atop the podium at the ski cross race in Whistler on Feb. 27 and 28.

Nine-year-old Cameron Currie won the male U10 division and 11-year-old Euan Currie won the male U12 age group. Jaida McKenzie-White, also from Sun Peaks, advanced to the semifinals in the female U14 category.

The Currie boys each finished first in the qualifying times and maintained their lead throughout the elimination races.

“It’s hard and they catch you quite a bit if you’re in front,” Cameron said. “My dad tells me ‘get in front and stay in front’ because you pretty much control the race when you’re
in front.”

It was the second race of the season in Whistler for the Currie boys. They both advanced to the semifinals on Feb. 6 and 7 before the race was cancelled due to heavy snow.
They are both members of the Sun Peaks Alpine Club and decided to try ski cross after watching Olympic Games races.

“We watched it first in the Olympics and we thought it was pretty cool and fun,” Euan said.

“Our dad showed us some videos and I went on YouTube and watched the Olympics. Then our parents said ‘why not try it out,’ so we did and we ended up liking it,” Cameron added.

Ski cross combines their passion for speed with their love for jumps and rolls. Without a designated track in Sun Peaks, they train using parts of the terrain park and the natural terrain along the sides of runs.

The brothers said the creation of a new ski cross track in Sun Peaks would be great as it would provide somewhere to train and get more local skiers racing in the discipline. Their father, Duncan Currie, said he also hoped to see Sun Peaks host races as it would attract many young skiers to the mountain.

My dad tells me ‘get in front and stay in front’ because you pretty much control the race when you’re
in front.

The first race in Whistler had 185 participants between the ages of nine and 13 and the most recent race had over 100 racers.

“For these guys it would be awesome to actually train. There’s not many venues and there’s not many races,” Duncan said. “That would be great just for the training venue, but also to strengthen the club and to have another race venue for other clubs and other teams to come and utilize here.”