U14, Jayden, describes a memorable first time competing in Ski Cross
One of the best times I’ve had with Cypress Ski Club has been Big White Ski Cross. It was a really fun time for me since I was able to do something that I had never tried before and it was surprisingly enjoyable.
The event was March 7-10, hosted by Big White Soi Clhb, and athletes U14, U16 and FIS were there. The days were long and tiring with the weather normally sunny or extremely foggy. Fortunately, it was not that cold and only made me shiver a few times.
It was really fun learning about ski cross tactics, like how to overtake others when going side by side, and the risks that I could encounter. Training and getting used to the course was really easy since there weren’t that many things to remember and it was mostly just going from one berm to another. Racing was also a joyful ride.
I fell on the day of qualifications and I was way behind the rest of the field. This meant that I would have to go against others that were much faster than me. On the first of two race days I made it through to the big finals and I was able to clinch onto third with a nice battle for second but had to back out later on in the course.
The second day I felt more confident. I was going to wear a red bib for most of the day since I had been one of the faster kids on day one. I made it all the way to the big finals but this time I had a very tough start and fell into fourth place. I was battling with third all the way to the bottom, but he always had the inside line and a huge advantage, and in the end he was able to fend me off. I had to settle with a placement of fourth. Kudos to the top three!
A huge thanks to my coaches for encouraging me and helping me with warm up and pep talks. It was really enjoyable experience and being able to get onto the podium was an extra treat.
Staying with the team was also a pleasure since we all got along really well. I hope I can do this again since it was really fun and I was able to make a lot of new friends.
