 Kimberley Ski Area |
 BC Alpine |
 Alpine Canada |
 FIS |
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KNSR - Club Update – Summer 2009 Hope everyone is having a great summer even though the weather feels like fall! Just want to update all our members on some exciting things to come! Cheers, Lara Kahl, President Registration for Nancy Greene (E1-E2 program)
E2- FIS Programs Please email Lara Kahl @ slkahl@telus.net before September 1st even if your child is a maybe at this point.
Warren Miller 60th Anniversary Showing
Sullivan Hut – Home of the North Star Racers
NEW KNSR Programs for 2010! Early registation for NGSL is set for Sept. 10 & 11 at the Cranbrook Community Sports Sign Up night at the RecPlex, or on-line here, or at our annual kick off celebration, equipment day and general registration day, Sept. 26 at Kimberley Alpine Resort. Check out details and pricing of the new programs from the above drop down "Program" menu.
E1 Awards Presented
Injury in Youth Sports - Courtesy of NBC Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Whistler Cup 2009   North Star K2 racers Nolan Walls and Rebecca Bermel as well as K1 racers: Cole Tepper, Aidan Gilbert, Ryan Grady, Axel Chore and Hope Blissett represented the Kimberley club and Bristish Columbia at the 2009 Whistler Cup held April 9 - 12.Full Results Kimberley Ski Racers Clean Up at Kootenay Zone Finals
The slalom event held on Sunday was another great day for the North Star team. Once again Hope Blissett was the team’s top K1 performer picking up another gold medal and a bronze in the two, one-run races. K2 racer Bermel added more gold medals to her collection with wins in the two-run race and another in a final stand alone race at the end of the day. Becky Bedell also was in the hunt with bronze and silver medals. Not to be out done, Kimberley’s K1 men’s team picked up a win in the first slalom race with Cole Tepper finding his form in the first race. Tepper followed with another win in the second and led another podium sweep for the team with Aidan Gilbert taking second and Ryan Grady third. For the K2 men, it was once again Nolan Walls taking both wins and joined on the podium by teammate Scott Bedell who placed second in the stand alone slalom. Full results from Teck Kootenay Zone Finals can be found at: http://bcalpine.com
North Star Racers Crack Top 10 at K2 Nationals
On Tuesday morning, the racers arrived to 15cm of new powder on the race hill where the men were scheduled to run Super Combined and the ladies Super G. Course workers and racers alike worked to slip off the new snow and were assisted greatly by two dedicated snow cats from the ski area to remove the excess powder. When the races finally go under way it was Devon Clarke from Ontario who made the fastest time in the ladies Super G. Bermel was BC’s top performer for the day, cracking the top ten in 9th place after Darlington failed to finish. On the men’s side, Walls attempted to pull a repeat performance in the Super G portion of the Super Combined, but came up short. Starting 60th, he had a disappointing first run, but moved up in the slalom portion of the race to place 24th for the day. The race was eventually won by Whistler’s Broderick Thompson ahead of Francis Toutant and Erik Mortveit both from Quebec.
The men’s giant slalom on Thursday yielded no medals for BC with top finisher, Marcus Henry of Fernie in 9th. Nolan Walls of Cranbrook was disqualified in the first run after incorrect passage of a gate early in the course. On Friday, after a week of overcast conditions and periodic but heavy snow falls, the skies finally cleared for the series finale with the men and ladies slalom event. Rebecca Bermel failed to finish her second run after a strong 14th place showing in the first. Quebec’s Kelly Moore won the race, followed by Mary Beth Hemphill of Ontario and Alix Wells of BC third. As with many of the competitors, Nolan Walls got caught late in some deep ruts and soft snow just off the line and finished 33rd overall. The men’s race was won by Tony Naciuk of Alberta, with Broderick Thompson (BC) second and Vincent Boulianne of Quebec third.
Even as winter turned to spring this past weekend at Big White Resort near Kelowna, the best young K1 ski racers in BC faced stiff competition from each other and the elements. Over the three days from March 20 - 22, ninety young women and one hundred and eighteen young men, ages eleven and twelve came to Big White to vie for provincial titles in three events.
On Saturday morning, the skies cleared to reveal a beautiful day for racing at Big White with the Kombi event on the schedule. A relatively new event, the Kombi mixes slalom and giant slalom gates with an emphasis on variety and use of terrain to challenge racers’ skills and ability to adapt. Hope Blissett once again led the way for the North Star women in the first race but faltered slightly on the fast set upper turns of the course to place seventh. Blissett tried to step it up in the second race, but failed make one of the gates, forcing her to hike back up the hill and ending up well back in the rankings. Sunday’s final day of competition was once again clear but warmer as the spring sunshine beat down early on the slalom courses set for the competitors. Of the three young women and seven young men for the North Star team, none finished in the top ten in the morning races. Determined to come back in the afternoon, Hope Blissett found another seventh place finish for the ladies and Cole Tepper followed by Aidan Gilbert managed a seventh and eighth place result for the men. Full results from BC K1 Provincials’ at Big White Resort can be found at: http://bcalpine.com
Two North Star Racers selected to compete at K2 National Championships
Friday’s Super Combined competition started out nearly the same with excellent weather and Bermel once again placing third in the Super G portion of the event. However, during the afternoon slalom portion, Bermel hit the same hand that was previously injured on a gate early on, yet finished the run in obvious pain. As a result, she slipped back in the standings to 6th for the day. North Star Racer boys started to figure things out on Friday too, with 14 year olds Scott Bedell and Nolan Walls placing in the twenties in the Super G portion, but both cracking the top fifteen when all was said and done after the slalom. Bedell skied a solid slalom run to take 12th place and Walls made a good time too and moved up into 13th place. On Saturday, the weather took a turn for the worse, with heavy snow starting mid morning. The host club, Red Mountain Racers, a small army of volunteers and the resort did a phenomenal job at preparing the slope for two different race courses. The women raced Giant Slalom, but Bermel got late in her turn and skied out on the fifth gate of the first run. 13 year olds Beckey Bedell and Gina Norton also had troubles in the first of two runs, but turned it up in the second outing to end up 16th and 19th place respectively.
On Sunday’s final day of competition, the snow continued forcing race organizers to shorten the men’s Giant Slalom to just one run. This posed no problem for Scott Bedell who started 28th and laid down a good run to end up 11th. However, team mate Nolan Walls better that with a blazingly fast run starting from bib #61 to end up 7th! The ladies plowed through heavy snow on the slalom hill. Rebecca Bermel skied well in the first run with a 6th place result and hit the gas pedal in the second run to move up into 4th place overall for the two run combined times. Teammate Becky Bedell also had a respectable showing finishing the day in 15th overall. These provincial championships were also used as a selection race to determine who would represent British Columbia at the K2 National Championships to be held at Silver Star Mountain Resort near Vernon, BC – March 28th to April 3rd. Thirteen men and thirteen ladies were selected by BC Alpine at the closing awards ceremonies as determined by their best two place results from provincial event. Both Rebecca Bermel and Nolan Walls were named to Team BC and are looking forward to representing the Kimberley North Star Racers and their province at the National Championships in just less than two weeks. Full results from BC Provincials’ at Red Mountain Resort can be found at: http://bcalpine.com
Kimberley’s Nancy Greene Racers Finish Top in Zone
Where are you?
Cancellation of FIS race - March 14-17 in Kimberley North Star Racer boys place in top 15 in the West... no podium.
Prince George Ski Club sells winning ticket in 2009 Pontiac Torrent Raffle
Kimberley Nancy Greene Team Races Two Mountains in One Weekend! In the combi and GS race Natalie Tepper edged out 13 girls for the Gold in the 8yr old girls division. For the 9yr old girls the competition was even tougher with 26 girls racing, Taylor Kahl was just off the podium in 4th, Andrea Lockhart 6th, and Sarah Andreas 14th. With 21 girls to beat in the 10yr old girls category Katie Grady pulled off a 6th, Zoe Chore 9th, Cheryl Gourley 17th and Claire Duffy a 20th. In GS Lockhart stepped onto the podium for Silver joined by Kahl for the Bronze. Andreas raced to 14th , Grady 5th, Chore 8th, Gourley 18th and Duffy 21st to finish the day. In the 6yr old boys Pierre Hugo was 6th in Kombi and 7th in GS. Greg Rebagliati jumped on the podium for a Silver in the Kombi and 4th in GS, followed by Cole McAnerney in 6th and 8th place and Dyan Messer a 12th in Kombi and 15th in the GS. for the 7yr olds. Jamie Casselman took the Gold for both Kombi and GS over 23 boys followed by Reine Yurkowski in 11th and 6th spot. In the 9yr old boys Anton Hugo raced to an 11th and 12th spot over 32 competitors. The racers then headed to Fernie Alpine Resort on Sunday to race 3 slalom courses on “Spruce”. The course was the same as the older K1 racers used so the kids had to ski hard to finish. The Nancy Greene team had to race against all the ages in the slalom making the competition even tougher.
For the boys Jamie Casselman finished just off the podium in 4th, 5th and he too crashed hard in the third for and did not finish. Reine Yurkowski place 18th, 14th and 13th, Nathan Staplin 17th, 18th and 12th. Thomas Loring had a tough weekend with all three runs ending in DSQ. Fun was had by all the racers on this long traveled weekend.
North Star Racers battle for top spots in Fernie
The K2 category raced slalom on a different slope on Saturday. Competing on the steep, but shorter pitch “Spruce”, the older kids had a bit more grippy snow to work with. The challenge then was to see who could blast out the fastest time as racers pulled out all the stops to reach the finish seeking the shortest path possible between the gates. North Star Racers narrowly missed the top spot once again with Nolan Walls and Scott Bedell ending up second and third respectively on the combined two run race. Walls did not climb the podium in the one run race, but Bedell moved it up a notch to claim silver. On Sunday, the groups switched disciplines and slopes with the K2 races heading to Kodiak. The older kids left nothing on the hill a they charged the steeps with quite a number of racers failing to complete the course. None of the Kimberley boys made the podium as they took all the risk but none of the reward. The closest came in the two run combined race with Aidan Wilson who staged two courageous runs to finish fourth. The only K2 podium of the day for the North Star K2 team came from Becky Bedell who claimed a third in the one run race after just missing the podium with a fourth in the two run combined competition. Overall, the Kimberley team is happy with their performance in Fernie. Program Director and Head Coach Nigel Loring had only good things to say of the team. “It is good for our kids to know that there are others who are working just as hard for the top spots - including many from within our own program. It keeps us humbled and focused… there are much bigger competitions still ahead”. Six of the Kimberley North Star Racers are off to compete in the K1 Western Championships this coming weekend in Revelstoke, while the K2 team is to attend a four day training camp in Rossland as a tune up for provincials which is scheduled to be held there March 11 – 15. Complete results from Fernie - Photos
2009 CSCF Athlete Bursary- applications
Note: The athlete's coach must be a CSCF members in good standing at the time of application or the application will not be considered. Follow this link to guidelines and an application form for the 2008 CSCF Athlete Bursary program. The deadline for application is April 30, 2009.
Special thanks goes to Leslie Casselman and Lara Kahl for spearheading this monumental undertaking.
Nancy Greene Ski Racers caught speeding in Kimberley 09/02/2009
Blue bird skies once again smiled down on the slopes at Kimberley on Sunday where a dual (or parallel) slalom was set. Only the Fernie team was able to stay over for the second day of competition, but it was fierce head to head action. North Star Racers again took top spots with the ten year old girls trading places and Zoe Chore to take the win edging out teammate, Katie Grady who placed second. Eight year old Natalie Tepper of Cranbrook doubled her gold medal count from Saturday, with a resounding win in her category by nearly four seconds! Nine year old Andrea Lockhart won her category after finishing second in the obstacle course race the day before and Taylor Kahl made the podium both days with two bronze medal performances.
Kimberley North Star Racers Chief of Race, Gerry Grady summed up the weekend by thanking the kids and everyone who worked hard to put on the event. “The volunteers are what make this such a great club to be involved in. It takes a lot of volunteers to host a race like this. Without (their) dedication this would not have been possible. The smiles at the end of the day from the kids is what it is all about.” Kwelera Photography has donated photos from the race to the race club. Check it out these great pics of every star in the race! Obstacle Course Photo Album Race Results: Obstacle Course Results Please review our club's Volunteer Commitment Policy Kimberley North Star Racers were once again a dominant force on the slopes and made good use of their home hill to capture wins in both the K1 boy’s (ages 11 & 12) races with back to back gold medal performances by Aidan Gilbert (right). Gilbert won the first race by nearly two seconds and the second race by more than one second. In the second race Gilbert was joined on the podium by teammate Zack Kahl who placed 3rd after just missing the medals in the first race with a 4th. Kimberley’s talent again ran deep with top ten performances by: Ryan Grady placing 5th & 6th respectively, Cole Tepper (8th & 5th), Axel Chore (10th & 8th) and Erik Mitchell (7th & 9th). Just as in the previous race in Panorama, North Star Racer Hope Blissett claimed a bronze medal in the second race after being just out of the medals in the first race where she finished 4th. India Sherret cracked into the top ten with a 7th and a 6th place result.
Once again Rebecca Bermel of Cranbrook took top placing for the K2 girls winning comfortably by 1.86 seconds ahead of Barbara Jenkinson of Windermere. Becky Bedell (Scott’s sister) finished 4th. The day’s success was unfortunately dampened just after the start of the second K2 girls race when Rebecca Bermel, starting 6th out of the gate got caught late on a turn about halfway down the track and crashed hard resulting in a broken thumb. Bermel had surgery on Monday in Cranbrook where doctors inserted a pin in her hand to hold the bone together during recovery. Bermel is expected to be back racing in four to five weeks, hopefully in time for the BC Provincial K2 Championship in Rossland, March 11 – 15. As a result of the delays from the crash, the second Super G race for both the K2 boys and girls were canceled. The next stop on the Kootenay Teck Kinder Ski Racing Series will be in Fernie, February 21 and 22. Click here for full results of Sunday’s races at Kimberley. ACA RISING STAR K2 CAMP REPORT 2008-2009 First of all, we would like to thank WestJet Airline for their support. Without this the Rising Star Camps would not be possible. This is the fourth season ACA has held these very successful camps. The theme of the Rising Star Camps is to bring the best K2 athletes in Canada together and creating a very focused, competitive, and synergized environment. The on snow environment provided by Panorama is second to none. Course conditions, safety, weather, and hill space are crucial for productive on snow training and Panorama provides all of these. This was a very productive camp. Saw a lot of improvement from the entire group. The main theme ofthe camp was turn shape Take care and good luck for this season. Glenn Thomsen, Benoit Lalande
North Star Racers names Kinder coaching staff for 2008/09 Season Darren Thorburn is a native Calgary who grew up racing for the Sunshine Alpine Racers. He graduated to the Alberta Ski Team in the 1986 and was quickly promoted to the Canadian Alpine Ski Team where he competed for eight years on the world cup circuit. In his long career as a ski racer, Darren was a consistent top performer for Canada finishing many times in the top 30 in downhill and super G with his personal best, a 5th place in the downhill at Val Gardena, Italy in 1993. After retiring as an athlete, Darren moved easily into the coaching world serving in a variety of roles with the Alberta Ski Team, the Canadian National Alpine Ski Team, the Edmonton Ski Club and the BC Ski Team. Darren stepped back from coaching in 2005 to pursue business interests which eventually brought him to Kimberley, BC where he now owns and operates a bed and breakfast. The club is excited to have Darren help out the team this season and believes his knowledge and experince will benefit the club and its young racers greatly.
2010 Olympic Torch travels through Cranbrook For over 100 days leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, 12,000 Canadians will be helping the Olympic Flame make its way across Canada. And you could be one of them. As a presenting partner, RBC is giving thousands of Canadians just like you the opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame. Applying is easy. To begin, click here.
Former North Star Racer named Minsiter of State for Sport |
Club Wind Up Celebration
On Saturday, the both K1 giant slalom races for the ladies were won by 12 year old Hope Blissett with teammate India Sherret claiming personal bests of a 6th and a 4th. For the K2 ladies, it was Rebecca Bermel who arrived straight from the K2 Nationals to win the two run combined GS race and led a podium sweep for the team with 13 year olds Becky Bedell and Gina Norton taking silver and bronze medals respectively. The K1 men did nearly as well, with Ryan Grady picking up 2 silver medals and Adian Gilbert a bronze. Also fresh back from K2 Nationals was Nolan Walls who easily won the men’s K2 GS by nearly two seconds!
Gina Norton was just off of the podium with two forth place finishes.
Nolan Walls of Cranbrook pulled off what is becoming a signature run in his races of late. Starting 66th, Walls made good speed down the “Gypsy Queen” track on the back side of the mountain to take place 10th in the men’s Super G. The surprise winner of the race was Lincoln Esau of New Brunswick followed in second by Martin Grasic of Windermere, BC. Gabriel Mains of Quebec finished third.
The men took a much deserved rest day on Wednesday while the ladies raced the giant slalom. The two run race was won by Candice Crawford of Ontario, with the best BC result coming from Darlington in 5th and Alix Wells of Prince George in 7th. Just outside of the top ten was Bermel who made some mistakes in the first run but made up time in the second to place 11th overall and third for team BC.
The championships got off to a difficult start with gusty winds and thick cloud hanging over the upper part of the giant slalom course. Racers struggled to find their way down the track, in some cases only seeing one gate ahead from where they were. Yet organizers laid down bright blue dye on the snow giving the racers some sense of definition in the near white out conditions. Hope Blissett (right) of the Kimberley North Star Racers charged hard through the gloom; starting number 1 out of the gate to end up just off the women’s podium in forth for the first race. The Kimberley boys could only muster a tenth as their best showing with Cole Tepper doing what he could with the limited visibility. Because of the many forced delays, the host club and organizer, the Big White Racers had to cancel the second giant slalom race for the day.
Cole Tepper again took top spot for Kimberley on the first race with a seventh, but failed to finish the second race. Team mate Ryan Grady (photo right) took up the Kimberley cause to place sixth just under a second off the pace.
After an open training day of Super G on Wednesday, the field got to business on Thursday morning under bright blue skies and firm, fast snow conditions. North Star Racers fielded four girls and five boys in the competition, with 14 year olds Rebecca Bermel and Nolan Walls leading the pack. Bermel, who only a few days before had a cast and pins removed from her left hand skied well to place a respectable third behind Kailee Darlington of Whistler and Alix Wells of Prince George. 
On the men’s side it was Slalom with all the Kimberley racers missing gates and skiing out of the course in the first run save for Nolan Walls. Walls, starting bib #23 skied solid in the first run to move up to 13th, then rocketed in the second run to make to 5th place for the day.
It's official, and very exciting! Fort St. James resident Aileen Prince, mother of six and grandmother to seven, is the lucky winner of a new Pontiac Torrent.
In the girls division Taylor Kahl finished with a Bronze, a 4th and crashed hard in the third. Katie Grady finished 4th, 6th and Bronze. Zoe Chore finished the second race in Bronze but got disqualified (DSQ) on the other two runs. Natalie Tepper had two 5th place finishes and also a DSQ. Cheryl Gourley had a 13th, 17th and 13th with Sarah Andreas skiing to a 14th, 14th and 10th place finish.
Saturday’s giant slalom for the K1s was held on the steep and dark run “Kodiak” which dropped 215 meters for what seemed like a straight down plunge for many of the young competitors. Of the thirty five turns that were set, the Fernie team showed what they had been working on for the past few weeks since the last race taking the win for both the boys and girls in all three of the one run races. Kimberley North Star K1 Hope Blissett (right) did her best to catch leader, Stephanie Gartner but came up just short with two third places in race one and two and a second in the final race. Kimberley boys came close too with Cole Tepper finishing on the podium twice with a third in the first race and a second place in the final race. According to Kimberley coach David Wilson, all the kids had their hands full with the difficult track. “You could just see the kids stiffen up (their legs) as they turned onto the pitch… when they are locked like that, it makes it way harder to get the ski edges to bite”. Wilson also commented that the pitch was made all the more challenging because the sun never reached that part of the slope and the kids that were sliding actually glazed the already hard surface.
Kimberley was eager to take back control of the podium in the K1 slalom. In the first race it was Axel Chore who took all the risk - paying off with his first win of the season. He was backed up by Ryan Grady who placed third. Chore failed to finish the last two races, and in the second it was Grady again on the podium, this time with a second place finish. In the final race North Star Racers came back with the win by Cole Tepper (right) and another second for Grady. 
2009 SILENT AUCTION
Beating out all comers was ten year old, Kimberley North Star Racer, Katie Grady who not only had the fastest time with 1:12.88, but bested the closest boy by nearly a second. Grady, along with a number of other speedsters also earned a ticket from the RCMP who’s radar gun clocked her at 51 km/h near the finish. North Star Racers owned the podium for the 10 year old girls with Zoe Chore in second and Cheryl Gourley in third (photo right).
It wasn’t just the North Star girls ripping up the slopes at home. The boys were just as tough, with eight year Jamie Casselman (photo right) winning his category by large margins (over 3 seconds) both days. Teammate Reine Yurkowski was second to Casselman in Saturday’s event.
With clear skies and cold temperatures in the minus 20s, the second Teck Kinder Ski Race of the season was held at Kimberley Alpine Resort on January 25th. Over one hundred young racers from across the Kootenay zone, ages 11 – 14 trained under excellent conditions for three days prior to Sunday’s scheduled Super G races. 
North Star Racer Scott Bedell (right) claimed his first win of the season for the K2 boys (ages 13-14) narrowly beating Martin Grasic of Windermere by a mere 0.06 seconds and Marcus Henry of Fernie by 0.19 seconds. Nolan Walls was 4th out just 0.56 seconds behind teammate Bedell’s winning time.
year olds) and K2 (13 and 14 year olds). 
run slalom format that this age group was using. Axel Chore also climbed the podium with a bronze in the opening race.
Ryan Grady (just two one hundreds of a second behind) and Adian Gilbert (+0.54 seconds) to make the first sweep of the day. Tepper won the second race easily by over one second, a big margin it the sport. In the final heat, Tepper skied a bit too round, but Grady took no time in taking the most direct path to win the final race, followed again by Adian Gilbert in second and Zack Kahl, third. 
The ACA WestJet Rising Star K2 Camp was held in Panorama British Columbia from December 07 – 11 / 2008.
