The Vancouver Ski Team kicked off their 2023-2024 season by returning to Mt Sima, Whitehorse! Over 3 weeks, athletes had the opportunity to train in stellar conditions, get two race starts, revisit last year’s memories, and make new ones.
The camp began with just three days of training before diving into their first race of the season, the second annual Aurora Cup. Despite challenges assimilating to the -25C windchill, the team was excited and ready to charge; over the 2-day event, they welcomed new personal bests, put down lots of strong turns, and, of course, delighted in the free hot dogs and hot chocolate after the SL finish. VST would also like to give a shoutout to Noah Fischer, who achieved his impressive goal of a sub-100-point finish in the SL after only 1 day of SL training.
Congratulations!
The rest of the camp was just as productive. The following week saw clear skies and warmer weather as temperatures swung back up to a cozy -5 to 0C, allowing the team to get in good mileage. They also gained a new perspective on their skiing through some cool drone footage, (courtesy of Ihsan Salari), and connected with younger North Shore athletes as the Cypress Ski Team joined them on the hill for a few days.
Three weeks on snow meant three weeks away from school, but each athlete was able to keep up with their workload, helping one another with their Calculus or Chemistry in the lodge, or bonding over the impending panic of university application deadlines. Nonetheless, VST’s memorable Secret Turkey, (the November version of Secret Santa,) was a fun and welcome tradition; so was the walk in the Wildlife Reserve, where the team tried to spot Benedict the Moose from last year, unfortunately to little success. On their last off day, they also had the opportunity to sightsee the beautiful and iconic Miles Canyon.
Miles Canyon, photo courtesy of Brooke Irish
Overall, taking advantage of Sima’s gently sloping terrain meant that the team was able to finish with two solid training blocks of GS before heading home.
VST would like to thank all the volunteers at Mt. Sima who made the race happen; the MCs, who kept the energy high at the finish; and all the hard-working cafeteria staff. Most importantly, VST would like to thank Coach Titouan and Coach Nino, whose constant support and motivation kept the stoke high through the long training blocks and helped everyone have a wicked start to the season.
Next up, VST will head to Sun Peaks for a 4-day SL training camp, before tackling the Panorama Christmas Series. Good luck to everyone for the 2023-2024 season!
VST Team 2023-2024
