The Northwest has many great landscapes and parks, but perhaps the hidden gem of the area is Table Mountain Regional Park. Not only is it a great place to go for a recreational day at the hill, but the local ski resort also produces some nationally competitive skiers.
Zoe Schultz and RJ Cook are two of those local skiers, who call Table Mountain their home ski hill. Schultz and Cook, both K1 skiers, meaning they are in the 11- and 12-year-old division, qualified for the Whistler Cup, an international event April 8 to 10.
Schultz and Cook both strapped on their first pair of skis well before their first day of kindergarten and have worked their way up, or should I say down, through the skiing ranks. Schultz competed in the Whistler Cup once before, but Cook is looking forward to his first experience and the opportunity to meet new people while representing the Battlefords, Saskatchewan and Canada.
Other locals from the Table Mountain Ski and Board Team, who have attended the Whistler Cup include Sarah Loy, Jaden Jamieson and Sarah Jones, who also represented Saskatchewan at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax last month and had a 19th and 27th place finishes.
The two local skiers who will be at Whistler this year also raced in three Sask Cup events this season including the event at Table Mountain March 10 to 13. That weekend, in Battleford, the Sask Alpine awards were handed out and Table Mountain was the big winner, earning the Sask Cup Race Series Club Trophy, four individual gold medals, three silvers and two bronze medals.
For the second straight year, Table Mountain won the club trophy, this time with 1,643 accumulated points. In second was Prince Albert Alpine Ski Team with 905 points. The Sask Cup Race Series Club Trophy win is the seventh for Table Mountain since the 1985-86 ski season.
Schultz was first in the K1 women's event while Cook was first in the K1 men's division. Amy Lacoursiere was first in the E2 women's division and Eli Klassen was first in the E2 men's category.
Liam Tkatchuk earned silver while Logan Cook was third in the E2 division. Louis Lacoursiere and Taylor Musgrave were second and third respectively in the K1 men's category while Loy was second in the K2 women's division.
With just a few weeks left in the ski season, Schultz and Cook both look forward to training for two weeks before heading to Whistler and just last week they learned they'd both be members of Team Canada at Whistler.
Both young Battlefords skiers are excited about the opportunity and thankful for the support from the Table Mountain and provincial alpine coaches and their families, who are also avid skiers.
