By Karen MColl
Revelstoke has every reason to be proud of their freeskiers after the stellar performance displayed today during the qualifying event of the Canadian Freeskiing Championships at RMR. Two local women and three local men earned themselves a spot in the main competition Friday and Saturday where they will be competing against some of the biggest names in the sport. 35 skiers out of the 89 total qualifiers made the cut today.
Local sisters Isabelle Lynch, 24, and her sister, Zoya, 18, made a strong team today, finishing second and fifth respectively, and will both move on.
Isabelle came out hard and skied a clean and fast line. She was all smiles when she heard the results at 4pm today.
“I’m super stoked, she said. “I was feeling fairly confident but it’s so hard to know.”
Although most competitors agreed that the course conditions were good, many had trouble with the landing zones of the cliffs. The seven females to make the cut tended to ski more conservatively than those that took bigger risks and made more mistakes.
“There were a lot of strong skiers and a lot of girls crashed. A lot of good girls just had bad luck.”
Although the venue run, Separate Reality, is old hat for the two sisters, course conditions always dictate line choices and levels of aggression.
“I ski Separate Reality every day, so I feel like I can ski it in my sleep. I was stoked. I didn’t get too crazy because of the conditions. I kept it mellow and I skied as fast as I can”, said Zoya. While she has participated in several junior freeskiing events, this was her first time competing in the Freeskiing World Tour.
Revelstoke’s male contingency put on an equal display of confidence and competence with three of the eight local competitors making the cut. Eric Young, who hails from North Vancouver but considers RMR his home mountain, wowed crowds with a first-place finish. The announcer called him a “standout” as he performed two cliffs drops and several nice airs. A nearby spectator agreed.
“That guy’s good. He’s really good.”
Mike Miller, Revelstoke resident for three years, snagged a spot in the competition late Wednesday afternoon and finished 20th. CJ Wright, originally from New Zealand but now living in Revelstoke, finished 21st. Both will be competing Friday and Saturday.
To read our main story on the day’s events please go here: https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//2010/01/07/speed-control-and-‘stomped’-landings-set-competitors-apart-today-in-qualifying-competition-at-rmr/
To see other images from the day please scroll down:
