Mel Pemble
Contributor
The mist came from the mountain, the mystery came from the racers and the magic came from the whole experience.
On March 3-4 the Para Alpine Provincial Championships were held on Cypress Mountain. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left the mist covered the whole of the mountain, making it a challenge to race. But the racers were all eager to start.
Our team was Vancouver Island Society for Adaptive Snowsports from Mount Washington and this was my second race, the other teams came from all over Canada and included Silverstar from Vernon, VASS from Vancouver, the provincial team from Alberta, B.C. provincial para-alpine ski team and four independents from Vancouver, Sun Peaks and Cypress mountain.
On Saturday it was GS and the course was on Lower Coyote 7; all the forerunners had been down and the gatekeepers were in place and it was time to race. I know that the coaches all say look ahead about three gates but that was extremely hard as in the mist you could see only one gate ahead of you so it was great that we did a course inspection.
I was bib No. 6 so luckily it wasn鈥檛 rutted out when I went down well on my first run. On the second run I wasn鈥檛 so lucky and it was really rutted. As the teams came in everyone had an exciting story to tell.
Saturday night was party night in the magnificent fireside lodge built for the Olympics with a delicious meal and raffle with wonderful prizes. It was a great opportunity to meet the other teams.
Slalom was on Sunday and I was nervous because I find it way harder but to my surprise I had an excellent run and I was buzzing... everyone was.
The second run I had to hike up to a gate three times as my tails kept crossing and I kept slipping down. After one minute battling up and slipping down I made it and everyone cheered. I was not DSQ but I was disappointed with my time, but my battle was worth it as my time was good enough for the bronze medal.
It was a truly magical weekend. Everyone had a great time and I feel so special to be a part of it.
Mel Pemble is a member of VISAS. She attends Podium of Life Ski Academy on Mount Washington.
