Frozen Moose Weekend a Success in Grande Prairie
Grande Prairie, AB – This past weekend the Nitehawk Alpine Ski Team hosted their annual Frozen Moose event which, this year, combined an alpine ski race AND a ski cross training event simultaneously! It was busy, but athletes, coaches and volunteers alike had a blast! Athletes from Cold Lake and Valley Ski Club participated as well.
Saturday saw the U12 athletes training ski cross with former ASX athlete Kiersten Vincett. They learned start technique, feature management and got to experience some fun heats! U14/16/19 athletes ran both a two-run slalom and a single-run GS race. On Sunday, organizers flipped the program and the U12 athletes did some dual panelled slalom fun races, while the U14/16/19 athletes took their turn on the ski cross course with Kiersten.
On Saturday evening, athletes, coaches and parents enjoyed a speaker panel of Canadian National Ski Cross Team members Courtney Hoffos, Abby McEwen and India Sherret via Teams, who share their stories and answered audience questions. “What was your worst injury?” asked by one of the younger athletes drew some laughs from all three ladies who responded with, “do you want a laundry list?” Despite sharing some examples that highlight the danger of the sport, exactly zero kids were deterred (sorry parents!) and, instead, all the athletes were even more inspired to take advantage of the training opportunity offered. All in all, the evening was a great way to engage the ski community off the slopes in a social atmosphere.
“We’re very thankful of our host venue, Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park, for their support of this event,” said Chief of Race and NAST President, Ashley Woytiuk, “and thanks also to Alberta Alpine, the GMC Dealers of Alberta, and our very own The Drop Rideshop for providing some awesome draw prizes that added to the fun of the event.
The Nitehawk Alpine Ski Team is a local kid’s ski racing club that promotes the sport of alpine skiing and competitive racing in and around the Grande Prairie area. The club offers kids ages 4 to 16 the opportunity to develop their skiing skills, pursue competitive ski racing, and be a part of a fantastic team environment that engages them in life long outdoor recreation. All members are registered with Alberta Alpine and can compete in both traditional downhill and ski cross events.
The club is a non-profit that operates primarily out of Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park, with additional training and competitive racing at other Northern AB ski hills. The primary goals of the Nitehawk Alpine Ski Team, in addition to producing excellent skiers, is to engage youth in our community in an active lifestyle, develop a team attitude and to guide them towards a lifetime love of alpine skiing. Visit https://www.nitehawkalpine.com/ for more info.