Rides of March | Milestone Event
The Alberta Masters Ski Club hosted it’s 20th annual Rides of March event at Nakiska Ski Area last week and combined the 2026 Western Canadian Masters Alpine Championship (WCMAC) with a fun race for U16 and U14 athletes. (87) Masters ski racers from across Canada aged 21 to 83 and another (39) U17 athletes competed to see who was fastest in three disciplines: Super-G, GS, and Slalom.
SG training on Thursday was followed by a bluebird SG race day Friday on the famous Map Maker run. Unfortunately, we were only able to run from top to mid-mountain, but even then, athletes got to feel the speed and the g-forces that a true Super-G provides. Both Super-G’s tested athletes with a fast drop from a steep start ramp, with heavy left footers to Coaches Bump. The snow was grippy and hard, with excellent visibility. Coaches Bump was sizable this year, so athletes had to ensure they kept their feet grounded. Next was a gradually right turning section, where proper tucks and angulation were rewarded before the Walking Buffalo rollover, which provided a blind drop-away. Another 10 turns to the finish and the top athletes were getting down the full course in just under a minute. Both runs ran without incident and the male Master Darren Gee took the title for fastest run of the day, with females Hayden Kluge (U16) and Addelyn Nowell (U16) in hot pursuit only 1.5 seconds back. Top female Master was Katya Cuddihy and the top U17 male was Eli Gauthier in both runs.
GS on day two took a bad turn in the afternoon with Gold shutting down, so it turned into a one run race. Visibility was good, but the wind and warmer temperatures impacted the snow and the chairlift. Competitors saw another fast start heading down Map Maker with a tightly set course, but on firm and grippy snow. Coaches Bump was beautifully set, and the following flatter section opened for several turns and then quickly tested the athletes by going back to tighter turns and softening snow conditions. It was a give and take course, with a couple of gate sets that the Masters had not seen yet in training, which kept everyone on their toes. The youngish-gun Adam Gee (27) took the fastest run at 60.32 seconds, while the fastest U17 Charles Blouin was extremely close at 60.48 seconds. Officially speaking, the top Master was Stephane Ricard at 63.10 seconds. Top female was Ainsley Langley Taylor at 60.65; talk about fast kids!!! Top female Master was Hugoline Morton with a 64.66, apparently her first time back on GS skis in 5 years!
The Saturday night Gala was fantastic at the Finish Line Lounge, with Nakiska GM Jan Sekerek, head chef Jeremy, and the servers all providing an unbelievable smoked brisket and atmosphere to boot. The Master SG and GS awards were handed out, and competitors were given a sneak peek on how the overall age handicapped standings were shaping up. Everyone also got to look at the Rides of March auction items. A huge shout out to Irene Collins and Eveline Lefebvre for their tireless work, as well as all the sponsors who provided fabulous items to bid on.
On day three, Mother Nature decided to show everyone how finicky she can be. She had already thrown sun, wind and temperature swings, so she decided some moisture was necessary. With rain overnight, the morning course conditions were soft. By mid-morning she started dropping the temperature and puking snow, almost too much snow!! The first run was a nicely set course, relatively straight but athletes needed to keep their speed in check; especially with some turns resembling a bobsled track. An incredibly hard-working ROC, led by Mike Gee, Bob Leitch, Dave Bartle and Nick Tadeo pulled off an amazing race weekend in challenging conditions, perhaps at their best Sunday afternoon. Contemplating cancellation, the Masters athletes exhibited their resiliency and slipped and sidestepped the finish to remove approximately 20 cm’s of snow that had fallen since the morning, enough to carry on the race. The second run wasn’t tricky but had some challenges with the continued fresh snow and a more challenging finish, which caught a couple athletes. Adam Gee laid down the fastest runs in both races, while Darren Gee took the fastest overall for male Masters. Victoria Konate and Skylar Heida (U17’s) respectively split the fastest female times, with Irene Collins taking the overall slalom top spot for female Masters at age 70! Introduced this year was an age-based handicap system for the four overall championship awards. This FIS based point system was hard to put together from a results side of things, but it made for some tight race results and an exciting last day.