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Larch Hills skiers kick off the season

On Saturday, Dec. 30, Larch Hills hosted the first in the Okanagan Cup race series for the 2017-18 race season. The conditions at Larch Hills were perfect with fresh snow and sunshine. This was the first race of the season for many of the younger skiers. There were 180 young skiers participating in the classic, interval start race. The course lengths went from one kilometre for the youngest skiers, which included one four-year-old with the 14 and 15-year olds skiing five kilometres.
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Brad Calkins Photo Japeth Bucher glides up ‘The Beast’ hill in the Juvenile Boys five-kilometre Classic race.

On Saturday, Dec. 30, Larch Hills hosted the first in the Okanagan Cup race series for the 2017-18 race season. The conditions at Larch Hills were perfect with fresh snow and sunshine. This was the first race of the season for many of the younger skiers. There were 180 young skiers participating in the classic, interval start race. The course lengths went from one kilometre for the youngest skiers, which included one four-year-old with the 14 and 15-year olds skiing five kilometres. After the Okanagan Cup races were done, Larch Hills hosted a fun race and 81 skiers participated in either a five- or 10-kilometre mass-start classic race.

Thirty-eight Larch Hills skiers earned top-five finishes in their categories. A further 19 local skiers placed top-five in the fun race.

This race was a qualifier for the BC Winter Games which will be held in Kamloops Feb. 22 to 25, with the top two skiers born in 2003 or 2004 qualifying to compete. Four Larch Hills skiers succeeded in this: Julianne Moore, Zara Bucher, Sophia Van Varseveld and Lys Milne.

This race was made possible by a group of very dedicated volunteers who did a great job in hosting a very successful race for more than 260 skiers.

Much of the Larch Hills Junior Race Team is off to Whistler on Jan. 6 and 7 for the first in the Teck BC Cup race series.