Red Mountain Racers: and so the season starts...

There’s an unwieldy stack of coolers. Skis and gym bags litter the sidewalk. Dads and girlfriends hang on the fringes. The FIS (International Ski Federation) skiers are off again. Ten kids: six girls and four boys. Five kids are local. The rest are here training and going to school from such ski meccas as Spain and the United Kingdom. They are leaving for Panorama for 10 days of training.

And this time it is for real. “The first trip we made was lots of free skiing.” Says Frankie Byron, a Red Mountain Ski Academy student from the United Kingdom. “Now we know what we need to work on.”

Una Trivanovic, a first year FIS skier, agrees. “Yeah this training camp will be lots of gate training and lots of technical work. Time on snow is really important. All the other teams will already be on snow too.”

Early snow is important. “You can just prepare better for racing. Our first race will be in Panorama in late December,” says Aanika Ruutopold who has been on the RMR FIS team for two years. “Getting to go to these training camps totally makes me more sure-footed.”

Coach Mike Osatiuk was confident after the first training camp. He has no concerns with any of the skiers: “We got great technical free skiing skills out of the kids and they all really enjoyed both the skiing and spending time with their new friends. Looks like we have a great group of kids on the ski team this season.”

Kali Butler called her mom, Tauna, over the weekend. “The conditions are fantastic. We are getting in lots of training: full days of skiing, 20 minute lunches. We even got to train with the B.C. girls’ team. Wow!”

FIS is the highest level of ski racer at Red Mountain Racers. They race at provincial and national level races. Using individual race results, the racers are ranked in a data base that compares them internationally. A skier’s race result is scored using a formula based on the level of racers attending the race, the vertical drop, the number of gates, and the spread between a racer’s times and the winners' race times.