Feb. 08, 2012 - Issue #851: Jon Mick
Fall Lines
FALL LINES: About Edmonton, Season in style
» Jan Hudec celebrates his first place finish in Chamonix / Pentaphoto/Alpine Canada
All about Edmonton
The Canadian Birkebeiner weekend is here! On Saturday February 11, the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreational Area will be abuzz with cross-country skiers. Check out our story on page 38 for more.
Next weekend, Rabbit Hill is hosting its Family Winter Festival on Saturday, February 18. Snowboard demos, an ice climbing wall and an obstacle course are just a few of the featured events. DJ Fish Productions will be on hand to keep the tunes spinning and if you’re hungry, head for the BBQ and bake sale. All funds raised, including $1 from each lift ticket, will go to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. Rabbit Hill has partnered up with Silver Star Mountain Resort and some lucky lift pass purchaser that day will walk away with a family weekend package to Silver Star.
Continuing the season in style
Last weekend, Mikael Kingsbury continued his astonishing World Cup moguls dominance, winning gold and silver in Deer Valley, Utah. Meanwhile, across the pond in Chamonix, France, Jan Hudec pulled off an amazing downhill win, capturing gold for the first time in four years. For Hudec this was really special after a lengthy injury comeback involving six knee operations and recurring back pain. Hudec knew something was up, he told reporters, because last Saturday he woke up feeling no pain for the first time in years. Fellow Canadian Erik Guay sweetened the moment for Jan finishing third and joining him on the podium for an emotional rendition of “Oh Canada”. The final Canuck in the race, Benjamin Thomsen, finished fifth, an amazing result for Canada with only three competitors in the field of 64 skiers.
Up north in Moscow, Canada's Devon Kershaw pulled off an even bigger win, capturing gold in a 15km World Cup cross-country freestyle 60-man ski race. After a gruelling 36 minutes, he moved ahead, beating Russian competitor Ilia Chernousov by 0.9 seconds. Devon is the first male cross-country skier to win gold for Canada since 1988, when Pierre Harvey stepped onto the top tier of the podium. Of interest is that Pierre’s son Alex nearly joined Devon on the podium last weekend, finishing in fifth place and only six seconds behind the leading man.
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