WENTWORTH, N.S. – The powder will fly this weekend as freestyle skiers hit long rails and big jumps at a provincial ski championship in Wentworth.
Freestyle Ski Nova Scotia is holding an open, all-ages provincial championship that will see skiers display their talent both on the snow and in the air on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17-18, at Ski Wentworth.
“During the weekend, we will have a Slopestyle competition as well as a Big Air competition,” said Shari Mallory of Freestyle Ski Nova Scotia.
“The Slopestyle event will be on Saturday, and has a variety of features, jumps and rails. The kids all come down the hill and do their best tricks, which are judged and scored by officials. On Sunday, we have our Big Air competition. There will be some huge jumps, and it is pretty entertaining to see these kids fly.”
This weekend’s competition will be broken into six age categories, ranging from the under-10 division to the under-18 division, as well as an open 18-or-over division for those born before 1999.
Although the competition is open to anyone who wants to compete, skiers must be registered with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association.
The competition will see skiers from ski clubs across the province, and even some outside the province, compete for first place in different age brackets, which will go toward their overall league scores.
“Those scores are quite important, especially this year,” said Mallory.
“We are leading into the Canada Games next year, and there are a lot of kids that are looking at potentially being a part of the competition. They have to get scores that meet the criteria to make it.”
While the prospect of competing in the Canada Games may weigh heavily on competitors, Mallory said one of the advantages of freestyle skiing is the promotion of fun over competition within the sport.
“It’s a competition but it’s not stressful for the kids,” she said.
“It’s such a free-spirited sport and the kids just go and have fun. They know it’s a competition and that they may come dead last, but on the flipside, they are still happy doing it. It’s about the fun factor first and the competition is just a bonus in the end.”
Aside from the competition, Freestyle Ski NS will also be holding a few fundraising events, such as a dance, barbecue, bake sale and silent auction, which will raise money to help fund the league and its teams.
The competition is free and open for anyone to spectate, and will take place near the chair lift at the bottom of Ski Wentworth on Saturday and at the end of the hill’s Mogul Run on Sunday.
For information on registration and costs for competitors, visit the Freestyle Ski Nova Scotia website (http://freestylenovascotia.ca/news.php?news_id=1621086)
If You Go
Freestyle Ski Provincial Championships
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 17-18
Ski Wentworth – 1 p.m.
Free for spectators
