A Rossland sister and brother combo skied to the top of the podium at the Western Canada Cup in Vernon last weekend.
Jasmine Drolet finished first overall in the 10-km cross-country ski race and her brother Remi skied to first place overall in the 15-km race.
Although still a junior skier, at age 19 Jasmine bested a field stacked with some of the best women skiers in North America for an incredible start to the ski season at the Sovereign Lake competition.
“She beat the next senior skier by 40 seconds,” said Black Jack volunteer David Wood. “She was the fastest woman in the NorAm.”
Remi, 21, did the same in the men’s, finishing in a time of 39 minutes and six seconds, he was 39.5 seconds ahead of Foothills Nordic Skier Tom Stephen and 49.2 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Jack Carlyle.
Black Jack skier Julienne Locke also skied well, coming second in the senior men sprint behind Julian Smith of Georgian Bay Nordic ski team.
Wood, former coach of the Black Jack ski team and the National Ski Team, is still helping out and says the Rossland athletes results bode well for the upcoming weekend event.
“I would say they are on track,” said Wood. “Jasmine’s main goal is the Junior World Championships of course.”
Jasmine is attending Dartmouth College, and her team is currently training in Vernon for two weeks. Remi is taking a sabbatical from Harvard and is looking forward to the Winter Olympic trials in January.
Kootenay Cup back at Black Jack
Despite the cancelation of the Western Canada Cup at Black Jack, thanks to the weekend snowfall, Teck Kootenay Cup races will proceed as planned at the Black Jack Biathlon trails Dec 11 and 12.
“Black Jack athletes are very excited to start racing and can’t wait for the season to begin,” said new head coach Greg Kilroy, who is in his first season leading the squad.
“We have had a great dryland training season and the athletes are looking very fit. There are some new recruits eager to put the bib on for competition.”
Sovereign Lake Nordic will host the Western Canada Cup races 3 and 4 for U20 and Open athletes.
All other categories will be racing at the Tier 2 Kootenay Cup at Black Jack.
Ski conditions are expected to be good for the races, however, there is minimal infrastructure at the site and parking is expected to be a challenge.
The Black Jack Ski Club is asking everyone to carpool and shuttle as much as possible. Attempts are being made to organize a shuttle, but this is not confirmed.
The large team of race volunteers are looking forward to a fun weekend of racing, the chance to renew old acquaintances with coaches and teams, and the buzz that comes with a big event.
The 2021/22 racing season is going to be an exciting one for the Black Jack racing team.
Check the Black Jack website @SkiBlackJackCross1 for updates.
Read: Rossland skier competes at World Nordic championship
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