The Yukon Ski Championships saw 94 local skiers competing in the territory's seventh annual cross-country skiing event at the Whitehorse Nordic Centre on Feb. 8, just a week before the Bill Gairdner Masters National Championships arrives in Whitehorse from Feb. 19 to 23.
The Yukon Championships cross-country skiing competition featured a range of age categories, including U16 and over, as well as categories for younger skiers from U8 to U12. There were around 50 participants in the younger age groups and 44 in the older categories, according to Whitehorse Nordic Centre's general manager, Ben Poudou.
Nicolas Giangrande completed the 15-kilometre course in 43 minutes and 46 seconds, beating Simon Connell by a razor-thin margin of one millisecond to finish as the overall fastest Yukon Ski Championships cross-country skier. Similarly, Johannes Benkert beat out Logan Tirschmann on the 7.5 kilometre trail by a margin of three milliseconds in the U16 age category, followed by Sitka Land-Gillis placing third by a margin of seven milliseconds behind Benkert.
Special Olympics Yukon organized two Yukoners with intellectual and developmental disabilities who competed at the championships, Poudou said. Padraig McIntyre finished the 7.5 kilometre course in 25 minutes and 14 seconds in the Special Olympics Yukon category.
The Yukon Ski Championships, a tier-three event sanctioned by Nordiq Canada, the national governing body for cross-country skiing, did not result in athletes accumulating International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) points. According to Poudou, this is due to the tier system, which prevents athletes from qualifying for certain events and competitions.
The Whitehorse Nordic Centre is now gearing up to host the Bill Gairdner Masters National Championships scheduled to take place a couple weeks after the Yukon Championships from Feb 19 to 23, Poudou said. Yukon skiers who had participated in the Yukon Championships would have practiced on the same trail network ahead of the Bill Gairdner Masters international cross-country skiing event which is set to take place at the Whitehorse Nordic Centre.
"It's a national championship. And, yeah, it's exciting because we are gonna have 85 people coming from out of the territory. And, you know, I think 60 of them will be skiing for the first time in the Yukon. So you know, people are excited to come up here. They know we have long ski season." Poudou said.
The Yukon Championships was managed by approximately 40 to 50 volunteers who took care of keeping times, marshalling, supporting organizers and first aid duties, Poudou said. He added that some of those volunteers will be assisting with the Bill Gairdner Masters National Championships in Whitehorse. He attributed the community support with the growing popularity of the club at 2,300 members.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
