Medals for Sima Cup winners this year looked a little different. Not that you’re going to spot them around anymore. They’ve probably all been eaten.
Instead of winning a conventional medal, the top three competitors in each category at the competition from Feb. 9 to 10 walked away with baked goods.
Custard-filled cornet pastries and raspberry-filled horseshoe treats were all provided by the local Swiss Bakery.
“The look on their faces when they got handed this instead of a medal was like, ‘really?’ Their eyes were popping out of their heads,” said the Alpine Ski Association Yukon’s Sam Samuelson who was this year’s chief of race.
“I think they like medals too, but they were really happy to get that.”
Samuelson said the competition, which included slalom and giant slalom races, was a chance for skiers, both those in the club and not, to get some race experience.
“We have a local team here and we don’t get a ton of experience otherwise because it’s very expensive to travel, obviously,” she said.
“We’re kind of a small mom-and-pop club. So we’re just trying to give the kids a bit of racing experience.”
But it wasn’t just the skiers that got the experience. Samuelson said the competition was a chance for the club’s volunteers to get trained to practice running an event ahead of the 2020 Arctic Winter Games that will be hosted in Whitehorse.
“Often we run with a bare bones, skeleton kind of crew. But this year we tried to make it a little bit more like it would be down south with a few more hands on deck.”
Samuelson estimates there were at least 20 volunteers over the weekend.
“To run a full race for Arctics we’ll need upwards of 50,” she said. “So we’re sort of halfway there.”
Participants this year ranged from as young a six years old to adults.
The only category that had zero competitors was the U14 boys category.
“It would be great to have a few more (in that category) — any, in fact,” Samuelson said.
She encouraged anyone interested, including those outside the club, to come out to the next local competition, the Yukon Cup on March 30 and 31.
The full results from the Sima Cup are posted online at yukon-news.com.
Contact Ashley Joannou at ashleyj@yukon-news.com
Results
Slalom (combined times)
U18M
Manas Toews 1:40.582
U16F
Greta Gladwin 1:27.551
U16M
Wesley Vangel 1:16.002
Clayton Chapman 1:17.627
Naoise Dempsey 1:18.109
Orin Gladwin 1:23.572
U14F
Tori Vollmer 1:25.847
Morgan Blower 1:38.195
Annie Heffner 1:38.616
Piper Wolsky 1:46.173
U12F
Olivia Vangel 1:45.948
Julia Florentin 2:09.702
U12M
Carson Nelson 1:55.626
Brandon Huffman 2:22.503
U10F
Molly Milner 2:24.939
Corbin Minifie 2:27.250
U10M
Tom Vollmer 1:44.488
Paxton Nelson 2:09.497
Zachary Ball 2:09.662
U8M
Gregory Yurkiv 2:06.468
Harrison Christensen-Brown 2:30.039
Lowell Minifie 2:31.069
U8F
Sophie Stuart 3:10.539
Charlotte Anderson 3:42.044
MASF
Samantha Samuelson 1:29.838
Erin Kohler 1:29.916
Dawn Lammer Dawn 2:00.707
Jeanne Burke 2:10.209
Stefanie Stuart 3:02.689
MASM
Matthew Zago 1:20.427
Brian Boorse 1:43.344
Andrew Anderson 1:44.972
Rod D’Abramo 1:57.068
Matt Jenner 2:04.221
Giant Slalom (combined times)
U18M
Manas Toews 1:25.852
U16M
Wesley Vangel 1:15.670
Naoise Dempsey 1:17.696 2.026
Clayton Chapman 1:18.260
Orin Gladwin 1:21.270
U14F
Adelle Anderson 1:23.281
Morgan Blower 1:27.380
Annie Heffner 1:31.138
Piper Wolsky 1:37.523
U12F
Olivia Vangel 1:27.442
Ellyann Dinn 1:32.234
Abigail Jackson 1:52.795
Madeleine Smith 2:15.783
U12M
Nolan Floyd 1:40.221
Carson Nelson 1:45.140
Brandon Huffman 1:58.577
U10F
Grace Allavary 2:00.530
Corbin Minifie 2:04.391
Molly Milner 2:09.299
Coco Krauzig 2:44.620
U10M
Tom Vollmer 1:30.876
Paxton Nelson 1:59.989
Zachary Ball 2:00.590
Luca Myden 2:04.198
Luka Krauzig 2:19.811
Carter Burns 2:26.536
U8M
Gregory Yurkiv 1:56.229
Lowell Minifie 1:57.737
Elijah Jenner 2:16.927
Kade Hunter 2:21.823
Thomas-Elliot Jackson 2:24.714
Harrison Christensen-Brown 2:26.038
Levi Manolis 2:41.616
U8F
Charlotte Anderson 2:41.948
Sophie Stuart 3:01.687