The Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders returned home from the Alberta Winter Games in Banff with three medals around their necks.
Competing at the Feb. 6-9 event, the club’s seven skiers representing Zone 7 recorded several strong performances, highlighted by Emma Siegle’s gold in moguls and silver in slopestyle. Daniel Masur claimed the club’s third medal, a silver in slopestyle.
Freeriders past president Toni Siegle said the entire team thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and were able to file another new skiing experience into their memory banks.
“The kids had a great time; it was really a good experience for them,” she said. “It’s always good when you get out to a different hill and get exposed to a different setup in the terrain park or in the mogul run and have to adapt to that.”
Siegle said there were some athletes responded to the stage they were on and performed tricks they previously had been unable to.
Klayton Potts landed his first 900 jump at the Games, while Kolten Latreille completed his first ever 720.
“In a competition situation, to land a new trick, that’s pretty impressive,” Siegle said. “That’s definitely stepping it up.”
Although not every skier was able to pick up hardware or set personal benchmarks, each athlete who made the trip down to the Games came back a winner in Siegle’s eyes.
“Every single one of them, as far as I’m concerned, is a winner for going out there and going out in front of a crowd and doing what they do,” she said.
Some did their best and were rewarded for it, while others had falls that meant they didn’t get the results they were hoping for. However, “that happens to everybody at some point,” she said.
Experiencing failure like that is good, she added, as it helps the kids build the resiliency they’ll need as they grow up.
For Emma Siegle, there wasn’t much disappointment during the weekend, as she posted a score five points higher than she had ever posted competing in moguls.
“I was really happy with my mogul run,” she said. “That was the best score I’ve ever had in moguls.”
Emma said she achieved that personal best, and the gold that came with it, because she figured out what she needs to do to do well — drive her skis down the hill instead of taking her time, which leads to increased turn and speed scores.
As for nerves or pressure competing at the provincial level, she said the weekend felt much like other competitions she’s been at because she was with friends she had made at other competitions.
“But, it was just cool knowing it was the Alberta Winter Games,” she said.
Toni Siegle said the weekend was special in part because of how it was structured.
“They have it set up so that they’re trying to replicate the Olympic experience,” she said.
In order to simulate that Olympic experience, she said there were opening ceremonies and the kids were sequestered away from their families and lived as if they were in an athletes’ village.
There was even a dance on Feb. 8 at the Banff Springs Hotel.
