News & Analysis

Sunshine Village Hosts Alberta Freestyle Championships

Editors Note: There are two photos and a video associated with this release.

Jaws were dropping at Sunshine Village the weekend of March 31st and April 1st and it wasn't just due to the epic amounts of snow the resort has received recently.

Sunshine Village's own Southern Alberta Freestyle Ski Club and the Alberta Freestyle Ski Association hosted the Alberta Freestyle Championships over the weekend and talented competitors impressed spectators and Sunshine staff alike.

"Sunshine Village is proud to host this incredible event," said John Scurfield, Senior Vice President of Resort Operations, Sales and Marketing of Sunshine Village. "The talent level of these athletes is incredible and I'm certain we will see them on the world stage in the future."

120 of Alberta's best freestyle skiers converged on Sunshine for the event, which featured moguls, dual moguls, and slope style competitions.

Conditions were snowy on Friday and Saturday for the moguls and dual moguls competition but on Sunday the sun came out in the Rogers Terrain Park.

DJ Franky Dubs provided the music and Sunshine Village provided the barbeque and according to participants, a real party atmosphere came to the park for the slope style competition.

See: Results attached.

Alberta has a long history of producing top-level freestyle skiers. Current national team members hailing from Alberta include Rosalind Groenewoud, Keltie Hansen, Megan Gunning, Dania Assaly, Noah Bowman and Mike Riddle in half pipe, Warren Shouldice (world champion) and Jonathan Vellner in aerials, Ian Cosco in slope style, and Chelsea Henitiuk in moguls.

Alberta is also the home of mogul legend Jennifer Heil, Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion.

Sunshine has experienced a record breaking snowfall this season and is currently sitting at a total snowfall of 972cm.

Sunshine Village is wide open until May 21st with spring hours (all lifts to 4:30pm and Jackrabbit until 5:00pm).

For more information on events, photos, videos and conditions, follow us on Google+, Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @SunshineVillage.

Results:

On the women's side in the F1 & F2 category was dominated by the Alberta Mogul Team.

--  Claire Lambert captured the gold, followed by Emilie Brown and Kate
    Targett. 
--  The F3 category was won by Maddie Russell-Cowie, followed by Veronica
    Oczkowski and Anneke Ritchie. 
--  The F4 Southern Alberta Freestyle's own Searik Markle followed up her
    victory at Alberta Winter Games with a win at her home hill, Searik was
    followed by Heidi Van Beselaere and Alison Brown. 

On the men's side, the M2 category was dominated by the Alberta Mogul Team.

--  Former Southern Alberta Freestyle Athletes Matt Joosten and David
    Cooksley won gold and silver, followed by Luke Ulsifer with the bronze. 
--  Bradley Anselmo of Jasper won the M3 title followed by James Schmidt,
    the bronze was won by Southern Alberta Freestyle's Skaha Markle. 
--  In M4, Cameron Brown took the gold, followed by Lakota Turcotte, with
    the bronze going to Ryan Portello of Southern Alberta Freestyle. 

In the dual mogul competition:

--  The F1, F2, and F3 categories were again dominated by the Alberta Mogul
    Team, with the podium being the same as single moguls. 
--  Claire Lambert was again on top followed by Brown and Targett. The F4
    category was won by Seariki Markle of Southern Alberta Freestyle. Markle
    finished off her dominant weekend with a 20-5 win in the final. Silver
    and bronze in F-4 went to Heidi Van Beselaere and Megan Warrener. 
--  On the men's side, in M2 it was a Southern Alberta Freestyle sweep, well
    actually the podium was all from the Alberta Mogul Team, but all were
    former members of Southern Alberta Freestyle. Matt Joosten took the gold
    medal in a tight 13-12 final over teammate David Cooksley. Conner Koenen
    took the bronze. In the M3 category, Bradley Anselmo took the gold,
    followed by James Schmidt and Matthew Parfitt. In the M4 category, Davis
    Clement claimed the gold, followed by Lakota Turcotte and Cameron Brown.

On Sunday, the Rogers Terrain Park played host to the slope style competition.

--  On the women's side, the F2 podium were all from Winsport Canada; Megan
    Fislier took gold followed by Karly Samson and Michelena Robinson. In
    F3, Robyn Samson took the gold followed by Tessa Carrels and Janelle
    Yip. In F4, Hannah Norman captured gold followed by Megan Warrener and
    Sarah Kerestes. 
--  On the men's side, Winsport Canada's Corbin Lefebvre won gold in M2,
    followed by teammate Salman Tirmizi, Ben Pollock took the bronce. In M3,
    Central Alberta Freestyle's Dustin Cressey won the gold, followed by
    Cameron Duncan and Thomas Nelner. Calgary Freeriderz Mark Hendrickson
    too gold in M4 with the highest score of the afternoon. Mark was joined
    on the podium Zain Tirmizi and Davis Clement.
      

To view the photos associated with this release, please see the following links:

Photo 1: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120405-405sun_image1.jpg

Photo 2: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120405-405sun_image2.jpg

To view the video associated with this release, please see the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHmyYByRXic&list=UU0mu oxLiFjQJVPF36pxf-1A&index=3&feature=plcp

Contacts:
Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort
Dani Smythe
Communications and Marketing Co-ordinator
403-705-4026 or Cell: 403-614-9418
dani.smythe@skibanff.com

SOURCE: Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort