Claire Simmons of Corner Brook competes in the Super-G at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in this file photo.
“It’s probably the adrenalin you get when you’re on the course,” she said of why she loves the fast-paced sport of alpine ski racing.
The 16-year-old from Corner Brook has been on the Marble Mountain Alpine Race Team for six years now, with the three years previous to that spent in the Snow Stars program to prepare herself for competition. And she was already a four-year veteran of the sport before that, even.
A lot of her friends were involved and she’d heard people speak so highly of it, she said, that she wanted to give it a try.
This weekend is the Super Bowl of sorts for Marble team members, as the local resort hosts the annual Marble Cup races. The races began Friday with the Super G event, before continuing with today’s Giant Slalom and wrapping up Sunday with the Slalom.
Racers from all over Atlantic Canada were expected to attend, competing in four divisions of U12, U14, U16 and U18.
After nabbing gold in last year’s U16 slalom event, Simmons was hoping for a repeat performance this year, even as she moves up to the U18 division. Slalom, after all, is her favourite event because of the faster turns and need for quicker feet, which suits her style just fine.
“I think that if I just focus and ski the way I can, I can probably get first,” offered the daughter of Clyde Simmons and Heidi Staeben-Simmons, while cautioning that pretty much all the girls ski at the same level, so predictions were tough to make.
Prior to the race events, athletes participated in a three-day technical training camp with coaches Jeff MacLennan and Chris Hillier from Whistler, B.C, who have helped both national and international ski racers succeed at the Nor-Am Cup, World Cup and Olympic level.
It’s all a part of why this annual event differs from so many other racing competitions offered and why the local racers take such pride in the entire week — and in defending their home turf with a Marble Cup total-team victory on Sunday.
Standing at the starting gate, looking at the course unfold before her, Simmons will be hoping to play a very big role in that.
