It鈥檚 been a tough climb back onto the podium for Tori Todosichuk, a 15-year-old Kamsack alpine ski racer.
鈥淪ince relocating from Kamsack to Silver Star Mountain, B.C. in September 2014, she has overcome injury, trained hard, and now has her first podium finish in a BC alpine race, her father, Warren, said last week.
鈥淭ori placed third in two consecutive races last weekend in the alpine discipline of downhill, the fastest of all alpine race disciplines,鈥� Warren said. Downhill racing tests how far athletes are able to push themselves, both mentally and physically, with a course that is set in a fashion allowing the racer to maintain maximum speed from the start to the finish.
On the course set at Silver Star Mountain February 6 and 7, athletes in her age category reached speeds up to 102km per hour on race day, he said, adding that coaches often use radar guns to clock athletes at these events.
Times were faster during the training runs the day prior to the race, but a fresh snowfall on the morning of the race actually slowed the course down, he said. 鈥淭ori had no exposure to a speed event like this downhill before relocating to BC due to the length of course required.
Encouraged by Sask Alpine and Sask Ski, this out-of-province training allows athletes like Tori to test their skills on a bigger stage, he said. Support from the Saskatchewan organizations has been fantastic with some bursary funds that help with the huge equipment requirements as well as supportive contact from members of the ski community back in Saskatchewan.
The Todosichuk family remains as members of the Kamsack Ski Club and is also grateful for the support provided by the local club back home and the opportunity to learn the basics of ski racing back at Duck Mountain Ski Area, he said.
In BC, athletes in Tori鈥檚 U16 age group train in all the disciplines of alpine through their season including slalom, giant slalom, Super G, and downhill.
鈥淭ori trains on the snow four days a week during the ski season which begins in late November and extends into April,鈥� he said. The High Performers Program through the local school district co-operates with the ski club to allow students to achieve their high school education while providing extra days for training.
In addition to 鈥渙n snow鈥� training, the program has an extensive dryland exercise program in the off season to keep athletes in peak physical condition.
For Tori, most of the 2014-15 season was spent recovering from injury with reduced training time and more time spent rebuilding a broken body, he said. Unfortunately, the injury didn鈥檛 allow her to represent Saskatchewan in the 2015 Canada Winter Games as planned.
This season, a healthy Tori has stepped back on the skis with renewed determination, he said. The weekend podium placing was a great reward for many months of effort.
