Team West competed in the first Nor-Am of the year this past weekend at Whiteface resort in Lake Placid NY. This event took place on the same course that held the last World Cup prior to the 2010 Olympic Games. 2 inches of rain on the Monday before the event posed many challenges for the organizing crew while plummeting temperatures on competition days made for a very difficult course. The mogul venue was a 245 meter 26.5 degree course with tightly spaced and extremely firm moguls. Team west had mixed results on this difficult course with some very successful performances.

Singles Day 1
Cold weather, high winds and lift issues cause numerous delays the morning of the event rendering the running of a finals impossible. Fridays event was a 1 run event. Kylie Sivell was the top team west female finishing day 1 in 20th place. Kylie skied well but made mistakes that relegated her to 20th. In the men’s category Mike Henitiuk finished in 11th place with Garret Wiltshire, Andrew Pool and Austin Hunter finishing in 31st, 32nd and 35th respectively.

Singles Day 2
Once again cold weather a difficult course and a dangerous finish area led to an organizing committee decision to run a second singles event rather than a duels. The highlight of day 2 was an impressive performance by Mike Henitiuk as he stood on his first Nor-Am podium in 3rd place with a score of 23.88. Mike came from 11th place after qualifications to finish 3rd best on the day with a fast run topped off with a Corked 7 tail grab and a flat 360 Japan grab. Congratulations to Mike. Rob Winter also had a strong day making the top 16 cut for finals in 14th place and moving up in finals to finish in 11th. Garret Witshire with another consistent run finished 32nd. Kylie Sivell was once again the top female finishing in 28th place with the remainder of the women having trouble on this difficult course.

The team is now traveling to Killington VT. For the second Nor-Am of the season. Wish us luck as we prepare to once again compete on Friday and Saturday this coming week. Thank you all for your continued support. Complete results are posted http://urtur.com/.