Fernie’s Freeride team had fantastic results at the recent 2009 Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships that took place at Red Mountain Resort, January 14 - 18, 2009.
Janina Kuzma won the Women's event, and Luke Nelson placed 4th in the Men's event. Martha Burley, Ross Janzen and Aaron Schmidt also competed. A proud parent reported that all the skiers showed off superb talent including Aaron who completed the run with one ski (after losing the other part way down) but did not score as it is a requirement to finish with all gear intact.
Fernie has become renowned for its snow and terrain, but is also well known for the excellent skiers and riders who call Fernie home. You may have seen these athletes on Ride Guide TV, in Snowboard Canada Magazine, or even on the cover of Powder Magazine. The talent found in this part of the Canadian Rockies is amazing considering the town of Fernie is home to only 5,000 residents. Fernie’s Freeride Team consists of six team members who are all residents of Fernie. Their home resort is Fernie Alpine Resort and are all currently competing in freeski events.
The following is a list of the 2008-09 Fernie Freeride Team Members and their most recent accomplishments:
Martha Burley (telemark skier)
- 2008 Vice Champion World Extreme Telemark Championships (Alaska)
- 2008 4th Smith Optics Fernie Freeski
- Telemark Movie: "Harmless" (release winter 08/09) -Tough Guy Productions
- Scarpa Catalogue 2008 - Feature Athlete
Janina Kuzma (skier)
- Competes in various ski disciplines (freeski, big air, super pipe,
slopestyle)
- Appearing on the Ride Guide
- 2nd place - 2008 Fernie Freeski Competition
- 2nd place - 2008 World Freeski Tour Championships (Alyeska, Alaska)
- 1st place - 2008 Volkl NZ Freeski Open
- 1st place - 2008 Export Extremes Mt Ruapehu
- 1st place - 2008 Morro Big Air Turoa
- 1st place - 2008 Electric Quarter Pipe Battle
Jeremie Duchaine-Haley (skier)
- Invited athlete to Cold Rush 09 (one of 20 best all round athletes from
around the world)
- Published photos in NZ Freeski magazine
- 5th overall at Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge
- Finalist at Canadian Open
Ross Janzen (skier)
-Winner: Best Line, Golden Big Mountain Test Centre Grand Opening
- 12th Canadian Freeskiing Championships at Red Mountin 2008
- Full Page photo - Merit Badge, Winter Issue SBC Skier 2008
- Featured in Ski Movie: Such is Life (release winter 08/09) -Rage Films
Luke Nelson (skier)
- 1st place - 2008 Fernie Freeski Competition
- 2nd place - 2008 Canadian Open (Red Mtn)
- 5th place - 2008 Lake Louise Big Mtn Challenge
- 4th place - 2008 World Freeski Tour Championships (Alyeska, Alaska)
- Summer - numerous downhill mountain biking podium finishes
Aaron Schmidt (skier)
- 3rd place - 2008 Fernie Freeski Competition
- 1st place - 2008 Lake Louise Big Mtn Challenge
- Best Athlete Performance - 2008 Island Lake Lodge Photo Shootout
- 3rd place - 2008 World Freeski Tour Championships (Alyeska, Alaska)
