A pair of Vernon Ski Club alumni have made their mark at the 2021-22 International Ski Federation Alpine Ski World Cup.
Katrina and Gerrit van Soest proved they are capable of reaching higher levels of the sport with appearances at the World Cup in Lake Louise earlier this month.
Katrina, 22, a member of Banff Alpine Racers, got the call from the Lake Louise Race Organizing Committee in late November that she had qualified for her first World Cup Super-G start on Dec. 5. Katrina began the race in 50th position and was 0.4 seconds off the lead in the first section. She finished 2.9 seconds off the top 15 women Super-G skiers in the world. She placed seventh in the Super-G at Lake Louise on Dec. 10.
Gerrit, 20, in his third season with the BC Alpine ski team, also received an invite from the same committee in late November to forerun the men’s downhill and Super-G events at the World Cup.
Forerunners are used in ski competitions to create a level playing field. They are sent out to ski the course just before the beginning of a race, wearing out the track so that the first skiers don’t have an advantage over the later skiers.
Every year, six forerunners are selected in North America based on their coach’s recommendations and their performance points. Gerrit was the sole Canadian forerunner invited.
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