BOW VALLEY – Wherever you look around the Bow Valley, it's overloaded with skiing talent. Even at the elementary schools, there is North American champions walking down its halls.
Banff teenager Seth Sands can now say he is that guy after winning the IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships from April 5-9 at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C.
Throwing down two killer runs to blast the competition from Whistler to Vail, the ULLR Big Mountain racer picked up the biggest victory of his young free-riding career at the invite-only event.
“It just feels amazing,” said Sands. “I think the biggest thing I focused on was just skiing my own line and not worrying about what other people were doing. I think that definitely benefited me.”
Jordy Burks, Sands’ coach at the local ULLR club, said he thinks his pupil is “the full package” and has what it takes to one day represent Canada on the big stage.
“I think down the road sometimes, four years [from now], and I think what he’ll be doing,” said Burks.
“I think what Seth is really good at is just he has a lot of finesse in what he does. He’s just super solid in both his turns and air skills. He takes some fairly standard moves, like the 360, and puts his own stamp on them and stylizes them and turns them into something quite unique. When he’s doing his tricks, he just makes them look so cool, really.”
Popping in ear buds and riding down to the tune of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, Sands went to work at Kicking Horse in the 12-14 boys category.
Freeriding, also referred to as big mountain, is competitive skiing and snowboarding with no set courses or on groomed snow. The sport’s point system rewards skill, tricks, jumps and clean riding, all in about a two-minute ride from top to bottom.
Sands, who has a relaxed approach to skiing, said being in control of the run is important, as well.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t matter as much about tricks than it matters about just how much control you’re in and how you’re skiing the mountain overall,” said Sands.
With conditions good for the first run, Sands and coaches pre-planned his line down.
A big moment occurred when Sands cleared a tough windlip, an overhanging ledge of snow, that gave most of the field trouble. Point-wise, Sands was sitting pretty in third overall after reaching the bottom.
During run two, as the day went on, the conditions deteriorated and the precious sunlight faded. In good light, a rider can see all the bumps and exactly where they need to go. Sands was having trouble seeing 10 feet in front of him under the tricky light.
The Banff skier and coaches called an audible before going down, changing what line he would take.
“I was getting worried that the kids mid-pack, because they had really good light, they would have solid runs,” said Sands. “But again, I skied my line, kept it in check, and I think the judges rewarded for that.”
Rewarded handsomely, indeed. With back-to-back solid runs, the Canuck earned a 68.47 score – 0.17 points ahead of second place’s Zebedee Schreiber of Team Palisades Tahoe. In third was Carden Tomic of Whistler Freeride Club.
“It’s not easy,” said Burks. “A lot of things have to come together – even a bit of luck.
“His tactic in that final run was to get six or seven big airs, and he just makes big jumps look so easy. He lands and you never see any sort of struggle. He’s just so smooth.”
The huge season-ending victory catapulted Sands to second overall in the season standings from eighth spot.
Next season, Sands goes up in competition to the 15-18 male category – a much tougher challenge, but with greater rewards of potentially presenting the Great White North at the junior world championships.
Sands wasn’t the only local who threw down at Kicking Horse.
Canmore’s Anjah Morgan-Smith nearly missed a podium, finishing fourth place in the 12-14 girls category.
First place was up for grabs in the girls event, as the top five racers all finished within 0.17 points of each other.
“Anyone of those girls could have won it, but the tiny margins made the difference,” said Burks.
The ULLR coach added Morgan-Smith was contained, but smart in her runs.
“She put down two really solid runs and, in a way, I think she was disappointed because she was gunning for a win,” Burks said. “In her finals run she wasn’t quite as fluid as she was hoping to be and she missed one small hit in the middle of the run and that’s all it takes.”
Overall, the Canmore skier finished fifth in the season standings.
“To be in the top five in North America, I’m just really proud of them and they’ve done something really notable,” said Burks.
