Westman Ski Club hosting U12 race at Minnedosa

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This article was published 22/02/2020 (2298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The prairie province of Manitoba doesn’t exactly conjure up images of skiers blazing down a hill, but a group of dedicated people are passionate about the sport of skiing at Minnedosa Sky Valley.

The ski resort 60 kilometres north of Brandon is home to the Westman Ski Club. The club will be hosting under-12 alpine ski races today in one of the races on the Manitoba circuit.

“I’m very excited,” said coach Jodie Davis. “I know for a fact for my kids are excited to finally be able to race on their home hill.”

Davis said there will be about 13 kids from Brandon, Erickson and Shoal Lake competing at the race, taking place all day in Minnedosa.

Davis, now 18, has been skiing with Westman since she was six years old. She’s been a coach for the last three, and even though her competitive days are over, she still enjoys skiing.

Davis is from Minnedosa and got into the sport through her parents, where she took some lessons with Nancy MacKay before getting into the ski club. Davis said her route is the most kids follow when they get into skiing.

Through skiing, Davis has been able to travel to places like Oregon, Colorado and the many world-class resorts in Alberta.

“The thing that I love about it is that I’ve gotten to travel to a lot of places over the years and I’ve experienced things that I would never experience otherwise without skiing,” she said.

For club member and unofficial club promoter Carly Gasparini, she got into the sport through her husband, Pete Whittington.

Gasparini and her two sons Henry and Anderson have lived in Brandon for the last six years. Henry, is the youngest member of the Westman club.

Gasparini said she hadn’t done much skiing before, but her kids have been teaching her quite quickly.

“It was either that or get left behind,” she said with a laugh.

Being able to spend time with her family is a big draw for Gasparini.

“My husband’s love for skiing is what got us into it,” she said.

“We just got back from a trip out west where there are real mountains. We always laugh when we’re encouraging people of thinking about joining the team. I always say, as a parent, I could be sitting in an arena or I could be skiing on a ski hill with the kids.”

Sitting in a warm chalet might also be more appealing to some parents, even if they don’t ski.

“In terms of kids activities it’s a pretty sweet deal,” Gasparini said. “It’s really fun for a family.”

Skiing has even made Gasparini wish winter didn’t end.

“Since we’ve introduced skiing to our winters, I’m actually sad to see them go as opposed for waiting for them to end,” she said with a laugh.

Davis echoed Gasparini’s sentiment about skiing being a sport for the whole family to take part in.

“They want something more family orientated,” Davis said. “Something where all the kids can get involved. They start bringing them out skiing so they learn how to ski, then Nancy usually passes the keen ones over to us and then they start training with us every weekend.”

The Westman Ski Club typically races in three to six events a year and they will travel to Bottineau, N.D, Inglis’s Asessippi, Winnipeg and are most recently were in Kenora, Ont., for an event.

The club is a friendly, welcoming environment.

“The team, we’re really a group of friends, you get to know people,” Gasparini said.

“We have a clubhouse separate from the chalet up at the hill. We share meals together often at lunch, we travel together, we’ve become a really good group of friends.

“We’ve become collegial and that’s a big part of it. It’s not just skiing, it’s fun but it’s a good way to spend your winter.”

Davis, who has been coaching for three years, said the club is “one extended family.”

“We’re always doing potlucks and the parents are involved with everything we do and we travel to different races and it’s just one big family,” she said.

The resort in Minnedosa is “hidden gem,” Gasparini said.

“It always surprises me that people don’t know that Ski Valley is there,” she said.

“If there’s someone in the clubhouse, people are always welcome to come and ask questions up at the hill or even try out the courses.”

The hill in Minnedosa is one of the better hills in the province, Davis said.

“It’s so nice to have something right on top of your doorstep that you can go ski and it’s amazing out there, it’s beautiful,” she said.

The Westman Ski Club is always looking for members, and even though Gasparini said they are more “family focused” they have options for more competitive skiers.

“For athletes looking for competitiveness we have some great coaching staff who can support that as well,” she said.

“If you’re hesitant to go and join the club,” Gasparini said, Minnedosa “is a beautiful hill, particularly for beginners.”

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