SKI CROSS:

National teamers spread ski cross gospel to young athletes

April 1, 2011 — Canada Ski Cross     ♦ Photo: Clinic time (Canada Ski Cross)

CALGARY, Alberta ― More than 40 young skiers were introduced to the sport of ski cross on Thursday during a clinic hosted by members of Canada’s national team.

World champions Chris Del Bosco and Kelsey Serwa, plus teammates and coaches, skied alongside the youngsters at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alta., and taught them some of the fundamentals of the fast-growing sport.

“It was awesome,” said Del Bosco, one of the sport’s biggest stars. “We were just getting them pumped on ski cross. Just kind of explaining some of the basic techniques we use. More than anything it’s about having fun.”

Del Bosco, Serwa and the rest of the national team are in Alberta to take part in the 2011 Sport Chek Ski Cross Canadian Championships and Canadian Open in Lake Louise.

The championships, which go from April 1-3, will crown a national men’s and women’s champion.

“It’s going to be good. It’s fun to race,” said Del Bosco, who won the first men’s Canadian title at Red Mountain in 2008. “I will definitely be going for it.”

During the clinic at Canada Olympic Park, national team athletes and coaches took groups of youngsters through a course specifically designed to help teach the basic skills used in ski cross races.

“We break down ski cross into its individual parts. We had the start gate set up, we had a roller section and I took my group into the halfpipe and the park,” said Archer.

“It’s new to them so they were focused. They were paying attention. It was a fun time all around.”

Canada’s ski cross team enjoyed a hugely successful World Cup season. Serwa was crowned world champion and Winter X Games gold medallist and was third overall in the final World Cup rankings.

Del Bosco was second overall in the rankings, won silver at the X Games and gold at the World Championships. The team also won the crystal globe as winner of the Nations Cup, awarded to the country with the most World Cup points.