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Sweeping the podium

It was a golden moment for Athabascan freestyle skier Ty Kargus as he jumped his way to the top of the podium alongside two teammates.
Three skiers from the Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders Ski Club swept the top three spots in the M12 Moguls during the Alberta Winter Games qualifiers in Jasper Jan. 12-14. (L-R)
Three skiers from the Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders Ski Club swept the top three spots in the M12 Moguls during the Alberta Winter Games qualifiers in Jasper Jan. 12-14. (L-R) Cameron Christian, Ty Kargus, Ayden Duniece.

It was a golden moment for Athabascan freestyle skier Ty Kargus as he jumped his way to the top of the podium alongside two teammates.

“It was good,” the 10-year-old skier said about his first-place performance in the M12 Moguls at the North and South Alberta Winter Games qualifier for moguls and slope style at Marmot Basin in Jasper Jan. 12-14. “I love doing it and always having fun as I do.”

Kargus swept the M12 podium alongside Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders Ski Club teammates Ayden Duniece and Cameron Christian. The trio’s sweep was part of a winning weekend for the club, who put together a total of nine podium finishes and 14 finishes in the top-five.

Club coach Mike Flewwelling said it was a great weekend, especially considering the team only had one day to practice at its home hill, the Pine Valley Ski Resort, before the competition.

“It was great,” Flewwelling said. “All that training in the off-season paid off. Muscle memory kicked in and they’re ripping. Good start to the year.”

It is not abnormal for the club to get little practice before its first competition of the season, Flewwelling said. He added unfortunate weather conditions has stalled Pine Valley’s opening in recent years.

“The more you ski before you enter a competition, the more confident you actually feel,” Flewwelling said. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been in that situation. I think our kids, they just think of it as, ‘OK, it’s normal.’ They just rise to the occasion and ski the best they can.”

Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders Ski Club president Janene Kargus, Ty’s mother, said the club is proud of all its athletes.

She added praise for the members comprising the podium sweep, particularly Athabascan skier Duniece, who joined the club just last year.

“He did a 650 (degree turn) in the moguls,” she said. “Absolutely beautiful. For a second-year athlete, it blew my mind.”

The team is sending three skiers to the Alberta Winter Games which start Feb. 16. But its next club competition will be at home at the Pine Valley Ski Hill starting March 2.

Janene Kargus said the club is not just about teaching kids to be better athletes.

“To be the best athlete you can be is about being the best person you can be and we focus on that,” Kargus said. “We learn how strong they are and also they are capable of reaching their goals.”

M10 – Brendan Miller 4th

M12 – Ty Kargus 1st, Ayden Duniece 2nd, Cameron Christian 3rd

M14 – Tyler Christian 1st

F10 – Sophie Macyk, 2nd

F12 – Sage Korth 4th, Sydney Plemel 5th, Hailey Kargus 6th,

M10 – Brendan Miller 1st

M12 – Avery Macyk 1st, Ty Kargus 2nd, Owen Chorney 4th, Cameron Christian 5th, Wyatt Beaudoin 6th

M16 – Zachary Strydhorst 3rd

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