Big White athletes land on podium in snowboard, ski cross
Big White Ski Resort’s athletes shined during the Sport Chek National Championships in the snowboard cross and ski cross disciplines this past weekend with three podium finishes.
Tess Critchlow took home the top spot at the Sport Chek Speed Nation Snowboard Cross Nationals on her home course at Big White. Kelsey Serwa also placed first at the Sport Chek National Ski Cross Championships, while Ian Deans landed himself on the podium in second place in the men’s event.
“We’re incredibly proud of Tess, Kelsey and Ian’s performance at nationals with all three athletes landing on the podium,” said Michael J. Ballingall, senior vice-president at Big White Ski Resort.
“From the World Cup events to the Olympics and now the National Championships, it’s been exciting to watch these three compete all season.”
It’s easy to pick out the highlight of Serwa’s season with her gold medal in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but she also had seven top-10 World Cup finishes, including a third-place podium prior to winning the national title.
Critchlow placed ninth overall at the Olympics and had a third-place podium at the South American Cup to start off the 2017-18 competitive season, plus two World Cup top-10 finishes before winning nationals at Big White.
Deans kicked off the season with a fifthplace finish at the Austrian Nationals in November, followed by another fifth-place finish at the Arosa World Cup event in December before travelling to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics as an alternate and forerunner for Canada.
In the Nor-Am Cup, Deans had three other top-10 finishes before his secondplace podium at nationals.
With the competitive season winding down, Big White Ski Resort is hosting a Homecoming Celebration for Serwa on Sunday, April 1, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Village Centre.
Guests will also have the unique opportunity to do a victory lap with her down Serwa’s run named after her grandfather, Cliff Serwa, who co-founded the resort in 1963.