The Ontario K1 Provincial Championships were held last week, March 16-18 in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. The best skiers from each club in Ontario between the ages of 11 and 12 were sent to the Provincials. The K1 Provincials consists of three disciplines — Giant Slalom (GS), Slalom (SL) and a Kombi event (combination race with a mix of SL & GS). Each event consists of two runs and the winners are determined by adding the two timed runs together for each event.
Karl Kuus from the Georgian Peaks Club in Ontario had an incredible 3-day performance. The event started with the GS event and on his first run he blasted with the 3rd fastest time. Karl backed-up the second run to take 2nd place overall in the GS event. Karl pumped for the next days SL event, put in the fastest first run of the day followed by a great second run winning the overall Slalom event. Karl commented, " it was extremely icy and hard, but I cut hard and fast and wanted to win badly." For the third event — the Kombi race — Karl fell on the first run and therefore was the very last athlete to race down the hill on the second run. The course was in rough shape after 165 racers — and still he managed to place the 3rd fastest time.
Karl's overall performance at the K1 Provincial Alpine Ski Championships was 3rd place, being the only 11 year-old to podium.
Karl heads to the International Sierra Whistler Cup Ski Race (SWC).
The Sierra Whistler Cup is an International juvenile race to evaluate and benchmark the Canadian ski programs with those worldwide. Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, USA, Slovenia, Germany, France are some of the countries entered into the event. The four top male and female athletes from Ontario earned their spot to compete at the SWC event. Karl Kuus has been confirmed as one of the male athletes invited to the competition and the only 11 year-old from Ontario.
Karl is very excited about going to the event, as it was his goal from the start of the season. His parents Heidi and Ron are manufacturers of high-end ski and snowboard waxes and tools made in Canada — KUUsport Mfg. Ltd. Ron commented that "Karl's performance was unexpected and we're very proud of Karl's hard work and determination this season, he managed to peak at the right time and deliver on demand."
