A trio of Smithers cross country skiers recently returned from the World Masters and Canadian Cross Country Ski Championships, held from March 3 to 11 in Vernon. Over 1,100 athletes competed, about a third of them from Canada.
From the Bulkley Valley Cross Country Ski Club, Teresa White, Peter Krause and Larry McCulloch competed in a number of races during the week-long event. For White and Krause, the competition marked their first world cup race, while McCulloch had raced in a previous Masters world cup.
In his last Masters World Cup appearance, McCulloch battled through an entire race with a group of four Russians, who ended up beating him. This year he was determined not to let that happen again, and was set for a tenth place finish in one of his races.
“All of a sudden I saw a ski next to me, and it struck terror in my heart,” he said. A Russian skier again edged him out by a ski tip, but McCulloch is still pleased with his 11th place finish.
“In general we all did really well,” he said. “More importantly, we all brought a lot of stories home with us.”
White finished in the top ten in all three of her races, coming in fifth twice, and ninth once, in a group of about 20 skiers. Krause finished ninth in his first race, following up with a 13th and 14th place finish in his next two races, competing with almost 30 skiers. McCulloch didn’t quite crack the top ten in solo racing, thanks to his Russian competition, but came in 18th, 11th and 14th out of a field of 40 to 75 people in his races. His relay team did take the silver position, finishing 50 seconds behind the winning German team.
Krause said he didn’t know where he would fit in, but had a goal of a top ten finish, which he accomplished in his first race, placing ninth.
“I really enjoyed it. It was good to ski with that level of competition, and great to meet athletes from other countries,” he said.
McCulloch agreed that meeting other skiers is a highlight of the event.
“The camaraderie amongst our group of Canadians was just fantastic,” he said.