The 2025 Whistler Cup is in the books and a pair of local athletes made their presence felt.
Gabriel Morin of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) earned the Dave Murray Trophy as Canada's top-ranked U14 boys' skier, ahead of Cameron Pierce (Craigleith Ski Club) and James Coon (Ontario) in that order.
Morin's fellow local Cecily Gibbons finished third in the U14 girls' national overall behind Nancy Greene Trophy recipient Lilli Brovender (Vernon Ski Club) and Amelia Park (Grouse Mountain) in second.
Adrien Cote (Quebec) netted the Dave Murray among U16 boys. Laurent Legare (Canada 2) found himself in the runner-up spot and Jacob Mackey (Canada 1) ranked third.
The U16 girls' Nancy Greene went to Sarah Decary (Quebec) as Elena Deda (Canada 2) placed second and Logann Guay (Canada 1) rounded out the top three.
In terms of collective awards, USA 1 secured the U14 Nations Festival Cup in front of Japan and Switzerland. Norway clinched U16 team standings, followed by Switzerland and then the United States.
U16 athletes participated in one-run super-G events on April 9 and 10. The overall competition wrapped on April 13, with two-run slalom and giant slalom races for all skiers followed by team duals (U14) and individual parallels (U16).
The Whistler Conference Centre hosted a Saturday banquet emceed by Canadian Ski Hall of Famer Rob Boyd, who distributed prizes alongside O2E Brands event sponsor Brian Scudamore. Three-time ski cross Crystal Globe winner Reece Howden gave a speech about how he manages doubt and fear.
"One of my key takeaways is how so many people came together to run such a successful event. Someone mentioned how it takes a village, and it really does! The number of volunteers is remarkable...it certainly makes the event run smoothly and there is such enjoyment for the athletes and the volunteers," Boyd said in a press release. "We had some challenges with the weather for the super-G races, but we were able to run the races. As weather conditions improved, we were all able to capitalize with a great weekend of GS, SL and dual racing.
"I was so impressed with the number of kids thanking volunteers, it really warms the heart, and I was gob-smacked with all the help from the athletes for tear-down on our final day! There are essentially three race venues, and the athletes all pitched in and left a clean hill behind. This is part of why we want to do it all again next year. I'm looking forward to making the Whistler Cup better and better every year."
For more results, click here.
