Penticton & South Okanagan News

Olympic medalists at Apex

Photo: CTV

The Dufour-Lapointe sisters

Canadian mogul skiers who thrilled crowds at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, will join other top competitors at an upcoming event at Apex Mountain.

Medalists Alex Bilodeau, Mikael Kingsbury and Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe will be among the more than 100 of the best mogul skiers in Canada and the world at the 2014 Canadian Nationals Mogul Competition, March 27 to 30.

"These are our Olympians and future Olympians only a 30 minute drive from Penticton. Anyone can come and watch as these talented young athletes fly down the mogul hill, hit big jumps and perform amazing acrobatic tricks," said event spokeswoman Ronda Barzilay.

Bilodeau was Canada's first gold medalist at the Olympics in Vancouver and also brought home gold from Sochi. Kingsbury was a silver medalist in Sochi. Justine Dufour-Lapointe won gold, while Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won silver at the recent Olympics.

Another top competitor to watch, according to Barzilay, is Andi Naude of Penticton, who is currently ranked seventh on the world cup circuit for moguls.

This is the fourth big mogul event of the season, and adding to the excitement, is athletes will compete on a world class mogul course named after Canadian freestyle skier Kristi Richards.

The national event kicks off with training runs on Thursday and Friday, single moguls on Saturday and the head to head action of dual moguls on Sunday.

"Sunday is going to be my favorite day, because it's the dual mogul event," said Barzilay ."It's phenomenal to watch because they go head to head."