While the eyes of the Alpine world turn toward Germany and the world championships at Garmish, the eyes of the champions-in-training of the Mt. Washington Ski Club are fixed more locally.

This week the club鈥檚 K1s (11-12 year olds) travelled to Grouse Mountain in Vancouver to compete in slalom, while the FIS (15-plus year olds) were at Apex Resort in Penticton to race downhill and Super G.

The K1s braved tough weather, snow conditions and competition to achieve outstanding results, said MWSC head coach John Trimmer. On Saturday Kole Harle of Campbell River ripped his run, leaving all other competitors in his dust to take his first-ever steps onto the top of the podium.

Harle鈥檚 teammates tried their best to join him on the top step and came very close. Liam Gilchrist of Nanaimo finished fifth, Logan Frame of Campbell finished sixth and Robbie Yelland of Victoria finished ninth.

The ladies didn鈥檛 disappoint as Keegan McCooey of Cumberland came oh-so-close to the top of the podium herself, finishing second and just 4/10s of a second off the gold medal time. Maja Nymann of Campbell River also had an awesome run, placing sixth.

Sunday was a bit of a tougher day for the K1 crew. 鈥淲hen you lay it all on the line going for the win things happen and Sunday things happened to all but one,鈥� said Trimmer. 鈥淟ogan Frame of Campbell River saved the day, laying down two great runs to place third. The K1鈥檚 results have qualified them all to ski at the K1 Western Canadian Championships.鈥�

Mathieu Leduc of Comox, a member of the Mt. Washington Ski Club and the BC Ski Team, recently returned from several races in Austria and brought his newly acquired experiences back to conquer the Apex downhill in Penticton. 鈥淢athieu laid down an awesome run, carving clean turns and staying relaxed in his tuck and the air at speeds as high as 120 km/h,鈥� Trimmer said. Leduc claimed his first victory of the season and followed it up Tuesday with a second-place finish in Super G. Leduc was hoping to continue his winning ways this week at a Nor-Am race in Aspen, Colorado.

The Mt. Washington Ski Club is in its 29th year and offers programs for children aged five through 20. The Nancy Greene Ski league (five to 11) will be racing at Mount Washington the next two weekends. 鈥淜eep your eyes peeled for our great skiers and future Olympians in training,鈥� Trimmer said.