Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC) finished ninth in today’s World Cup super-G in St. Moritz, SUI, the final ladies World Cup race before the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver / Whistler, BC.

Today’s race is on Rogers Sportsnet for the second consecutive day, beginning at 3 p.m. in the Eastern and Western viewing region / 2 p.m. in Ontario / 8 p.m. Pacific.

There were plenty of positives today for Brydon, who had the second fastest time on the bottom of the course. She finished with a total time of one minute 02.41 seconds, within half a second of the podium.

The only one faster on the bottom of the course than Brydon was American Lindsey Vonn, who won the race in 1:01.77. With the win, Vonn’s 440 World Cup points in the discipline is already enough to wrap up the ladies World Cup SG Crystal Globe with two races still remaining.

Shona Rubens (Canmore, AB) continued her impressive weekend in St. Moritz, finishing 18th, a career best in the SG. Her final time was 1:02.81.

“There are definitely positives that we can take out of St. Moritz,” said Patrick Riml, director of Canada’s ladies alpine ski team. “Shona skied well this weekend, pushing hard and racing like we all know she is capable of.”

“With Emily, it was a bit of a struggle yesterday (in the downhill), she was a little bit passive. Today was much better. She skied well and is not far from the podium,” Riml said. “Now they’ve got a couple of days to rest before refocusing and getting some high-quality training in Canada prior to the Games.”

Brydon enters the Olympic break as the top Canadian, 22nd in the World Cup SG standings.

Marie-Michèle Gagnon (Lac-Etchemin, QC), who has been racing and training in Europe since early November, did not compete today to get a little extra rest prior to the Olympic Winter Games.

Second place in today’s race was a tie between Andrea Fischbacher of Austria and France’s Marie Marchand-Arvier. Both were 0.17s behind Vonn.

Add your mark to the beauty of Fernie!.  Now in it’s seventh year, the city banners that adorn the downtown and Highway #3 have become a trademark of our town.

The Banner Project Committee is looking for 36 diverse works of art to showcase on the 2010 City of Fernie Banners.  And, as the Arts Station is celebrating its 20th anniversary, if art submissions have a ‘historic or 20th celebration’ theme, this would make for a good match! Selected art will be showcased on high-quality outdoor banners, hung on lamppost along Victoria Ave. This project has brought colour and interest to our streets and gives more profile to the great artistic talent we have in this community.  Submissions of paintings, quilts, stained glass, sculpture, pottery and photography are welcome. Artists can submit up to two images (more than two – only the first two will be considered).

To get the submission guidelines Visit the WEB site.
www.theartsstation.com click on the “Banner Project” button
Deadline:  February 26 at 4pm.

Intrawest and a newly formed company, Panorama Mountain Village Inc. (Panorama Inc.) announced today that they have entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement that will enable Panorama Inc. to purchase Intrawest’s interests in Panorama Mountain Village.

Panorama Inc. is made up of area homeowners and local business people, all of whom are skiers. The transaction will include the resort’s on-mountain and Nordic ski operations, a 50% ownership position in the Greywolf Golf Course, all of Intrawest’s commercial operations and lodging units in the village and the land available for real estate development. The transaction is anticipated to close in February 2010, pending regulatory approvals.

This winter season it is business as usual for reservations and pass products.

This sale comes on the heels of Intrawest selling Copper to Powdr Corp., as Intrawest tries to pay down its debts.

Canadian Premier Gordon Campbell announced the approval of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s New Master Plan. The 40-year plan includes 20,000 bed units, an 18-hole golf course, a multi-use trail system with 11 proposed lifts and 4,188 acres of skiable terrain.

“At the Provincial level we have now approved Kicking Horse’s Master Plan,” Premier Campbell said. “It opens up enormous opportunities; an opportunity to build tourism, to build this resort and to let it take the next step forward.”

“Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has the natural assets to be one of the finest mountain resorts in North America,” added President and CEO Steve Paccagnan.

Kicking Horse first opened its doors in December 2000 and has since invested CDN $100 million into the property.

The final step in the approval process under the Commercial Alpine Ski Policy will be the signing of the master development agreement.

Zach Fridella scored the game winner just seven minutes into the first period as the Ghostriders rout the Creston Thunder Cats 7-1 in front of 877 fans in Fernie on Friday night.

Rider Coach Will Verner’s nephew & Future Ghostriders Goalie Owen McFarlane
The Ghostriders scored five goals in the first period and a few of them were almost text book plays. James Werner made a great play fighting through the checks on Fridella’s GW, Bond Hawryluk scored a PP goal after the Riders passed the puck around beautifully with everyone touching the puck, but only Jesse Niemi and Scott Anderson got assists. Mitch Board scored the fourth, final and goalie chasing out of the net goal against Sunny Gill paving the way for Chad Katunar to get some playing time in net for the Cats. The Riders scored three more times against Katunar but had to fire 29 shots at him to get the goals. The goal scorers were, Bond Hawryluk (2 PP) Brendan Hawryluk, Cody Boekestyn, Mitch Board, Jesse Niemi and Zach Fridella. Scott Swiston scored the lone goal for Creston.

Jason Greenwell played 28 minutes before getting kicked out with a game misconduct and Stephen Wolff finished the game stoning the Cats on all 13 shots they took at him.

The three stars were Jesse Niemi with a goal and two assists . Mitch Board was the third star and Josh Garneau the second star. Both Garneau and Cody Boekestyn -photo- played as well as I’ve seen them on the blue line Friday and will get a lot of ice in the next week.- see below-

Overall a bad game for the Riders as Matt MacDonald, Mike Weist and Brendan Hawryluk all left the game with apparent injuries.
Fairly hostile game that will resume in Whitehorse next Tuseday and Wednesday after Revelstoke on Saturday and Sicamouse on Sunday. 
Check out the new website: ghostriders.com

The drama at ski resort and Winter Olympics venue Whistler Blackcomb may go beyond the competition related to the Games.

Sources tell The Post that creditors holding $1.4 billion of debt on Whistler owner Intrawest are planning to foreclose on the company within the next week and a half, casting a shadow on the resort, which will host the alpine events of the 2010 Olympics. “It will probably happen within 10 days,” a source said.

The showdown comes amid an impasse between the estate of fallen investment bank Lehman Brothers, Intrawest’s largest creditor, and Intrawest owner Fortress Investment Group, the publicly traded hedge fund run by Wesley Edens.

Fortress bought Intrawest in a $2.8 billion leveraged buyout in 2006 but recently missed a $524 million debt payment. The hedge fund made a proposal to the creditors that would keep Fortress in control of the company, which also owns Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont, but creditors nixed that proposal. According to several sources, both sides are no longer talking.

The fact that Lehman is a creditor is complicating things for Edens. While a typical creditor might be inclined to work with borrower, Lehman, through restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal, is turning over every stone in search of cash to settle up more than $1 trillion in creditor claims associated with its own bankruptcy.

By forcing Intrawest into bankruptcy, Lehman and other creditors could raise several billion dollars repossessing Intrawest and selling off its various resorts.

In addition to sparring with Lehman, sources said Edens is also tangling with the Canadian government, whose reputation is riding on the success of the Games.

The Vancouver Olympic Committee (Vanoc) guaranteed that it would make Intrawest whole for the time that its events take place at its resorts. But now, according to a source, Canadian officials are threatening to pull that roughly $50 million guarantee. That, the source said, has compelled Edens to privately say he has a legal right to keep the Games from taking place at Whistler.

“We have a 2002 agreement with Vanoc to host the Winter Olympics and have every confidence that Vanoc will honor its financial commitments,” Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen said. “Intrawest is looking forward to a successful Olympic games.”

Fortress has already written down most of its Intrawest investment, but some of its investors have co-investments in Intrawest, making its survival still important to Edens, a source said.

INTRAWEST REFUTES FORECLOSURE RUMORS

In a statement released Wednesday, Intrawest disputed published reports about an impending foreclosure action and asserted that it remains in control of all its resorts.

“There have been inaccurate and misleading media reports surrounding Intrawest today,” the statement says. “Fortress Investment Group continues to own and control Intrawest and all of its properties. Serious discussions with Intrawest’s lenders are ongoing regarding refinancing and the Company continues to operate ‘business as usual’ at all of its resort properties.”

The release came after ads appeared in major newspapers on Tuesday announcing that some of Intrawest’s lenders, represented by Wilmington Trust FSB, would conduct a public auction to sell their interest in the company. Several news articles based on these ads ensued.

The auction of the interests represented by Wilmington Trust FSB is scheduled to take place on Feb. 19, while Whistler-Blackcomb hosts many of the events for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Vanoc said Whistler-Blackcomb would still be ready to host the Olympics starting Feb. 12. Most Alpine and cross-country events are scheduled to take place at Intrawest’s flagship resort, Whistler/Blackcomb.

Fortress purchased Intrawest for $2.8 billion in 2006, and financed $1.8 billion of that amount. The resort operator missed a $524 million debt payment originally due Oct. 23.

During a two-year kayak expedition across the North Pacific, Jon Turk met Moolynaut, the last of the northeast Siberian shamans who was raised in a Stone Age culture.  She healed an old injury that had been troubling me.  Over time, Moolynaut and the reindeer people of the tundra introduced me to shamanistic wisdom, which is centered around a life-altering spiritual connection to the landscape.

As an educator, Jon wrote the first environmental science textbook in North America.  As an adventurer, his crossing of the North Pacific was rated by Paddler Magazine as one of the “10-Best All-Time Sea Kayaking” expeditions.  In the past, he has performed in front of enthusiastic audiences at Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Yale – and also in street circus. His presentation exciting, emotional, and thought provoking

The Raven’s Gift has generated over-the-top enthusiasm because it reaches deep into our subconscious — ancient environmental ethics told by a revered elder around the flickering light of a metaphorical campfire.

Henry Pollack: Co-Winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore wrote: “The tension between his own logical scientific background and the mysterious shamanistic wisdom of his healer is at the heart of this wonderfully-told story of Koryak life, and of his own personal transformation.”

Donna Seaman of the American Library Association wrote:  Turk writes with prowess, nerve, and precision…[He] attests to the innate powers of the body, mind and soul that are awakened when we immerse ourselves in “Wild Nature”

For more details and Jon’s tour calendar, see www.jonturk.net

The winning streak continues for moguls superstar Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta.

Jenn Heil celebrates her win at Deer Valley
The 2006 Olympic moguls champion won her fourth consecutive FIS Freestyle World Cup of the season and 25th World Cup of her career with a convincing performance Saturday night. Teammate Alex Bilodeau of Rosemère, Que., captured the bronze medal in the men’s moguls final.

Heil, 26, who resides in Montreal, won back-to-back moguls events in Calgary’s Canada Post Grand Prix last week, then followed up with two victories here.

The fourth straight World Cup triumph also represents the second longest streak of her career, having won six straight World Cups in 2006-07.

“I can feel my skiing’s coming together, but I’m far from where I can be,” said Heil in her continuing build-up to next month’s Vancouver Winter Olympics.

“I can still improve on everything. I’m still not skiing at my maximum capacity. But I’m really happy with the direction I’m going.”

Her third straight win came when she tied Heather McPhie of the United States in the World Cup here Thursday.

Manuel Obsorne-Paradis (Whistler, BC) already has a career-high third World Cup podium of the season after finishing an second in today’s 80th running of the renowned Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, SUI.

Osborne-Paradis continues to impress this season, adding to the two wins he already has by finishing today’s grueling race in two minutes 32.89 seconds. It’s his ninth career podium and second in the DH in Wengen, after a third place finish in 2008.

Today’s race is being broadcast on CBC and Radio-Canada starting at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Osborne-Paradis has shown an ability to produce strong race results despite being in the back of the pack in training and today was no different as his top result in the week’s training runs was a 30th place.

“I didn’t think I was faster today then I was yesterday actually. But on race day, you have that excitement added and the big crowed there. Why would you want to crash in the training run, it makes no sense. I felt like I was on the edge a couple of times today, but I kept my tuck and I did that little extra thing I had to do,” said Osborne-Paradis, who had bib #16 selected for him at last night’s bib draw.

“When I got down, I was pretty surprised with my time, I looked at the time board and I saw 17 and then 18, and then I realized it was -0,17 seconds so I really got excited. I didn’t know what to expect today, all I knew was that I has to go fast and obviously I believe what my coaches tell me about my skiing so I just went for it. You can only think of what you need to do and forget about the past,” added Osborne-Paradis.

The 30,000 fans gathered around the Lauberhorn went crazy as Carlo Janka os Switzerland crossed the finish line with the best time of the day, beating Osborne-Paradis by 0.67 seconds. This is Janka’s second podium in as many days as he finished second in yesterday’s super combined.

A very happy and emotional Marco Buechel from Liechtenstein finished in third place with a time of 2:33.05. This was Buechel’s first time on the podium since last years’ second place in the downhill in Beaver Creek.

Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC) was the second best Canadian today. He crossed the finish line with a time of 2:34.86 which ranked him in 18th place.

When asked about Osborne-Paradis performance Guay had plenty of praise for his teammate.

“Manny knows how to perform on race day. He just gets in this race day mode and rips it. I might have a couple of things to learn from him,” said Guay.

Tyler Nella (Toronto, ON) finished in 39th place with a time of 2:37.64 ahead of Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB) by 0,01 seconds who ranked in 40th place. This was Nella’s career best performance in a World Cup event.

A shaky bottom air still couldn’t knock Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., off the top podium step today as she won the gold medal in women’s moguls at a FIS freestyle skiing World Cup competition in Deer Valley.

Heather McPhie of the US and Canada’s Jenn Heil shared the gold medal
It was Heil’s third consecutive gold on the circuit and 24th career World Cup victory. She won twice last week at the Canada Post Grand Prix in Calgary.

Heil and Heather McPhie of the U.S. actually tied for first place, each earning 24.59 points. Shannon Bahrke of the U.S., was third at 24.18.

“I caught an edge on the bottom air and that was a big mistake,” said Heil, who’ll go for her second-straight Olympic title in less than a month. “I had a very low score for that back flip but the first three-quarters of my run was some of the best skiing I have ever done.”

Heil, who now lives in Montreal, isn’t holding anything back in the stretch run to the Olympics Games.

“I feel really focused right now,” she said. “I want to maximize my performances in every race. To continue to improve I just want to lay it all out on every course and eventually put it all together. It’s always a challenge here but the fresh snow this morning helped and made it just so much fun.”