When a ski hill is in your backyard, you use it.
An Island generation that grew up on the slopes of Mount Washington has broken out in a big way, continuing with Comox Valley products Carle Brenneman and Darcy Sharpe being named to the Canadian snowboarding team for the 2019 FIS world championships in Utah from Feb. 1-10.
Brenneman will compete in women’s snowboard cross and Sharpe in men’s slopestyle and big air.
That follows the breakout triumph of Mount Washington athletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, highlighted by Cassie Sharpe of Comox winning the gold medal in women’s ski half-pipe.
Also in the 2018 Winter Olympics were Brenneman, snowboard slopestyler and big-air performer Spencer O’Brien of Courtenay and ski slopestyler Teal Harle of Campbell River. Skiers Mel Pemble of Victoria and Braydon Luscombe of Duncan competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics.
Cassie Sharpe is the older sister of Darcy Sharpe. Both would be on Mount Washington from morning to evening, tucking sandwiches into their pockets so they wouldn’t have to come down for lunch. Little did they know that Cassie Sharpe would one day have a ski run labelled “Cassie’s Gold” named in her honour on Mount Washington.
Cassie Sharpe opened the 2018-19 ski half-pipe season last month by claiming the silver medal behind Kelly Sildaru of Estonia in the opening World Cup event at Copper Mountain, Colorado, for the sixth World Cup podium appearance of her career.
Darcy Sharpe just missed out on making the 2018 Olympic team and continues his dream of competing with his sister at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Meanwhile, the 2019 FIS world championships will take place across three Utah venues at Park City, Deer Valley and Solitude Mountain and feature more than 700 athletes from 36 nations. With Brenneman and Darcy Sharpe set for Canada in snowboard, they can expect to have a few more of their Mount Washington-produced cohorts with them when the Canadian freestyle ski team to the worlds is also named.
