Red Deer’s Canyon Ski Resort was the venue for a Canada Cup Series moguls competition last weekend, bringing some of the country’s best skiers to central Alberta.

“It’s one of the stepping stones for them to get to that Olympic level. They are fabulous skiers that are competing at this level, which is really strong, solid, mogul skiing,” said Greg Sikora, president of the Central Alberta Freestyle Ski Club.

Three members of the club competed: Lewis Rice, Taye Neish and Sydney Sikora.

L-R: Sam Cordell and Joshua Maga, both from British Columbia, having just finished a run in duals competition on Feb. 18.

Neish, a 17 year old from Sylvan Lake, started skiing when he was 5 years old. He’s been on the team for the last four years, hoping to go as far as he can with the sport.

“You have to be fast, you have to have good turns and you have to have a high technical jumps,” Neish said. “It’s very hard on your knees, on the whole body.”

The event was also a test for the facility ahead of next year’s Canada Winter Games.

“A lot of great improvements have been constructed here at Canyon and we’re very, very lucky to have this training facility here,” Sikora said.

“I hear nothing but great stuff from all the competitors. They’re just ranting and raving about our facility.”