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Vernon’s Gaskell opens in New Zealand

At Junior Freestyle Ski World Championships
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Elena Gaskell hits the rails at SilverStar Mountain Resort’s terrain park. (SilverStar Photo)

After a gold medal in Whistler earlier this year at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival, SilverStar Mountain Resort’s sponsored athlete Elena Gaskell opened her 2018/19 ski season at the Junior Freestyle Ski World Championships Friday in New Zealand.

Competing in both the Slopestyle and Big Air events, the Vernon resident hopes to return home with a medal to celebrate her 17th birthday in September. The worlds go until Sept. 8.

RELATED: Gaskell nearly reaches FIS World Cup event final

SilverStar Mountain Resort has been Elena’s home mountain since she first joined the ski school at the age of four. Her natural talent quickly stood out, and the resort is proud to support her quest to push the limits of women’s freestyle skiing.

“We are excited to see Elena compete in this week’s upcoming international ski competition,” says Ken Derpak, Managing Director at SilverStar Mountain Resort. “We are thrilled to support the Okanagan Valley’s talented skiers, snowboarders, freestylers and bikers — it’s great to see them continue to excel.”

The world-class terrain at the SilverStar Freestyle Club has nurtured the careers of some of Canada’s best freestyle athletes including Justin Dorey, TJ Schiller, Joe Schuster, Noah Morrison, and Chad Sayers.

SilverStar Mountain Resort is located less than a one-hour drive from Kelowna International Airport (YLW), SilverStar is one of B.C.’s largest ski areas offering 3,282 acres of skiable terrain, a 760-metre vertical drop and an annual snowfall of more than 700 cm.

RELATED: Gaskell uses tricks for gold medals


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