Vernon’s Curt Minard added to his impressive 2017/2018 season tally by being awarded second place in the overall Para-Snowboardcross (SBX) Men’s Upper Limb World Cup standings.
Minard took home bronze in December in Finland, and combined with Tuesday’s Para-SBX silver medal at Kelowna’s Big White, was enough to slide him into the second overall ranking behind France’s Maxime Montaggioni.
“I’m blown away. There’s been a lot of people, not just myself, that have put in the hard work,” said Minard. “First and foremost my family and [my partner] Heidi (Johnson), backing me through all this, along with the coaches, and Canada Snowboard, and all my sponsors and everyone along the journey. I’m so stoked to have brought this home, and for Canada too.”
Minard survived a nasty spill Tuesday in his first heat – resulting in a beauty of a shiner on his right eye – to reach his first big final, then snagged his first-ever World Cup silver medal, finishing behind Montaggioni in the Upper Limb category.
“I just went out there with no expectations and had some fun and it paid off. I’m so stoked,” said Minard. “I’ve got a couple of bronzes so I’m slowly working my way up in the Upper Limb category so I’m absolutely ecstatic to have a silver world cup medal.”
The Big White World Cup event concluded Thursday with the Banked Slalom finals.
Minard is hoping to land a spot on Canada’s snowboard team for the Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, which will be named Feb. 20.
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