Team Black Jack hit the season running with the first NorAm of the season at the Sovereign Lakes Nordic Centre in Vernon, BC. Opening the weekend with a stunning 7th place finish in his first race as a Senior Man, David Palmer was the top Black Jacker in the 15km Skate. Also first year seniors, Colin Ferrie skied to 23rd with Julien Locke in 27th. Nicole competed in the the Junior Women’s 10km, finishing 21st. Unfortunately for the rest of the Black Jack team, the younger category competitions were cancelled due to the cold (-20ºC) temperatures.

Sunday was all about sprinting action for the open categories. Julien had the top finish of the day, crossing the line first in the Senior Men’s B-final for a 7th place position. Caught out in a mad dash to the line in his quarterfinal, Colin had a respectable finish in 20th, while David scrambled to 29th after crashing early on. In the Junior Women’s heats, Nicole finished up in 20th.

Slightly warmer temperatures (-18ºC perhaps…) on Sunday allowed Daniel, Sage, Michaela and Chiaki to have a kick at the can for the first time this year. Daniel skied to 9th in the Junior Boys 5km, while Michaela and Sage finished 19th and 28th in Juvenile Girls, and Chiako 7th in the Junior Girls.

With great support from Dave, Fred, Bob and Bob, the team had super speedy skis and no shortage of assistance from the crew. Many thanks.

Photos by Geoffrey Richards, Alexis Turgeon and CCC.