Windermere resident Courtney Hoffos earned a bronze medal in a FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup ski cross race in Reiteralm, Austria yesterday (Feb. 19).

Cranbrook’s Zoe Chore finished 12^th in the race. Reece Howden from Cultus Lake finished second in men’s competition.

“It was a fun course, definitely different. Very fast with a lot of contact in some areas,” Courtney told Alpine Canada after her podium finish. “I had a fire in my belly and was hungry for a big final. Hopefully, I’ll be back on the again podium soon.”

Hoffos and Chore aren’t the only East Kootenay athletes on Canada’s ski cross team. Cranbrook’s India Sherret continues to rehab her knee, injured in October 2020. The 2018 Winter Olympian is optimistic she’ll be ready for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Both Sherret and Chore were members of the Kimberly Alpine Ski Team, while Hoffos came up via the Windermere Ski Club.

“Hoffos had a breakthrough season in 2019/20. After sitting out 2018/19 with injury, she came back to the tour on fire, finishing on the podium in her first three World Cup races of the season,” outlines Alpine Canada’s website.

“She switched to ski cross at 17-years-old, after racing alpine for over a decade, and has never looked back. At the end of 2019/20 she was voted FIS Freestyle women’s Rookie of the Year. Now 23, she is pursuing a business degree at the University of Calgary while racing against some of the best in the world.”

The daughter of Jenny and Brian Hoffos was 2020 rookie of the year is currently ranked 11^th in the world.

Canada’s ski cross team now heads to Bakuriani, Georgia for races next weekend. Along with the traditional ski cross race, Bakuriani will see the first-ever Ski Cross Mixed Team World Cup event.

Read more about Canada’s ski cross team.

Lead image: Courtney Hoffos, left, in action at Reiteralm, Austria yesterday.  Alpine Canada Alpin photos

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