Athletes not concerned for safety follow

Athletes not concerned for safety following avalanche

Mar 22, 2019 | 7:54 PM

Dozens of athletes and hundreds of spectators are expected to hit the slopes at Silver Star Mountain Resort this weekend for the first annual Seismic Spring Mountain Festival.

About 75 professional and amateur athletes have registered to compete in the Monster Energy Boarderstyle competition this weekend.

“It’s a combination of speed and style, so you are both judged and timed and then they go four at a time, so you add that element in to it as well,” explains Ian Jenkins of Silver Star Mountain Resort.

Despite two avalanches hitting the mountain on Wednesday, athletes competing at the event say they are not worried about the possibility of another avalanche coming down anytime soon.

75 athletes are competing at the Boarderstyle competition at SilverStar this weekend. Athletes say they are not concerned for safety even after 2 avalanches hit Wednesday #vernonbc #silverstar #snowboarding pic.twitter.com/w9oO7C9dlA

— Vernon Matters (@VernonMattersca) March 22, 2019

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“You just have to know how to ride, you can’t be going in to areas like that when you aren’t supposed to be there,” says snowboarder Jordan Hatchery.

“No, the conditions are good, it’s melting fast though,” says athlete Luke Jones.

And according to the resort, athletes don’t have anything to worry about because they are competing on sections of the mountain not impacted by Wednesday’s avalanches.

“Where the events are occurring it is not a south facing slope and it is not an issue that there is any risk,”says Jenkins.

The resort also says ski patrol members did avalanche mitigation Thursday evening after the resort was closed to the public.

“We drop explosives that cause slides but you do it in a controlled environment, so that you become the trigger with explosives as opposed to a skier,” says Jenkins.

The Putnam Creek side of the mountain remains closed because of Wednesday’s avalanche as independent avalanche consultants continue to investigate the cause of the slide.

An update from @SilverStarMR . #vernonbc #avalanche #silverstar pic.twitter.com/cGWxxLA10k

— Vernon Matters (@VernonMattersca) March 22, 2019

An additional run remains closed because of warming temperatures. The resort says they made the decision to close the Attridge Face, Alpine Meadows Chair Thursday afternoon.

“It does change the snow pack with the heat so we decided for safety reasons it is best to leave it closed,” says Jenkins. The closures have prompted the resort to drop their day pass fare to $69.00 for the weekend.

Finals for the Monster Energy Boarderstyle competition take place on Saturday at 2:30.

A full schedule of the 10-day SEISMIC Spring Mountain Festival can be found here.