Costain brothers place at freeskiing events

Parkin and Ladd Costain represented Whitefish well at their first two freeskiing events this season. January saw the brothers travel to Red Mountain in Rossland, B.C., for the first International Freeskiing Association (IFSA) National Series event of the year.

Parkin, 13, placed sixth overall in the 12-14 age category, and Ladd, 11, placed third overall in the under-12 division. Parkin scored the second highest finals run at Red, which featured a stacked field of athletes from all over North America.

The brothers then competed at Whitewater in Nelson, B.C. for a Canadian regional freeskiing event, where Parkin finished third overall and Ladd fifth.

Saturday’s qualifiers were held under a sunny sky on rolling terrain with intermittent rock features and a cat road to throw tricks off of. Speed and long airs defined the runs.

Sunday’s finals went down on a steep lift line run with rock spines on top and unrelenting moguls towards the bottom, yielding a much more technical event.

Although Ladd is too young to enter most freeskiing events, Parkin has a busy schedule ahead of him this winter. The Whitefish eighth-grader will compete in national events at Fernie, Lake Louise and Grand Targhee as he attempts to qualify for the IFSA Finals this year, to be held April 4-7 in Revelstoke, BC.

He will also gain points at two regional events to be held in Montana, at Red Lodge and Moonlight Basin, where Ladd will also be able to compete.

To accommodate the unprecedented interest in Junior Freeskiing Events in 2012, the IFSA is hosting multiple events during each 2013 National Event weekend, with parallel competitions taking place at Snowbird, Squaw Valley, Crested Butte, Crystal Mountain and Taos. This schedule allows athletes to travel shorter distances and still aim for the April finals in Revelstoke.