Andy Bulloch wrapped up his first ski cross season with two more gold medals earlier this month, taking first place in each of his final two races at the junior national championships held at Sir Sam’s Ski Resort from March 10-12.
The extra hardware put a resounding exclamation point on what can only be described as a breakthrough campaign for the 12-year-old Huntsville native, who made the podium in every Ontario Cup race he attended and was crowned the provincial champion based on points at the end of the O-CUP season.
“I was so happy to win, it was a big race,” said Andy after the event. “I feel good, especially for my first season. I was hoping to at least get a bronze, and then I ended up doing really well. I’m really excited for next year.”
Another race, another gold medal for Andy, who has added an impressive amount of hardware to his trophy cabinet over the course of his first ski cross season
The young skier will turn his attention to basketball and lacrosse for the summer to maintain his physical conditioning, while continuing to study tape and work on strategy with his father Andrew, who doubles as Andy’s coach, equipment manager and race technician.
“We are going to watch a lot of video, there are some competitions in the summer that we can watch remotely, and it’s going to be important to do a lot of strength training,” said Andrew. “It’s a muscular sport, you have to be an animal to pull yourself out of the gate.”
The championship FIS-sanctioned race was previously set for Mont St Marie in Quebec, but was cancelled due to snow conditions before being picked up by Sir Sam’s. The change in venue, which landed the competition essentially in Andy’s backyard, also meant that the event would be held in close geographical proximity to a World Cup race taking place several days earlier at Blue Mountain. As a result, several members of the Canadian national race team, as well as teams from the United States and Japan, were on hand to share tips and tricks while providing valuable words of support and encouragement for the youngsters.
Andy got to spend some time with the Japanese national team during the FIS-sanctioned event at Sir Sam’s
“It was an amazing experience, Andy was literally putting his ski boots on beside national team members and athletes with years of high level experience,” said Andrew. “You see them on TV and read about them, but to be in the same locker room at our level is just amazing.”
Andrew was quick to credit the support of the North Bay ski cross team, Team Elite, as well as members of the Huntsville community and Hidden Valley for their contributions toward Andy’s success.
“We have had a great time and have had a lot of help along the way. We have really ridden on Team Elite Ski Cross coat-tails all season. They really adopted us and let Andy inspect courses with them and helped him tirelessly. It’s just been wonderful and with a year under our belt we want to continue on with ski cross and see where it takes us. We also wanted to thank the community and Hidden Valley who have really been great to stand behind us despite going in our own direction.”
Andy will again be competing in the U14 division next year as a bigger, stronger athlete. While his results this year were certainly impressive, especially the dual golds in the junior national championship, he is taking them with a grain of salt. Canada’s largest provincial contingent, Team Quebec, represents a group of approximately 150 racers and was unable to secure sanctioning to attend the championship event. As a result, Andy knows he will be in for some very stiff competition at the national level again next year.
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