Huntsville freestyle skiers bring home gold from Timber Tour provincial championships

When the snow settled at Freestyle Ontario’s Timber Tour provincial championships, hometown boys Thomas McEwen, Kyle Mattice and Ethan Murdy had landed gold in the U12, U16 and U18 Slopestyle categories respectively.

The event was held February 22-25 at Horseshoe Resort and included competition in single mogul, dual mogul and slopestyle.

Saturday was a beautiful day for the slopestyle competitors to take practice runs and get used to the warm temperatures and soft snow conditions. But by Sunday, Mother Nature had brought pouring rain and high winds, delaying the competition 45 minutes. Once the rain stopped and the sun came out, the skiers had to contend with soft and slushy conditions.

Thomas McEwen skied in the U12 Slopestyle category. He learned to ski and race at Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area and is a member at the Muskoka Ski Club but now trains out of Mount St. Louis Moonstone with Agenda Freeski, as do both Mattice and Murdy. His gold medal-winning run included a 270 on/blind 270 out of the top rail, a right 540 mute grab on the “Hip” feature, a switch right 540 off first jump with a safety grab, then a left 720 on second jump and finally a right foot forward back swap to forward on the final rail.

“Thomas stepped up his game to land a clean run,” says his mom Angie Bulloch. “It was a bluebird day and he was one of the last athletes to compete. He had been enjoying the spring-like conditions all day which helped keep his nerves in check! Thomas was super happy with his runs and looks forward to competing again next season.”

Kyle Mattice, who entered the U16 Slopestyle category, had an awesome first run as he completed a 270 on to the first rail, going into the first jump with a Cork 5, leading into the second jump with a Switch Right 5, hitting the third with a Left Cork 7, following with a Front Swap onto the final rail. His gold-medal winning score for this run was 81.6.

“I was pretty shocked with my results,” said Mattice. “I wasn’t feeling great for a few days, fighting off a cold. I felt I didn’t ski my best, especially after falling on my second run, so when I heard I won my U16 category I was super happy!”

Ethan Murdy competed in the U18 Slopestyle category and performed a 270 on to the top rail, with a Cork 5 over the hip and a Left Side Switch 540 with a Mute Grab and a Right Side Cork 9 with a tail grab. He finished with a Switch on with a Front 450 out to earn himself the top spot on the podium and bring home the gold. Murdy said his run “felt good considering the conditions. Wished I had a better Rail Trick.”

Their wins earned both Mattice and Murdy invitations to attend the Canadian Junior Championships which will be held at Mount St. Louis Moonstone March 16-18 for skiers in the U14, U16 and U18 categories. They will be training on weekends to prepare for their next big competition.

(Clockwise from top left) Thomas McEwen (U12), Kyle Mattice (U16) and Ethan Murdy (U18) all won gold at the Timber Tour provincial championships (Photos: @agenda.freeski / Instagram)

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