Jenna Sim is a determined young person. Having started skiing when she was just 18 months old, she clearly had an affinity for racing, and is now competing at a national level! It’s a busy race season for Jenna but we caught up with her for a few minutes before the Western NorAm Champs at Whistler Olympic Park last week.
Deep Cove Outdoors: So Jenna, you’ve had a pretty busy race season so far – give us a rundown of where you have been and how you’ve got on…
Jenna Sim: Before Christmas we had the NorAm at Silver Star where I raced in the sprint finals, and also the distance race. Then at Rossland I raced and WON the sprint race which was really tough – it was a really tight race with Elizabeth Elliott from Revelstoke but I managed to take first place so I was really pleased with that.
After that we had some altitude training at Nickelplate, which was in preparation for Soldier Hollow in Utah because it’s really high there.
DCO: What was going on at Soldier Hollow?
JS: That was where they held the World Junior Championships and it was the biggest race I have ever been in, there were 150 people in the U20 category and 600 competitors at the entire event (men and women)! I was racing in the Junior Women category, under 20s.
DCO: Was it just you that went?
JS: No, there were 21 of us from the BC Team, all in one house – it was the biggest house I think I’ve ever been in! It even had a movie theatre inside! It was really great to be there with all the team though, we got to build team spirit, celebrate each other’s successes and pick people up if they’d had a hard time.
DCO: You’re sponsored by Salomon, right? How are the skis treating you??
JS: I LOVE them – they feel really great on snow, are super light and the swing weight means it’s super easy to get up hills as it’s easy to offset. I feel fast on the downhill sections too which gives me a great competitive advantage.
DCO: Now you’ve got the Western Champs coming this weekend?
JS: Yes – and I love racing in Whistler because I know the courses so well. This weekend I am racing in the skate sprint, and the classic 7.5km. Then Sunday it’s the relay which is really fun because at Westerns, they mix up the teams so they are made up from different clubs around the province (I was with someone from Revelstoke and Salmon Arm).
[Jenna raced in the classic 7.5km race at Westerns, and came first for her year of birth (1999), and 4th in the Jr Girls category.]
DCO: And what comes after that??
JS: We’ve then got Eastern Champs in Gatineau at the beginning of February where I’m racing in the sprint and two distance races. After that there are 10 of us from the BC Team going on a European tour to Germany, Austria and Switzerland which I am super excited about. We’re going to be training at Davos where they have world cup events, and I’m going to get to ski there!
After that is Canmore for Nationals pretty quickly after we get back from Europe, and that’s always a great team event.
DCO: You’ve got a pretty full on schedule then – do you ever find it hard to spend so much time skiing when you could be out with your friends?
JS: I never find it hard actually, no! I am super lucky as I get to ski with my friends, and I just love skiing so much that I’d rather be doing that than anything else. As a competitive skier, I always focus on the process and working towards the goals that I set for myself, not the outcomes of each individual race. Each race I go out and leave everything on the course.
What a great attitude!! Thanks and GOOD LUCK to Jenna for all the races you have coming up! Results from the Western Champs can be found by clicking here.
