Photo by Star photo by ANNALEE GRANT
ALL SMILES – One of the five groups of skiers listen to Olympic medalist Chandra Crawford's opening speech at the start of the Fast and Female Ski Festival Monday.
Photo by Star photo by ANNALEE GRANT
READY TO HIT THE TRAIL – The Fast and Female group gathered for a photo before hitting the ski trails Monday morning during the Fast and Female Ski Festival held at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club. The group is led by Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford.
Photo by Star photo by ANNALEE GRANT
SWINGING – Shayla Swanson shows off her hula-hooping skills at the start of Monday's Fast and Female Ski Festival. Swanson is a member of Canada's national cross country ski team, as well as an ambassador and volunteer with Fast and Female.
Olympian hosts Fast and Female event in Whitehorse
The Whitehorse ski trails were a blur of pink and purple Monday morning, as over 100 female youth skiers took part in the 2010 Fast and Female Ski Festival.
The Whitehorse ski trails were a blur of pink and purple Monday morning, as over 100 female youth skiers took part in the 2010 Fast and Female Ski Festival.
The 110 skiers, aged nine to 19, followed Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford over the trails all morning Monday, and spent the afternoon at the Canada Games Centre doing yoga and dancing.
The youth were split into five groups for the day based on age and experience.
Kim Winnicky of Whitehorse who was helping out at the ski club for the day, said the Fast and Female festival hopes to someday pair with the Haywood Ski Nationals to host the festival together with the national races each year.
Pairing with the Haywoods would make it easier to have all of Canada's youth female skiers in the same place at the same time, Winnicky said.
Fast and Female hosts several activities throughout the year, but the festival is their largest event.
This is the first year it has hosted an event in Whitehorse.
"It's totally great,” said Winnicky. "It's very exciting.”
The Fast and Female crew is made up of cross country skiers from across Canada who volunteer their time. Many of the ambassadors are members of the national ski team, and some have even participated in the Olympics.
Crawford earned a gold medal in cross country skiing at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.
Before setting off for the fun day of skiing Whitehorse's trails, Crawford addressed the group of young skiers, introducing the ambassadors.
The speech involved hula-hooping by Shayla Swanson, who is a teammate of Crawford's on the Canadian National Cross Country Ski Team, introduction of each group's team name and an overview of what they would be doing.
A team photo followed, before each skier finally got the chance to hit the trails.
Crawford said she was happy to be in Whitehorse for the Haywoods, and the Fast and Female event.
"It's great to be in Whitehorse,” she said. "I'm really thrilled to be (here).”
The Olympian went on to complement the trails she had so far experienced since arriving before heading off with a happy group of skiers.
"The ski trails are amazing,” she said.
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