THUNDER BAY – Aaron Puskas has a big decision looming.
An up-and-coming star football player with the St. Ignatius Falcons, the Thunder Bay teen has also proven he knows his way around a ski hill, if his results at this week’s Canadian Under-16 Alpine Ski Championships at Loch Lomond Ski Area are any indication.
Puskas finished third in Tuesday’s super giant slalom competition and sits in second place in the slalom race after one of two runs in Friday’s men’s race.
“The first day, the Super G, was amazing. Finishing third was everything I could have hoped for,” Puskas said.
“After the second day I was pretty upset after falling, but you know what, having another day like today where I came down in second, I feel amazing. It’s really great.”
A force on the gridiron who last fall helped the Falcons win a fifth straight junior title, Puskas said skiing has been a family passion for as long as he can remember.
Choosing between the two isn’t easy, but skiing has one thing football doesn’t.
“I love speed. Speed is amazing. I love going quick,” he said. “The feeling of arcing a ski, that feeling of shredding it is awesome.”
The results this week have given the teenager confidence he might have a future in the sport.
“This is what I’ve been training day and night for. It’s always been on my mind. Hopefully skiing can take me (to) a job, maybe racing with the Canadian ski team at some point. Hopefully on the World Cup circuit,” Puskas said.
“That’s what I’m going for.”
Puskas wasn’t the only local skier who showed the skills needed to compete with the best athletes the country has to offer.
Sophie-Anne Robinson, a Grade 10 student at Ecole secondaire Catholique de la Verendrye, was sixth after the opening run of Friday’s women’s slalom race, having finished 25th in the combined race and 29th in the Super G.
The 15-year-old thinks she could have done better earlier in the week, but isn’t dwelling on it much.
“The first two days weren’t my best, but today I felt like this will be my best day,” she said.
“I was hoping to get a top 10 finish in the giant slalom, but I fell yesterday. It was pretty rough. But the day before that the conditions were really soft and everyone had a really hard time in the slalom.”
Event chair Dave Bradley said despite the weather challenges, the races have run smoothly all week.
“The opinion of most of the people across the country is that this crew that has run this race for the last four days has done an amazing job dealing with the conditions we’ve been presented with,” he said, noting the warm weather and rain that descended on the city earlier in the competition.
Thunder Bay put itself on the alpine skiing map, he added.
“We’re really showing the country just what potential our community has for hosting these type of events, and also training,” Bradley said.
The competition wraps up on Saturday with the dual slalom event.
