Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and SE Racing hosted their 8th Western Open this past weekend and if you missed it, you missed out!

The weekend was far more than just the race on Sunday, but an event from start to finish. On Thursday afternoon, over the past few years, we have been able to gather a crew of racers and parents to ride MT7 - the home of the original Psychosis course and Dead Dog. We had a strong crew of 25 riders this year at the summit, with most taking the 15 km course from top to bottom; several for the first time ever. The tension and nerves as the riders decide if they will drop over the edge or take the safer rider around option is always one of my favorite moments. 

The Western Open kicked off the unofficial practice on Friday and you really started to feel this year was going to be something special. We had close to 200 racers from Alberta, BC and the USA come to test their metal against one of, if not the hardest, tracks in BC. Thirty-one elite men, consisting of some of the fastest racers, were here including, Chris Kovarik, Lee Jackson, Matt Beer, Phillip Kmetz and Kirk McDowall. The ladies were here in full force as well and were not sitting on the sidelines with 11 women competing in the annual Huck to Flat competition off the finish jump. Savannah Glennie blew away the crowds with jumps over 25 feet to take first place in the women’s class. Dean Tennant, after being the king of the Huck to Flat for the past three years, had to hand over the crown this year as he was bested by Cody Macarthur with a jump close to 45 feet off a two foot ramp with a limited run in. To see this live is something else.

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