The party invite was late, but she’s ready to rock just the same.
Cochrane freestyle skier Valerie Cote was fourth-best in the province when time came to select Alberta’s 2015 Canada Games freestyle ski team. There were only three female spots available.
She was designated Team Alberta’s freestyle first-alternate at the team selection announcement.
“In December, when they made the team announcements, being named first-alternate was really kind of a bummer,” Cote relates. “I was really kind of disappointed then. But what can you do? I tried.”
Then the phone rang.
“It wasn’t really until last week when we were notified,” Cote continues. “That was definitely a surprise. It was kind of a shocker.”
The call came after Team Alberta assessed Calgary freestyle skier Heidi Vanbeselaere, who’d been dealing with an injury, and determined she was unable to compete.
Cote now has to wrap her head around competing for Alberta against Canada’s best amateur freestyle skiers at Tabor Mountain Ski Resort 20 kilometres outside Prince George. She’ll be skiing in moguls, dual moguls, slopestyle and big-air events. Freestyle goes Feb. 14-20.
“I definitely feel like I have to up my game,” she admits. “I’m a little nervous coming into it.”
But she’s already taken it up a level, throwing a back flip into one of her moguls jumps where she’d normally do a 360 or spread-eagle. She landed a back flip at a national amateur freestyle event earlier this month.
“It seems like I’ve been laying down good runs for me,” she assesses. “But I haven’t been placing the way I’d hoped. It’s definitely stepped up a level with my jumps, I’d say. I can do a back flip now, so that’s probably what I’m planning.”
Considering she was planning on watching, not competing, at the 2015 Canada Winter Games it’s a safe bet Cote will be leaving it all out on the hill when it’s her turn to lay it down.
