By James Bowler

P.A. snowboarder heads to 1st national competition

Feb 12, 2015 | 6:03 AM

A fresh face will take the stage at a national sports competition in B.C., and she’s from the Prince Albert area.

Kaysi Kilby, 17, is grabbing her board and heading to Prince George to compete in the slopestyle snowboarding competition at the Canada Winter Games in a few weeks.

Kilby has never competed on the national level before, and she’ll be the youngest snowboarder with Team Sask to enter the event.

But all of this isn’t enough to put out the fire inside of her.  

“I am overstoked, more than pumped,” said Kilby. “I’ve been training pretty regularly, I go to Kinsmen Ski Centre, they’ve got a really awesome terrain park, so I just go there and I practice every four or five days.”

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

3h ago

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

3h ago

Election 2024

Birch Hills staff won't share election decision

4h ago

And it’s not just her age that makes her fresh. While having about three years of amateur snowboarding under her belt, Kilby just started competing in professional events about a year ago. 

“I never really visited competitions until last year,” said Kilby. “I got asked by my coach Adam Balon, he tried to get me involved in stuff.”

She said that the sport doesn’t really see a lot of girls involved, especially in the Prairies.

“He really motivated me to go and compete and progress in snowboarding,” said Kilby.

Kilby learned to snowboard from her brothers when she was 14, her mother Bobbi said that her first time was a little frustrating for her.

“The first time we took her snowboarding, she threw her board into a bush and cussed like a truck driver,” said Bobbi Kilby. “She was so frustrated.”

That frustration didn’t stop her from pushing on.

Now, she faces a whole new level of frustration: hills and jumps bigger than she’s ever experienced.

“When I go there hopefully I’ll have enough time to practice and prepare for it,” said Kilby. “I just got to hit my smaller jumps and get my tricks down.”

But according to Kilby, she’s got no shortage when it comes to her ‘big bag of tricks.’

“I’ve got my coach that shows me how to do lots of stuff, and my brothers help me train lots,” said Kilby. “From Sask Winter Games I learned a lot of tricks and I just repeat those tricks, I’m trying to get a couple new tricks in my bag like back ones with tail grabs and nose grabs, trying to get my 270s on, lots of tubes and stuff and boxes, and do nose presses.”

Participating with Team Lakeland at the Sask Winter Games last year, Kilby took silver on the first day of the U17 Slope Style event, and took gold on the second day.

She also took gold in the Big Air U17 event.

The Canada Winter Games opening ceremonies kick off on Feb. 13 in Prince George, B.C., and snowboarding events take place on Feb. 24, 26, 27 and 28.

Along with Brittany Hudak, Anna Sigurdson and Kilby, 13 other athletes from Prince Albert will be competing in various compeitions at the Winter Games including Alpine Skiing, Speed Skating, Gymnastics, Judo and Target Shooting. 

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow