The Eagles are soaring high on North Shore mountains this ski season.
The Chatelech Secondary School ski and snowboard team is off to a great start this year, their third in the high school racing series.
Chat's latest race was Saturday at Whistler/Blackcomb where the team came home with a pair of second place finishes.
Grade 11 John Hlagi and Grade 11 Aliza Jacobs both picked up the honours in the snowboard category.
"It was a tough course. A few of our racers wiped out, but it was a challenge for all the competitors," said coach Jamie Mani.
Saturday's race was the second so far this season for the team. Mani said he is impressed with the growth of the team.
"We now have a roster of 16 racers with a good balance between skiers and snowboarders," he said. "Two of our female members are snowboarders. The kids race in a giant slalom format that is set up by the Whistler event staff. You have two runs and your accumulated time gives you your overall finish. Over the three years I've seen a lot of positive growth both in the number of team members and also in the kids as well. Our veterans are showing a lot of leadership and are acting as positive role models for the younger, less experienced kids."
Each week, the team meets for dryland training and weight training. Due to the lack of facilities currently on the Coast, the team gets very little snow training, but so far that hasn't put them behind their fellow competitors.
"Our first race in December was fantastic and I'm very pleased with what transpired at our latest race on the weekend," Mani said. "It's hard when the kids can only train once a week, but they're also involved in other sports too. They're putting all they can into the team and as a coach, that's all I can ask or hope for."
Mani said one of the benefits of the racing league are the lessons put on by Whistler/Blackcomb staff.
"Before each race, all the competitors get an hour-long lesson, so they can learn some new techniques and skills and then immediately put them to use during the race," Mani added. "It's a great program."
Chat has two races left, Jan. 29 and Feb. 4 with the North Shore Zone finals on Feb. 14. After that would be provincials if some of the Chat team is lucky enough to qualify.
"This is the first year we've been able to race as a team in the experienced category instead of the novice category," Mani said. "That shows the positive growth of our team. The results have been great so far. Hopefully we can keep it going."
