Aleisha Cline continued to climb the World Cup ski cross ladder on Jan. 13, placing sixth at a competition at Alpe d'Huez, France, before dropping to a 21st placing at Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ont. on Wednesday (Jan. 20).
On the men's side, Brackendale's Davey Barr placed 13th, his best result of the season.
Cline's latest result breaks an impressive pattern. The 39-year-old started the World Cup season with a 35th place in December, but improved at every race following until this week. She finished 26th, 16th and 12th before narrowly missing the podium in France.
In France, the elimination rounds were cancelled due to poor weather conditions, so the times from the qualification runs determined the final results.
Last season's rookie of the year, Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, won her first World Cup by posting the fastest qualification run. Whistler's Ashleigh McIvor won bronze and fellow Whistler skier Julia Murray placed fourth. McIvor went on to place second at the Blue Mountain World Cup.
Cline was unavailable for comment, but her mom said Cline was disappointed with the sixth place finish.
"She was so frustrated," said Kris Cline. "She said, mom, I just made one little mistake otherwise I should have won."
