Aspiring alpine ski athletes in British Columbia have a very short window of opportunity to qualify for the BC Winter Games. They must qualify while they are 11 or 12 years old.

That's just what Jamie Casselman, Andrea Lockhart and Taylor Kahl have done. All three are from Cranbrook, though all three call the Kimberley Alpine Resort their home hill, so we'll just call this a joint Kimberley - Cranbrook operation to ski with the Kootenay Zone team at the Games.

The Games are coming up from February 23 to 26, 2012 in Vernon and Andrea 11, Jamie, 12, and Taylor 12, are training four days a week at KAR right now.

All have been skiing ever since they can remember, probably around age two, they say. Jamie began at Whitewater but moved to this area when he was quite young. Andrea and Taylor learned to ski at KAR. All three have been members of the North Star Racers since they were five or six years old.

And all three of them posted solid enough competition results this season to qualify for the Games.

"I'm really excited," Taylor said. "I'm just looking forward to the whole experience."

Andrea also says she's really excited, but admits to being "kind of nervous".

Jamie says he looks forward to the competition, going against the best in the province.

These skiers rarely get a chance to compete against anyone but teams within the zone.

They all have goals, the most important being - finish those races, don't post the dreaded Did Not Finish, if at all possible.

"I want to have fun and try to finish all the runs," Taylor said.

"I want to do my best," Andrea said.

Jamie has a very specific goal. "I am hoping for top 10," he said.

In addition to training four times a week, they have one more competition to get them in shape -- a ski cross event in Fernie on February 11, 2012.

All three will compete Slalom, GS and ski cross at the Games. Ski cross is a relatively newer discipline and all three are somewhat anxious about it.

Jamie says he's never done it before, but is looking forward to it. Taylor says slalom and ski cross are her favourites, while Andrea says she doesn't know that she'll like ski cross much.

"It's pretty aggressive," she said.

Andrea and Taylor have both skied Silver Star before - Jamie has mountain biked there, but the whole experience from sleeping in a dorm at a school to top notch competition is one they are eager to experience as part of the larger Kootenay Zone team.

The Kootenay Zone is comprised of the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, East Kootenay, Kootenay Boundary and Electoral Area A of Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, and including major centres: Castlegar, Cranbrook, Creston, Fernie, Golden, Grand Forks, Kimberley, Nelson, Radium, Rossland, and Trail.

Sports include archery, badminton, biathlon, curling, figure skating, gymnastics, hockey, judo, karate, netball, ringette, alpine and para-alpine skiing, cross-country and para-cross country skiing, freestyle skiing and speed skating.

1,398 athletes have qualified for the three day competition and with coaches and officials 1,914 will take part.