To the ski community of Thunder Bay:

Thank you for hosting one of the greatest ski racing events of our time, the U16 Canadian National Alpine Ski Championships 2017

It started with a bid. A seventy six page document that was submitted by the local organizing committee led by a man (Dave Bradley) who has since reached royalty status both within the Thunder Bay city limits but also far beyond. With the last major national alpine competition being held in 1949 some may have said that the odds were stacked against them. But, as we are often taught as young athletes, work hard and you will be rewarded. It wasn’t long after the submission that the buzz began… Some aspects were accurate, some perhaps for the ski gods, but one thing was absolutely certain – these folks really, really wanted this event and nobody was going to stand in their way.

From there, as they say, the rest was history. A fiercely passionate and experienced core of individuals proceeded to prepare to host the first ever U16 Canadian National Alpine ski championships with one goal in mind: To make it the standard for years to come.

The standard they did. And with it came a host of story lines that will long be remembered well after the final flakes of snow disappear into the soil this spring. Backed by a community that has long been entrenched in ski racing folk lore with no greater example than Crazy Canuck Dave Irwin, who learned how to ski at his father’s ski hill at the time, Loch Lomond, the site of this year’s championships! Well 45 years later, the light shines bright with local kids Aaron Puskas and Sophie Robinson waving the flag high and both answered the call time and time again this past week under pressure cooker situations. Beneath the lights on Friday night with the hometown crowd looking on and holding their breath at the same time Puskas delivered with an epic result capturing a Silver medal in the Slalom. His parents, both orthopaedic surgeons and his father a Canadian armed forces medical doctor who has completed seven oversees tours was manning the family tuning/cooking trailer some 50 meters from the finish line took the performance in stride saying, “I just told him to go for it and have fun“. It’s the advice that as a former coach I could only dream a parent would say to their child at that kind of a moment.

Of course, with every great event lies an amazing support system. Cue the Loch ownership group and Jason Gerry and Grant Brodeur. It’s the behind the scenes “stuff” that is often taken for granted but undoubtedly has monumental importance in ensuring an event of this magnitude runs smoothly. Just ask some of the parents from Alberta who after the night slalom graciously offered to help drag the dual slalom starting gate from the bottom to the top which mission finally concluded well after 2am on Saturday morning. One lucky parent even experienced the always inclusive nature of the hill operations and enjoyed some of the show in the actual snow cat! Speaking of Alberta, how about Cassidy Gray, from the Panorama Ski Club, who after crashing in the slalom run of the super combined (SC) slid down to the next gate keeper and thanked them profusely for being there and volunteering their time. Don’t worry folks, Cassidy came back later in the week and became the 1st ever U16 Woman’s slalom champion!!

And please don’t forget our friends from Alpine Canada. Sometimes the brunt of finger pointing and blame this organization went beyond the call of duty by sending Director of Domestic Sport, Dusan Grasic (former Canadian team World Cup tech coach with 9 World Cup podiums under his belt) to the event 4 days in advance to shape the terrain and make sure our athletes would be safe no matter what. Grasic was also out on the hill on the final day during the team event marking in the times with a sharpie trying his best, along with many others, to make it as memorable an experience as possible for the athletes.

It’s this kind of a plot that makes you realize why we love this sport so much. Why we fight the long dark winters by getting up at unjustifiable hours to get first tracks and enable our own athletes to get as much training as possible so they can knock a few hundredths of a second off their time. And ultimately at the end the day it’s about the community and the people that make this such a beautiful thing. As one great ski racing mind Aldo Radamus once told me, “there are no losers in this sport“. Some will make it to the top but most will not – but no matter what happens you can be sure that at the end of the day we are enriching the lives of young people and the lessons learned and experiences gained will propel them in life to be serious contributors.

Now back to Dave B one last time. Amidst the final day of racing chaos he somehow managed to pull together the team event 1st prize with a canoe paddle that was awarded to the winning team Alberta at the final banquet celebration on Saturday night along with just a few other items….. The paddle was a great hit and marks the beginning of yet another amazing Canadian ski racing tradition.

So here’s to you Thunder Bay. For showing the country how ski racing was meant to be. And for opening your doors and providing an experience that we will all remember for a very, very long time.

Sincerely,

Scott Barrett
Executive Director, AOA.

Hello All,

See below from Toronto Ski Club.

After a sustained and unprecedented February mild spell with temperatures reaching 18deg c much of this past week and with a constant eye on the weather forecast, we are left with little doubt that snow conditions on Sunday will not be favorable to host the U16 OCUP GS at the Toronto Ski Club.

Although we have held out hope the forecast would shift in our favour, it has done just the opposite and has led to the conclusion that a safe and fair race course for those planning to compete has a high likelihood of becoming impossible to maintain even if we experience a brief cold spell overnight on Saturday.

With the well-being of competitors in mind, it has regrettably been determined that Sunday’s race will not be able to safely proceed and has therefore been cancelled.
Robyn Skinner
Competition Manager
Alpine Ontario Alpin
admin@alpineontario.ca
(705) 444-5111 x128

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

32 Ontario athletes to compete in 2017 U19 SportChek Canadian Championships
5-day competition runs March 1-5 in Nakiska, Alberta

Collingwood, ON (February 22, 2017) — Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA) is  pleased to announce the following 32 athletes selected to compete in the 2017 U19 SportChek Canadian Championships taking place at Nakiska, Alberta March 1^ST to March 5^th. Five ski teams represent these athletes including the (OST) Ontario Ski Team, (SOD) Southern Ontario Team, (NSA) National Ski Academy, (NCO) National Capital Outaouais) and Ontario athletes registered in the Vermont program (GMVS) Green Mountain Valley School.

WOMEN:
1. Sierra Cadieux OST 2000
2. Nicole Clarke NCO/GMVS 1999
3. Emily Goodman NSA 1998
4. Sydney Mason CRG/GMVS 2000
5. Madison McVey NSA 2000
6. Camryn Metzger OST 1999
7. Asha O’Brien NSA 1999
8. Tarrah Price CRG/GMVS 1998
9. Steffi Ralph OST 2000
10. Morgan Ross NSA 1999
11. Lauren Stackhouse SOD 2000
12. Madeline Sullivan OST 2000
13. Camille Vibert OST 1999

MEN:
1. Ben Cantoni SOD 1999
2. Griffin Copp OST 1999
3. Alex Duff NCO 1999
4. Sam Duff NCO 2000
5. Cameron Dymond OST 1998
6. Will Francis OSL/GMVS 2000
7. Joel Gagne NSA 2000
8. Will King SOD 2000
9. Will Kornya GP/GMVS 2000
10. Henry Luel OST 1998
11. Zachary Mayne OST 1999
12. Cam McGregor NSA 1999
13. Declan McCormack OSL/GMVS 1999
14. Joseph Mergl NSA 1998
15. Jack Norton OST 1998
16. Ian Quayle SOD 1999
17. Hunter Watson OST 1999
18. Brian Weatherall NSA 1998
19. Harrison Wood SOD 1999

These races represent the National Championships for SuperG on March 3^rd and the National Jr. Championships (NJC) for Slalom and Giant Slalom. Races born in 1998, 1999 and 2000 qualify for the NJC podium.

AOA Executive Director Scott Barrett comments, “It’s a pinnacle event for the next step of racing – a very large jump from U16 as you battle your way through entry level FIS. These competitions are historic with Provincial level teams often stacked up again CAST athletes so it is an eye opener for the youngsters but also a great opportunity. One athlete we know to keep an eye on is defending NJC champion Henry Luel from The Georgian Peaks Ski Club. Luel placed 2^nd in the GS and 3^rd in the SL and was crowned overall National Junior Champion. Can he do it again? ”

Find the race schedule and results on the FIS site here https://data.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/calendar.html?&limit=50&bt=next&rec_start=50

For more information:
Kristin Ellis
Interim Alpine Ontario Alpin Communications
communications@alpineontario.ca
www.alpineontario.ca
705-444-5111×132

This week I got the chance to sit down with a living legend in the snow-sports industry. Chris Robinson is a highly respected freestyle skier, coach, event manager, TV personality, and producer. Highlights of his long list of accomplishments include founding S-Media, North America’s only multi-platform ski media and production company, Double Black Diamond Productions, and World Snowsports Events Group, working with the Canadian Snowsports Association, the Canadian Ski Council, and the FIS Freestyle Committee. It came as no surprise when in 2009 Chris was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. Chris has played an integral role in bringing multiple major World Cup events to the Collingwood region including the 2017 Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup coming to Blue Mountain in just two weeks time.

Get your Live & Loud tickets by clicking here

Listen to the full episode here or on iTunes

RACE REPORT, FEBRUARY 21st : Included this week:

• Mealey Classic, Mackenzie Investments U14 OCUP
• SX OCUP Result links
• Para-Alpine Winter Games results
• NCAA & CAST Highlights

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Please note changes to the race schedule in SOD this weekend:

1. Caledon will be hosting a SL instead of a GS for the 2002 Female SOD Cup race on Sunday Feb 26th.

2. Mansfield will be hosting the Aviva U16 OCUP for BOTH GENDERS this weekend. Caledon will not be hosting the women’s race.

All of these changes are reflected on the AOA website calendars. Please contact Robyn should you have any questions.

Robyn Skinner
Competition Manager
Alpine Ontario Alpin
admin@alpineontario.ca