Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

I last wrote to you from Chile and it’s hard to believe we’ve finished our first few races and are back to training at home following Christmas.

When we got back from Chile, we settled into the gym for a few weeks while waiting for the hills at home to be ready for training. Once ready, we had some good camps at both Nakiska and Panorama in advance of our first race series.

Our race season kicked off with a Slalom at Norquay on the first weekend in December. Because Panorama was hosting the first NorAm of the season the following week, we had a strong women’s field which made for good scoring opportunities. The ROC did an amazing job running a race that was almost full quota with early season conditions.

Following Norquay, we headed to the Panorama NorAms the following day. The NorAms were tough! The Pano series included Super G, GS and Slalom races and attracted athletes from all over the world and some with World Cup experience. I’m really happy for my teammates Polly, Caleb and Gered who all scored NorAm points in slalom! I want to also congratulate former AST athletes Jesse Kertesz-Knight for winning his first NorAm slalom and Liam Wallace for a successful return to racing following his injury winning one of the GS races and achieving a podium in the other.

After the NorAm, we stayed at Panorama for the Maclachlan GMC Cup. Once again, we had a huge field for both women and men and the ROC was amazing getting through the series on some of the shortest days of the year. We were on the hill for some beautiful sun rises and finished before the sun set! A big snow storm meant that the men lost one slalom race during this series but were able to complete two GS races.

Unfortunately, I did not get the start I was hoping for and did not perform to the level I was expecting. I definitely struggled to ski my best when we were racing and was struggling to make second runs. I was disappointed, because I felt more prepared than ever before, and had amazing pre-season training. It was an awesome experience but a long 12 day block of racing and I left Pano feeling very frustrated in my skiing and ready for our Christmas break.

Before settling into Christmas, I picked myself up and went to join my home club at Lake Louise to participate in the “Santa Slalom.” It was so nice to go back to my home club for a fun race with multiple age groups that really showed how passionate the skiing community is. It was a much needed reminder of how fun ski racing is and why I love the sport.

I spent Christmas at home in Canmore with my family, including my grandparents who were visiting from Nova Scotia. It was a much needed break to rest and reset for the upcoming training block. I went for some ski days with my family, walks with my dogs, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the mountain bike trails weren’t snow covered so I was able to do some rides and enjoy the nice weather.

The team is now back into training after the break at Nakiska. The whole team is here except for Polly, Zoe and Kyle who are down in Colorado racing in some university races. I am really looking forward to this training block and am hoping to figure out some things in my skiing before hopping into our next NorAm series at Lake Louise and Norquay.

Thank you to our team sponsors GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Genstar Canada, Mountain Fire Foods, and Gear up Mountain Sports. I would also like to thank our community of volunteers both those on the hill and behind the scene. Our season wouldn’t be possible without them!

-Katie

Greetings, fellow ski enthusiasts! My name is Deavyn Parchewsky, and I am thrilled to embark on this journey as a proud member of the Alberta Ski Team.This will be my first season on AST I am truly thrilled to be alongside such amazing teammates this season. At 19 years old, this represents a significant milestone in my skiing career, and I am eager to share my experiences with you all.

Originally from Calgary, I consider Canmore my true home, having spent all my summers there and many ski seasons while with the Banff Alpine Racers. This summer I worked at Brewsters golf course and Old School Ice Cream Bus when I wasn’t in the gym with our amazing trainer Nate at CSI. My passion for skiing ignited when I was just three years old, and by the age of six, I was already racing with the Bow Valley Quikies. After an incredible 12 years racing with the Banff Alpine Racers at Norquay, I reflect fondly on the unforgettable experiences, particularly events like the Dress Up Cookie Cup, Caribou Cup and amazing coaches! 

Growing up in the ski racing world has provided me with a truly unique childhood experience—imagine trading school days for thrilling Friday escapes to the slopes from November to April! My summers were equally exhilarating, filled with ski camps alongside friends in breathtaking destinations like Whistler, Europe, Chile and New Zealand.

My journey through ski racing has profoundly shaped my character, instilling in me essential values such as hard work, dedication, and time management. Setting both short-term and long-term goals has become second nature. Most importantly, skiing has fostered my resilience, enabling me to navigate the highs and lows of competition. Overcoming challenges, including an ACL tear during my U16 season, has been a valuable lesson in focus and determination.

My guiding principles include:

Work Ethic: Commitment to every training session is essential; I strive to enhance my technique and physical fitness continuously.

Adaptability and Perseverance: This year has tested my ability to adjust to new teams, coaches, and equipment, but I’ve learned to advocate for myself while staying focused on my goals.

Team Values: Building a supportive and uplifting environment among teammates is crucial for success in skiing; I am dedicated to fostering this sense of community.

Resilience: Each obstacle I’ve faced has reinforced my mental and physical strength.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of ski racing is the remarkable community I’ve become a part of. The support system within this sport is immense, and I have come to appreciate the dedication of volunteers and supporters who contribute to every race—it truly takes a village to raise a ski racer. The friendships I’ve formed within this community are treasures that I hold dear, as we continue to cheer each other on in our individual journeys.

Recently, the team has just finished the norquay slalom races! Woohoo first race of the season! Looking ahead, the team is very excited to compete at Panorama for ten days of racing! Which will take us to Christmas time where we will get some hard earned rest days. 

Thank you for joining me on this exciting adventure! Thank you for all your support of our online auction and raffles! Thank you for all the support and thank you to all our the sponsors of our team GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Genstar Canada, Mountain Fire Foods, and Gearup Mountain Sports. 

Warm regards and happy holidays,

Deavyn Parchewsky

The ski season has officially begun! With the first World Cup in Solden and the local hills opening up it’s hard not to get excited. My name is Aidan Kometz and I am entering my second year with the Alberta Ski Team. Although we are just entering the race season, my season has had an unexpected turn. Like so many ski racers before me, I tore my ACL. To anyone not familiar it is a season ending injury due to its 9-12 month recovery period. So as possibly one of my only journal entries of this year, I thought I would share the story.

Our first pre-season camp in Saas-fee was going amazing. The weather and snow conditions were in our favour, we were getting significantly more days on snow compared to last year, and my skiing was progressing. It was a regular GS training day with “hero” snow and everything felt great. However, on my second run in the course I shifted my weight and leaned in on a right footed turn. This caused me to fall on my hip and start sliding (A “hip slide”) which isn’t an uncommon mistake for me. This was probably one of my most frequent errors in my previous seasons and was something I was working hard to fix. Like so many times before, I stood up from the slide but this time my edge got caught and bounced me up faster than normal. This resulted in me landing in a squat position with all my weight on my downhill knee, tearing my ACL. From my perspective it all happened so quickly. All I really remember was hearing and feeling a pop in my leg and then a ton of pain. I took a moment and skied to the bottom of the run and waited a couple runs to see if the pain went down. I even went for a freeski run but could tell it was unstable with pain from bearing weight. So I left the glacier to head back to the hotel.

I lost almost all mobility in my leg due to the swelling and was limping everywhere. I quickly saw a doctor, but to my surprise she said that I didn’t tear anything, that I was okay to return to snow when it felt better. While my knee still felt slightly unstable, all the effort I had made to bring down the swelling worked. I had almost full range of motion back. Now I am unsure if it was placebo from the doctor or my muscles were compensating, but I felt basically normal. 7 days after the injury I was running and playing soccer. My coach witnessed this and like any reasonable person he told me I should get back to skiing. So after 2 days of freeski exercises I returned to full course training. It obviously felt weird or “off” but I just ignored it and kept skiing. I had no pain. I trained for an additional 4 days in gates before our team packed up and headed home.

The change in direction my situation took when I got back was a lot worse than I expected. I saw a doctor in Calgary and he informed me I did actually tear my ACL but an MRI was needed to confirm. This was heart dropping to hear because I was so assured I was fine after the Swiss doctor and going back to skiing. I was looking forward to our upcoming Chile trip and the season ahead of me. I was stronger and more prepared than any time before. I was praying that the MRI would say I was okay. Sadly, this was not the case. The results showed me that I had a fully torn ACL and Lateral meniscus at the root, and sprain my MCL and another smaller ligament. This was a heartbreaking result, even worse than the just ACL because a torn meniscus causes a much harder recovery.

I now have a surgery date set for November 20th and have been building up my strength and endurance to prepare me for recovery. It will be a long 9 months (give or take) till I am fully healed. However, I believe there is always a silver lining. I can focus on getting much stronger and focus on lots of other aspects of my health. I am happy I can still cheer on my teammates and see their success. I hope to live this year through them in a way. There will be things that challenge me mentally and physically this year but I am ready to face the challenges head on and am excited to get back to skiing one day.

The team is feeling amazing too. Luc, our newest male athlete is fitting right in and it sucks I don’t get to ski with him this season after we grew up racing with each other. I look forward to seeing everyone succeed and I am grateful for everything this team has offered and taught me. I can not wait for when I can join them again on the slopes! This last year couldn’t have been possible without the support of the sponsors of our team GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Genstar Canada, Mountain Fire Foods, and Gearup Mountain Sports.

Hey everyone! My name is Luc Decelles, and this is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team.  I grew up skiing at my home hill, Nakiska,  with the Nakiska Alpine Ski Club. I raced my first two years of FIS with Nakiska Alpine (NATC) where I developed as an athlete thanks to the great coaching and the amazing training at my home hill. I’m very happy to see that a lot of my old teammates from NATC are a part of the Alberta Team this season.  Last season I was a part of the Alberta Development Group which gave me the opportunity to join the team in Beaver Creek and get a taste of the Noram Circuit. I am excited to continue to push my way through the Noram field this season.

Being on the team has allowed me to train at the Canadian Sports Institute, an amazing gym where we do all of our dryland and get to work with our awesome trainer Nate. Dryland is an important part of our training with strength and fitness being the main focus as well as injury prevention. Recently we completed our fitness testing which was a great way to test our limits and see where we are at physically. It was also great to see so many of the younger athletes attend and experience.

The team had two very productive camps in Switzerland and Chile that have us excited for the start of the race season. The snow conditions in Saas-Fee were exceptional, leading to tons of improvements in the whole team’s skiing. I’d never travelled to South America before, so the Chile camp was a nice change of scenery. The early-morning sunrises and weather were awesome. I definitely look forward to hopefully returning to both of these places in the future.  

We’ve just wrapped up a three-week training block at Nakiska where we got lots of mileage. I’ve enjoyed being back at Nakiska and skiing on familiar terrain.  Tomorrow, we leave for a five-day training block at Panorama.  We’re hoping to get much more training volume before our first race of the season in two weeks.  We’ve been very lucky that the weather has allowed for so many great days on snow, and I feel that the team is very prepared going into the Norquay slalom races.  

Something very exciting happening right now is our Sleigh the Bids Auction. This auction helps to support our team and our season. This is an online auction that you can find on “albertaalpine.ca”.  We have some great items, my favourites being a family ski pass at my favourite hill Nakiska, and a really cool Calgary Flames jersey, signed by Blake Coleman.  You only have until December 16th to bid!

Lastly I’d like to thank our amazing sponsors – GMC Dealers of Alberta, Genstar, Karbon, Mountain Fire Foods, and Gearup Mountain Sports. Our season wouldn’t be possible without them! A special thank you to Nakiska Ski Area for their support and all the great training. Thank you for taking the time to read my athlete journal, I’m excited to update you later on in the season once we have some racing under our belts.

Hey everyone! I’m Keira McLaughlin and it is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team. I am super stoked to share with you my first athlete journal and my experience with the team so far.

I am so glad to be back home and part of the team as I had attended Burke Mountain Academy for the past two years in Vermont. Before then, I had been part of CARC in u16 and prior to then, NASA. Safe to say, my favourite ski hill is Nakiska, so when I heard that we would be training there for three weeks, I was ecstatic. There is something about returning to your home hill after a couple years that makes it feel special.

Reflecting on my preseason, I found that I was able to make some considerable improvements to my skiing and I can’t wait to make more throughout our next training blocks. So far our preseason had consisted of going to Saas Fee (Switzerland) and Chile, both places I had never been before, with my main focus being on GS and SL. Both camps went very well, with myself gaining back confidence on snow as well as getting a lot of volume in. Nearing the end of our camp in Chile, my focus shifted to putting some more intense runs in and getting back to just “sending it” down the course in preparation for the Colorado NORAMs.

Unfortunately, those races were cancelled and instead my focus has turned to putting in some more high-intensity training. We have been at Nakiska almost every weekday morning, then heading to the gym in the afternoon to keep up our strength and aid our recovery for the following days. I have found doing recovery to be one of the most important parts of my day. After some tough injuries over the past couple of years, I now realize it is crucial to spend at least twenty minutes doing mobility, stretching, and some exercises. Furthermore, I find it mentally very relaxing and a good time to just listen to music and reflect.

One thing I have learned recently is having balance. Without school, it is often easy for myself to get consumed by skiing. While it is a major part of my life, I find that having other hobbies and interests helps me prevent getting burnt out. With the mild temperatures so far, I have been finding myself playing lots of tennis as well as badminton.

I hope you all are as excited and ready as I am for the races to begin and I look forward to meeting and seeing everyone at our quickly approaching races. I want to extend a huge thank you to our team sponsors: GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Genstar Canada, Mountain Fire Foods and GearUp Sport Canmore for making all of this possible.

See you on the slopes!

-Keira

Hey Alberta ski family!
As the snow is starting to blanket all of the mountains in the Bow Valley, I hope you’re all getting as excited to ski again as I am!

I’m Jamie and this is my first year on the Alberta ski team and I am super excited to share my first athlete journal of the season with you all.

After moving to Alberta almost 4 years ago, I spent my first few years of FIS at NASA with Tom Penney and Hannah Penkala. My skiing journey definitely would not be where it is today without the tremendous support I received from them. I can honestly say that Nasa is an amazing group of people from teammates to some of the coolest coaching staff out there!

I am writing to you after a very long day of Alpine Canada fitness testing and I can already assure you that I will be feeling sore tomorrow! Today was a challenging day filled with a series of tests designed to push us in every direction – strength, power, agility, and endurance. Fitness testing has always been something I get super nervous about regardless of how prepared I feel, and today was no exception. Josh giggled when I mentioned that my heart rate was above 120 from the moment I woke up this morning, but he was right – there really was no reason for me to be stressed. Although this is a day that most of us dread doing, it also marks the first time in months that Alberta athletes come together. There is something so special about our competitors coming together and supporting each other. While pushing through the beep test, I can definitely feel the gym’s energy and the unique sense of camaraderie as everyone cheers each other on. Overall, I am super proud of what the team accomplished, we crushed it!!!

Since returning from Chile, I have been enjoying some well-deserved downtime and quality time with my family (mostly my 2 dogs!! :)) The past couple of weeks have been filled with productive workouts with Nate at CSI. While it was fun to get creative with our dryland training in Chile, it feels awesome to be back in a gym after having limited access while we were there. We’ve not only been hitting the gym hard, but we also had our first nutrition session of the year! This was new for most of us, making it both interesting and beneficial. Sports nutritionist Lauren broke down how to properly fuel during our training sessions to maximize performance and recovery. The best takeaway from this session was that chocolate bars and dessert will be making me a better ski racer!!!

We’re now at the tail end of our off-snow summer preparation, with just a few days left before we kick off training at Nakiska! While I’m not exactly looking forward to the cold Nakiska wind, I’m definitely excited to get back on snow and gear up for the season ahead!

Before I wrap up this athlete journal, I want to acknowledge that it is now November – Men’s Mental Health Month! For those of you who know me, you know that I will always be a big advocate for mental health in all forms. Last year during this month, I shared a post that was very close to my heart, and I’d like to extend the message even further!

“A letter to all the men in my life…
Throughout your lives, you, as men, have been taught to be strong, calm, and unshakable in the face of challenges. You’ve been conditioned to believe that expressing vulnerability or seeking help is a sign of weakness. However, it is so very obvious that this perspective is not only outdated but harmful to your well-being.

It is okay to acknowledge that men, too, experience moments of doubt, stress, and emotional struggles. And, more importantly, it is okay to reach out for support when you need it.

I never want to stop expressing that I will be your support. You don’t have to face your challenges alone. I encourage you to be mindful of your own struggles and to be open to conversations. Feel free to start that conversation in my DM.
I am here for you,

I love you, Jamie”

We are super excited to see what this season has in store for us and are super thankful to all of our team sponsors who make it possible! Thank you to GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, and Genstar Canada!!!

Hello everyone! I’m Gered Thompson, and I’m excited to share that this is my third year with the Alberta Alpine Ski Team, after previously being part of the NASA team. I’m reaching out to you from my home in Calgary, where I just returned from an incredible preseason training trip in Chile. Today, I’m unpacking my Fischer skis and getting everything ready for the upcoming season. I can confidently say that this year’s preseason training camps have been the best of my life. We spent an impressive 17 out of 21 days in Saas-Fee and 14 out of 16 days in Chile, racking up 9-15 runs in a single day, not including our warm-up runs!

Next on the agenda for our team is the fall fitness testing. Throughout the summer, we conducted fitness assessments to track our progress in the gym, and now we’re ready for another round of rigorous testing. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to evaluate our strength, agility, and endurance. The tests include vertical jumps to measure explosive power, agility drills for quick directional changes, and cardiovascular assessments that gauge our overall fitness. It’s both a challenging and rewarding experience that helps us prepare for the demands of the season ahead.

During the summer months, I kept myself busy running my business, Alpine Lawn Mowing, and I also started working towards my private pilot’s license. I’ve found that there are striking similarities between competing in skiing and undergoing flight training. Both activities involve navigating uncontrollable factors and dealing with varying weather conditions. They require split-second decision-making, precision under pressure, and the ability to remain calm amidst unpredictability. Success in both skiing and aviation hinges on thorough preparation, situational awareness, and the capacity to adapt quickly to changing environments. Thankfully, if a flight training session gets canceled, there’s no cost—an amusing perk!

Lastly, I want to give a big shoutout to our sponsors—GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, and Genstar Canada—who support the Alberta Alpine Ski Team. A special thank you to my Fischer representative, Mitch Conner, for ensuring I have top-notch ski gear. There will be an on-line auction fundraiser being announced soon. Don’t forget to bid generously on my two favorite silent auction items: My aunt Karen’s painting featuring the same blue dye from the last World Cup at Lake Louise in 2022, and a fantastic $350 massage and product package from APEX Massage. Your support makes a world of difference!

Hello Friends!

It’s my first time checking in for the 2024/2025 season. I had a great summer filled with lots of sunrise hikes, work, and time in the gym. This year we skipped much of Fall and went straight to Spring. Chile is in full spring bloom and their ski season is coming to an end. It is currently our last night in Chile and we are all dreading the travel day home (and the baggage fees that come with it). Although Chiles’s ski season is ending Canada’s is just getting started with one of the first big snowfalls of the season, which is getting us all super excited for ski season at home!

We have had a very productive camp and it has been super cool to be in Chile for the first time. It’s super interesting to be in a country so different from our own and accommodation a few generations behind our own. Aside from being upside down, we have had a few adjustments to make such as lighting the stove and oven with a match (I will be thrilled when I go home and can turn a knob or press a button to turn them on). This may be familiar to some of you but for our young minds, it is quite foreign. While being in Chile we have been able to learn a little bit of Spanish, however, our language knowledge may have failed us when what was meant to be peanut butter chicken turned into caramel chicken (it was actually pretty good).

The skiing has been super awesome and unique, I have never skied on a volcano before. We finished our camp with a 10-day block which was definitely difficult on our bodies but we managed our energy and kept up on our recovery to make it through. One of my favourite parts about Corralco was watching the Noah Dines tour up the hill multiple times a day every single day (he’s done almost 3 million vertical feet so far this year). Even days with 100km/hr winds and pouring rain Noah still made it up the mountain. It’s inspiring to see athletes from other sports pushing their bodies to the limits and showing extreme displays of self-discipline.

Once I take a few days of rest and do absolutely nothing (“work hard, rest harder” – Nate) I will head back to work and get back in the gym. We haven’t had any gym opportunities in Chile so I am super excited to get back into the gym with Nate again. We are also getting closer to this years Highest Peak Gala, you can buy tickets now. There will be lots of awesome items on auction and its a great chance to recognize the people who have had such a meaningful impact on the ski community!

After a great camp, I would like to thank our team sponsors GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, and Genstar Canada, your support is crucial to our team season and we couldn’t do it without you!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read my first athlete journal of this season!

Polly Lang

Hi everyone!

I am Kyleigh McConnell, and this is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team, formerly on Lake Louise Ski Team. I am writing to you from Chile, about halfway through our camp. Everyone is feeling good, thanks to our great trainer, Nate, back at the CSI gym and all of the other adventures that filled our summers. My adventures included working for TransRockies at multiple events, such as SingleTrack 6 in Nelson BC, and other surrounding towns, and Golden Rush in Golden BC. In between events I would work in TransRockies warehouse where I manage and organize gear for events. I also got my Forklift certification in between summer ski camps! When I wasn’t working or in the gym, I did as much mountain biking and backpacking as I could fit into my schedule. Mountain biking especially was great to train my cardio and legs on the ups, and practice handling nerves as well as race mindsets on the way down. I challenged myself to the Harper Mountain enduro in May, and also completed the Moose Mountain Enduro when we got home from Saas Fee.

All of this helped to prepare for the elevation and long days in Switzerland, although they still definitely took their tole on me. Saas Fee had some amazing skiing, as well as incredible off snow activities. One of my favorites was cold plunges in the river with music to recover. After getting comfortable back on snow we all started making changes to our skiing. The quick laps on the T Bar were great for getting volume in.

Once we got back home, I got straight back into mountain biking, going to the CSI gym, and working. The three weeks at home flew by and before I knew it I was packing up again to head to Chile! After a long two days of travel including four flights and a drive we finally made it to our place 5 minutes down the road from the ski hill.

We have been enjoying starting everyday with warming up in the parking lot alongside our volcano sunrises. Once we’ve gotten ready to ski, we load the lift shortly after 7 am and prepare to ski the course. The snow was soft during the first week, so that included the coaches salting, but now that it has gotten a bit colder we have been enjoying harder snow and earlier starts in the course. Thank you to all of the coaches for all the work they have done salting and creating an awesome training environment for everyone!

After six days on snow, we had a weather day where we got to go see some waterfalls, and walk around town for a bit. We have also used movement to recover with activities including a short hike, some dyland, and a little jog with a recovery in the river after. Now we are three days into a ten day block, so recovery is a big focus.

Back at our condo we fill our evenings with big lunches, tuning, dryland/recover, and we take turns making dinner. Last night we had breakfast for dinner made by Zoe and Polly, which was incredible. I had never had breakfast for dinner before and they definitely set the bar high with crepes, french toast, sausages, egg scramble and lots of sweet toppings.

We are all enjoying our time in Chile and the great skiing conditions. I am excited to ski some more slalom tomorrow, and hopefully some GS soon!!

We all really appreciate all of the support from our team sponsors, GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon sports, and Genstar Canada!!

I hope to see everyone at the Gala on November 7th!

 – Kyleigh McConnell

Hello everyone! My name is Katie Smith and I am a new member of the Alberta Ski team. I’ve spent my last three seasons of FIS with the Lake Louise Ski Club and was part of the Alberta Development Group last season. I’m very excited to be part of the AST this year!

Prior to our first pre-season camp in Saas fee I had a great summer working in Canmore as part of the trail crew for the Canmore & area mountain bike association. The outdoor work of digging trails and moving lots of rocks worked well to keep fit along dryland at CSI with our coach Nate. I did a lot of mountain biking, mountain climbing and even finished my first stage mountain bike race, TransRockies Singletrack Six.

After our first successful pre-season camp in Saas Fee we headed home for a few weeks where I spent a lot of time riding my mountain bike and enjoying the fall weather and in the gym at CSI. I was able to work for a few extra weeks with CAMBA and competed in the Canmore Enduro bike race. It was really nice to spend time with my family before we headed off to Chile which will launch us into the beginning of a busy ski season. After a pretty epic journey, the team is now in Chile, and have had three days of skiing so far. The travel to get here was long as we flew from Calgary to Montreal to Bogota to Santiago to Temuco and then had a 2 hour drive to our cabins near Malalcahuello just a few minutes down the road from Corralco. It was a long but totally worth it! The team is loving the new scenery and the chance to immerse ourselves in the local culture, practicing some spanish, trying some new foods and soaking in Chile.

We started our first day of skiing by exploring the mountain and learning our new environment for the next three weeks. It’s always exciting to explore new resorts and Corralco is definitely different than anywhere I’ve trained before. The past two training days we’ve loaded at 7am and have enjoyed the pretty volcano sunrises. The conditions haven’t been the firmest but after salting the course we’ve had productive gs environments and we’ve been able to push for more volume. After training we’ve been enjoying doing some dryland or hikes to explore Malalachullo and maintain our fitness. For me some of the coolest things so far have been training on a volcano and seeing the monkey puzzle trees.

Thank you to our team sponsors, GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports and Genstar who help make it possible to do what we love!

I’m Looking forward to sharing more updates from the rest of our time in Chile and hope to see everyone at the Highest Peak Gala on November 7th!

-Katie Smith

Hello Everyone! 

Its been a long summer but a as snow starts on the mountains that means ski season is on its way, as well that means its athlete journal time!! For those of you who don’t know me I am Zoe Gray and this is my third year on the Alberta Ski Team! I am writing to you all from the air while on our 30 hour travel day to Chile!!! I hope I can provide a little update on what my team and I have been busying ourselves with throughout this long break from snow:) 

At the beginning of our off season, I hosted a training camp for the up and coming ski racers of Alberta. It was amazing to see them putting in effort, and work on both strength and skill development while off the snow! I plan on continuing the summer camps, and hopefully meet more of our next generation! 

Amongst the training I organized for them, I also attended our teams training held at CSI. We are so lucky to have such a elite training program to follow, and an amazing trainer, Nate, who helps us prepare year round for our skiing. Our training during the summer is made with the intention of gaining muscle and building strength, so we would have heavy lifts for lower and upper 4 times a week, and do bike/running sprints twice a week. Along with my teams program, I would do CrossFit at Endeavour Fitness, do some tumbling out of the new gymnastics building, The Gray Complex, go for bike rides up on the Pano trails, and hike with my adventure buddy Polly! I am a huge believer that staying fit by doing a variety of different sports and activities will only positively effect you as an athlete as a whole, and I was lucky to be able to do so within such a supportive community!

Our team finally all got together in Saas-Fee at our first on snow camp, it was so exciting to finally get back on snow after itching for it all summer:) We are very lucky that we get to travel to such beautiful places!

We arrived in mid-late August and were greeted with hero snow and blue bird days. Saas-Fee is a relatively small mountain town filled with adorable bakeries, mini golf, a sports centre, and our favourite grocery store Migros! The first 2 weeks had amazing snow conditions, and we could push volume with 16-18 runs a day. It was awesome to watch some of the worlds top skiers such as the French Team, USA slalom Team, Team GB, and our very own Canadian National Mens Development Team! 

Our schedule was very similar day to day, starting with an early breakfast to accommodate with our 6:30am gondola load. The hotel prepared lots of bread, cold cut meats, and cheeses for breakfast, as well as some good ol’ Nutella that I added to make my banana chocolate toast! We lived on the upper side of the village and had an added little warm up every morning to get to the gondola station, I found the walk an amazing way to fully wake up and get my body moving before my proper activation warmup (also a great mental prep time for the European lift lines). Once you were able to fight of European kids (particularly the Italians) there were two gondolas and then a tram through the mountain. We aimed for 15 runs in the course most days, however it does vary depending on energy and conditions. We were often off of the glacier by 11:45am, because that was when the snow got too soft. After our ski session a lot of the girls would prep skis right away. We found it helped us to do it before lunch so we could have something break up our day from skiing, to not skiing. This way any bad feelings that may have came from skiing was left in the morning, and we could enjoy our afternoons, WE ARE IN SWITZERLAND AFTER ALL! 

Our team succeeded in exploring all we could while in such a beautiful area! Each afternoon looked a little different each day, we had the freedom to go and adventure as long as we did our dryland and a type of recovery. The activities included beach volleyball, soccer, mountain scootering, boxing, plyometrics, body workouts, core, and proper gym lifts as well. With our recovery we got adventurist and took gondolas to go swim in glacier lakes, and did some hikes to glacier fed rivers which we would cold plunge in, and some easier walks around the small town! I saw some amazing mountains and gorgeous views that I won’t be forgetting! 

Everyday around 6pm we would do video sessions with our coaches, to deep dive into what we are working on and brain storm what drills could potentially help, and touch on what mindset and focus we want to have going into the up coming session. This is a super important step in my day, as sometimes I can give myself too much to work on and become overwhelmed on the hill, so if this happens to you to, then maybe try this process.

 -Set aside time for video with coaches, or teammates, or older athletes 

-REALLY REALLY analyze your skiing, GOOD and bad 

-Write it all down in your journal, any feelings you want to have on the skis, mindset you want to have, different adjustments to equipment, body positioning, line adjustments , ext. 

-Circle two, (this is the max I can think about while I’m skiing), main things you want to work on out of all the things you wrote down, and those are the only things you focus on for the following day 

-Throughout the following day write how it feels, if its working, your coaches opinion

-Bring those notes to the next video session, and build 🙂 

I find that doing this helps me know what works and what doesn’t, and clears up many of my mis-understandings. The other amazing thing about it, is that when you have a rough day you can look back and see what works for you:) 

After our video session we wrap up our days with team meeting, team dinner and a little bit of relaxing before bed. We followed this same day set up though our first 2 weeks, and everything ran smoothly! I was seeing progress in my skiing and my confidence was growing the more I could get on snow. Our third week however, our days consisted of a much different schedule due to rain and poor conditions. The glacier didn’t open for five days and there was a landslide that took out the main bridge! We did lots more hikes around Saas and more dryland to occupy our time. Although we were not able to ski the adventures we had made up for it. We saw adorable cows, and goats, and were able to explore the tastes, and sights of Saas-Fee. Since the storm closed the road we were stuck in Saas a little longer than anticipated, but still made it home safe and sounds (just a few days late). Saas-Fee was a very successful camp and we saw a lot progress from everyone!!

We got a few weeks at home, I filled mine with some beautiful fall hikes, family and friends time, and the Skis and Hearts fundraiser!! It was a great re-group before we are in full stride of the ski season. Now we head of to Chile for our second camp of the season! 

A huge thank you to our team sponsors GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, and Genstar Canada!! 

Thank you for reading our first athlete journal of the 2024-2025 season, make sure to stay updated with us through our instgram posts and stories, as well as the other athlete journals!!! 

Hello again,

This is now my third athlete journal of the season so if you haven’t read one yet, my name is Aidan Kometz and this is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team. Our season is coming to an end as we wrap up the final series at Nakiska. We got off two slaloms but then got hit by some unfortunate weather and two days were cancelled. That’s just one of those things with skiing that is so unpredictable. A phrase I have been told throughout skiing that pretty accurately describes skiing the past couple months is “Control the Controllables”. Applying this would be doing dryland, staying positive, reviewing video and anything beneficial that can be done on a weather day. Since my last athlete journal we have raced Nationals at Red Mountain, some Super-G at Kimberley, NORAM finals at Panorama, and now Nakiska. Every series has been affected by warm or wet weather. We lost 5 starts at Red, 3 speed starts at Pano, and now more at Nakiska. However, I think the team has been doing a great job staying positive and optimistic with distractions and entertainment. My favourite memories from the past month have been playing volleyball with the BC Team in Invermere in the afternoons and trying out golfing on a cancelled day!

Now for a more individual athletic perspective. Like the rest of my season I have been struggling with GS and SL while doing decent in Super-G and Downhill. The biggest challenge I face and put on myself with technical skiing is staying focused and completing one great run that demonstrates my skiing ability. I often find myself going too straight and cutting myself off. It’s an old habit that I need to break. I need to trust myself and my skis to go farther across the hill and attack the turn, also making sure I fully complete my turn. Doing this should help not only my times, but my finish rate as well. The technical disciplines don’t come to me as easy as the speed ones. It feels the same as how humanities like english or social studies were just simply harder then sciences or maths. The concepts of speed and gliding just make more sense in my head then the skill impulse needed for slalom. I also enjoy the fear factor of downhill, not that any downhills I have done are scary but going fast is just more thrilling for me, more fun.

I found some success at the super-g’s at kimberley coming 8th and 9th (2x U19 2nd) and scored there dropping my SG world ranking under 500 which was nice to see. Sadly, we only got one downhill training run and one race at Pano. It was cool to compete with the National speed teams and get to start in the top 30 with the DH NORAM points I got at the start of the year. While that race might have been some sketchy skiing it was my best result coming in 20th, scoring NORAM and FIS points, and winning the U19 Canadian Downhill title.

While this season is coming to an end I am gearing up for next year already. I realise I need to be a lot stronger so I am going to be pushing my hardest this summer in the gym. I need to truly take advantage of preseason and capitalise on all the training and progress to be made. I’m also really excited to see what the team looks like next year. The Alberta Selection Camp is coming up at the start of May so it will be interesting getting to train with all my future teammates. I hope a couple of my old teammates come to ski for Alberta next year. I’m hopeful for these next two GS races and for everything that’s coming. I will even get to race against my brother for the first time next year. I appreciate everything that has happened this year. I want to truly thank our sponsors GMC Dealers of Alberta, Sporting Life, Karbon, and Genstar for supporting our skiing aspirations. Sometimes it’s hard to express it but I am also grateful for my coaches, teammates, everyone behind the scenes at Alberta Alpine, all the volunteers who ensure we can keep doing this sport, and my family. When someone said “It takes a village!” they weren’t wrong.

Thank you to everyone for the great year,

Aidan Kometz