Hi Everyone we just finished up an amazing block at sunshine village which was unfortunately cut short by new restrictions, but the environments we got to train on have been amazing to put to snow some of the skills we’ve been working on this season.

Thanks for watching! 

Ryan.

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The season is over and I already miss the cold Naksiska wind. Despite the lack of races and the fight to stay motivated there were some positives. 

It was my first year at the University of Calgary with the Dinos and my first year on the Alberta ski team. It feels like I did most of my sleeping while my coaches drove the truck up to the hill.

Athletes can be difficult people, stubborn and opinionated. Over the years I’ve been lucky to have some coaches that stood by me and believed that I was worthy of their time. I am very grateful for that. Sometimes we don’t show enough of our gratitude to coaches, parents, sponsors and all the people we depend on throughout our skiing years. To them I am dedicating this movie.

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Hey there!

My name is Reece Ralph, and this is my second year on the Alberta Alpine Ski cross team. I hope you enjoy a little behind-the-scenes look at our crazy covid season!

Coming into this year I had no idea what to expect. I knew that this season was going to be different with races getting postponed or moved around the country/calendar and the likelihood of there being a Nor Am series quickly went south. With restrictions changing at what seemed to be a weekly basis, and the option of going to Europe to race in the Europa cup unavailable, my coaches, teammates and I had to make our own training plan for this winter.

Our plan started off strong with a couple weeks of pre-season training at Panorama with an emphasis on going back to the basics. Developing our technical skiing skills and making the most out of the start section they set up for us was key. As then we moved into January, we moved to our next training venue at Pass Powderkeg (PPK) for what was to be our home for the winter.

Our time spent training at PPK was less than ideal. A severe lack of snowfall and other daily challenges made it impossible to plan for more than 1 day in advance. Athletes and coaches were forced to adapt to sometimes negative daily changes with little to no notice. However, our fantastic coaches JM, Kya and Matt rallied and quickly adapted to the conditions of the day to make the most of the situation and provided value every day we were there. These challenges lead to a personal highlight for me. I was fortunate to get the chance to use some of the skills I learned through my college education. I was invited to assist the operations crew by making some models of these new features and assisted in the rebuild with a focus on making the track more challenging and safer.

The cloud of Covid-19 hit close to home in the pre-season. Personally, I have followed the Covid-19 rules mandated by Alberta Alpine and the Alberta Government and have been Covid free.  The 2 weeks my team spent in isolation is difficult for anyone let alone high-level athletes who spend the majority of our time either on snow or in the gym.

After our stint at PPK we decided to shift our focus a little closer to home. The team and I have spent the past couple of weeks at Nakiska where we have been training GS and SL with some excellent snow in a professional training environment. Having Nakiska open to us this season has been hugely beneficial to us. By providing consistently good snow, challenging terrain, and most importantly, they closed down the run to the public so the team’s training could do so safely.  

This season has also given us the rare gift of lots of powder days. Skiing around Castle Mountain with the team and our assistant coach Matt Carss has been an unbelievable experience. Free skiing has added a new dimension to our training. Ski cross and Free skiing have a lot of similarities and transferrable skills. Line choice plays a HUGE part in both disciplines.

When you look at a ski cross track or a line on a mountain, you need to be able to make mental targets that you need to hit in order to make it through the course or down your line safely.

Balance also plays a huge role in landing in both powder and off a jump. Being able to spot my landing and get my body at the perfect angle to match the transition can make or break my race. To be able to put my skiing into auto pilot and make my way through traffic on the track is an integral part of ski cross.

In the weeks ahead, the team and I are shifting our focus once again. We are now full speed ahead preparing for our end of season Spring Camp at Sunshine with Canada Ski Cross. I am excited to get back on snow with the National team and get back to racing 4 wide and full tilt. I feel like this season of training GS and Slalom has given me time to catch up with my technical skiing and has helped close the speed gap with some of my teammates.

I have been very fortunate to be able to pursue my dreams in these crazy times. I am looking forward to some bluebird sunny days in the next couple of weeks as we prepare for Spring Camp.

Thank you to all of our team sponsors for helping us make this season the best it can be and to my personal sponsors for fuelling my dream.

Ski Safe,
Reece Ralph

Hey Alberta ski racing fans!

I’m Phil Tremblay and I’m a second year athlete on the ASXT for 2020/21. After an awesome season last year which included my first World Cup start, this season has been a wild ride for a different reason. With COVID-19 restrictions not allowing us to travel between provinces as a team we’ve doubled down on our training here at home! We’ve spent a crazy amount of time on GS courses, which has proved useful and everyone on the team has shown some huge progress. Every day we’ve been trying to remind ourselves how lucky we are to be able to still be training as much as we are. A huge shout out is warranted to our three coaches Kya Fairley, J.M. Martel & Matt Carss as well as our S&C Coach Nate Morris who have all been working hard to keep us up and running.

Through these continuing trying times I thought everyone could use a little bit of humor! Please enjoy a few clips from the past little bit of training, put together A-La Pixar et. Owen Wilson!

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Hello, fellow ski enthusiasts!

I’m Mara Bishop and I am one of four ladies on the Alberta Ski Cross team. This is my second-year skiing with Alberta Alpine and these past 12 months have been challenging, to say the least. Despite the pandemic’s unknown hurdles, the team has made big strides in our skiing this season.

The 2020/2021 season has been a significant test of my personal mental strength. At the beginning of the season, I got two days on snow before having to go into the first of many 14-day quarantines. After being released into the public for three days, I got a cold and had to isolate myself once again. November was a month spent almost entirely in my apartment; I couldn’t wait to join the team and get on snow again.

In December I got to start training gates again and pick up where I had left off last season. A couple weeks training gates in beautiful Panorama made my heart and soul happy; Panorama is one of my favorite places to train. The resort is extraordinarily accommodating and built a fantastic start section with Canada Snowboard Cross that ASXT was able to use while we were there. At the end of December, I hit my hand against a boulder free skiing at Lake Louise and I regressed back to technical free skiing once again. As the New Year rolled in, I was keen to get back into training gates and on the track built at Pass Powder Keg.

Boom. On January 1 Alberta Health Services called to advise I must self-isolate once again. My heart was breaking; I had to quarantine again and miss out on another training camp. I was hopeful that I was covid free, but I did end up contracting the virus and was in isolation for 20 days total.

I rejoined the team at the end of January; I had a few days of technical free skiing before I was able to get into gates and on the track. February was fabulous (despite the cold snap we had). I saw improvement in all aspects of my skiing and was excited to get on with the rest of my season with no more hiccups. March rolled around, we got some fantastic super-g, GS, and slalom training at Nakiska during the first week. Bam. March 5, my ski got caught in some funky snow, I high sided myself, and smacked my noggin real hard on the ground. I sustained my fourth concussion. The month of March, I spent entirely in my basement recovering from my crash, but I did get to enjoy the beautiful early spring weather Calgary had to offer. On April 7, I finally was cleared to return to snow, and I got to rejoin the team at Sunshine, hoping to get a good day of TFS in, but we were snowed out by mother nature. Despite my first day on snow being cut short, my spirits are high, and I am eager to return to training once again.

I have skied maaaybe 20-30 days this season. I have taken hit after hit this year; it feels as though the world doesn’t want me to ski.  I looked back in my journal from last March and the beginning of the ski season. I was afraid of how my mental health would handle this pandemic and a ski season with no competitions. Looking back on this season thus far, I have taken care of myself far better than I thought I would. I believe the most significant stride I have made this season is in my mental performance, I have been put down almost every month this season, and I come back with a smile on my face and eagerness to train. I am so proud of myself.

As most sports have been shut down this year, we are fortunate to train in the mountains and have a couple gym sessions each week in the city. Even though we’ve had no competitions, we have been able to push one another on and off snow to become better athletes and competitors. I am so proud of my team and the significant improvements in everyone’s skiing this season.

I wish that you, the reader, are taking care of yourself, mentally and emotionally. Everyone is fighting their own battles and finding ways to survive these trying times. Remember to be kind to one another and focus on the silver linings in your day; there are good things in each day, even if they are small.

Stay positive and test negative, my dudes.

Love,
Mara 🙂

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Hi everyone! Welcome to my Athlete Journal. This was my first year on the Alberta Ski Team and it was a great one! Despite all the COVID restrictions, the team was able to stay focused and had some great training blocks and opportunities. Between our trip to Europe in the fall and our training camps in Panorama and Nakiska, all the boys grew close to each other and developed a long-lasting friendship. Having Jonas and Pete as our coaches this season was amazing. They offered a professional and hard-working environment to all the boys which allowed us to improve at a great rate while having a blast! I look forward to a new season starting with pre-season training on snow next week and a hard-working summer in the gym!

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Hello and greetings to all!

For those who may not know me, my name is Liam Wallace and I am on the Alberta Ski Team for the 2020-21 season.

I first want to say that I hope you are all safe and staying healthy during these uncertain times. This year has been one of the most challenging situations of our lives and for me, skiing has provided an escape from all the chaos. The team and I feel extremely fortunate to say the least. At the end last year, all kinds of uncertainty came to light for me. I desperately needed a place to ski for this season and Alberta Alpine worked hard to get a crew of athletes together and on snow in November. We have been going strong since.

I am now 21 years old and have ski raced since I was five. I am currently completing my sixth season in FIS where I compete in Slalom, GS, and Super-G. Something you may not know about me is that I was once on the Alberta Ski Team back in 2017. My time spent on the team led me to ski for the University of Alaska Anchorage, and also found myself alongside the Alpine Canada Development and C-team for the past couple years. My early days in ski racing were spent up at Sunshine Village, where I learned to race and challenge my skills all over the mountain.

During the past 120 days on snow, almost all of our training has been in the Bow Valley area and Panorama. Our men’s team consists of six great guys and two coaches who have been an absolute blast to learn from and progress with. Jonas Haehlen and Peter Rybarik have given us maximum opportunity to progress despite the restrictions and shortened season. In years past I was always one of the youngest athletes on the team. So being the oldest this year definitely feels different. I think it has been a nice change from what I am used to, and I have developed some great new friendships on the team.

My highlight this season was my trip out to Europe back in January with Jonas. Our trip took us through many beautiful resorts across Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. We raced in many new resorts and ski towns that each hosted high intensity races. As always, I am blown away by how many athletes there are who are pushing to do whatever it takes to get to the next level. I am excited to try and close the gaps to these guys in the future.

I am also happy to have had some solid results in both Panorama and Europe. I am currently training at home in Alberta before one final push of racing down in Steamboat Springs and Aspen in early April. I think my goal for the short term is to finish up this year with a couple slalom results and re-qualify for the Canadian team criteria at the end of this season and get back to skiing with that team.

I can’t thank my parents and family enough for being so supportive of me. I’d like to also thank everyone on the board of Alberta Alpine, Pat Gillespie, Alied ten Broek, Heather McRae, for your hard work and dedication over the past months to keep our season going. Your flexibility and readiness at any moment has been greatly appreciated. I would also like to send a big thank you to my coaches who have been fantastic support this season. You have all helped create a high-performance environment and positive vibe have made our group ski much faster.

I hope that you have all found some solace on the ski hill and other outdoor activities this year. I appreciate you visiting this page and enjoy some spring skiing.

See you on the slopes!

-Liam Wallace

Here are a couple moments from the season:

Pre-season training in Saas Fee Switzerland.

Crazy light above the tbar on the Allalin Glacier Switzerland.

Riding the t-bar with some guy in Obdach Austria at 6:45 am.

Alberta Alpine Long drive contest, Quest for Gold Tournament.

Morning ahead of European Cup Super G in Zinal Switzerland.

Sunrise in Italy.

One of the many great days spent training at home recently. Mens DH GS training.

Hello, Alberta Alpine community! My name is Kiersten Vincett, and I am from Galahad, Alberta, in East Central Alberta. I have been in ski racing for 15 years and started racing ski cross in U16. This season is my first year on ASXT. I was previously on ABSX, and my home club is the Valley Ski Club. This year has been very tumultuous and full of surprises. Working around the Covid protocols in the summer proved to be challenging but manageable. I felt like I went into the ski season very strong, and I am thrilled with the training we received from the Canadian Sport Institute. I want to thank our strength and conditioning coaches for all the hard work they do during the summer to do our best on snow.

The biggest challenge of the year came right at the start when in November, I contracted Covid. The team had to quarantine, and it was a difficult time for everyone. We rescheduled our Panorama camp to after our quarantines and had a fantastic couple of weeks in Panorama. With the Canada Snowboard Cross’s help, we built one of the best early-season start sections I have had in my ski cross career. Working with other teams makes it more affordable to the athletes and creates better training environments for multiple sports. It is great to see the programs’ comradery to create training opportunities to propel our careers forward. I appreciate all of the ski hills that are willing to work with us to provide these environments.

The team spent a lot of time in the Crowsnest Pass at Past Powder Keg (PPK) and Castle over the last couple of months. Finding new training venues and exploring new areas is always interesting. On shorter training days, we would explore the town, support local businesses, and see the area’s rich history. After a lot of long hours and hard work, we built a track at PPK; we could get high levels of volume with the short turnaround time of the T-bar. We were able to change up the course a few times to work on new technical and tactical skills. Castle also provided us with great GS opportunities, although we did blow off training (with our coach’s encouragement) to ski the impressive powder Castle had to offer. Freeskiing is an important skill to hone, and it helps with improvisation and terrain management which is critical in ski cross.

I have capitalized on this training year; I have made some significant strides in my skiing that I am excited to bring forward into next season. It feels like this is a never-ending preseason of training. I miss the hustle and bustle of the start area, the adrenaline pumping when the starter calls racers to enter the gate, and the late nights tuning skis for the next day of racing. This excitement keeps many people going; I have been experiencing a bit of training fatigue, as it is hard to know what you are training for. I keep expecting a race to be around the corner, but it has not come and will not come until at least next year. This season was one of my primary goals to compete at World Junior Championships (WJC) in Russia. Unfortunately, Canada was unable to compete, so I cannot capitalize on my last year of eligibility. WJC in Austria was one of my favourite ski cross memories, and I was excited to make more, but Covid had other plans.

This season had been difficult as our jobs depend on a vast support structure of coaches, teammates, volunteers, parents, and race admin. The ski cross community is a very close, tight-knit group, I miss racing, but I also miss seeing all people who work so hard to make it a positive space. Many of the volunteers are like family; they are so excited to see us year after year and welcome us back to their ski areas. I can’t wait to see them all next season. The blessing of Covid is that it makes us take stock of what is truly important. You don’t realize how much you miss your community until it gets taken away.

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Wow, what a crazy year it has been. About a year ago the world shut down on us. I just want to start by saying how thankful I am that we are back skiing and have been able to go to some races this season. We are currently travelling to Collingwood, Ontario for some races and we are happy to have picked up a few more athlete for the trip. I am excited to see what the team and all the young blood can accomplish.

I would like to speak on behalf of the AST women team, and thank Gavin Preziosi and Jim Read who have worked tirelessly to give a season of normalcy in these unprecedented times. You guys are the best and I can’t thank you enough. (Jonas and Pete you’re alright too :))

One final shout out to all the parents, clubs, coaches, sponsors, servicemen and fans. Without the support of the Alberta Ski Community none of this would be possible, “It takes a village”! Furthermore, I hope you all enjoy the video and what AST women have to say!

Thank you,
Kiki Alexander

Hello Ski Racers from EuroLand! I hope your keeping healthy and enjoying the great Canadian outdoors during this odd winter!

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katrina van Soest. I grew up in Vernon BC and started skiing with the Vernon Ski Club. Unfortunately, the club didn’t have a FIS Program so I joined the Vancouver FIS Ski Team for my first year of FIS. There were three other girls on the team that were tech focused but I was and will forever be more interested in speed skiing. A few friends suggested I approach Banff Alpine Racers (BAR) to find what I was looking for, so I did for my second year. My skiing would not be where it is today without the support I had (and still have) from BAR. I skied with BAR for four years and I can honestly say they are an amazing crew of people from teammates to coaching staff to some of the coolest parents anywhere. In my sixth year FIS I made the Alberta Ski Team. But due to COVID-19 I knew there wasn’t going to be many chances for racing in Canada this winter so I sought out other options. Which is when I was introduced to the International Ski Racing Academy.I was super fortunate to be accepted to be a part of both the Alberta Ski Team and International Ski Racing Academy (ISRA).

(Photo credit to John Everly. Pictured Duane Baird BAR FIS coach 2019 LakeLouise WorldCup)

This winter has and continues to be a wild ride from the start to now (almost finished). Since making the move to join ISRA in Italy I’ve enjoyed some amazing opportunities. The most important was starting in my first Europa Cup races and a close second is living in the Italian Dolomites! Racing in Europe is something special and I now know every competitive ski racer needs to do it at some point in their FIS careers. My first few races were daunting to say the least. I didn’t know anyone and I was on a new team with new teammates and new coaches. Fortunately, these girls and the coaches turned out awesome.  I’m learning so much and having fun with all of them! I’ve skied at many new resorts in new countries and seen some amazing sunrises. The mountains here are very different from the Rockies. They are HUGE from valley bottoms to peaks they’re the tallest mountains I’ve ever seen.

(Passo San Pellegrino)

This winter has brought many new experiences into my life. There were many families who couldn’t be together for the holidays and unfortunately mine was one of them. I didn’t have two weeks to spare around Christmas time so I had to stay in Europe away from my family. While this was really hard and a bit emotional I was able to “open presents” and join my family for breakfast on Christmas Day thanks to FaceTime. Luckily, I had some of my new found teammates/roommates (Candace Crawford, Eliza Grigg, and Alice Robinson) who also couldn’t go home. In total there were 4 of us who had to stay in Soraga for Christmas. We had our CommonWealth Christmas a day early as Candace and Alice had to leave for a World Cup race.

(San Pellegrino Europa Cup start gate, pictured  Johanna Tikkanen ISRA coach)

Another new thing are Europa Cups. Wow they’re a lot more intimidating than any other race competition I’ve experienced. There are many World Cup athletes racing in them which adds to the intimidation factor. A few weeks ago I got to race the San Pellegrino World Cup track. It was the same piste for the Europa Cup Super G races and it was thrilling! A few mistakes here and there but overall I’m getting close to a top 30 and finally getting some Europa Cup points. I’m hungry for more and can’t wait for Europa Cup finals in Saalbach, Austria.

(Livigno Italy GS Europa cup photo credit to thelagomers)

This winter has been an eye opener into ski racing, I can’t wait for more to come. The ski culture and excitement in Europe is never ending. I want to give a huge shout-out to my personal sponsors mom and dad (Christina and Garry van Soest) and to all my hometown ski racing fans. If it wasn’t for them it would be very hard to keep doing this wonderful sport! I would also like to thank SportingLife and Sync Performance for supporting the Alberta Ski Team!

Hello everyone!

It is hard to believe we have been living in this altered state for almost a year now. I remember the optimism early on when we were postponing events by weeks, or maybe a month or two down the road, in anticipation of “when COVID is over”. I certainly did not grasp the magnitude of COVID’s effect right away. Yet, a year later, here we are pushing through and for the most part, still maintaining some level of optimism.

The team has been very lucky to still have some opportunities to race and train outside of our home region. The month of January and into early February saw the team sprawled into all different corners of our globe. Peter, Logan and Dan were down in the USA on a similar racing and training program as the women’s team. Their four-week tour saw some solid performances across the board with podiums and personal bests. Navigating the COVID ski season presents some unique challenges, but the team stayed focused and ultimately had a successful trip. Unfortunately, on the last day of their US trip, Dan suffered a broken leg while training. He is in good spirits and mending well; the whole team is wishing him a speedy and successful recovery!

While most of the team was south of the border, I was lucky enough to take Liam and Jamie across the pond. In total we spent five weeks in Europe filled with incredible racing and world class training. The journey over was somewhat of an unknown. We knew where we were landing and where we would be staying; everything in between was a question mark. The biggest hurdle proved to be checking into our flight in Calgary. After spending over an hour and a half providing documentation and proof of travel,  they finally checked us in and we managed to board the plane with not a minute to spare. Our layover in Toronto went smoothly and we only had one last hurdle: German customs.

I am not sure if it was all our paperwork being in order or our great Canadian charm, but they stamped our passports with no questions and boom, we were in Europe! Things did spice up a little when our bags, which were checked in 30 minutes before our flight, inevitably didn’t show up. But we got our COVID tests, picked up the rental van and headed for the Austrian border. We had heard the Austrian border was tough and had been turning people away so we weren’t sure what to expect. Much to our delight, after stopping every car in front of us, they waved us right through! This good fortune seemed to follow us for most of our trip. Out of our six border crossings we only got stopped once, which lasted all of two minutes and one simple sentence, “we are headed to a ski race”. Europe loves their ski racing.

As for the actual skiing part of our trip, the guys started off on a great note. Liam found himself on the slalom podium day one, in 3^rd place, and followed it up with a win on day two; Jamie was close behind in 4^th. We stayed in Austria for the first two weeks of our trip where we got some GS and SG racing in as well which saw the guys grab another podium and some personal bests. Leaving Austria we went to Italy for two days of tech races before heading up to Switzerland for some European Cups. This stint got us six starts in five days in three different countries that were capped off with some European Cup points in Super G for Liam. Following this we headed back to Italy where we were going to hit some European Cup GS starts. Due to a large weather system that hit most of central Europe, these and our next races, were canceled. This resulted in a few days off and landed us in Pozza di Fassa. We stationed ourselves here and had five solid days of Slalom training before getting back on the road to test our skills at some local FIS races in Italy. The rest of the trip was mainly focused on skiing European Cup races, which was one of the targets with the loss of our Nor-Am circuit this season. With the announcement of the hotel quarantine coming into effect it became clear it was time to head home. Although we left with some unfinished business and more to prove, it has also left us wanting more. We finished up our quarantines just over a week ago and are back at it at Nakiska, Norquay and Lake Louise in preparation for what will hopefully be a busy spring full of races.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the team and ski racing in this province. These are challenging times, but if we come together we can think of creative ways to still have fun and ski fast. Keep the optimism high and I can’t wait to see everyone out on the slopes soon!

Cheers,

Jonas

Hey all, it’s Haley Cunningham. I grew up skiing for Team Panorama and this is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team. I’m super excited to share my first ever athlete journal with you! Here are some highlight clips from our trip to Colorado last month and our first week of getting back in the gym and training at home hills since quarantine and the cold. This year has been an incredible experience so far thanks to the coaches making sure training is both fun and productive and also thanks to the awesome group of girls on the team. I’d also like to thank our team sponsor, Sporting Life. Hope you all enjoy it!

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