As an integral member of the team that supports Alberta Alpine Ski, you are a loyal, dedicated, and organized team player. Your functions include day-to-day communications with volunteers and membership, administrative duties, managing website and social media, and performing other duties as required. The ideal candidate for this position will be the champion of customer service and communication and is ideally suited to a positive and energetic individual. This individual will work closely with AASA member clubs and AASA staff to support alpine and ski cross racing in Alberta and reports to the President.

PLEASE SEND YOUR COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO JOBS@ALBERTAALPINE.CA BEFORE MARCH 31, 2021. Full job posting.

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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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Hello ski racing fans!

I’m so excited to get everyone caught up to speed on the really busy month!  We had originally planned to be heading across the pond to Italy for most of January, but after taking a closer look at other opportunities, it was decided that Coach Peter, Logan and I would, instead, be heading down to the U.S. for some racing in Colorado and Wyoming. I was really happy to be going down and extremely excited to get back to racing after a long and productive training block at home, including some very fun days training with my home club, Banff Alpine!

We started off our project with racing in Vail and training in Loveland. It was great to be skiing on some incredible snow that was confidence inspiring and very fun to race on. From there Logan and I were off to Aspen and Eldora for some NCAA racing. These races were definitely a step up in level of competition and it was fun to race with guys who were a lot more experienced than us. Unfortunately, I was unable to successfully battle the tougher warm weather conditions we had and I couldn’t manage to show my best skiing on those days.   While we were racing in parallel with many of our women’s team athletes, with COVID protocols and different race days, this really became a month-long expedition of Peter, Logan and me through “Cowboy Country.” It was nice to see a number of our teammates achieve some great performances in their racing.  Another massive congratulations is also in order for everyone’s new favourite world cup skier, Cassidy Gray, whose skiing in her debut at Kranjska Gora was a moment of inspiration and extreme pride for the entire team!

From there we were off to Wyoming for more racing in Jackson Hole.  Once again, we were blessed by really great racing conditions and I was happy to be back racing in a place that was familiar to me from previous seasons (and a personal favourite).  I was also pretty happy with my racing as I was able to get my first podium of the season with a third place in the Slalom and I also achieved a top 10 in the GS despite some first run mistakes.  From Wyoming, we travelled back to Colorado more GS racing in Copper Mountain.  After all the work training, things started clicking and I felt more confident in my skiing and was happy with my performance in Copper against a field that included some pretty strong skiers.

Unfortunately, what had been a pretty successful month of skiing up until that point took a rough turn. On our last day of training (and a day before we were to fly home in anticipation of new travel restrictions), I broke my leg training slalom in Copper and underwent surgery that afternoon to repair it.  I am doing much better now thanks to the amazing help from a number of people. 

In particular I would especially like to thank the great team at St. Anthony’s hospital in Frisco for the incredible care I received during my stay.  The fantastic staff at Alberta Alpine for taking care of the logistics of getting me home and, of course, my amazing teammates for the warm wishes and support that got me through a couple fairly uncomfortable days in a hospital.  Most of all, I have to thank Peter and Logan for their hard work getting me and all my equipment home as quickly and easily as possible. 

Although I feel incredibly blessed for the opportunity to race in the United States, I have to say I have missed seeing the smiling faces of volunteers, parents and coaches who make up this wonderful community at our own local races.  I’m looking forward to working hard on the recovery and seeing everyone back on the slopes soon!

One last big thank you to our sponsors Sporting Life and Sync for the amazing support they have given us this season!

;)-Dan

Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) has made the difficult decision to not send Canadian athletes to the 2021 World Junior Championships in both alpine and ski cross scheduled for Bulgaria and Russia in March 2021.  

The decision to withdraw as a nation was not made lightly but in light of increased travel restrictions implemented both domestically and internationally related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it became clear this was the only path forward. The health and safety of athletes, coaches, staff, volunteers and community members remains our number one priority. 

“With the renewal of our strategic plan, the World Junior Championships program will be an important priority for Canadian ski racing now and in the future. We were fully prepared to send teams ready to compete for the podium. Unfortunately, new travel restrictions and quarantine measures, logistics for the events, and limited training options prior to the events made it too unpredictable to have athletes participate and compete at their best. We are consolidating our efforts around a domestic spring training, head-to-head racing and selection camps in April to kick off our preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and the next World Junior Alpine Championships in March 2022 at Panorama, BC”  – Therese Brisson, President and CEO, Alpine Canada.

Many Canadian athletes have had limited access to training and competition this season, Alpine Canada encourages athletes to focus on gaining quality training with their teams and participation in national competitions as they may present themselves in the coming months. 

Both Phil McNichol, High-Performance Director, Alpine and Dave Ellis, High-Performance Director, Ski Cross are working to plan spring training opportunities to support athletes moving through the pathway to National Team selections. This decision will not affect athlete opportunity for spring training invitations.  Distribution of these materials will occur in a timely manner. 

Alpine Canada would like to thank our athletes, partners and the Canadian ski community for their continued support during these unprecedented times. 

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For more information or media inquiries please contact
Whitney Hunter I Manager of Communications 
whunter@alpinecanada.org I 403-471-6032

This season has obviously been quite different from, well, any season ever. With the lack of competition it has become more of a “preparation” year. It has helped me become both mentally and physically stronger on the hill. Since the new year we’ve been training out of southern Alberta. Pass Powder Keg and Castle Mountain have become our new training sanctuaries. Pass Powder Keg has built a start section for us that has been a tremendous addition to our training. We’ve been able to play with the terrain and set some courses that allow us to run heats and work on ski cross tactics. As for Castle Mountain, you could say our best training is done there. Blasting out freeski runs with Matt Carss and the whole team is my favourite way to get the legs pumping. It’s one heck of a workout but always with smiles.

Unfortunately on January 14 I took a spill and dislocated my shoulder. It caught me by surprise and ended my camp early. The doctor says it will be a 6-8 week recovery. In the meantime I’ve been having fun learning with my left hand and staying as active as I’m allowed. I will be able to start physio this week and I’m looking forward to strengthening my shoulder back up and joining the team for the remainder of the season.

The ideal candidate for this position will be the champion of inter-provincial collaboration, as well as project and program development and implementation. This individual will work closely with stakeholders from AASA member clubs in both the North and South Zones, the AASA Performance Advisory Committee, AASA High Performance Committee, and AASA staff to create and support the implementation of the overall athletic direction for alpine and ski cross racing in Alberta.

This position is ideally suited to a positive, creative, passionate, and experienced individual who can work well with stakeholders within Alberta, and with representatives from other PTSOs (Provincial-Territorial Sport Organizations), to ensure AASA programs are delivering supportive alpine and ski cross athlete pathways, coach development opportunities, and inter-provincial inclusion.

PLEASE SEND YOUR COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO JOBS@ALBERTAALPINE.CA BEFORE FEBRUARY 21, 2021. Full job posting.

The AST women’s coach caught up with Cassidy after her first world cup experience in Kransjka Gora.

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Dear: AASA Members

RE: Calendar Update

As we continue to enjoy being outside skiing and training with friends, family, and teammates, the Province still struggles with the Covid-19 pandemic. This struggle will continue for some time to come as we all make the effort to beat this pandemic. AHS has been working long and hard at managing the pandemic here in Alberta. With that, they have had to implement several restrictions to help stop the spread of the virus. With these restrictions it has been impossible to have any racing or events in the province. This has also made it impossible to manage the Alpine Calendar that was created earlier this fall when the forecast looked better regarding the virus.

With the support of the Alberta Alpine Program Directors, AASA has made the decision to reset the calendar. We will remove the races that were scheduled and plan races as restrictions get lifted or revised. FIS races will remain on the FIS website calendar so we can protect those codexes and use them later in the season.

I would like to speak to the athletes of the province. Every one of you have been doing your part in helping to stop the spread of the virus. Although it may seem like you have been training with no future chance to race, this training will only make you all better racers. You will all get to compete in some way this season, whether it is in your club, zone, calendar event or head-to-head in a ski camp. All athletes, whether you are in FIS or U8, are on the same page and you will have the opportunity to compete against your peers in some fashion this season.

Alberta ski racers have been the luckiest athletes in Canada. You have been able to ski and train since the ski hills opened this fall and have continued to do so where other provinces have not. Ski hills are still not open in Ontario, major restrictions are in place in Quebec and even BC has found themselves not able to train due to travel restrictions earlier in the season.

So continue to have fun in one of the best sports in the world. The situation will improve if we all continue to do our part.

Please be safe.

Best regards,
Patrick Gillespie
President of Alberta Alpine Ski Association