Due to the global pandemic we have not been able to compete even close to as much as previous years. Racing and demanding perfection from yourself until you are completely burned is rigorous, and demanding. I have been training hard at Nakiska for the past couple months, improving on mental and technical ques. This time has allowed for lots of great skiing and lots of reflection. Ski racing has been my whole life for as long as I can remember. Early mornings at Crabbe Mountain, carrying bundles that weighed more than me, and keying in gates trump essentially all other childhood memories. I think I speak for most, if not all of my teammates, when I say: racing defines us. Defeat teaches us to be hungry, Injury teaches us that we can and will overcome anything and the desire to win is the overwhelming force that keeps us going no matter what.

Although I am disappointed and eager to race, I feel this season has allowed me to prepare my skiing more than ever for the day that I finally get to step back into the starting gate. In a sport that is entirely a race against a clock, it can be difficult to press pause and take a step back. Changing something flawed in your skiing is unbelievably difficult. On the average training day we do hundreds of turns, hardwiring both good and bad habits into our technique. Skiing is a highly reactionary sport, therefore we need to train our brains and bodies to react with the correct movements. During the race season it is nearly impossible to train in this way due to a lack of volume and the subconscious forcing us to our natural skiing, which isn’t necessarily the most fundamentally sound or fast skiing.

As some racing opportunities approach, I’m feeling prepared and excited! I’d like to extend a massive thank you to our team sponsors, Sporting Life and Sync, as well as my personal support: Head, POC and Level Gloves. Also Crabbe Mountain and the amazing Crabber community.

Well, what an interesting start to our season! A lot of twists, turns, and unknowns. Trying to plan the 2020/2021 race season has been a moving target thanks to COVID-19. I have also been facing my own challenges due to my knee surgery in the summer. This is the first season in my career that I haven’t been able to join my team on the hill when the snow started to fly. I have to admit, it’s difficult to watch from the sidelines and I can’t wait to join you on the slopes.

That being said, we are very thankful to have Kya Fairley rejoin the group! Since Kya has been running the show on hill, with the assistance of Matt Carss, I have asked her to bring you all up to speed on what ASXT has been up to throughout the first part of our season. I hope you enjoy. Stay safe and be well.

-Jean-Marc Martel, ASXT Head Coach

It is so good to be back with my team! I coached the majority of these athletes 2 years ago and I am so excited to get to work with them again, especially after the longest amount of time any of us have been off snow. They are such a hard-working and positive group, which makes every day incredibly rewarding!

We started off the season getting our feet under us again and back to the basics on the classic Cascade and Wiwaxy 500, then made our way to Panorama for a solid few preseason blocks! Panorama provided us with the alpine training we needed, including some beautiful speed training days, as well as an awesome start section we were able to use following gate training each day. The days were full and extremely productive! (Thanks so much Camille, Maryse, Shayne and the Panorama staff!!)

We finished up the 2020 portion of our season with some free skiing days at Louise and Sunshine, as well as alpine training at Nakiska. One of the days at Nakiska we were even able to cheer on our friends at CSX racing the Arosa night SX by streaming it on an iPad at the top of the course! It was a solid block/wind down for the holiday break.

After taking some time off at Christmas to avoid the holiday rush, we are back at it here at Pass Powder Keg fresh and ready to keep up the momentum!

These athletes have been incredibly adaptive to the ever-changing Covid policies. Although we have not been able to race yet, the time and effort is being put in on their end and it shows. From improving alpine skills, free skiing with a purpose, pulling starts, prepping skis, keeping up with school and staying on top of a solid out of gym program until we are able to return to Winsport, they have remained committed and focussed.

I am so thankful for this wonderful group of athletes and can’t wait to get them in some heats!!

-Kya Fairley, ASXT Coach

Alberta Alpine is partnering with Alpine Canada Alpin to introduce Safe Sport, a program for members that will protect every sport participant – Athlete-Coach-Parent-Official-Volunteer

Need to Know: “Safe Sport” refers to our collective responsibility to create, foster and preserve sport environments that ensure positive, healthy and fulfilling experiences for all individuals. A safe sport environment is one in which all sport stakeholders recognize and report acts of maltreatment, including all forms of harassment, and prioritize the welfare, safety and rights of every person at all times.

This commitment by AASA and ACA will protect and benefit every club and sport participant in the province. By partnering at the national level, AASA has ensured total protection for all participants.

The program to be rolled out over the next year will include the following elements:

• Education – Educating everyone in Alpine about Safe Sport to create a common base of knowledge and understanding to form a foundation of respect and prevention
• Policy – Harmonising policies that cover maltreatment, harassment, and return to sport (post injury) nationally to ensure that regardless of where you choose to play, you are covered by policies that are consistent and national in scope.
• Response – Pooling our efforts into a national response framework ensures that every athlete, parent or club, can be assured that there is independent third-party reporting mechanism available when needed

This is the most significant advancement to date to keep Alpine safe and free of maltreatment. Special thanks to the Lake Louise Ski Club, Tara-Leigh McHugh, and Kelly VanderBeek for being the driving force behind this initiative.

Members can expect a dedicated safe sport section on the AASA website with additional resources contained therein. There will be more details about the roll out to follow. Direct and immediate impacts that members should note:

2020/21 Season impacts

Effective immediately all volunteers for FIS level races and all coaches MUST take the Safe Sport training offered by the NCCP. If you are not a coach you will have to set up a NCCP locker account and the instructions are on the landing page for the training.

Effective immediately every athlete, coach, parent, and club has access to ACA’s response framework IF ANY ATHLETE, COACH, PARENT, VOLUNTEER IS A VICTIM OF MALTREATMENT OR HARRASMENT OR HAS WITNESSED MALTREATMENT OR HARRASMENT, FOLLOW THE GUIDELINE – IT IS IN PLACE TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY

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My name is Avery Lebsack and I grew up skiing with the Lake Louise Ski Club until the end of U16. I moved to Team Panorama Ski Club for my first two years of FIS. This is my first season with the Alberta Ski Team and so far we have trained three weeks in Switzerland and six weeks at the Panorama Ski Resort. With the lack of races occurring at this time, our ski camps have been very productive and enabled everyone on the team to work really hard on improviding  skills without the pressure of the high-performance aspect. I am very grateful that we have been able to continue training during these uncertain times and cannot wait to get back in the gates after the Christmas break. I would like to thank Sporting Life and Sync for the amazing ski attire and their support this season.

Avery Lebsack

Hello everyone, I should start by introducing myself. My name is Austin Boehm, I am 19 years old, and the newest member of the Alberta Ski Cross Team. I was raised in a small town in Northern British Columbia called Williams Lake and have been racing for 5 years. When I am not skiing you can find me outside as my favourite summer activity is mountain biking. In the summers I work hard as a tree planter to raise enough funds to ski all winter and go to school. Currently I am enrolled at the University of Calgary and taking classes while skiing.

I would like to start off by saying “wow” what a crazy year. It appears when things get wild, everything gets wild at the same time. Well at least that is the story for me. I was accepted onto the team this summer and had been hitting the dryland training hard thanks to the amazing trainers at CSI. Approaching the season our team had a slight hiccup; a COVID-19 scare. The team powered though, and we all came out healthy. It was now time to get some real training in. We packed our bags and headed to Panorama for a first training camp, but for me the camp came to a quick close. Unfortunately, on the second day I took an unlucky tumble while training GS and later found out I had torn my ACL. Just over three weeks has passed since my injury and I have been rehabbing in preparation for surgery in Golden later this week. I am very grateful for the support received from Alpine Canada and Alberta Alpine during this time. My focus has changed from skiing fast to healing fast. With all the new time on my hands I have been able to dedicate a lot of time to school and have developed a few new hobbies, like playing the guitar. I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me, especially everyone at Alberta Alpine. I will be back soon thanks to the support of my team, my coaches and many more. Wish me luck! Happy holidays!!

Ski racing relies on dedicated volunteers to cover the wide range of tasks to run a safe, efficient competition. But the glue that holds it all together is rarely seen on the slope. At the core of every race is a talented and determined individual tied to the race office, ensuring schedules are circulated, points are updated and correct, draws are ready and results are posted efficiently after the event. Hours, upon hours, of selfless hard work.

These are our Race Administrators. And Judy Dickson sets the tone and pace of every race she takes on, which are many throughout every season.

“Judy has a hard work, never say never attitude” shared one senior race official. “She is always willing to help out at any level of racing and often opens up her home to volunteers who require a place to stay. Her sunny disposition and a welcoming smile relaxes the entire event crew and any Technical Delegate that has the pleasure to work with her.”

Judy, husband Gary Foster and their three children Sean, Eric and Rhea, established themselves at Panorama in 2005 to enjoy their love of skiing. It did not take long before the community roped in the entire family. “We were skiers but certainly not racers” recalled Judy. “At the encouragement of our neighbors, we joined Team Panorama and the journey began. Our 3 children raced with Team Panorama, starting in the winter of 2005/2006. Our daughter raced  through U16 and our sons through 1 and 2 year of FIS.  My husband and I became volunteers, as we followed our 3 young racers at each of their events.  The family’s first ski race, was of course the Putnam!!”

Between Judy and Gary, they covered the full range of volunteer positions. While Gary is on the hill and moving about the race course, Judy can be found as a welcoming face at the start or at the finish line, or deep in the race office as an “RA”. She has done it all: Gate judge, hand timing, timing systems and into the key role of Race Administrator. Judy has volunteered enthusiastically for events from the Linda Putnam Memorial race for our youth to Nor-Am races for our rising stars to the highest levels with the 2015 Para-alpine World Championships and our annual World Cups. From her base with Team Panorama, Judy typically supports as many as seven events per year as Race Administrator, but as one of our most dedicated volunteers, she is always available for any position in Alberta and BC.

Managing the annual Nor-Am races is no easy task. Full race fields, both genders, racing the same day on different tracks, athletes and coaches of many nationalities and meeting the exacting standards of the FIS – or your race result will not upload to the web site – is a task that demands experience, patience, diplomacy, leadership, discipline and good humour.

“I don’t start a ski season without a long call out to Phyllis Kennedy (our 2015 Honoured Lifetime Official), the Race Administrator Goddess of Canada” said Judy. “Thank you, Phyllis, for leading the troops.” Our RA’s are the lynchpin to any successful race. Everything must be in order before the event, during the event and upon completion. The entries correct, the start lists accurate, meetings efficient, DSQ’s posted and results produced immediately. From the outside it looks easy, but within the race office the pressure of time and the expectations of the race community enormous.

“I’ve been one of the Nor-Am RA’s in Panorama since 2009, lead since 2012. These events are fun and challenging and I’m privileged to work with top FIS TD’s. In my work as an RA in this and other FIS events, both Canadian and US TD’s have all been outstanding and always bring positive suggestions and input in order to improve everyone’s race experience, including my own.” And both Alberta Alpine and BC Alpine respond to my every query. So I have to recognize the staff of both the PSO’s. And then there are the timers, without their diligence the race just wouldn’t happen. It’s a long list, and I enjoyed working with each and every person.”

“Love the sport and love the people in it. Ski racing families are dedicated and hard working, so enjoy your ski racing days and have fun. Recognize what your parents and the ski community have done for you. It is a lot! And special recognition to Gary Foster, my outstanding husband, without your support I couldn’t do any of what I do for the ski race community.”

We salute and thank Judy Dickson, our Honoured Volunteer for the 2020 Canadian Rockies Ski Racing Hall of Fame, for her tremendous dedication to our athletes, our sport and for her positive spirit and incredible volunteer ethic.

Dear: AASA Members

RE: Training with the New Restrictions Dec 13, 2020

With the new AHS Covid-19 restrictions, which are sweeping and provincial wide. I have gone through the information and under the Sports and Physical Activities portion of the new measures and it states:

Mandatory restriction – Province-wide – Effective Dec. 13 (Nov. 27 restrictions remain in effect until Dec. 13)

Group physical activities, including team sports, fitness classes and training sessions, are prohibited or restricted across Alberta.

• Outdoor group physical activity, including team sports, must be limited to 10 people or fewer.
• Members of different households must maintain 2 metre distancing at all times

This does still allow for training in groups of 10 or less. But I urge all clubs to travel as little as possible, if you have training options at your home hill please stay there. If your club needs to train outside of their home hill because your home hill does not offer training, make sure you do it safely. Please travel as little as possible. Ski hills will have restrictions on their operations like restaurants etc., so you need to plan accordingly and follow all ski hill pandemic protocols.

Best regards,

Patrick Gillespie

President of Alberta Alpine Ski Association

With Covid on the rise in Calgary, there was a lot of pressure on us to keep up our Covid protocols during our races in Panorama this past week. Racing is usually a fairly social event for the Alberta Ski Team, as it is one of the few times we get to see our friends from other provinces. While they were still there, we had to be mindful to keep our distance despite our desire to go back to normal. We were all just happy to be able to race, and I would like to thank Panorama and volunteers for putting the race on responsibly and safely. It was great mentally for us to get back into the swing of things in a safe way, and was super fun too! I am very grateful that we do an outdoor sport and were still able to race while staying healthy and safe while following all the protocols put in place. Each team had a different area of the corral and kept far apart from one another, all volunteers wore masks, and all athletes wore masks until we were in the start. As athletes we are continuing to be extremely mindful of the privilege we have of continuing to train in such a difficult time, and are continuing to be safe and social distance whenever possible, and wear masks when not. We now have a large training block coming up since provincial restrictions have solidified, and the whole team is extremely grateful for our opportunities to train in a safe environment, thanks to Alberta Alpine and Panorama. Looking forward to a good Christmas training session, and wishing all those reading a safe and happy holiday season!

Dear: AASA Members

Re: COVID-19 Protocols for Return to Training for Clubs

AASA has received some clarity on training for our clubs from the Government of Alberta. As we continue to work through this difficult time, I want to thank all the clubs for their patience and their drive to have a safe sport for our athletes, coaches, families and the community.

Clubs may return to training in cohorts.

•  These cohorts must be no more than 10 people in size.
• Train in your cohorts at your home hill/resort.
• Follow all COVID-19 protocols set out by AHS.
• Follow all COVID-19 protocols set out by your Home Hill/Resort.
• Follow all COVID-19 Club protocols.
• Training only

Athletes/coaches from municipalities identified as enhanced measure communities (purple regions) may continue to play/participate in sport cohorts in a municipalities not listed as an enhanced measure communities (open region) if they were part of a pre-existing sport cohort not listed in the Order prior to November 27, 2020.

It is of the utmost importance that we all follow the COVID-19 protocols laid out by AHS, Clubs and home Ski Hills/Resorts. It is up to all of us to help bend the curve, this is a fluid situation and can change at any time.

Please be safe.

Best regards,

Patrick Gillespie

President of Alberta Alpine Ski Association

Dear: AASA Members

Re: COVID-19 AHS Restrictions

On November 24 the Government of Alberta announced new COVID-19 restrictions which require that all team sports stop operations on November 27. In response to this announcement, AASA sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation for an exemption to allow teams to train in groups of 10 or less at their home ski hills.

Although we expect a positive and speedy reply to this request, we have not yet received an exemption from the Government.

Starting on November 27, 2020, we ask all clubs to suspend coaching and training activity. I do want to point out that there are areas in the province that are not under the region classification of enhanced purple region and fall into the region classification of open. No coach or athlete can travel from a purple region to train in an open region during these new restrictions.

We encourage everyone to get out and ski as a family, play in the snow and enjoy the outdoors.

We will continue to inform the membership as more information is released.

Best regards,

Patrick Gillespie

President of Alberta Alpine Ski Association

Last week saw our first ski cross camp in almost seven months! While we had a few days skiing around Calgary before hand, it was really great to be back in the mountains and to feel a little cut off from the crazy world that we currently live in. I cannot express enough how lucky I feel to be able to escape to skiing in times like these. We are very fortunate to continue to do what we do safely outdoors! We were also extremely lucky with beautiful, warm weather last week, a treat for this time of year!

Any day on snow where I can feel my toes is a great day in my books! We are also so grateful for the amazing start sections provided to us in Panorama! I think the whole team was excited to feel like we had barely missed a beat when we got to skiing it! One of our guest coaches for the next few weeks, Matt Carres, even got in on the fun and was ripping up the start with us! It was super awesome to see him progress throughout the days, and trying out our coaching skills is also a fantastic way for us to learn and improve ourselves. Thanks Matt for being so optimistic and stoked every day, your energy on the hill was fantastic! Also huge thanks to our coaches JM and Kya for navigating these crazy times with absolute grace.

Our plans have changed so many times and they will continue to change throughout these next few months; knowing you guys are always one step ahead takes so much stress off of us and allows us to focus on what’s important: skiing!

I wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season. While many things in the world are uncertain right now, I am certain that we live in one of the most amazing places on earth and we are blessed here in Alberta with so many winter activities! I know this season I will appreciate skiing more than ever before, and I wish you all do as well.

Thank you for reading!

-Alexa

To: Alberta Alpine Ski Association Members

Re: Letter to Government for Exemption for Clubs to Train

AASA has sent a letter to the Government of Alberta, Ministry of Health for exemption for our athletes to train outdoors at the alpine facilities within their locality or region.

Such training would be limited to cohorts of ten participants or less, and follow protocols which address social distancing, remaining within cohort, wearing of masks at all times, hand sanitization, and avoiding public indoor facilities to the greatest extent possible (e.g. washroom access only). These protocols will incorporate the November 24 restrictions mandated by the Province, with the exception that participation in the sport be permitted.

Once AASA hears back from the Ministry of Health we will inform all AASA members.

Thank you again for all the Clubs hard work in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, we will get through this together.

Best regards,
ALBERTA ALPINE SKI ASSOCIATION
Patrick Gillespie
President of Alberta Alpine Ski Association