AST Athlete Journal: Sofia Stanier
Hi everyone, Sofia Stanier here! I started my ski racing journey with the Sunshine Alpine Racers, and eventually switched to Team Panorama for my first two years of FIS. This is my first athlete journal since making the Alberta Ski Team, and honestly, it still feels a little surreal to say that out loud. Stepping into my first season with the provincial team has been a big adjustment, but I’m loving every single second of the chaos, the constant travel, and the chance to push my limits alongside such an awesome group of girls and coaches.
We just wrapped up a couple of days of GS training over at Nakiska. If I’m being completely real, the snow conditions were definitely on the challenging side, but we made the absolute most of our mornings on the hill and squeezed out some really productive work. Beyond the technical gains, it was just great to be back on Canadian snow for the first time this year after logging so many miles and pre-season camps over in Europe. European glaciers are amazing for early season momentum, but there’s really nothing quite like getting back to the crisp morning air on home turf.
Right now, we are packed up and on our way up to Mount Sima in the Yukon! Our schedule for this leg of the trip is pretty full-on: four days of training on the hill to dial things in, leading straight into two solid days of racing before we finally head back home. While our tech group is making the journey up North for these races, a few of our teammates are actually staying back at Nakiska to focus on their speed training. It’s definitely going to feel a bit different not having the full squad together for this block, but we’ll be cheering them on from afar while we take care of business on the tech side up North.
I’ve heard so many great things about Mount Sima, and I am genuinely stoked to ski in the Yukon for the very first time. One thing everyone keeps reminding us about, though, is just how little daylight there is up near Whitehorse this time of year! With such short daylight hours, we’ll definitely have to maximize every single minute of light we get on the slope. There is always a cool, unique energy that comes with skiing somewhere brand new, and navigating the limited Yukon daylight just adds to the adventure.
On the technical side, I’ve been putting a lot of focused energy into a few specific things during gate practice. My main focus on my GS skis right now is building the confidence to actually run the turn long enough at the top. It’s so easy to rush the entry, but giving myself that patience to let the ski set up early in the arc makes a huge difference in carrying momentum. Along with that, I’m working hard on keeping my body square through the turn—staying stacked over the outside ski so I can carry clean speed all the way through the finish line. It’s a continuous process every single run, but I’m really excited to keep dialing it in as race season kicks off.
Transitioning from pre-season training blocks into full race mode is always such an exciting shift, and I can’t wait to see how all of our hard work translates onto the race course.
None of this happens without a massive support system behind us every step of the way. A huge thank you to my family, our coaches, and my teammates for keeping things fun on and off the hill. Shoutout as well to our amazing sponsors who make all of this possible: GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon, Genstar, Silvertip Resort, GearUp, KuuSport, and BrokerLink Insurance. Here’s to a great first race series up North!