Alpine Canada is engaging in a little creative physics: it's inserting new bodies at the bottom of the stack to push those on top a little higher.
The national federation for speed and technical skiing events has named a record 55 ski racers to the 2007-08 Canadian team, rivalling the vaunted Austrians in size. Alpine Canada added 19 young ski racers to its list, as it stokes internal competition and bids to keep the veterans from sitting complacently back on their best-ever medal haul on the World Cup circuit last year. The intensification comes the 2010 Vancouver Olympics less than three full seasons away.
"This is an important step as we sharpen our focus toward the upcoming season and toward 2010," said Max Gartner, Alpine Canada's chief athletic officer and director of Own the Podium projects.
Most of the newcomers are on the women's side, which failed to keep pace with the men's mastery of inconsistent weather and snow conditions. Only two of Canada's 14 World Cup podiums came from its women. Jan Hudec added a silver in the men's downhill at the World Championships to make it a banner year overall. Perhaps what's most significant is the depth the team showed on the path to the Vancouver Olympics. Canadian skiers had almost 50 top-10 finishes, more than double the contending results of four years ago.
But that's past and the Olympic lie ahead. And the women's team needs to be shored up with something called the 2010 Acceleration Team. That's the catchy new handle for the 12 high-potential female skiers being brought aboard to upgrade performance on the distaff side.
"The record size of the 2007-08 team shows what we can do with added resources," said Alpine Canada's chief executive officer Ken Read. "We continue to seek the $2-million to $3-million more that is needed each year to truly match the resources of the world's best."
Last season's team had a record-setting performance on the men's side, eclipsing the old Crazy Canucks of Read's generation. The men's team got significant leadership from Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., who scored five podium finishes, including the first World Cup gold medal of his career in the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Veteran leadership besides Guay will come from John Kucera of Calgary and Geneviève Simard of Val-Morin, Que. All have World Cup gold in their resumes.
Allison Forsyth of Nanaimo, B.C. who spent all of last season rehabilitating a knee injury suffered during a training run at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, will also return.
"It is a critical year for ski racing in Canada with World Cup races in Lake Louise, Panorama and Whistler. We are focused on improving upon last season's success in order to achieve the goal of becoming the best in the world," said ACA Alpine Director Dusan Grasic.
Slalom aceThomas Grandi of Canmore, Alta., and Vincent Lavoie of Cap Rouge, Que., both have retired.
recently announced their retirement.
CANADA'S ALPINE SKI TEAM:
SENIOR MEN
Scott Barrett - Toronto, ON (Osler Bluff Ski Club)
Patrick Biggs - Orleans, ON (Ottawa Ski Club)
François Bourque - New Richmond, QC (Pin Rouge)
Julien Cousineau - Lachute, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Robbie Dixon - North Vancouver, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Jeffrey Frisch - Mont-Tremblant, QC (Mont Tremblant)
Erik Guay - Mont-Tremblant, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Stefan Guay - Mont-Tremblant, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Jan Hudec - Calgary, AB (Banff Alpine Racers)
Michael Janyk - Whistler, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
John Kucera - Calgary, AB (Calgary Alpine Racing Club)
Manuel Osborne-Paradis - Vancouver, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Jean-Philippe Roy - Ste-Flavie, QC / Gatineau, QC (Mont-Comi)
Ryan Semple - Montréal, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Gareth Sine - Calgary, AB (NATC - Kananaskis Alpine Ski Club)
Brad Spence - Calgary, AB (NATC - Team Panorama)
Paul Stutz - Banff, AB (Banff Alpine Racers)
CAST INVITEE
Trevor White - Calgary, AB (NATC - Team Panorama)
CANADIAN MEN'S DEVELOPMENT TRAINING GROUP
Dustin Cook — Lac Sainte Marie, QC (Mont Ste-Marie)
Philippe Crete-Belzile — Cap Rouge, QC (Mont Ste-Anne)
Travis Dawson — Calgary, AB (NATC — Fernie)
David Donaldson — Toronto, ON (Georgian Peaks)
Louis-Pierre Hélie — Berthierville, QC (Mont-Ste-Anne)
Brady Leman — Calgary, AB (Calgary Alpine Race Club)
Tyler Nella — Toronto, ON (Georgian Peaks)
Jonathan Robert — Ottawa, ON (Edelweiss Ski Club)
Cameron Stuart — Calgary, AB (NATC — Mount Norquay)
Patrick Wright — Oakville, ON (Snow Valley)
SENIOR WOMEN
Brigitte Acton - Mont-Tremblant, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Emily Brydon - Fernie, BC (Fernie Snow Valley Racers)
Emilie Desforges - Montréal, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Allison Forsyth - Nanaimo, BC (Mt. Washington)
Britt Janyk - Whistler, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Sherry Lawrence - Calgary, AB (NATC — Kananaskis Alpine Ski Club)
Christina Lustenberger - Invermere, BC (Windermere Ski Club)
Marie-Pier Préfontaine - St-Sauveur, QC (Club Chantecler)
Shona Rubens - Canmore, AB (Lake Louise Ski Club)
Geneviève Simard - Val-Morin, QC (Montcalm (Val-St-Côme)
Kelly VanderBeek - Kitchener, ON (Chicopee Ski Club)
Larisa Yurkiw - Owen Sound, ON (Georgian Peaks Ski Club)
CAST INVITEES — WOMEN
Anna Goodman - Pointe Claire, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Gail Kelly - Ste-Anges de Beauce, QC (Le Relais)
Megan Ryley - Toronto, ON (Craigleith Ski Club)
WOMEN'S 2010 ACCELERATION TEAM
Andrea Bliss - Edmonton, AB (Edmonton Alpine Sports Academy)
Marie-Michèle Gagnon - Lac-Etchemin, QC (Mont Orignal)
Anya Holinski — Edmonton, AB (Edmonton Alpine Sports Academy)
Marie-Élaine Lépine — St-Colomban,QC (Mont Tremblant)
Kelly McBroom — Canmore, AB (Banff Alpine Racers)
Alexandra Parker — Calgary, AB (Sunshine Ski Club)
Krystyn Peterson — Mississugua, ON (Craigleith Ski Club)
Eve Routhier — Sherbrooke, QC (Mont Orford)
Kate Ryley — Toronto, ON (Craigleith Ski Club)
Kelsey Serwa — Kelowna, BC (Big White Racers)
Georgia Simmerling — West Vancouver, BC (Grouse Tyee Ski Club)
Elli Terwiel — Heffley Creek, BC (Sun Peaks Alpine Club)
