Calgary, AB [June 21, 2021] – Today, Alpine Canada announced its ambitious five-year strategic plan, “Made for Canada – The Future for Ski Racing in Canada,” aimed at making Canada a world-leading ski racing nation in alpine, para-alpine, and ski cross through two Olympic and Paralympic cycles.
Specifically, the strategic plan aims to help Canada top the medal rankings in para-alpine and ski cross and achieve a top-five finish in alpine medal rankings at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games by 2026.
“Since I joined Alpine Canada last year, we have sought feedback from hundreds of athletes, coaches, alumni, sponsors, provincial and territorial sport organizations, and our sport and funding partners about the ways that we can build upon Canada’s rich history and tradition of ski racing excellence,” said Therese Brisson, President and CEO of Alpine Canada. “In a year that we celebrated 100 years of ski racing, we took the opportunity to rethink our strategy to ensure it best meets the needs of our athletes and carves a path towards a better future for the broader ski community as we kick off the next century. The plan articulates the vision, priorities, and commitments needed to be a world-leading ski racing nation and achieve our dual mission to increase podium performances and inspire growth in participation and fans.”
The strategic plan addresses our challenges and identifies four “where to play” strategies to help deliver on this mission:
Lead earlier Next Gen athlete development;
Build domestic capacity for ski racing excellence in coaching, member services, & safe sport;
Produce race events that excite Canadians; and
Build brand strength with a broader audience.
“We are optimistic about our future and focused on building capacity and resources to deliver on our ambitions,” said Tim Dattels, Chair of the Board of Alpine Canada. “We see a convergence of dynamics – new leadership, renewed strategic focus, a newly-elected FIS President with a North American growth agenda, and the potential for a 2030 Vancouver/Whistler bid – that could make this one of the most exciting decades for ski racing in Canada, ever.”
Built on the values of excellence, leadership, accountability, respect, and courage, and grounded in our nation-building purpose of powering a nation to peak performance by inspiring Canadians to be at their very best, the strategic plan makes the following commitments to achieve these results:
Develop a pipeline of National Team caliber Canadian coaches;
Identify Next Gen talent earlier at U14 and provide world-class coaching to achieve World Junior Championship podiums;
Build long-term resort partnerships to establish national training hubs for spring and early-winter, on-snow training at scale, domestically;
Lead national high-performance programs that progress junior athletes from World Junior to World Championship podiums;
Rebuild a robust domestic national competition structure that includes the National Championships, NorAm Continental Cups, and a National FIS Canada Cup to support athlete development and grow revenue; and
Develop world class assets and an integrated digital platform to strengthen brand and drive fan and revenue growth.
Alpine Canada has already begun executing upon the initiatives captured in the strategic plan, which can be found with Key Performance Indicators measuring successful delivery here.
Alpine Canada President & CEO Therese Brisson will host Open Town Halls to share the Made For Canada strategic plan with the broader ski community on June 22 at 7pm ET / 5pm MT (English content) and June 28 at 7pm ET / 5PM MT (French content). Click to register for the live video conference .
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For more information or media inquiries please contact Brianne Law I Director, Brand and Product media@alpinecanada.org I 587-999-4241
About Alpine Canada Alpine Canada is the governing body for alpine, para-alpine, and ski cross racing in Canada, as well as for Canadian ski coaches, providing education, certification, insurance, and compliance with the coaching code of conduct. With the support of valued corporate partners and donors, along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee, and the Coaching Association of Canada, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, World Championship, and World Cup athletes to stimulate visibility, inspiration, and growth in the ski community. In 2020-21, Alpine Canada celebrated 100 years of rich tradition in competitive skiing in Canada.
BC Alpine’s Girls Fast Forward Program is excited to announce the updated High Performance camp schedule for the summer and fall of 2021. In accordance with the Provincial Health Order guidelines, we have been preparing for opportunities to work together in person and travel provincially.
“BC Alpine is working hard to address the gender inequity within our sport, especially at the high-performance level. The Girls Fast Forward High Performance 2021/2022 programming is one step we are taking to close the gender gap and re-establish a pathway to our Provincial teams for our female athlete membership at the FIS level. Visibility is important and athlete’s must be able to see what they can be! We understand that calendars and planning dates can be challenging at this time, and that is why we are providing 2 dryland opportunities, one in June and one in August, to allow flexibility among student-athletes. Athletes that participate in 1 or 2 camps will be considered for future training opportunities. We are excited for this group to come together with the BC Ski Team coaches, to work hard, learn a lot and see the future possibilities for themselves in the sport.”
The primary goal of this new Girls Fast Forward High Performance initiative is to help female club athletes achieve BC Ski Team criteria. These camps will be subsidized and supported by BC’s top coaches. BC Alpine will not be able to provide actual costs until we have firm athlete numbers.
The GFF High Performance dryland camps will work to introduce athletes to the pathway to the BC Ski Team and the level of hard work and commitment required to get there! This will include building upon the athlete’s efforts, passion, and development level throughout each camp. Ideally, all athletes attend Dryland camp #1 and #2.
These dryland camps will provide assessment opportunities for both the athlete and BC Ski Team staff to highlight a “BC Alpine Training Group” for the 2021-2022 GFF HP On-Snow camps (#3 and #4).
Girls Fast Forward High Performance Plan 2021
(NOTE: We understand that some of these dates may be challenging. This is why we are providing two dryland camp opportunities. Ideally, athletes will attend both Camp #1 and Camp #2, but if it is not possible, there are still opportunities for athletes that can only attend one of these dryland camps. Athletes will still be considered if they are only able to attend 1 of the GFF HP dryland camps.)
GFF HP Camp 1: Dryland Camp
Goal: build a culture, introduce athletes to BC Ski Team level of dryland training
Target group: any female athlete moving into or currently in FIS for the 2021/2022 season (2005 & older)
Location: Sun Peaks, BC
Date: June 22-25, 2021
If interested in this camp, please send an email to Johnny Crichton at johnnyc@bcalpine.com and we will get back to you with pricing and registration details
GFF HP Camp 2: Dryland Camp
Target group: any female athlete moving into or currently in FIS for the 2021/2022 season (2005 & older)
Location: TBD
Date: August 9-12, 2021
GFF HP Camp 3: On Snow Camp
Target group: The top performing girls from the first two camps
Location: Europe
Date: Early October
GFF HP Camp 4: On snow Camp
Target Group: The top performing girls from the first three camps
Location: Canada
Date: November (TBD)
**All Camps will follow the Provincial Health Order guidelines and may be subject to change**
TABOR MOUNTAIN, B.C. (Fri. Feb 20, 2015) – BC skiers wrapped up the Canada Winter Games with a bang, scoring four medals in the final day of competition, as ski cross at Tabor Mountain.
Katie Fleckenstein (Whistler Mtn Ski Club) and Nicole Mah (Grouse-Tyee) finished 1-2 respectively in the women's race, after slugging it out in big final. Brooke Lukinuk (Big White Racers) finished 5th. The Team BC women had a consistent week and finished as the top province in flag points in alpine, while they scored 25 top 15 finishes throughout the week.
On the men's side, Devin Mittertreiner (Fernie Alpine Ski Team) claimed a silver medal in the men's final, just ahead of teammate Ryan Finley (Fernie Alpine Ski Team).
Boys' Ski Cross Podium – Devin Mittertreiner (Fernie Alpine Ski Team) claimed silver (left), Ryan Finley (Fernie Alpine Ski Team) took bronze (right) – Photo by Jan Donald
Athlete Quotes:
"The track was amazing to go down and I had so much fun," said Fleckenstein. "I had such a fun time today and during the Games so it's great to have gotten a medal out of it."
More to come…
Katie Fleckenstein (centre) and Nicole Mah (left). Photo by Steele Jordan
Photo: Riley Seger training earlier this month (Photo credit: Gordie Bowles)
PANORAMA MOUNTAIN RESORT (Dec. 20, 2014) – It was a war of attrition on the demanding Hayfever piste today with less than half of the field making it through both runs.
BCST men's leader Dominic Unterberger, from Revelstoke, had the table set for a win, taking the first run with a sizable lead but tipped over at the bottom of the pitch on the second run and crashed out. Two Croatians, Istok Rodes and Elias Kolega, took over taking the top two spots with Kevyn Read, from Calgary, in third.
James Crawford, from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club now racing with the national development team, was the top U18, followed closely by BCST racer Riley Seger and Max Peiffer, who finished 12th and 21st respectively. Martin Grasic, also of the men's development team, finished 10th on his home mountain.
“It was another tough day down Hayfever but I feel like I was able to handle it well and ended up skiing some good slalom,” said Seger, a first-year BCST skier.
Peiffer, also in his first year with the BCST, was satisfied with his performance. “I've been struggling a bit in slalom lately and it's finally starting to come together," said Peiffer. "Today was a good result and I'm looking to build on it tomorrow.”
The women concluded the Nor-Am races today at Panorama and the women's BCST had a solid showing. Stef Gartner finished a respectible 18th, followed by Antonia Wearmouth and Mikayla Martin finishing 29th and 30th for their first time in the Nor-Am points (top 30).
For Unterberger, it was lesson learned, as he shifts his focus to tomorrow's slalom race. "I believe that today I took a big step forward in my race day approach and proved to myself that I can easily hang in there with the best of them," he said. Of course I'm bummed about the outcome of the day, I would have loved to be on that top step of the podium but I'm walking away from today with more confidence than I had this morning. I'm excited to get after it again tomorrow and fight for the top of box."
The primary goal of this new Girls Fast Forward High Performance initiative is to help female club athletes achieve BC Ski Team criteria. These camps will be subsidized and supported by BC’s top coaches. BC Alpine will not be able to provide actual costs until we have firm athlete numbers.
