VANCOUVER, BC (Friday Oct. 21, 2022) – Former World Cup medallist Emily Brydon, of Fernie, B.C., joins the BC Alpine Board of Directors, adding to the stability of the provincial ski association. The winner of 9 World Cup medals, the Fernie executive looks to “give back to the ski community”
Brydon, 42, a three-time Olympian (Salt Lake City 2002, Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010) is also a 10-year executive with bp. In addition to her role with BP as Integration Lead for the global bp Pulse EV business , she is heavily invested in the ski community in BC. Brydon created the Emily Brydon Youth Foundation “in support of youth and empowering and enabling them to achieve their dreams and goals through sport, education and the arts”.
The program has raised over $1.5M to date – with an endowment of $1.1m and with an impressive ~ $700,000 investment back into the community, positively impacting youth across a multitude of activities, including ski racing in the Elk Valley.
Brydon joins an experienced Board of Directors, with representation across the province. “I am keen to give back to the organization and community who have given me so much,” she said.
Emily joined the BC Alpine Strategic Planning Committee over the past few months, joining a diverse group who have been tasked with producing a five-year Strategic Plan for the association.
“We’re keen to have more of Emily’s input into the direction of ski racing in the province, to get her insight and perspective will be exciting,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP Athletics.
BC Alpine Board of Directors (2022-23)
Graham Cope, Chair
Gordie Bowles, Vice President, Finance
Emily Brydon, Vice President, Athletics
Mike Giannelli, Secretary/Treasurer
Murray Smith, Okanagan Zone Chair
Catherine Grant, Coast Zone Chair
Gord Reese, Kootenay Zone Chair
Phil Bernier, North Zone Chair
About BC Alpine Ski Association
VISION: To inspire skiers for life and develop world-class athletes.
MISSION: To lead and govern the sport of Alpine Ski Racing in BC, to provide leadership and structure for our clubs to deliver high quality, sustainable and affordable programming and to communicate the competitive, recreational and lifestyle benefits of ski racing to the community.
With the spectacular backdrop of the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel & Conference Centre and the legendary ski coach rock band “The Batterheads” belting out some great tunes – such as Reno and I Fought the Law – BC Alpine presented 26 awards to deserving recipients (see full listing below) in the categories athlete bursaries and awards for coaches, volunteers, officials, resorts, events and clubs.
The BC Alpine Summit Meetings – the first in-person provincial meetings in three years – were a smashing success, with representation from all zones, clubs and all levels of ski racing in B.C. The four-day meetings included presentations from BC Alpine staff and coaches, Allison Forsyth on the topic of Safe Sport, a Risk Management presentation by Steve Harris of Alpine Canada, a new Fitness Combine (physical testing & benchmarking) program presented by Jenni Stilow, also of Alpine Canada, and many others. All presentations can be found here.
The meetings concluded with the AGM, which saw the appointment of three-time Olympian Emily Brydon, of Fernie, BC, who was elected to the VP Athletics role on the Board of Directors. Murray Smith, also a former World Cup skier, was appointed to the role of Okanagan Zone Chair, while Graham Cope was elected to BC Alpine Board Chair position, replacing Hugh MacNaught, who was the Board Chair since 2013.
“We send Hugh off with a heartfelt thank you for all that he has done, not just for BC Alpine, but in representing the provinces on the PTSO Board for so many years. Job well done Hugh!”
Anders Hestdalen, BC Alpine CEO
See below for a complete listing of awards and bursaries.
Hugh MacNaught, Long Term President’s Award
Rod Timm, Hustler Award
Leslie Firstbrook, Train to Train Coach of the Year
Diana Veitch, Okanagan Zone Volunteer of the Year
Catherine Grant, Coast Zone Volunteer of the Year
Ben Cohen, Head Coach of the Year
ATHLETE BURSARIES AND AWARDS
Dave Murray Ski Foundation Bursary – $750 Heming Sola, BC Ski Team/Okanagan Ski Team/Apex Ski Club
Dave Murray Ski Foundation Bursary – $750 Jasmine Coubrough, Okanagan Ski Team /Vernon Ski Club
Bob Parsons Memorial Fund Bursary – $1,000 Molly Raymond, Okanagan Ski Team /Apex Ski Club
Bob Parsons Memorial Fund Bursary – $1,000 Finley Cashin, Okanagan Ski Team /Big White Ski Club
Ski Canada Bursary – $500 Roxy Coatesworth, Black Dogs Ski Club/Golden Kicking Horse Alpine Team
Ski Canada Bursary – $500 Tylee Carr, Vernon Ski Club
Cary Mullen Sportsmanship Award Takoda Ito, Okanagan Ski Team/Big White Ski Club
Cary Mullen Sportsmanship Award Brooke Irish, Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club
COACH AWARDS
Learn/Train to Train Coach of the Year Leslie Firstbrook, Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club
U16 Coach of the Year Andrew Lambert, Vernon Ski Club
FIS Coach of the Year Samantha Fournier, Okanagan Ski Team
Head Coach of the Year Ben Cohen, Kimberley Alpine Team
Team of the Year Kimberley Alpine Team
Hustler of the Year Rod Timm, Fernie Alpine Ski Team
VOLUNTEER/OFFICIALS AWARDS
Coast Zone Volunteer/Official of the Year Catherine Grant, Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club
Kootenay Zone Volunteer/Official of the Year Steven Koles, Fernie Alpine Ski Team
North Zone Volunteer/Official of the Year Ben Weinstein, Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club
Okanagan Zone Volunteer/Official of the Year Dave and Diana Veitch, Big White Ski Club
Moira Jaatteenmaki Officials’ Award Rob Tupper, Vernon Ski Club
Volunteer of the Year Gerry Whittaker, Big White Ski Club
EVENT/RESORT/CLUB/PRESIDENT AWARDS
Event of the Year Whistler BC Cup Speed Series, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Mountain Resort of the Year Apex Mountain Resort
Mountain Resort of the Year Kimberley Alpine Resort
Club Development of the Year Smithers Ski & Snowboard Club
Long Term President’s Award Doug Jevning, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Long Term President’s Award Hugh MacNaught, BC Alpine Ski Association
BC Alpine announced the addition of six young women and four young men from across the province to the BC Training Group, a major stepping stone towards BC Ski Team selection.
All newcomers to the provincial system, the 10 skiers represent five ski clubs: Whistler Mountain Ski Club qualified four, Grouse-Tyee Ski Club three, Big White Racers, Sun Peaks Alpine Club and the Vernon Ski Club, each with one a piece.
The 10 ski racers will join three returning members – Tait Jordan (WMSC), Dylan Timm (FAST) and Heming Sola (Apex/OST) – throughout the summer and preparation phase.
The BCST for the 2022-23 season will be named in November.
“We are very proud of the athletes in BC and of the rich history for excellence and performance among our racers,” said Anders Hestdalen, the BC Alpine CEO. “More than a third of national team athletes come from BC and our coaches and athletes are tirelessly working to continue that success.”
Six young women “pushing hard”
Montana Molyneux returns to the BCST staff this season but in a new role as the head coach of the women’s program.
“It’s been amazing to have this group come together to push each other and themselves out of their comfort zones and work hard,” said Molyneux. “This is a great group of young women and they are working hard to establish a strong team culture.”
The women’s group will continue training in Whistler “focusing on building their bodies, mindsets, and their team’s culture,”and have an on snow camp scheduled in Europe in early September.
Mix of youth and experience for men’s group
According to BCST men’s head coach Morgan Pridy the men’s group is brimming with potential along with stability from the returning skiers.
“It’s still early but our training group athletes are figuring out each day a bit more about what kind of work it will take to be prepared for our upcoming on-snow camps in the late summer and fall,” said Pridy. “We are really fortunate to have a strong veteran presence in TJ (Tait Jordan), Heming (Sola), and Dyl (Dylan Timm) to lend an assist in showing them the ropes and hopefully aiding in a smooth transition from training group to the BCST in the future.”
Some BCST members are not returning to the team. “A heartfelt goodbye and thank you to Nathan Romanin (WMSC), Heiko Ihns (RMR) and Gerrit Van Soest (VSC) for their years of commitment and leadership; we wish them all the luck in the world with their future endeavours which they will undoubtedly crush,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP Athletics.
Pre season training for the men’s group will include an on-snow camp in Chile for four weeks in late August to late September at El Colorado. “Elevation is about 11,000 feet so the training prior to this is very important if we actually want to be able to train at that elevation,” said Pridy who will be joined by returning coach Dustin Koepke.
In October the group will train at the “Ice Box” (indoor skiing) in Austria as well as some glacier training in Germany.
BC Ski Team:
Dylan Timm (2002) Fernie Alpine Ski Team (Fernie)
Heming Sola (2003) Apex Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Summerland)
Tait Jordan (2002) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
BC Women’s Training Group:
Shayna Little (2005) Big White Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Kelowna)
Mila Plavsic (2004) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (Vancouver)
Talyn Lorimer (2004) Sun Peaks Alpine Club (Kamloops)
Erin Husken (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Alexa Brownlie (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Ella Kaufmann (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
BC Men’s Training Group:
Sascha Gilbert (2004) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Graeme Eder (2005) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (Coquitlam)
Dylan Stevens (2004) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Oliver Young (2004) Vernon Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Coldstream)
When 58 female ski racers from all over the province descended on Sun Peaks last week, the energy and willingness to learn was at an all-time high.
The all-female coaching staff – along with special guest national team skiers Cassidy Gray and Sam Mulligan – packed in a high volume of on-snow training, guest presentations, video analysis, tech talks, and pretty much anything that could be crammed into three intense and rewarding days.
A total of 11 coaches, including club program directors and age coaches, BCST staff and the guest coaches, lead the athletes over the three days with on-snow work and off-hill instruction and presentations.
According to GFF lead coach Montana Molyneux (Coach Monty), some of the highlights included working alongside Cassidy Gray, who was part of the Canadian team that won gold in the world junior parallel race at Panorama earlier this season, as well as a 60 person synchro and human slalom.
“We started by going back to the basics on snow and slowing it down and working on their position over their ski over a high volume of runs,” said Coach Monty. “And the Tech Talks and video with Cassidy were a big hit and as well recovery and visualization training with Rebekah Smiley (GFF coach and SPAC coach).”
The GFF camp was kicked off by a message from Erin Mielzynski, who recently retired from the World Cup, to set the tone for a productive and learning based camp.
GFF 2022 COACHING TEAM: Back row, from left: Sam Mulligan, Leslie Firstbrook, Katie Findlay, Montana Molyneux, Sam Fournier, Alice Muirhead, Marouska Smith, Rebekah Smiley. Front row: Cassidy Gray, Anja Matson, Kate Matson, Maia Matson, Daria Mezenina.
Alpine Canada announced this week a roster of skiers who have qualified for the national ski team, including eight BC skiers.
After a breakthrough season for many of the BC alumnus – including Jack Crawford, who took home a bronze medal from the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, and Cameron Alexander, who scored Canada’s only alpine World Cup win of the season – the teams will spend the spring and summer months training in Whistler and Calgary at Canadian Sport Institute training centres.
The BC men make up over 60 percent of the national team roster.
“BC is proud of all its athletes and coaches who are currently working with ACA as well as those on the pathway to make the National Team in the near future”,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP.
When Jack Crawford battled for a hard-fought bronze medal in the men’s combined in Beijing last week, he kept Canadians and ski racing fans glued to their devices, including his legion of friends and followers at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club.
And before you know it, Crawford, along with his Olympic teammates and fellow Whistler alum Broderick Thompson and Brodie Seger, were right back where it started … in Whistler presenting medals to aspiring ski racing stars at the Janyk Cup.
“It was so magical,” said Mike Janyk, the clubs executive director and former World Cup skier. “To have them right back here connected to the grassroots right after they were on TV was so spectacular.”
Janyk explained that it’s rare for athletes to reconnect with their clubs so soon after a major event like the Olympics. “We saw it in the faces of the kids, the parents and the coaches,” he said. “That energy is so cool to share with everyone, I’m almost speechless about how amazing it was.”
The Whistler club had four skiers representing Canada at the Olympics, including the entire men’s downhill team. Jack Crawford’s bronze was the first Olympic medal for the Canadian alpine team since Jan Hudec’s bronze in Sochi 2014 . Earlier in the week Crawford – who came to Whistler as a teenager from Toronto and the Georgian Peaks Ski Club – finished fourth in the men’s downhill and sixth in super-G, agonizingly close to the podium in both races.
Seger blazed to the third fastest time in the super G portion of the combined and eventually finished ninth after the slalom event. Broderick Thompson finished eighth in both the downhill and combined, capping a solid week for the Canadian men’s speed team.
On Thursday, Whistler’s Marielle Thompson executed a come-from-behind silver medal in the women’s ski cross in Beijing, adding to her massive collection of international hardware. It is the second Olympic medal of the 29-year-old’s career after winning gold in the event at Sochi in 2014. Thompson, sister to Broderick, is considered one of the best skiers to ever compete in ski cross, collecting 50 World Cup medals, two world championship medals and three overall World Cup crystal globes.
Winning at all levels
Now as a spectator, Janyk soaked in the Olympics.
“In one way it’s nice to not have to feel the pressure directly knowing what it’s like to have to perform,” Janyk said. “It was really exciting and I was super stoked … and also feeling for them at times but they really got us on our feet.”
A former slalom specialist, Janyk was impressed with the competition level of the slalom in the combined. “For Jack to put down that run was incredible, I actually thought he was going to beat Kilde … It’s fun to see someone so connected to the snow like he was. He was on, making it look effortless and every time he came out of the start he looked like one of the best in the world, which he clearly is now.”
Meanwhile on the NorAm tour, Whistler alumna Stefanie Fleckenstein sits in second overall in the NorAm standings with 10 podium finishes in 13 starts in NorAms races this season. Fleckenstein, who currently races with the International Ski Racing Academy, has been focused on the World Cup speed tour as well to gain valuable experience, learn the race tracks and regain a spot on the Canadian national team.
Another Whistler racer Cameron Alexander scorched a recent Europa Cup series in Kvitfjell, Norway, winning a downhill and finishing second the next day, followed by a second and fifth place in the super G races. He’s currently in fifth place in the overall Europa Cup downhill standings.
Cameron’s younger brother Kyle, has collected nine NorAm top fives this season, including four wins and currently sits second in the overall Nor Am standings. And Brodie Seger’s brother Riley, splitting his time between the University of Denver and the Canadian national team, has collected six NorAm top fives and three podiums on the NCAA tour this season.
Asher Jordan, a slalom skier out of Whistler, has collected five NorAm podiums this season and sits in second overall in the NorAm slalom standings, in addition to World Cup starts in Adelboden, Kitzbuhel and Schladming.
You get the point.
Stefanie Fleckenstein (CAN). Photo: GEPA / Thomas Bachun
Cameron Alexander (CAN). Photo: GEPA/ Mathias Mandl
Riley Seger (CAN). Photo: GEPA/ Mario Buehner
Asher Jordan (CAN). Photo: GEPA/ Matic Klansek
Whistler’s secret sauce?
The Whistler Mountain Ski Club has a rich history dating back to the 1970s and have had a steady flow of ski racers reaching the provincial and national teams ever since. Starting with Dave Murray in the 1970s, to Rob Boyd in the 1980s, Allison Forsyth and Britt Janyk in the 1990s, Mike Janyk, Manny Osborne-Paradis, Morgan and Conrad Pridy and in the 2000s, to today with seven skiers on the Canadian national team and three on the BC provincial team.
In the Whistler Mountain Ski Club cabin, a “wall of fame” is proudly featured, with current and former national team members. The wall is large.
“There’s a deeply embedded culture in this community around ski racing,” Janyk explained.
Janyk believes one of the key drivers of this culture stems from the willingness of the Whistler community to take on massive events, like World Cups, the Olympics in 2010 and calendar mainstays like the Whistler Cup. He believes these events propel the club and inspire the youth.
“I was on my Dad’s shoulders when Rob Boyd won,” he said, referring to Boyd’s historic men’s downhill win in 1989 to become the first Canadian male racer to win a World Cup downhill in his home country. “And then I got my first signature by Kristian Ghedina in the 1990s at the World Cup here, then later as first year FIS racer I foreran the World Cup.”
“In 2010 at the Olympics in Whistler, how old were Cam and Kyle, Brodie, Riley and Asher? They were that 10-year-old on their parents shoulders watching their heroes.
“Those events, which are an extension of the club and the community and the parents … the will of people who put on these unbelievable undertakings of volunteerism. Talk about community building.”
Janyk commented that beyond marquee events and volunteerism, creative coaches within the club (current and past) have been a major driver of a winning culture which continues to inspire the next generation.
“When I came through the club we had a strong group of kids together and an equally strong group of coaches and we were all ready to push,” he said. “I don’t know how exactly it started and it was probably an organic growth of culture which came from creative coaches and volunteers ready to raise the bar.”
Whistler, the ‘Norway’of North America?
When the Winter Olympics wrapped up on the weekend, Norway stood at the top of the standings, outpacing much larger countries like the U.S., Russia and Canada – despite having a significantly smaller population – you can’t help but think, how do they do it?
And more to the point of this article, is the Whistler Mountain Ski Club the “Norwegians” of ski racing in North America?
The Norwegian sports culture is proving to be unmatched yet simple, at least at present. They have created a pipeline of skiing stars that recharges and replenishes at an exceptional rate. They are so dominant in cross country and biathlon that some countries have conceded gold, opting for a strategy focussed on targeting silver and bronze.
The Norge’s collected three alpine medals in alpine, compared to one each for the U.S. and Canadian alpine teams – Ryan Cochran Siegle, men’s super G silver and Jack Crawford men’s combined bronze (although Alpine Canada would claim Marielle Thompson’s silver in the women’s ski cross to make it two).
Of further interest, 99 Norwegians competed in Beijing, compared to 223 for the Americans and 215 for the Canadians.
The Beijing Olympics came to a close last weekend, setting the stage for the Paralympics beginning in early March, where the Whistler Mountain Ski Club shifts its attention to another world star; Mollie Jepsen, who was a breakout star at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics, winning a gold, silver and two bronze medals at her first Games as an 18-year-old.
The Whistler Mountain Ski Club trophy case continues to grow.
