The story of a 35-year-old man with autism and a passion for ski racing, and his dream-come-true of representing Canada at Special Olympics World Winter Games. In 2020, Cory qualified for Team Canada and was due to compete at the World Winter Games in Russia in January 2023. Those Games were cancelled. Cory then had to restart the 3 year qualification process which culminated at the 2024 National Winter Games where Cory qualified for the next World Winter Games in Italy in 2025.
Welcome to Race with Cory and thanks for visiting our blog.
If you wish to read the story from the beginning, click here http://racewithcory.blogspot.com/2007/09/beginnings.html. When you're done, click on "2007" in the right column, then "September", then on "Special Olympics Ski Racing, From Beginner to Racer" and go from there.
But he's says the best part was when he tried surfing for the very first time. The camera mounted on the front of his board gave us a good look....Coach Bob Vial would no doubt be proud of his "athletic stance"!
And a really cool photo too...
Add a little theme music...
The next race - ski race, not surf race - for Cory will be the Rotary GS at Whistler on April 19 & 20.
In a Kokanee Giant Slalom race, Cory experienced his first ever crash during a race. Fortunately, after a checkup at the Whistler Medical Centre, the only injury is two bruised knees. It was a warm, rainy day and there was a lot of soft snow on the race course. Over 25 racers started the race, and by the time Cory started his run as the second last racer to go, deep ruts made for a bumpy ride. One of those ruts caught the edge of his ski, twisting his leg back, and down he went.
It had been a miserable start to the race proceedings as rain poured down on us during course inspection. Later Cory cheerfully waited for the race, trying to stay dry in the start tent...
But the rains did stop, the skies cleared somewhat, and Cory was ready to race...
He was racing well, looking good and fast, and then at the end of this video...."down he goes"..
A closer look....
Crashes are part of the sport, and in some ways are an indication that the racer is progressing and looking to push the limits of his or her abilities. Fortunately, no real harm came from this one and Cory will now be able to enjoy his week's vacation as he departs for Waikiki this Sunday. But for a few moments there in the wet snow on Lower Cruiser on Blackcomb Mountain, both racer and dad had a bit of a scare.
Next up are the season-ending Rotary GS races at Whistler in mid-April, where he'll once again compete against his Special Olympics colleagues and rivals.
It may be an off-year for important competitions, but Cory is staying in tune with a few races during the season. This time it's a fun race organized by Special Olympics British Columbia at Crystal Mountain in Westbank, BC. This has been a regular venue for Special Olympics ski racing, having been the location of the last Provincial Winter Games in 2011.
As Cory knows very well now, ski racing involves a lot of
baggage handling....loading the bus for departure....
And then unpacking at the Green Bay Bible Camp, our home for a couple of days...
which is located on the shores of Okanagan Lake....
a bit of broken cloud to start race day...
But first some breakfast, where Cory shows he can be as quick-moving in the buffet line as he is on a ski
hill!
Then it's on to the race course...
where he joins his old rival Jesse for a first look at the race course...
It will be two races on the day, each with two runs. Cory has not trained very much this year, compared to the last few years, and in fact it is only his 3rd time in gates all season. So we're very curious to see how he does against Jesse who has continued with regular training.
And in the first run of the first race, Jesse shows that his training is paying off by beating Cory by 1.4 seconds, quite a significant margin.
Cory's run, which actually looks pretty good...
So we have a chat on the chair back up to the race course and while we wait for Cory's second run. He knows it's not an important race, not a qualifier, so he doesn't mind that he's not winning. It did cross my mind that he does have a way of upping his intensity and performance during important competitions, so perhaps there is no reason to be concerned about the disparity with Jesse's time.
But Cory does crank things up in his second run and beats Jesse by 1.7 seconds for a win with an overall time advantage of .28 seconds.
In the second race, well Cory seems to crank it up even more, scooting through the slalom race course with an excellent pendulum motion of his legs so that his upper body stays pretty much in a vertical line right to the finish...two excellent runs and Cory wins by a rather astonishing 6.65 seconds...
So two races and two wins, and a comforting reassurance that the time off from training isn't hurting Cory's performance at this time.
Next up is a Kokanee race - the ones that include a free beer! - and then Cory is off to Hawaii. Definitely not for ski training, but maybe some surfing!
