A Very Special Guest

It was some very special skiing last week for Cory at Whistler.  His cousin, Bryony, whom he hadn't seen for about 20 years, flew over from England to ski with us for a few days.  While we didn't get much sunshine, we got some terrific skiing in, including a day of light, fluffy powder - a rarity in Whistler which normally gets a fair amount of moisture in its snowfalls, but especially rare in mid-April when rain would be far more likely.

In fact, it was winter-like conditions for all 3 days, with a light snowfall on the first day.
Here they are - with Bryony's friend Stephen (since it's such a special visit, we'll forgive him for his dark-side snowboard) - on Ptarmigan.

Now Ptarmigan is a run that Cory is very familiar with, as it is where the National Training Centre is located so Cory has trained and raced on this run numerous times.  It is often closed to the public, but not on this day so we were excited to have them ski this run with us.




It's a terrific run for racers....long and wide, with lots of terrain changes.  Lots of opportunity for speed when conditions are good.  And the snow was perfect, very firm below some soft new snow.  Now when Cory trains on Ptarmigan, it's pretty much the only run he skis on all day, and Whistler Blackcomb has over 200 runs.  So I figured he would want a change and head over to some of the other good runs.  But on this day, it was so good, he said he wanted to do another run on Ptarmigan, so around we went to the Garbanzo chair to go back up.

And a good thing too, as we met Manny Osborne-Paradis, back at the top of Ptarmigan,  He was there doing a promotional photo shoot but kindly took a moment to come over and chat with us.

Manny has been on the Canadian Alpine Ski team for several years and just finished an excellent comeback season, after several difficult years, putting him a terrific position for the 2018 Olympics in Korea.  He wished Cory well, told him to not give up and to keep working on his racing, just like he has.  And Cory was invited to train with Whistler Mountain Ski Club this summer - Manny said he could very well be there too so the Olympians may meet again soon.

And of course we took Bryony and Stephen onto the Dave Murray Downhill run, the site of the Men's Downhill for the 2010 Olympics.  Here's Cory & Bryony in the old start gate, ready to go head-to-head on the Olympic run.

And after a great day on the hill, gotta have some hot-tubbin' time...and a beer or two...

The next morning, plenty of spring rain as we board the Blackcomb Gondola...

But in the alpine, in front of Blackcomb's Glacier Creek Lodge, it's full-blown winter:

And at the very top, outside Horstmann Hut, there's a blizzard raging!

And so with very limited visibility, might as well take a hot chocolate break...

It's been a snowy winter!  Over 13 metres of snow fell on Whistler Blackcomb this winter...42 feet of the white stuff!

After our break, it's back out into the blizzard, and being above the treeline, there's not much to see but white in every direction....

and it feels like we are the only 4 skiers on the mountain...then the visibility improves...

and Cory gets to enjoy that terrific sensation of powder snow around his shins and knees...not the usual stuff for a racer, where hard pack ice-like snow is the norm...

Bryony makes it obvious she's enjoying the "incredible" snow too...

And Stephen loves his pow!

Bryony showing her good form on the slopes...

Cory again in knee-deep powder (those markers are not boundary markers, Cory would never ski out of bounds...they are just visual references to mark the Blue Line run...handy in white-out conditions)

Even deeper snow further on Blue Line

(This video contains coarse language, viewer discretion is advised)

And a "toe-st" in the hot tub to end a terrific day with Bryony and Stephen in Whistler powder!

The next morning is race day, and OMG, Cory doesn't win, how can that be???  Good God, even the dark-side boarder beat him...better forget about this powder skiing Cory and get back to work!!!

It's still snowing hard on Whistler, but it's time to head home, or at least to the airport to say goodbye to our very special guest skiers.

But first a stop at one of our favourite Vancouver eateries, and our Montreal friends and family will definitely recognize the name and know right away what we all had for lunch!

And the goodbye...and come back soon okay (though we can't promise knee-deep powder every time!)

a last tearful hug with Bryony's aunt, Cory's mum...it was all so so good.

So what a terrific end to a terrific season.  Cory wanted to spend more time on his powder skis just having fun, with less gate training and Mother Nature cooperated with so much snow that every time on skis was just better than the last.  He wasn't on snow as often as he normally is when he trains, but certainly this year, and especially with Bryony in Whistler, it was quality over quantity.

Cory will decide later if he trains with Whistler Mountain Ski Club this summer.  If he does, that would likely be late June or early July.  For now it's back to his 2 Special Olympics summer sports:  soccer & softball.

We enjoy reading comments about our blog - no account necessary.  See you again soon.

What if....

Special Olympics Canada selects athletes for the World Games based on their performance at the National Games.  Athletes are divisioned and compete by ability, but qualify by gender and age group.  Cory raced in the top Advanced Division but there were male racers in his age group that competed in lower levels of Advanced, or in Intermediate or Novice.  4 of those male racers earned more points than Cory did at the Nationals.  Special Olympics Canada selected 4 male racers from his age group, and Cory finished 5th.  He finished 8th at the previous Nationals in 2012, so a good step forward.

But, what if...what if Cory had qualified.  How would he have compared to the other Advanced racers from around the world?


Here's what happened in Austria:

SLALOM

Well, in Slalom at the 2016 Nationals in Newfoundland, Cory was 20.37% slower than Michael Gilbert, the World Champion from Quebec who qualified for the World Games in Austria.  Michael Gilbert's time in Austria was 1:17.43, which means Cory could have posted a hypothetical time of 1:33.20.

Canada no longer has the World Champion skier, that is now a Russian in Slalom, and Michael Gilbert was 2nd:

World Champion Semen Ksenyk, Russia:  1:16.86
2nd Michael Gilbert, Canada: 1:17.43
3rd Thomas Prazmarer, Austria:  1:21.51
4th Jonathan Ojerteg, Sweden: 1:22.30
5th Yusuke Kizuki, Japan: 1:23.67
6th Joel Seiler, Leichtenstein:  1:24.14
7th Johan Solander, Sweden:  1:26.38
8th Artem Gelzhinis, Russia: 1:27.89
9th Frans Salmi, Finland: 1:32.82

Cory's hypothetical time of 1:33.20 would place him 10th best in the world in Slalom!



GIANT SLALOM




















In Giant Slalom, at the 2016 Nationals, Cory was 9.96% slower than Michael Gilbert.  Michael Gilbert's time in Austria was 1:23.88, so Cory's hypothetical time would be 1:32.23.

The GS World Champion is the same racer from Russia:

World Champion Semen Ksenyk, Russia:  1:23.29
2nd Michael Gilbert, Canada: 1:23.88
3rd Oleg Babaev, Russia: 1:24.93
4th Rogier Blaas, Netherlands:  1:26.27
5th Peder Hald, Norway: 1:29.51
6th Jonathan Ojerteg, Sweden:  1:31.01
7th Johan Solander, Sweden:  1:31.31
8th Simon Berchtold, Austria:  1:31.72
9th Pascal Haller, Switzerland:  1:31.90

Again, Cory's hypothetical time of 1:32.23 would place him 10th best in the world!


SUPER G

In Super Giant Slalom, Michael Gilbert did not compete in Austria, and neither did the Russian skier.  (there must have been some logistical issue, as the participants seem to have been limited to just 2 events, not 3 as is usually the case).  But a very good female skier from Quebec named Stephanie Savard did participate and at the 2016 Nationals, Cory was 4.06% faster than she was.

Stephanie's time in Austria was 1:00.73, making Cory's hypothetical time 0:58.26

A different skier from Russia is Super G World Champion, Oleg Babaev, Russia:  0:52.94
2nd Thomas Praxmarer, Austria: 0:54.85
3rd Rogier Blaas, Netherlands: 0:54.92
4th Peder Hald, Norway:  0:55.66

So in Super G, Cory's hypothetical time of 0:58.26 would be good enough for 5th best in the world!

Oddly, there are no American Special Olympians in the top 10 of any of the events.  But there could have been 2 Canadians!  If Cory had qualified.

But it does look as if he's top 5 or top 10 Special Olympics skiers in the world...

The next World Games are in 2021, apparently Lillehammer Norway may be interested in bidding.

What if....

CADS Festival 2017

Cory attended his 3rd CADS Annual Festival, this one at Sun Peaks near Kamloops, after attending two others in Kimberley, BC.  Our snow-filled winter continued and we skied some of the best conditions ever.  CADS is the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers and changed its name during the Festival to Canadian Adaptive Snow Sports.  It has traditionally been the grass roots organization for our physically-disabled skiers and Paralympians, but has now over 60% of its membership from those with cognitive disabilities.

The Festival combines ski lessons and fun events over 5 full days of activities.  Perfect for an off-year of race training for Cory, as the race program that he participated in at the Festival involved 3 days with 2 hours of gate training in the morning followed by free-skiing in the afternoon, followed by one full day of racing - 2 races of 2 runs down a Giant Slalom race course, and finally a full day of free-skiing.  And there even were a few runs down a rolling, curvy ski cross race course.

So a great combination of training, racing, and free-skiing at a terrific venue.  BC Adaptive subsidized some travel costs for those attending for the first time or participating in the race program.

We are welcomed to our first spectacular day at Sun Peaks with blue skies and fresh snow...

Prior to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Austrian Ski Team built a race centre including a new run and a new chair.  It is now called the "Nancy Greene International Race Centre" as Nancy Greene is a founder of Sun Peaks and continues to act as Director of Skiing there.  Cory has trained and raced here before with both BC Adaptive and Special Olympics.

But this week is not all about racing...the vast - and snowy! - Crystal Bowl...

And Sun Peaks' famous snow ghosts...

Some spring-like warmth makes it easy to wear a race suit while training...

No sun appears the next day, but more snow puts a smile on Cory's face as he meets up with his teammates before heading to the Race Centre:

Sure has been a snowy winter...

our rented condo...middle floor at the back, hot tub on the balcony of course!

the life of a racer....

and his dad...

Yet more snow the next day...

And with Cory off training, Dad enjoys some powder skiing....

Including some fun runs among the trees...





Day 4 is race day...and the sun begins to burn through the clouds....giving some great race conditions...

time to start warm-ups...

then course inspection....

the course is ready!

But is Cory?  This will be his first race in over a year.  He last raced in Newfoundland at the National Winter Games for Special Olympics Canada.  He barely did any gate training this winter, only a few runs through a short race course at Cypress on Monday nights.

This is just a fun race, and his main rival at Special Olympics is not participating, so it will be interesting to see how he looks....

Some good speed here in the first run of the first race (1st of 2 races, 2 runs each), posting a time of just under 30 seconds...looking really good after such a long layoff!

Holds his tuck longer here in his second run and improves his time slightly to 29.06...

an even longer tuck yields an even faster time of 28.08....

and he finishes the day with another good run of 28.27 seconds...

And wins both races for the Cognitive Male Division!

Some good form here at the start, pushing off hard enough to lift his ski tails way up out of the snow and his ski tips into the snow...a new skill for Cory...

hands in front and high (Cory had a habit of dropping his "inside" hand but he's eliminated that now which helps to keep his weight forward) and eyes up, looking down the course...

hands even higher, good pressure on his downhill ski (in this case his left), nice and low and compact, something he is working on...

getting into a tuck, looking for speed, eyes forward...

and his signature move, a touchdown at finish to stop the clock as soon as possible..

"Hi mum....yes, I won them both!...AND....

I got to race in a ski cross course!....AND...






AND they named me the Adaptive Skier of the Year for 2016!!  What a great week!!"

Blue skies back again for our last day at this year's CADS Festival...

Time to say goodbye...

to the snow ghosts...

but there's sure been a lot of fresh snow while we were here....

We gotta go now.....Bye...thanks for visiting our blog.....got a special visitor coming to ski with us at Whistler in 2 weeks....standby for an update about that soon!