New Season - New Challenges

Cory's 12th ski racing season - yes, 12th!, he's a grizzled old veteran now! - will be underway soon.  It will be a season of new challenges as for the first time since 2011, he is not the fastest ski racer in Special Olympics British Columbia.

He finished 2nd in all 3 events at the last races held in Kimberley last March.

Cory also participates in basketball with Special Olympics, and last year he moved out of the C-level basketball program in Delta to the B-level program in Richmond .  Well this year, that program has been reclassified as an A-level program.  So Cory has moved from C-level ball to A-level ball in one year.  It's a big jump - pun intended!

It means he is up against primarily bigger, taller, and stronger opponents.  And at least for now, better skilled opponents.

At Cory's first practice last week...some 3 on 3....a bit of slalom to get started, something he's quite familiar with....then a futile attempt against a taller opponent....but not intimidated at all as he carries and passes the ball....and goes to the net where all the action is....and positions himself well for a score...



With more players expected to attend practices, 5 on 5 against those big guys will certainly be a new challenge for Cory, especially at the pace of A-level play.  And there should be some interesting competitions over the winter, though Cory's focus will obviously be on his skiing.

Cory and I were reviewing various videos of him racing and of some famous ski racers.  Over the last couple of years, Cory has developed a rather unique style at the start gate.  No other racer we've seen drops as low as Cory does.  He did this completely on his own, no one instructed him to do so.  I've wondered if his low position was helpful or a hindrance.  But it was his style, and I figured it would be best to just let it be.

And then today, we came across this....Herman Maier - the Herminator as he was called, one of the greatest skiers ever - and he's copying Cory!!!  Hey!

Well, it's obviously a good thing for Cory to do, if it's good enough for the Herminator.  Cory just needs to make a small adjustment - keeping his hands high and his poles perpendicular to the snow, not at a slant.  We'll work on this right here at home before the season starts.

That will be just some fine tuning but last season Cory developed a bit of a bad habit of being too far back on his skis...this is from training at Sun Peaks last February....with much of his weight too far back towards the tails of his skis, and his knees perpendicular to his feet, he is not getting enough pressure on the tips of the skis - the real steering wheel of race ski as it is at the tip that the skis are the widest, once on edge that wide edge would dig into the snow and help him carve a cleaner turn.  Here you can see most of the snow is flying from the tail end of his skis and his skis drifting to his left as he tries to end a turn to his right...

compared to racing at Sun Peaks in 2015...body more forward, body weight forward of his heels, knees at a 45 degree angle to his feet, putting more weight into that wide part of the ski at the tip, allowing it to dig into the snow and make a clean carve to his left.




So a bit of work to do there too...Provincials are in Silver Star near Vernon on Feb 21/22.  Got some time to fine tune the champ!

Qualified for the 2019 Provincial Winter Games!

Cory will be heading to Silver Star near Vernon next February to represent SOBC Delta at the 2019 Special Olympics BC Provincial Winter Games.

It will be his 4th Provincial Games.  In Kelowna in 2007, with not quite the same style he races with today......

nor taking a particularly good line, yikes!.....

Bronze in Giant Slalom...

Bronze in Super G....

Bronze in Slalom (they got the podium positions mixed up for the photo)....

Then in 2011, again in Kelowna...



Gold in Super G...

Gold in Giant Slalom

 Gold in Slalom

Sun Peaks, 2015...4 years of quality training, terrific coaching, and his own dedication, sure shows in his race style...

 

with the results to go with that style.....Gold in Super G...

Gold in Giant Slalom...

  

Gold in Slalom

Two Provincial Championships in a row with a lot of hard work to get there.  2019 will definitely be a challenge for Cory to three-peat, as there as some new young kids on the block and Cory finished 2nd in all 3 events at the Regionals in March in Kimberley.

But time now to prepare and we'll see how it goes in February, stay tuned!

Oh oh...there are new kids in town!

Well, Cory did not win any of his races at Special Olympics' Alpine Skiing Regional Qualifiers last weekend at Kimberley, BC.  But he was certainly the most consistent racer, finishing 2nd in Giant Slalom, Super Giant Slalom, and Slalom, while two different racers took 1st place.  Which means Cory actually earned the most number of points (pending confirmation of results, hopefully in the next few days) in his Advanced Division.  So Cory remains the overall best racer in British Columbia.

Qualifying for the Provincials in Alpine Skiing is, unlike other sports, pretty straightforward and Cory will definitely qualify for Silver Star, near Vernon, in 2019.  Then, he will definitely be challenged to qualify for the 2020 National Games in Thunder Bay, if these new racers compete there too.  Both of them are under 20 years of age, one of them is actually 17, so it remains to be seen if they are as committed to alpine skiing as Cory is.

We've been to Kimberley twice before, both times for the Canadian Adaptive Snow Sports Annual Festival, and we drove.  All 13 hours of it!  This time we were treated to a 90 minute flight.

And both times before was in late March and there had been little snow remaining...not this time....a substantial snowfall just before we arrived.

Cory has a race routine that includes some gentle leg swings as a minor warm-up...

but time to pose for a team picture with the other 4 athletes from Special Olympics BC - Surrey and the team Head Coach:

And in another of Cory's pre-race routines, he takes a longer-than-average amount of time to do his course inspection, and he prefers to do it on his own, rather than with his teammates...

but catches up to his teammate David at the end of the course - and that is terrific racer snow you see there, hard-packed deep base with a touch of soft BC champagne powder on top...

The view from the start hut during course inspection...

Time to race!  Cory's 1st of two Giant Slalom runs, taken from the finish line with his signature touchdown finish....he had to work on getting his hand down sooner as in earlier training he was late getting his hand down and it would only get low enough after he crossed the finish...but here he's down nice and early and stops the clock a fraction of a second sooner than he would had he not touched down.  I did not notice any other racer trying a touchdown finish...




His second run, taken from a flat area about half-way down the course, getting plenty of encouragement from the Provincial Head Coach at the start and more from another coach as he moves across the camera...but his body position is not as forward as it could be...so room for improvement there for next year...




After lunch it's the Super G...the view of the course up towards the start hut on the left...

It will be only one run for the Super G on this day, and Cory looks really good and fast...and nails a great line through a series of  gates with little offset just after he passes by my camera...the other racers I watched made longer turns through that section so Cory's line is shorter and faster - excellent decision-making at full speed, really good race instincts...

The next day is Slalom day, and something truly special happens even before the race starts.  After breakfast, the team is ready early, and are the first in the lift line.   The lift attendent walks over and offers to let us on the chair a half hour before it is due to open.  So under terrific conditions, the team gets to do a run with no one else on the mountain, except a few ski patrollers.  What a special - and rare! - moment.  To enjoy a glorious run all by ourselves...freshly groomed soft corduroy to enjoy!

And enjoy they do!

So it's all smiles from the team!

Final equipment check for slalom includes helmet plus arm and shin guards...

Another lovely day to race...Kimberley at its best for us once again...

And that armour does its job...Cory brushes just about every slalom gate, using as straight a line as possible and look just terrific!  Slalom was not his favourite when he first started racing but it is certainly his best event now...you can hear the "clack" when he hits the gates....

And a "carbon copy" for Run #2....some of his best racing ever I'd say...maybe even better than he raced at the 2016 Nationals in Newfoundland, when he was the 2nd best in Canada

But on this day, it's 2nd best in BC...but Cory sure doesn't seem disappointed at all....

2nd place, Giant Slalom

2nd place, Super Giant Slalom

2nd place, Slalom

Kimberley (actually Cranbrook Airport) gives us one last wonderful view as Cory heads home...

but soon to fly again - to Whitehorse Yukon! - for an indoor soccer tournament, not skiing - in a couple of weeks.

Cory's ski season will end shortly, with perhaps a couple of days of fun skiing in May at Whistler, we've had some great days there in late season.

Plenty of time now to enjoy his accomplishments, enjoy a few more days of fun skiing, and then plan to get ready to challenge those "youngsters" to another head to head duel next February at the 2019 Special Olympics British Columbia Winter Games at Silver Star, near Vernon.  After all, he is still the best overall ski racer in BC!

Prepping for the Regionals

With Special Olympics BC's Regional Alpine Skiing Qualifier now just around the corner, Cory has been training locally at Cypress, as well as with BC Adaptive Snow Sports in Sun Peaks, and of course with our good friends at Whistler Mountain Ski Club.

We've been trying hard to include a lot more fun in Cory's training routine with more free-skiing and more powder skiing when possible.

BC Adaptive held a 4-day All-Mountain Camp at Sun Peaks in late January and it turned out to be exactly what Cory was looking for.

It's a 5 or 6 hour drive to Sun Peaks, depending on weather conditions as there are several high mountain passes where snow and visibility can slow things down.  While we didn't encounter much snowfall, it was obvious there had been some big snowfalls earlier.

And as we get nearer to Sun Peaks, we're into some blue skies, which puts smiles on our faces!

By the time we get to our rented condo at Sun Peaks, it's back into snow...

And then the next morning, and Sun Peaks lives up to its name and reputation!

After a warm-up run or two, it's onto the race course on the Nancy Greene International Race Centre on the OSV run.  The OSV is a legacy from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games...OSV is the Austrian abbreviation for Ski Austria as the Austrian Ski Team developed the run and even installed a chair for it.  On training days, it is closed to the public and on this day, BC Adaptive has exclusive 

use of the entire run.

Then it's down to business, as Cory eases into his first run through a race course in about a year, still remembering his signature start where he gets down low then pushes off.

The run is made up of 3 different race courses, none of them too long, on this first day of training.

It's obvious he is taking it slowly, not skiing a particularly aggressive line and not getting too close to the flag panels.  His body position is quite good but there are moments when he is too far back, characterized by his shins being perpendicular to the snow rather than at an angle to the snow.





nice and forward here, knees forward of his toes, keeping his whole body forward and pushing his skis for more speed and better edge pressure...

Here, his knees are more perpendicular, so not as much edge pressure, and his body is further back but his hands are up and forward in both...

Then it's back up to the top for another run through the 3 courses...and getting a bit more aggressive, brushing some gates out of his way.  And he makes another good move, reaching down at the finish line to stop the clock earlier than it would otherwise.  But he's a bit late so we'll have to work on getting that hand down a bit earlier...




Getting clearly more comfortable, more speed but a bit late turning at each gate...not unexpected considering the length of time since he was last in gates...going faster and faster.....









until he finally has to slam on the brakes a bit - see the snow spray obliterate him - in order to make a gate (with some Dad commentary along the way)





Really starting to get it together now with speed and a more aggressive line, though still a bit in the back seat...



working on timing....




and pretty much nails it for his last run of the day...good body position, brushing the gates and this time no big braking at that gate..




That does it for the 1st day of gate training so time for some fun!  How about some ski cross Cory?  on his at first then with a fellow Special Olympian




And of course, a day of race training is best ended with a beer in a hot tub.

With a bit of a snowfall overnight, the next day looks perfect once again.  A little soft dry powdery snow - champagne powder they call it in the BC Interior - over hard-packed snow makes it perfect for racing - fast but with good control.




Then back into a race course, this time sharing the OSV run with another group of racers:









Working on his signature start out of the gate...




and on his final run he gets to me so fast I barely had time to get the camera on him..





The day ends with a group photo of coaches, volunteers, and athletes attending the camp, taken right at the top of the OSV run.  Cory is in the middle with a few others in red jackets, Cory's the one in the bright green helmet.

And later that night, it's a lot of Sun Peaks champagne powder and race training is cancelled.  No problem for Cory - he just pops into his powder skis and off he goes with two terrific Sun Peaks Adaptive Skiing volunteers, Raechel and John.

And powder it was!

One of the coaches for the camp was Josh Dueck - Canadian Gold & Silver Medalist at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games

What?  no beer?

Later it's a lovely walk through Sun Peaks village:

And yet more powder on our last day....

So if we set out to give Cory some race training combined with a lot of fun, it sure looks like the BC Adaptive Camp was a complete success.

Now over to Whistler...where things get a bit more serious...

 Whistler Mountain Ski Club has been terrific with Cory over the years as we believe he is the only athlete with a disability to ever train with the Club.  Looking for more gate training, we planned to join WMSC's U14 program for some Giant Slalom.  But when we arrived at Whistler, we learned that they had changed to Slalom and Cory had not brought his slalom skis with him.  Slalom skis are shorter than Giant Slalom skis since shorter skis allow for quicker more abrupt turns.  Fortunately, WMSC's Executive Director had a SL pair with him and graciously offered to lend them to Cory.

But it was a cold day after a warm night and the snow was rock hard.  Many of the other skiers gave up after a run or two but Cory - as he always does - persevered and got numerous runs through a series of race course on the National Training Centre on the Ptarmigan run, closed off to the public.  Since the race course takes up only a part of Ptarmigan, it gives us both the opportunity to free-ski at top speed with virtually no one else around.  So yes, some work to do in the race course but a lot of fun too just getting there.

And even though it was set up for U14s, the icy snow made it very challenging....and he bails out on a few gates on the first part of this video.  But it's all good as it is a great way to get back into his first slalom race course since the Nationals in Newfoundland in 2016, and on borrowed skis too.

There's no bailing out on his next run through, though he does slow down to a crawl to get through the gates properly.  But there are features on this course - called hairpins and flushes where gates are in line vertically - that would never appear on a Special Olympics course - so it's great practice for easier races later.

But a minor mishap in the 3rd section as Cory gets caught up in a delay gate, but fortunately no crash no injury...

Still not a lot of speed, but good form as he brushes by each gate and his touchdown finish...

Then a lunch break as the sky turns blue

and after a few more good runs through the race course...

It's time to head home after a really good day of training...this is the Dave Murray Downhill run where the Mens Downhill was held at the 2010 Olympics, certainly our favourite run at Whistler..it is the second longest downhill race course in the world after Wengen in Switzerland....and this top portion is about a fifth of its total length....

there he goes...for a long and fun ride to the end of the day...

yep, he's the dot in the middle of the yellow circle...

A return visit to Whistler Mountain Ski Club the following week for more training...here's their club house on Rob Boyd Way in Whistler...

Whistler is showing off a bit on this day...excellent visibility and good snow coverage...

Cory had planned to work with the U14s again but they had changed to Slalom and Cory had his Giant Slalom skis, which are longer and rather unsafe to use in a Slalom course.  Fortunately, WMSC had a Giant Slalom course set up nearby, and the coaches there kindly offered their course for Cory's use.

Only later did Cory learn that it was a FIS course - designed for athletes one step below Team BC (not Special Olympics Team BC but the able-bodied Team BC) which is only one step below the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.  He was rather amazed when he learned he had race on a FIS course.

 And race he did indeed...showing plenty of speed here - and courage!  Maybe not technically perfect by any means but really fast, really charging down a challenging and long race course.

 Then back up to the top of the course....shown here next to the Solar Coaster chair on Blackcomb:

for a few more runs down this terrific course...going so fast his leaving jet-plane contrails behind!

So thanks to BC Adaptive and WMSC, Cory feels well prepared for the Regional Qualifier races in Kimberley

Of course, he also did some training with Special Olympics but for some reason, Sp O does not set up a race course very often.  Free skiing is important too but to me it seems like playing basketball without a net - you can certainly play but when it comes time to compete you likely won't be ready.  Only on two days this winter did Cory get to train in a course, and only short ones at that.  It's why he goes to terrific organizations like BC Adaptive and Whistler Mountain Ski Club to improve his racing skills.

So now it's off to Kimberley, BC where he will race Super G and Giant Slalom tomorrow and Slalom on Sunday.