Rocky Mountain Adaptive had just started a full-time race program for those with disabilities - the first of its kind in Canada, thanks to Canadian Tire's JumpStart program. We already knew Rocky Mountain Adaptive since their director - Jamie McCullough - ran the All Mountain Camps at Sun Peaks that Cory has attended several times.
Cory has been welcomed to train in the full-time program as often as he wishes, so we arranged for a 12-day trip that would include 8 days of on-snow training at Sunshine Village and Mount Norquay.
Flying to Calgary and then driving towards Banff...Alberta sunshine, snow, and the Canadian Rockies...
And the view from our rented condo is just as inspiring...thank you Canadian Tire!
The next morning....-18C with a high of -15C...welcome to winter 2019/2020 Cory!
But it's all blue sky...
when Cory meets his new teammates....
From left, Anya who has cerebral palsy
Cory
Shayna in the red skirt...a one-legged skier from Israel
Brenda, a Mexican blind skier now living in Nova Scotia, with dreams of joining the Canadian Paralympic team, her guide is in front of Cory
Jamie, the program director and coach on this day
Spencer
Ronin, a visually-impaired skier from Ireland with his guide
And Cory is quickly into his first skill drill of the season, some hop turns designed to ensure good balance...
Cory is always looking for feedback from his coaches....
and he tries again...
and more feedback...
near the top of Sunshine...above the treeline...
a beautiful setting for a race program...
onto Day 2....no gate training yet, more drills...and more feedback, this time from Coach Kirk...
and another blue sky day...
Coach Kirk needs to see Cory making more turns, more slalom-type turns on his slalom skis...
on the gondola heading back to our condo in Canmore...
Day 3, December 1... a "stubby" race course, an effective and safe way to get back into racing form. By now, the coaches are looking for more movement from Cory, more up and down movement between turns and more lateral knee movement throughout the turn...and keeping his hands forward...here he drops his hand in the middle of the turn, moving his weight from his downhill ski onto his uphill ski which makes for a less effective turn....
something to work on for the next day, now at Mount Norquay but still under sunny skies...and from slalom skis onto Giant Slalom skis now..
starting with some early season flatter terrain...while the coaches are looking for turning technique, Cory sees flat terrain and knows that means to look for speed with a tuck...
No tuck here then, and Cory does a better job at keeping his hands forward...
We then had a chat with Coach Gavin, and explained that Cory needs to find a way to gain more speed if he is to beat the national champion from Quebec next February, and give himself a better chance of qualifying for the World Games in Sweden in 2021. Cory needs to develop a good understanding of how to turn as effectively as possible in a tuck so that he can use it more often in races without sliding out a turn or even missing a gate.
We were then very pleasantly surprised when Coach Gavin told Cory to tuck whenever he wanted to...Not all coaches would be quite so adaptive...
So Cory tucks, but then forgets about keeping his hands forward, drops his inside right hand, and then this happens, not surprisingly...
Room for improvement but now it's 3 days off...time to head back to the condo...Banff townsite with the Banff Springs Hotel in the middle...
and a well-deserved soak in the hot tub with not beer this time, but a milkshake as Cory has been dealing with a sore jaw for several weeks now after a tooth extraction that is taking its time to heal...
There's World Cup ski racing going on at Lake Louise, just an hour from Banff, so off we go with 2 of Cory's new teammates to watch the first day of training for the women's downhill.
And these athletes are very accommodating to their fans...teammate Brenda had met the American team before and they graciously came over to say hello...Brenda, Jaqueline Wiles, Cory, Alice McKennis, and Alice Merryweather...
and a nice chat with Marie-Michelle Gagnon...
and the alpine ski world is a small world, this is Laurie Kreiner who skied for Canada in the 1970s, and we met her sister Kathy a few years earlier...she was very familiar with Special Olympics British Columbia and knows Cory's Team BC Head Coach...
We also spoke with Viktoria Rebensberg, a German skier, and we told her we watched her win Gold at Whistler in 2010, we were there. She said "that was a long time ago!"...but we brought her some good luck, she won the Super G race at Lake Louise a couple of days later. Maybe she will return the favour for Cory in February!
After the race, we go for a walk on frozen Lake Louise....
Another day off, so it's off to Banff Upper Hot Springs....
a wave in the mist...
on the way back to the condo, some major snowfall...
Then back to Lake Louise for another day of training for the Ladies Downhill race, and the Alberta sunshine is back...and it's Mikayla Shiffrin!
who graciously stops for an autograph...
And a photo with Team Canada member Candace Crawford...
Back to our hot tub before getting back to work the next day...
But the next day is a snowy one, too much snow for a safe race course so it's a day of drills...and this one - the boot touch/hand clap drill - would really help Cory in keeping his hands in front, with a more active body motion.
It's now December 7, back into sunshine at Sunshine, and back into a stubby race course, where Cory keeps his hands forward and with plenty of vertical motion between turns to help him place more pressure on his ski edges to make cleaner turns...and of course his "touch down" finish where he places his hand in front of his boots to stop the clock a fraction of a second earlier...though it's just practice there is no clock, it's just something that Cory does, a good habit...
and to continue with good habits, Coach Kirk gets Cory to combine the boot touch/hand clap drill with the race course...
and this day is Cory's birthday, so it's a "Happy Birthday" chorus at lunchtime from his coaches and teammates...
Another lovely blue sky day on December 8, still at Sunshine Village...
and more training in a stubby slalom course...Cory puts in an intense day under the scrutiny of his coaches, with about 9 runs through a 18-gate course...his hands are staying forward more regularly and he's showing a lot of vertical movement between turns...
At the end of a good day, Cory finds a novel place to gear down...
On the gondola ride back down, a good look at the "Jackrabbit" run - on the left - where the stubby course had been...
And this gondola has a feature we've never seen before....hard right turn....
The next day, December 9, was Cory's 8th and last day of training with Rocky Mountain Adaptive, under more blue sky back at Mount Norquay...and it's the boot touch drill to get things started, with coach Tori watching this time...
then back into a race course...
Since Cory is preparing to race in Thunder Bay in late February, he thinks it's a good idea to get used to some cold weather...it's a chilly day in Banff but off comes Cory's jacket and ski pants, as he will race with jacket and ski pants at the Nationals...
One final run through the course with Coach Gavin watching carefully...and with hands forward with plenty of up-and-down action, it's the end of an excellent start to Cory's season...
All that's left now is the trip home...
Next is the start of the ski season at Cypress in January, and perhaps a return visit to Rocky Mountain Adaptive's full-time race program in Banff in mid-January, combined with the 4-day All Mountain Camp at Sun Peaks in late January.
