Cory Seizes Gold!

29 ski racers competed at Silver Star Mountain Resort near Vernon, BC in Special Olympics British Columbia's Provincial Winter Games over the weekend.  There were 2 Novice Skiers, 15 Intermediate Skiers, and 12 Advanced skiers, including Cory who, as usual, was seeded in the top division of Advanced.

These Provincial Games are Cory's fourth.  He won 3 Bronze medals in his first Games in 2007, then 3 Golds in each of the Provincial Games in 2011 and 2015.  The Provincials are the Qualifying races for the following year's National Games, so there is a lot at stake at these events.

Cory was the only athlete from Region 4 (Burnaby, Richmond, Delta) competing in Alpine Skiing.  The others competed in Floor Hockey, Curling, Bowling, Snowshoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Figure Skating, and Speed Skating.

After the Opening Ceremonies on the night of arrival, Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom were scheduled for the next day, with Slalom the day after.

It's snowing lightly as we arrive at Silver Star.

But by race time, it's definitely a snowy cold race day.  With bib #19, Cory does some uphill running to keep warm as he waits his turn.

And then it's time...4 years of preparation and one mistake could prevent him from qualifying and moving on.  Looking ready in the start gate with eyes focused on the race course ahead...ready for the first of 2 Giant Slalom runs...

It's a short race course, only about 14 gates for this GS race.  Cory had recently trained on a 50-gate course at Whistler.  Short courses makes for tighter races, small mistakes can be costly.

Here he goes, looking good and fast, though with a small wobble as he goes out of camera range, but hopefully not enough of a mistake to cost him some time...



This run's terrain is misleading.  It looks flat and even uphill yet it's a fast race course.  Cory is doing things that he has recently learned here...at Whistler a couple of weeks ago he caught his hand caught up in a gate as he tried to push it away...here he brings his hands toward his body and lets the gates hit him as he goes by, much less risky and keeps his focus on the following gate not the one he's skiing by.  And he is putting more pressure into his edges earlier in his turns, a really important skill he learned just over the last month or so thanks to Coach Tomio in the Gatebusters program at Whistler and Coach Rachael at BC Adaptive's All Mountain Camp at Sun Peaks.



Race officials wisely decided to use the Giant Slalom runs to review divisioning so results were not released until the next day.  So we had to wait until the next morning to learn that Cory had won the Giant Slalom by 1.8 seconds over a racer from Whistler.  That's a significant margin in a race course that was only about 20 seconds long.

Then onto the Super G which would be an even quicker race, and snow had been falling all day long, 18 cms of it, which can make a race course more dangerous for faster skiers with so much soft snow making it easier to catch an edge.  There would be two runs, but the first one would be a practice run and only the second run would count.  And that turned out to be a very good thing for Cory, as he missed the last gate on the course, something he almost never does!




He nails the 2nd run...keeping his hands high in front of his face, something else he has just learned to do regularly this year...




Again, the results were not released until the next day, so it was several hours of suspense - in such a short race impossible to know if Cory was fast enough.  But he was, winning .49 seconds, a slim margin but against two heaver skiers.  A good indication that Cory is using good technique (hands in front of his face in a tuck, for example) and tactics (taking the correct line to maximize his speed throughout the race course especially at the start and finish).

The next day, it's Slalom, Cory's specialty event.  We now knew that he had accomplished two thirds of his goal.  Just 2 more good runs so things are going really well.  A bit more snow but nothing like the day before so it's looking good for Cory on this day.  Until....

Cory takes medication twice a day to control seizures.  But he still experiences them now and then.  They are relatively mild, lasting about 30 seconds, and he is aware of them happening and can communicate a little even while they are happening.

He was the second last skier to start on this day.  About 15-20 minutes before he was to get in the start gate, he experienced a seizure.  The rules state that if a racer is not ready for his start, he is subject to disqualification.  4 years of preparation and waiting for this moment.  I immediately told the chief of race about Cory, hoping we would be given an extra few minutes to prepare if Cory needed it.

Cory recovered but appeared frightened as he often does after a seizure.  He was not yet fully ready.  So we talked about how at Mount Hood in 2007, he was terrified of missing a gate while training on a hill with several different race courses yet he nailed his run.  I reminded him of how he overcame those fears and showed he had the heart of a champion.  He smiled, his body relaxed, and within a few minutes, he was back in race mode.  I told the chief of race that Cory was good to go.

And was he ever!  I hope you will pardon the over-dramatization of my commentary here, but it was a stressful, emotional moment.



Cory turns in a time of 43.62 seconds for his two runs, 2.89 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher from Whistler.  Gold #3!

Onto the medal presentation...

Top of the Podium Giant Slalom...

Top of the Podium Super Giant Slalom...

Top of the Podium Slalom...

With Officer Debbie Mcleod of the Delta Police Department who presented Cory with his medals.  Delta Police - like police all across the country - help to raise funds for Special Olympics with the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run, which Cory participates in when it comes to Delta.

So a hugely successful though for a few moments, very stressful, weekend of racing for Cory...as our bus leaves Silver Star, which for Cory turned out to be Golden Star.

We will have to wait until mid to late April to find out if Cory has officially qualified for the National Games next year in Thunder Bay.  But as the only skier to have earned 30 points with 3 Gold Medals, it certainly does look good for him.

In two weeks time, he is off to Mexico with friends for a well-earned vacation.  Though he looks to already be in celebration mode at the closing ceremony party!

We will update when we received official confirmation of his qualification.

Final Prep for the Provincial Games

With a late start to the ski season due to poor snow conditions, Cory is training hard as Special Olympics' Provincial Winter Games  approach.  The Games at Silver Star near Vernon, on February 22 & 23, are the qualifier for next year's Nationals in Thunder Bay.  Cory has qualified for the last two National Games - in 2012 in Jasper and 2016 in Newfoundland - so he is working hard hoping to become three-peat champion!

So he attended BC Adaptive's All Mountain Camp at Sun Peaks in January, 4 days of gate training and all mountain free skiing were planned.  But Cory was disappointed when he found out that there would be only 2 days of gate training.  But he made the best of it, under more-than-perfect racing snow conditions.

So his first time in gates this season....on a rather windy morning...Cory developed a bit of a habit of standing a bit too far back on his skis last season, so his goal is to get his body more forward.  Looking for his knees being over his toes as he makes his turns, not over his ankles.

He's also trying to get a bit lower, more aerodynamic, certainly makes for faster skiing on a windy day like this.

And he's off!

Jan 19, Run 1





His knees are slightly forward of his ankles here, so some early improvement...

Run 2

Run 3





Run 4



Run 5





Not quite as much gate training as Cory would have liked, 5 runs on the day, a Saturday so long lift lines made it difficult to get more runs in.

But even with 5 runs, he has certainly moved his body more forward than it was at the beginning of the day.  This will allow him to make more effective turns, allowing his skis to dig more into the snow and making a cleaner carved turn.

The next day is a fun race day, a dual course where racers go head to head.  In this case, Cory is racing against Mark, who is not a Special Olympian, but is a racer that Cory has trained and raced with many times in the past, and has never beaten.

But on this day, Cory gets to the finish line first!  In this video, Mark is ahead as they cross in front of my camera but shortly after, Cory catches up and wins!


Jan 20 vs Mark Run 1


Here they go!  With Cory wearing a bib that former Canadian Ski Team member Robbie Dixon wore at a World Cup race in Lake Louise several years ago, courtesy of Cory's cousin, Becki.

Run 2 vs Mark

Mark gets revenge in Run 2....



Run 3 vs Mark...is a dead heat!



Run 4 vs Mark...Cory crashes at the top of the course....very unusual for Cory to crash but sometimes that is a good indication that the racer is pushing his limits...



Run 1 vs Coach Jamie



Run 2 vs Jamie




So in spite of less gate training than was planned, Cory had a good weekend, showing some definite improvement in his body position, and getting rewarded with a first-time ever win against Mark and a big smile.

Just about perfect form here, knees forward, hand together and forward, on edge...great skiing!

And a well-earned beer-in-the-hot-tub....after all, that's all part of the life of a racer, you know...

A chance to rekindle a friendship with Rachael and Johnny from Sun Peaks Adaptive...

And coaches are always coaches with Rachael working with Cory on a drill to get him lower and more aerodynamic...

And Johnny works on his tuck...hands up, elbows in, Cory!

Then it's onto Whistler Blackcomb for their Gatebusters program.  Cory has used this program often before.  They are rather challenging race courses - certainly more challenging that anything he will see at Special Olympics - open to the public for a fee.

It's now January 30, Gatebusters has a 30 gate Giant Slalom race course set up....on the National Training Centre on the Ptarmigan run on Whistler...

Cory is now working on Rachael's suggestion to get much more hard edge pressure very early on his turns rather than more gradual pressure...Run 2....

4th Run



8th Run, from the top with Cory practicing his starts.  And in a not too chilly day, down to his race suit.




and Run #11 - a personal best for a training day for Cory - that's over 300 gate turns in one day.  Reaching a bit for the gates here instead of either ignoring them or just letting them hit him...something to work on...




A week later, on a much colder but sunny day, it's another Gatebusters race course, this time even longer - 50 gates, and wearing his new Whistler Mountain Ski Club jacket.

Run 3




Run 4




Run 5

where Cory's habit of reaching for a gate catches up to him and nearly causes a crash...




So on the chair ride back up we chat about not reaching for the gates as he passes by them as he now knows how risky that can be...

Run 6

This time we ski with Cory, right from the start through all 50 gates.  And for the first half of this video he looks terrific, but then starts "chasing the gates", not reaching for them but turning to ski towards them, really slowing him down.....so message misunderstood...we'll have to try again...





For Run 7, some improvement, especially for the first 2/3rds of the run when I have trouble keeping up with him, but I catch up when he starts turning towards the gates again....a lot of speed though for the last few gates in a tuck...





Cory did show a lot of improvement by his last two runs of the day - 9 and 10 - when my camera had run out of memory.  So 10 runs, 50 gates per run, a 500 gate turn day.  Just a terrific day of practice...his tuck looks great here...hands up in front of his face and his elbows tucked close to his knees, excellent aerodynamics...



The final run of the day, a free ski on the Dave Murray Downhill run, the run used for the men's downhill race at the 2010 Olympics, always a favourite for us, even after a long day of training...Cory's the dot in the middle of the run in front of that hut...

It's been a year of not much snow but plenty of clear skies, here at Cypress...

Vancouver in the fog below on this day

Howe Sound below us as the sun sets...

The Sky Chair at Cypress

And the start of a new relationship...training one Sunday with Cypress Ski Club, whose coaches all have worked with Cory before at Whistler Mountain Ski Club.  The ski racing world is a small one.  Might be a chance to work something out for Cory to train with Cypress Ski Club more often.





One last Gatebusters session at Whistler for Cory on February 13, and it's a sunny but very cold day, around minus 20-25.

Run 1

Looking good for his first run of the day...

Run 2

Working on finding speed on flat terrain, in a long tuck...



Run 4

In spite of the cold weather, Cory decides to strip down to his race suit since he knows he may face similar weather at the Provincial Games so he needs to be ready for that. 




Run 5

The race course is now starting to get very firm, hard to hold edge grip....




Run 6

Back to the top of the course for Run 6, and the cameraman can't keep up...



Run 8

His last training run through gates before the Games and Cory finds the race course very challenging late on a long, cold day...



And a video review session, Coach Tomio takes a lot of time to explain a rather advanced move for Cory to learn.  Too late for the Games but if all goes well, perhaps something to review next year in preparation for the National Games.



So now it's a few days of rest and off we go to Vernon on Thursday, February 21, with opening ceremonies that night and racing on February 22 and 23.  Bring it on!