This remarkable ski season - no snow & gold medals - almost came to a crashing end for Cory in Banff, Alberta last week.  He was attending one of his favourite programs, BC Adaptive's All Mountain Camp at Sunshine Village.  The camp features a half-day of gate training and a half-day of free skiing over a 4 day weekend.

Last Thursday, on the first run of the first day through a race course and urged by a coach to "show us how it's done", Cory skied more aggressively than ever, obliterating some of the gates as he took a very tight line through the course.

But at this red gate, it was a bit too tight and the gate took him down.  Hard.

There was some pain in both his head and his knee, so we skied down to the medical centre, where he was assessed and told there could be a minor concussion and some MCL damage.  They put his left leg into a splint and off we went to Banff Hospital.

There they took some x-rays of his knee and fortunately no major damage, and they saw no signs of a concussion.

Cory wisely took the next day off to rest his knee, and we enjoyed lunch by the Bow River in Banff.

The next day - Saturday April 20 - is all blue sky and terrific snow.  

With a cautious start in the learners' area, for a few runs there...

Then a couple on a green run...

Ready for the race course, but very slow and cautious....just awesome ski racing conditions, it doesn't get any better than this!

and staying away from those dangerous gates!

A bit faster and a bit closer on the next run, but that would be enough for this day...

A glorious day at Sunshine, perfect weather and snow, and Cory once again showed how he has the heart of a champion...

Posing with the ups and downs of ski racing.  Faced with the possibility of a major knee injury, possibly requiring surgery, and then to be told it wasn't anything major after all, was an emotional roller coaster ride, but it's all smiles now.

It snowed a bit the following day, Cory did a few more cautious runs in a race course, and that was the last of  this remarkable season.

Though a big baby bear did have thoughts of having a national champion ski racer for lunch!

And Cory flew on his own for the first time on this trip, that's his plane in the background.  I'm on a different plane and as always, he was faster than me and beat me home.

Stay tuned, we hope to receive an important phone call within a few weeks.  From Special Olympics Canada!

 Cory took a huge step towards being named to Team Canada 2025, at the Special Olympics National Winter Games at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary in early March.

Early morning warm-up, Cory in the yellow boots on the left, with the race course, in the middle of this photo, and the 1988 Olympic ski jumps - where Eddie the Eagle became famous world-wide for his courage and determination.

Cory won Gold in both Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom, and Silver in Slalom.  A total of 28 points, tied for 2nd overall.  In previous World Games, Canada has taken at least 5 alpine skiers and in 2022, named 15 male skiers, including Cory, to the Team.  It's looking very good for Cory's selection, but we'll have to wait a couple of months before it is confirmed.

In the Giant Slalom race on February 28, Cory's divisioning time placed him in the M2 Division of Advanced, the 2nd fastest division overall.  Just as he was at the 2020 National Winter Games in Thunder Bay.  And just as he did there, he was the fastest racer in that division - he won the first run by only .40 of a second but increased his margin to 1.4 seconds in the second run -  and earned himself a Gold Medal.  One down, 2 to go.

Here is one of his runs, with a little wave to the camera at the finish line:

 

Cory called to the podium...(after the silver medalist)...

GS Gold medal, presented by our Member of Parliament from Delta, and former Paralympian, Carla Qualtrough.

After the race, we noticed the gold medalist in the next division, Edward Bunkowski from Ontario, was only .01 of a second behind Cory.  Would that racer be bumped into Cory's division for the Super Giant Slalom the next day?  And challenge Cory for Gold?

The next day, February 29, it was very cold for the Super G, around -20C.  But Cory had recently trained at Sun Peaks in -40C weather, so he was well prepared.  Due to the cold weather, they shortened the divisioning to only one run instead of two, and ran the actual race immediately afterward.  So we had no way of knowing how the divisioning would work out.

As it turned out, there were only two divisions this time round, and Cory took first place in his division by a comfortable margin of 2.23 seconds.  Edward, the Ontario racer, fell during his run.

2 Golds in Cory's pocket - or rather around his neck - what would Slalom bring the next day...

Snow.  And lots of it.  So once again they ran the race immediately after the divisioning runs.  The soft falling snow was treacherous, and several racers fell, including two of the top 3 male skiers.  

So after the 1st run, Cory was in 2nd place overall, well behind the leader, but a second ahead of all other racers.

Then in the 2nd run, the leader - one of Cory's teammates - knowing how treacherous the snow was, really slowed down, thinking all he had to do was finish the race and gold would be his.  Well he almost slowed down too much as Cory was 3.6 seconds faster, and missed top division Gold by only .62 of a second!

With 2 of the 4 racers in the top division having fallen, Cory was moved up into that top division to earn himself a silver.   2nd fastest Slalom skier in the country!

So with this remarkable season just about over, we wait for an exciting phone call from Special Olympics Canada, hopefully by the end of May.  In the meantime, here are more photos from the National Games, Cory's 4th consecutive National Winter Games going back to 2012 in Jasper, in which he's won a total of 12 medals:  5 Gold (2024 & 2020), 4 Silver (2024 & 2016), and 3 Bronze (2012).

The lobby of the Nutrien Event Centre in Stampede Park in Calgary, on February 27, waiting for the doors to open for the Opening Ceremonies.

Team BC enters the arena....Cory is near the flag at the front, right next to a volunteer in a light blue jacket, and waves when he spots us.  I don't know who was chanting "Cory! Cory! Cory!"...

Seated and another wave...

The Opening Ceremonies underway, Teams on the floor, BC on bottom left now in white...

The arrival - on horseback, after all this is Calgary - of the Torch.  Law Enforcement officers around the world support Special Olympics with their Law Enforcement Torch Run and we thank them for their substantial contributions....

Lots of smiles after the Opening Ceremonies but the next day, it's competition time and things will get serious!  Cory with team mates Ron, Kailyn, Jesse, Matt, Coach Misty, and Chef de Mission Kimberly.

Team BC Alpine Ski Team at Canada Olympic Park, now known as Winsport.  

If you win it, you get to flaunt it, eh Cory?

And in 1st place, winner of the Gold Medal....Cory Duhaime!!

Special Olympics Canada does a really good job on its medals, these things are heavy!

Team BC with a lot of hardware, and should be very well represented on Team Canada 2025.  Note Cory and a couple of his teammates from Team Canada 2022.

With cousins Debbie & Diane, who traveled from Montreal to see Cory in action and celebrate with him....

Good friends Elaine & Bill were there to support Cory as well, with big smiles all around that gold....

Proud parents and Delta Member of Parliament Carla Qualtrough...a Canadian Paralympian 3 time bronze medalist...

Some shots of Cory in Slalom action, courtesy of Special Olympics Canada...

Proud & happy after a lot of hard work.....next stop.... hopefully the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games which will be held in Turn and Sestriere Italy, on March 8 - 16.  We'll find out soon if Cory will finally get his chance to ski for Canada and maybe add a World Games medal to his trophy wall.

Next up, an enjoyable 4 days of skiing at BC Adaptive's All Mountain Camp, with half days of gate training and half days of free-skiing in great snow conditions, at Sunshine Village in Banff, Alberta.

And some regional qualifying tournaments in June for softball and soccer.  There's more to life than a ski hill!

Stay tuned!

 Cory braved some extremely cold temperatures last week at Sun Peaks, as he continues his preparations for Special Olympics' National Winter Games in Calgary on February 27 to March 2.

Cory's first run through a race course this season....

And later, an uncharacteristic crash.  He'd been working on something new and it didn't quite go as planned...

 

 It was BC Adaptive's All Mountain Camp, one of Cory's favourite training programs.  It's usually 4 days, with mornings dedicated to gate training, and afternoons to free skiing with coaches.  But under these conditions, day 2 is cancelled.  So it's an indoor training day, watching videos.

Day 3 is just as cold and another cancellation.  But Cory decides to go and try to at least get some skiing in - the snow is in excellent condition after all.  And it pays off, as we discover Sun Peaks Racers are setting up a Giant Slalom race course on the OSV run at the Nancy Greene International Race Centre.

We politely explain about the cancellation, and ask the Racers' coaches if Cory could do a few runs in their course, and they say "sure!".  And what a course it was, 42 gates, and Cory manages to put in 5 runs through it for a really good day of training, considering the extreme cold.

Cory with Frost Tape, to protect against frostbite.

Then on the last day, temperatures moderated slightly, so it's a go for BC Adaptive to set a series of race courses on OSV, a total of about 60 gates.  Again, Cory manages to get in 5 or 6 runs, around 300 or so gate turns, which is a great day in ideal conditions, a terrific day of training in such cold temperatures.

Cory will now continue with his weekly Special Olympics ski program at Cypress and look for more gate training opportunities elsewhere as well.  We'll update again soon.