Catching up on the news……
Coming off one of the most successful seasons in recent memory with 50 podium performances on the World Cup stage, Alpine Canada athletes are poised to make the 2017-18 season even better.
It began with great promise with Eric Read taking a season-opening giant slalom victory at the New Zealand Winter Games.
Not to be outdone the halfpipe skiers came up with a gold and bronze medal at the same games: Cassie Sharpe winning the women’s side while Simon d’Artois was third in the men’s.
And in the first slopestyle World Cup at the same site, Darcy Sharpe gave Canada a silver medal.
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Jenn Heil still promoting active youths
Proving once again that Canadian athletes rarely forget where they came from, Olympic gold and silver medallist freestyler Jennifer Heil (above banner courtesy of viaSport) has joined viaSport British Columbia as vice-president of sport development.
“I’m thrilled to join viaSport to help more British Columbians experience the health and social benefits that come from quality sporting and physical activity experiences,” Heil said in a news release. “I look forward to helping build a future where all British Columbians can access quality sport and physical activity, contributing to their individual success as well as the vibrancy of our communities.”
Since her retirement and birth of her son, Heil has remained involved promoting numerous groups dedicated to getting and keeping young Canadians active. She’s been involved in groups like Because I am a Girl, Right to Play, B2Ten and still gets back to Marmot Basin in Jasper, where it all began for her, to hold a girls-only moguls ski camp every winter.
Sheila Bouman, viaSport CEO, said the not-for-profit legacy organization of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games is “excited to leverage Jenn’s expertise and experience to help continue our work to strengthen B.C.’s sport system so that more people can thrive via sport and physical activity.”
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Mike Wiegele continues long-time support
Congrats to Mike Wiegele for his continued support to skiing in Canada. Owner of Wiegele Helicopter Skiing at Blue River, B.C., recently signed a two-year sponsorship agreement to support Canadian World Cup athlete and 2018 Olympic hopeful, Erik Read.
Although no details of the agreement were released it continues Wiegele’s long-time involvement in ski racing that began decades ago. He and his wife Bonnie founded the Bow Valley Quikies Ski Club in 1978 and Wiegele ran the Lake Louise Ski Club when Ken Read – Eric’s father and former Crazy Canuck – was just a young kid aspiring to be a world class skier.
“Mike had a special vision for ski racing”, said Ken. “It was built on hard work, using the entire day to ski, becoming comfortable in all types of conditions and instilling a love of skiing and friendship with their teammates.”
Since Jenn Heil is in the news, a look back with a feature I wrote back in January, 2004, for the Edmonton Journal.
All Heil breaks loose upon Jennifer's return:
Mogul master takes year off to heal, but returns to World Cup freestyle circuit with a vengeance
viaSport image
John Korobanik
EDMONTON - Jennifer Heil got out of the car she borrowed from her dad, wearing a Team Canada 2002 Olympic jacket and looking every bit the young woman she has grown into.
No more baby fat, not that there ever was much. No more teenage giggles. Replaced by a fit and strong body and the maturing mind of a 20-year-old who thoughtfully answers questions while still exuding her love for the passion of her life -- freestyle skiing.
Amazing what a year away can do. The Spruce Grove native took last year off from the rigours of the World Cup circuit to mend her injured and painful shins and back. She also took her first year of business at McGill University in Montreal where she worked with Scott Livingston, a certified athletic therapist and strength and conditioning specialist.
"She really matured a great deal in that one year," says Murray Cluff, longtime friend and a former national team coach who is now Heil's personal coach. "As well as it aided her physically, what it did for her mentally I think was even more beneficial. She was on her own, she got to do some things she hadn't done.
"Now she's come back and for the right reasons, for her. She's skiing because she enjoys it. And she realizes skiing isn't everything. She knows there's a life after skiing and there's almost an inner peace with that."
Heil, home for the Christmas holidays before heading to Quebec for this weekend's World Cup event at Mt. Tremblant, said the break not only healed her body and gave her more strength, fitness and flexibility, but also gave her a new perspective on life and skiing.
No longer does she have to ski the perfect run. No longer does she have to try to meet expectations from anyone but herself.
"I feel like an overall lightness," she says. "I'm skiing and it's just fun. I have a new-found energy and excitement."
That was evident from her first run last month when she made her return to competing by finishing second at the opening event in Finland.
"I remember standing at the top of the hill thinking it's so great to be back, just go out and have fun and compete for you. I had confidence. I knew I could ski well. I didn't know how it would stand up because I hadn't been competing, but I knew I could do a great run."
"I was shocked," says Cluff. "Not how well she skied, but how well she competed. I knew she was in the game right away. I was just unsure how she would react when she got to Finland. It was a steep, icy course, probably the hardest course we may have this year.
"Her first time in the gate in 18 months and she handled it as if she had never been away."
She followed up her silver-medal performance with a gold-medal result the following week, the second World Cup victory of her career.
"It gave me confidence after being away for a year and also showed me what it is that I have to do every weekend," she says of those early results. "I was really excited, but relaxed, having fun ... now I know those are the feelings I have to recapture to be successful."
One of the reasons for her performance was her improved strength and flexibility. Both Heil and the national coaches noticed it right away. Her technique was improved because she was stronger and she was able to hold her form at a higher speed from start to finish.
"I never felt fatigued, never felt tired, never felt sore," she says happily. "That's really encouraging because my trainer is excited ... he told me I'm not just a great skier anymore, I'm a great athlete."
Livingston, the strength and conditioning co-ordinator for the Montreal Canadiens, says Heil is "a tremendously gifted athlete who is exceptionally quick and has great strength potential. She has an amazing work ethic and did whatever I asked her to do with serious dedication.
"Although she feels in the best shape of her life ... she has just seen the tip of the iceberg. Frankly, her genetic potential is significant ... I think that if we start with her healthy and build on what she has, there is no telling what she can do."
What she wants to do is win the crystal globe that goes to the overall World Cup moguls champion.
"To me, that's one of the most difficult things to do in sports ... we're talking about 12, 14 events over the year. Whether you're sick, whether you're hurt, you have to go out and do it.
"That's my dream. I'm currently second, but there's lots of events to go so I'm trying not to focus too much on that. Focusing on it is not going to get me to my goal."
I leave you with this thought: the birds are flying south, the squirrels are busy hoarding food … are we in store for an early fall-winter and snow?
