Since Alpine ski racing was introduced into the Olympic Winter Games in 1936, Canadian skiers have not enjoyed a lot of success. There’s been the sporadic, amazing individual efforts that through the decades put four women on top of the podium.
In case you didn't recognize Canada's female athlete of the 20th century, Nancy Greene
Those gold-medal winners were Anne Heggtveit in slalom in 1960, Nancy Greene in giant slalom in 1968, Kathy Kreiner in giant slalom in 1976 and Kerrin Lee Gartner in downhill in 1992.
In the first six Games Canadian skiers contested, from 1936 through 1964, Canada won just two medals, one gold. In seven Games between 1968 and 1992, the medal count soured to seven, including two gold. But in seven Games from 1994 through 2018 Canada managed to bring home only two medals, both bronze.
Which raises the question: why did Canada enjoy a smidgen of success in that 1968-92 period and then fall into a virtual medal wasteland since? Perhaps the answer lays, at least partly, in the years 1964-68 when the national ski team program was created and included a full-time coach and a year-round training program.
It was in 1964 that the Canadian Amateur Ski Association – now Alpine Canada – took advantage of a university athletic scholarship program in Nelson, B.C., to put together the country’s first full-time national ski team. Dave Jacobs was hired as this country’s first full-time national ski team coach and 25 young skiers were moved to Nelson where they attended school and developed their racing skills in a year-round program that included summers on Kokanee Glacier.
The result was Greene’s two Olympic medals in 1968, numerous international breakthrough results by both men and women and the groundwork was laid for the future of Canadian racing. That program is often credited for the development of a group of Canadian men who would threaten the dominance of world powers Austria and France with such fearless skiing – and yes, results -- they became known as the Crazy Canucks.
The story of the formation of Canada’s national ski team is in the latest edition of Skiing History magazine: https://www.skiinghistory.org/news/nelson-camps-birth-canadian-ski-team.
The full story behind the scholarship program that led not only to the national ski team formation but also influenced the future of hockey in Canada through the creation of the Program of Excellence, can be found in VISIONARY, The Ernie Gare Story.
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