WinSport Mission: To provide excellence in winter sports facilities and training for Canadian athletes to discover, develop and excel, through a sustainable business model.”

Our athletes up close Sarah Reid, skeleton The 26-year-old Calgarian won five medals last season, including her first career World Cup victory. A member of the national team since 2005, Reid has hit the podium twice this season, winning bronze each time. She Friday, January 17, 2014 ranks seventh in overall World Cup standings. X-country team will push for podium xpectations are high for Canadian athletes at the E next month’s Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. And one of the teams with the highest expectations is the cross country ski team, which trains on a regular basis at WinSport Canmore. “This is a medal-winning team that has evolved from a group of talented athletes excited to be on the start line into a group of deter- mined EXCEL high- perform- ers focused on winning, and confident in their ability to achieve podium results,” said Cross Country ’s high- performance director Tom Hol- land. Photo: Jeff McIntosh The team that will wear Cana- Canada’s Olympic cross country ski team includes (from left) Chandra Crawford, Heidi dian colours in Sochi was offi- Widmer, Emily Nishikawa, Lenny Valjas, Graeme Killick and Jesse Cockney. cially announced on Tuesday at ’s Altadore School. us guys are now racing to win chi,” said Yurkiw. “It’s an honour Bib, overtaking teammate Mika- Named to the team were Alex the country’s first-ever Olympic and an opportunity of a lifetime el Kingsbury, who was sixth on Harvey (St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, medal,” said Kershaw. to wear our country’s colours.” Wednesday and second last Sat- Que.), Devon Kershaw (Sudbury, Canada has won three Olym- Gagnon is coming off an his- urday. Ont.), Ivan Babikov (Canmore), pic cross-country medals in its toric week, where she captured On the women’s side, Justine Graeme Killick (Fort McMurray), history. the first World Cup victory of Dufour-Lapointe, who won the Jesse Cockney (Canmore), Lenny her career on Sunday, hitting the Calgary World Cup two weeks Valjas (Toronto), Chandra Craw- Alpine skiing top of the podium in a super ago, again hit the top of the po- ford (Canmore), Daria Gaiazova The Canadian Olympic Com- combined race in Altenmarkt- dium in Lake Placid. (Banff), Heidi Widmer (Banff), mittee announced Thursday in Zauchensee, . Emily Nishikawa (Whitehorse, City that Marie-Michèle Bobsleigh Yukon) and Perianne Jones Gagnon (Lac-Etchemin, Que.), Freestyle skiing Kaillie Humphries piloted her (Almonte, Ont.). Brittany Phelan (Mont- The Canadian moguls team sled on Saturday to the 15th “Depth is critical towards Tremblant, Que.) and Larisa continues to rip it up on the podium finish in her past 17 in- mounting an attack on the podi- Yurkiw (Owen Sound, Ont.) World Cup circuit. ternational races, capturing the um in any sport, and we have were nominated to the Canadi- Alex Bilodeau captured the gold medal in St. Moritz, Swit- seen through the development an Olympic alpine skiing team gold on Wednesday in Lake Plac- zerland. of our elite program, that our “I’m so humbled to have a id, N.Y., four days after taking Humphries, along with brake- women are hungry to win an- chance to win a medal for Cana- top spot at Deer Valley, Utah. man Heather Moyse, were other medal at the Games, while da at the in So- Bilodeau now wears the Yellow sitting 10th after their first run.

Recent medallists Events at the Park The Yeti Elevator, Snow Shoeing Sunday: 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Gold: Marie-Michele Gagnon, alpine Public skiing/snowboarding

skiing; Dominique Maltais, snowboard Weekdays: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. cross; Alex Bilodeau (2), freestyle skiing; Weekends: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MARKIN MACPHAIL CENTRE Justine Dufour-Lapointe, freestyle skiing; National Women’s Team Hockey Mikael Kingsbury, freestyle skiing; Hum- Alberta Biathlon Club Friday: NWT vs. Strathmore Bi- This week on WinSport TV, phries/Moyse, women’s bobsleigh. Saturday: Kinder Cup, 9 a.m. to 11 sons (AMHL), 8:45 p.m., Arena A Silver: Mike Riddle, men’s halfpipe a.m., Biathlon Range Sunday: NWT vs. Calgary Buffa- fill-in host Katrina Harland skiing; Dominique Maltais, snowboard loes (AMHL), 1 p.m., Arena A talks about a busy weekend cross; Mikael Kingsbury, freestyle skiing; Bow Cycle Fat Tire Festival at WinSport, including the Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, freestyle skiing; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Husky Esso Golden Ring Ringette Biathlon Kinder Cup and the Alex Bilodeau, freestyle skiing. Gardens. Friday/Saturday: U7-U19 games, Esso Golden Ring. Click here various rinks and times. Bronze: John Fairbairn, skeleton; Max- to watch or go to: http://

ime Dufour-Lapointe, freestyle skiing; WinSport Grassroot Halfpipe youtu.be/IUWZNY05Qn8 Marc-Antoine Gagnon, freestyle skiing; Monday: 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., CANADA’S SPORTS HALL Justine Dufour-Lapointe, freestyle skiing. halfpipe Tuesday to Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 WEEKLY Pair of Carters help lead way at provincials t has been a great week for Win- Sport’s Academy athletes, high- I lighted by a strong weekend at the provincial snowboarding champi- onships held at . WinSport athletes dominated in the slopestyle event on Sunday, with Carter Thibault DEVELOP and Carter Jarvis taking the top two spots on the men’s podium. Jack Collins (fifth), Liam Lafrance (seventh) and Josh Reeves (10th) also cracked the top-10. Sam Tuff and Adriane Cairns were second and third, respec- tively, in women’s slopestyle. In action Saturday, Cairns took sec- ond place, while Tuff rounded out the WinSport snow podium with a third. Collins was the school instructor only WinSport athlete to hit the podi- Janet Ward has um on the men’s side, as he finished been a fixture third. Callum Michie was 10th. around Canada “Most importantly is that the ath- Olympic Park letes really executed the plans well, so since 1998. that’s what we wanted,” said A-Team snowboard coach Mike Stastook. “Carter Thibault and Carter Jarvis both had been riding strong all week, so it was nice to see that hard work pay off with a good result.” At the North Face Park and Pipe Ward was quickly hooked Open Series at Whistler Blackcomb on Thursday, two WinSport Academy freeski slopestyle A team members as snow school instructor cracked the top-five, with Nikki Black- all finishing second in the women’s final, while Emma Whitman was or the past 15 years, ed here. The ski school was the Snow school fourth. On the men’s side, Reid Canada Olympic Park main event, it was all about by the numbers McEachran and Sam Ruttiman quali- F has been like a second that,” she said. “I tell my stu- fied for the final, with McEachran haul- home to Janet Ward.  WinSport currently has dents ‘this is an amazing facili- ing in an 11th-place finish and

The veteran ski instructor 111 snow school instructors. ty. How many hills have a bob- Ruttiman finishing 14th overall. first volunteered as a supervis-  There are 20 internation- sleigh track? We have a World Several members of the freeski half- ing parent during her son Na- al instructors as part of the Cup bump run.’ ” pipe A team were at Breckenridge, than’s school visit back in early snow school team. Ward teaches skiers of all Colo., for last weekend’s World Cup, 1998. From there, she was ages and abilities, with special with Cassie Sharpe leading the way hooked. with WinSport’s ladies’ multi- satisfaction out of turning nov- with an 18th-place finish in the wom- “I saw an instructor named sport camp, was a `craft lady` ice skiers into seasoned skiers. en’s halfpipe. The top Academy skier Helen Black teaching. She is for Camp Torch and has been a “My biggest love would be on the men’s side was Brendan Mac- cur- camp counsellor. the ladies program. I love Kay, who was 39th. DISCOVER rently The Ward family has been a teaching the ladies, especially in her big part of Canada Olympic if they are really cautious or mid-80s. I saw her teaching Park and vice versa. Janet’s nervous,” said Ward. “We hear and thought, boy, if she can do husband, Doug, worked as an over and over, both here and it, I can do it. So I went inside instructor back when the hill at ,’I tried skiing 15, 20 and signed up for my Level 1 was known as Paskapoo and years ago, my boyfriend took course,” said Ward. since, while Nathan is a certi- me to the top at Louise and I That fall, she started work- fied instructor that worked at hated it and never wanted to ing at the hill and has been a the park. Daughter Hailey is do it again.’ So we have to ski school fixture ever since, also certified and is currently start to build them back up teaching thousands of people part of the WinSport Snow and build the confidence. – young and old – how to ski. School team. That’s very satisfying, getting “I love my job,” she said. “This is home. It’s like a big them comfortable to the point “It’s nice to develop them from family,” said Ward. where they say ‘hey this is fun, the beginning up through the There have been plenty of I can do this.’ stages.” changes since the Ward family That’s the same thoughts - Photo: Aletta de Rooij, Alberta Snowboarding Association Ward coaches at Nakiska on first started at WinSport. Ward had when she first saw Carter Jarvis receives his Big Chief Saturdays and is an instructor “We were saying the other Helen Black – ‘I can do this.’ beef jerky from sportscaster Lisa with Nakiska’s women’s pro- night, that boy this place has Thousands of skiers are glad Bowes for being named CTV’s grams. She has also worked really changed since we start- she did. athlete of the week.