An altitude camp at a remote Rocky Mountain lodge and an extra week off from world cup racing will ensure team Canada will be at its best when the historic Ski Tour Canada launches in Gatineau on March 1.
The world cup team of athletes Emily Nishikawa, Dahria Beatty, Alex Harvey, Len Valjas, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov and Graeme Killick came home early from Europe to finish a four-day training camp at Mount Engadine Lodge in Canmore, skiing at 1,950 metres above sea level on Mount Shark trails. They followed that camp with a ski in Lake Louise.
“We wanted to be ahead of the jet lag and also have an altitude training block. You don’t get that many in Europe because there is racing every weekend. This has been a strategic focus. I feel in the past our group has excelled at major championships and tour events because of our prep leading into it,” said head coach Justin Wadsworth. “I hope the boost of racing in Canada will give us that boost to take us over the top.”
Devon Kershaw said this has been the goal for the entire season, and they are ready to perform in front of home crowds. His best result this year has been a 17th-place finish, and he wants to build on that in Canada.
“I hope coming back to Canada a week early allows us to better prepare for the end of the season. To be in Canada, we know Canadian snow, we know the venues, we’ll have more technicians,” Kerhsaw said. “It’s not lost on us how important it is to have races in Canada. We’re so thankful to all the volunteers and organizing committees to make this happen.”
This will be the first time cross-country skiing Crystal Globes for the top world cup skiers will be awarded on Canadian soil. After stops in Gatineau, Quebec City and Montreal, the action will shift to Canmore for four races, March 8-12.
“We are ready, for sure,” said Harvey. “Preparing at altitude will give us a good advantage for the last races in Canmore. Skipping the last week of racing in Finland allows us to put in a good load of training before the tour.”
Harvey is Canada’s best medal hope over the tour, and he wants to be on the podium for the overall tour win.
“All of the disciplines are ones where I’ve been on the podium before. There are eight chances for me to be on the podium. The goal for me is to be on the podium after eight days of racing. For that, I need eight strong races,” Harvey said.
While the world cup team trained at the lodge, the last battle for Canada’s 26 starting spots raged in Prince George, B.C. during the last NorAm of the year.
When the final skier finished, Cross Country Canada decided to stick to objective selection criteria and use FIS and NorAm point rankings to choose the men’s team of Kevin Sandau (Canmore), Andy Shields (Thunder Bay), Bob Thompson (Thunder Bay), Michael Somppi (Thunder Bay), Knute Johnsgaard (Canmore), Russell Kennedy (Canmore), Simon Lapointe (Quebec), Jess Cockney (Canmore) and Patrick Stewart-Jones (Canmore).
The women’s team will include Cendrine Browne (Quebec), Maya Macisaac-Jones (Canmore), Andrea Dupont (Canmore), Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Canmore), Jenn Jackson (Thunder Bay), Sophie Carrier-Laforte (Quebec), Alannah Maclean (Thunder Bay), Katherine Stewart-Jones (Thunder Bay), Annika Hicks (Canmore) and Marie Corriveau (Quebec).
Eight world cup races is a huge opportunity for these skiers, Wadsworth said, and they will have to battle hard to complete the tour. If a skier is lapped or finishes too far back of the winning skier, they will be removed from the rest of the tour.
“For me, it’s important to keep everyone’s expectations realistic. Young athletes must realize this competition is harder than what they’re used to. The results in some parts will be a bit discouraging. But most of all, just give it your all for each race. If you do that, you can’t help but walk away satisfied,” Wadsworth said.
Kershaw and Harvey have had success in similar ski tours in the past, and believe rest and recovery are key. Harvey said he likes to get 12 hours of sleep every night when in a tour.
“Really enjoy the process and don’t be so hard on yourself. In a tour format, you don’t have time to beat yourself up. The reality is you’ll have some great races and some horrendously bad races. The key to surviving a tour is when you have a bad race, you write it down, talk to your mom, then you park it. You need that sleep and mental energy to prepare,” Kershaw said.
Harvey said the athletes also need to feed off the energy from the races.
“You have to live it. You have to take energy from it and not stay 100 per cent in a concrete bunker. As long as it doesn’t take from your racing, take in the energy,” Harvey said.
