AUSTRIA – It's been a predictably different feel on the world cup circuit this season for local alpine skiers, but the bottom line remains the same: consistently contend with the world's best.
And after the latest event in Lech, Austria last Friday (Nov. 27), it's hard to argue that Erik Read and Trevor Philp have missed a beat in 2020-21.
In the parallel giant slalom, a head-to-head contest, Canmore's Read finished 12th and Calgary's Philp took 28th. Each received world cup points for their top-30 performances.
In an Instagram post, Read said he was really pleased with how things went.
"Fun being part of the show last night. Not going to lie, skiing a 20 [metre giant slalom] is tricky," he said. "Needed a bit more consistency to be a true challenger with so many heats."
The parallel is a newer format to the world cup circuit that's designed to add more excitement for racers and onlookers. According to Alpine Canada, the top 16 qualifiers compete in a bracket with heats between competitors consisting of two runs. The two competitors change courses for the second run. The winner of the two runs moves on until only one athlete is left.
Read and Philp have only competed in the parallel giant slalom races a few times. Read's best result prior to Friday was 13th in 2017, and Philp's is 26th last season.
Philp is open to the newest discipline and is still getting warmed up this season. Though, he said he feels great physically after being able to get in some gains and bulking up a few kilos in the unusual off season due to COVID-19.
The technical skier is eager to get into the top 15 and top 10 moving forward.
"I want to approach every race with a 'give it all' attitude and be a consistent contender for that top group," Philp said.
There has been a bit of uncertainty for a season that feels "a bit on thin ice," but Philp is in it for the long haul. He, along with his teammates, have been in Europe since July. The alpine team has had three major home bases this season including in northern Italy, where they are staying now.
"Sometimes it feels a bit long, but we knew coming over that we'd likely be going to stay until the end of winter [2021]," said Philp.
They've been keeping a pretty tight knit bubble between them and taking extra precautions wherever they can.
"It's been a very different year in a lot of aspects [but] the goals remain the same," he said.
This weekend (Dec. 5-6), the local racers shift their attention to the world cup at Santa Caterina Valfurva, Italy.
