It wasn’t the victory Brian McKeever was after this week.
Over four months of trials races, stretching from Canmore to Vernon to Mount Saint Anne, Ottawa and Prince George, the Canadian ski legend had racked up four medals in distance races against Canada’s top domestic skiers. With the goal of peaking for Ski Tour Canada, he tailored his training to put him in top condition this week in preparation.
McKeever skipped the entire ParaNordic season to focus on Ski Tour Canada, and earn the eight world cup starts he was after.
However the 36-year-old was left off the team, failing to accrue enough points in Cross Country Canada’s criteria. He fell just short in the distance race rankings, as Michael Somppi and Russell Kennedy secured the designated distance spots on the team on the strength of more overall distance points.
“That was frustrating,” Mckeever said. “Trials were far too long – three and a half months too long. I think I am starting to come into shape now, which was the plan.”
The visually-impaired skier pushed Cross Country Canada to have a two-week selection process, testing skier fitness right before the Tour. However, since there were so many battles for spots, trials turned into a four-month affair to select 26 skiers. Cross Country Canada did not name alternates for the tour.
Still stinging from the exclusion and contemplating retirement, McKeever turned back to his roots – the Kananaskis Cookie Race on Saturday (Feb. 27), hosted by Foothills Nordic Ski Club. It’s a race he’s done for nearly 30 years and, after years of skiing around the world, is still his favourite course on the planet. A laid back race full of kids, cookies and good friends was what he needed after a rough week.
McKeever and guide Graham Nishikawa took the win, clocking a time of 2:17:05. Jon Arne Enevoldsen finished third in 2:23:36.
With temperatures around five degrees, Nishikawa and McKeever experimented with different tactics. McKeever double poled the entire 42 kilometre course for the win, while Nishikawa relied on klister to help him climb the big trail sections.
“It was a battle of kick versus non-kick,” Nishikawa said. “Two race strategies and it turned out well for both. In some spots, the glide was better, in other parts the kick.”
Nishikawa said his klister wax did catch in many unexpected spots.
“It was an interesting course with conditions changing. Some of the spots where we thought klister would be better, it was actually worse,” McKeever said. “The track was in great shape, as always.”
“This is always one of the highlights of the year,” said Nishikawa, who is splitting his ski time with courses at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “I try to do this race whenever I get the chance.”
This was a return for the cookie race, which was cancelled last year for the first time in 39 years due to a lack of snow. Coverage was much better this year, and light snow did fall midway through the race.
Mary Young was the top female finisher, clocking a time of 3:07:10, followed by Ilona Gyapay and Gina Loewen.
McKeever and Nishikawa will now travel to Finland for the last ParaNordic race of the season as they continue to push towards the 2018 Paralympics.
In the 24 km category, Jonah Steinberg of Foothills Nordic took the win in 1:23:01, followed by Silas Lang of Edmonton Nordic and Timothy Hill. University of Alberta skier Freya Hill took the win in the women’s division, followed by Canmore’s Sheila Mitchell Lenes, and Mirka Navratilova.
Rocky Mountain Racers phenom India McIsaac won the 15 km race. She edged Rhys James for the win, followed by Ben Price and J.P Cummings. Canmore Nordic’s Ava Holman was the second fastest female on course, while Katya Dittrich was third.
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