Three para-snowboard athletes are betting the path to Paralympic glory leads through Banff.
Canada’s para-snowboard team recently finished a 20-day training block in Banff as it prepares for the 2014 season. National team members Ian Lockey, John Leslie and Michelle Salt worked on fundamentals at Mount Norquay under the tutelage of coach and former Banff resident Candice Drouin and Olympic silver medalist Mike Robertson in their first on-snow camp of the year.
“We chose to come to Banff knowing the snow conditions were more likely than anywhere else in North America to be good,” said Drouin. “Being in Alberta is also good ‘toughen up’ conditions, because we’ve had to deal with some cold weather.”
Hammering home the fundamentals of snowboarding, Drouin said now is the time for the team to build the foundation for a successful season.
The goal is for each athlete to reach the Paralympics and Drouin said there’s a good chance all of the Canadians will reach their goal.
“There are enough spots for the whole team. They’re still looking good to qualify. There are no guarantees, but we have good chances,” Drouin said.
The small team is a mix of veteran presence and youthful determination. Lockey, 40, is the senior member of the team, training with the squad since 2006. A snowboarding accident in 1998 left him partially paralyzed, but he’s now chasing his goal to become ‘a good snowboarder’ and reach the games in Sochi.
“To get early on snow is good to work out the kinks. It’s so much nicer to have time to adapt,” said Lockey. “(To reach Sochi) would be good proof that I’ve made it. I could call myself a good snowboarder.”
Leslie lost part of his leg below the knee to cancer when he was 11 and moved from hockey to snowboarding. Living in eastern Ontario, he won several able-bodied competitions before discovering para-snowboard Canada. Shortly after, he was shipped to Lake Louise to compete in his first para-snowboard world cup, where he placed fifth. In May 2012, he received word para-snowboarding would be a sport in Sochi and he’s dedicated himself to the sport ever since.
“To go to Sochi would be my first Paralympic games at 21. It would be great to take in the whole atmosphere,” Leslie said. “Snowboarding gives me the freedom to go wherever I want. That’s what attracted me to it.”
Salt is the newest member of the team. A former fitness model, she lost her leg three years ago in a motorcycle accident that left her on life support, but she has come back with a new determination to succeed as a paralympian.
Working with Drouin, a former Banff Alpine Racer and boardercross athlete, the team has progressed steadily. This is her fifth year with the team and she’d love to bring them back to Banff every year.
“I feel lucky to work with this group. I have high performance athletes, but biomechanically, they’re all different, so you have to think creatively. They have a pretty broad range of abilities and a lot are fairly new,” Drouin said.
“Candice is very motivational. She keeps us on our toes and makes us do things that will increase our performance,” Lockey said.
Robertson is working as a part-time technical coach with the team. He was forced to retire two years ago from snowboardcross due to concussion, but he’s happy to lend his expertise to the team.
“Candice asked me to help out and it’s fun to work with the team. Each athlete has their own ability, but technically I look at it the same way and just try to adapt to each different athlete,” Robertson said. “It’s fun to work with these guys and go on their big push to Sochi.”
The team is thrilled to have Robertson with them as well.
“It’s great to have another guy to go shredding with,” Leslie said.
The team’s first competition is in January at Copper Mountain in Colorado.
