At opposite ends of their careers, Banff’s Jan Hudec and Canmore’s Trevor Philp will once again challenge the world as members of Alpine Canada’s world cup team, with the technical season set to kick off in Solden, Austria on Oct. 24.
Philp, a 2014 Olympian and giant slalom specialist, is entering his fourth year on the world cup, after splitting time between the University of Colorado and the Canadian National Alpine Ski team. He had one top-20 result on the world cup last season, finishing 19th in Alta Badia, Italy for the best result of his young career. Philp said he put in a solid block of training in Austria.
Hudec and the rest of the speed team still have another month until they open the season in Lake Louise on Nov. 28. Recovering from a bone bruise he suffered last December while racing in Val Gardena, Italy, he went under the knife yet again to repair a torn meniscus. He just got back on snow on Oct. 8, and felt strong in early season workouts.
“I had no idea what to expect. It was my first day on snow since December of last year. The clouds broke and we ended up being above the clouds,” Hudec said. It was magical, like I didn’t miss a beat,” wrote Hudec from Solden.
Joining the Bow Valley duo on the men’s team this season are medal hopefuls Dustin Cook, Erik Guay and Manuel Osborne-Paradis, along with Philip Brown, Morgan Megarry, Morgan Pridy, Ford Swette, Broderick Thompson, Ben Thomsen and Tyler Werry.
Erin Mielzynski and Marie-Michele Gagnon will lead the women’s team again this year, where they’ll be joined by Candace Crawford, Valerie Grenier, Marie-Pier Prefontaine, Laurence St. Germain and Mikaela Tommy.
Canada’s ski cross team is also undergoing changes. Head coach Erik Archer has resigned from Alpine Canada for personal reasons, while Stanley Hayer and James Clarkson will take over the team.
Under Archer, Canada’s ski cross team has won four overall world cup titles, three Olympic medals, six world championship medals and more than 100 world cup podiums.
Hayer is a three-time Olympian with a history of world cup, world championship and X-Games success over the past two decades.
“We have great confidence in Stanley and the athletes all have a tremendous amount of respect for his passion, knowledge and coaching abilities,” said Willy Raine, athletic director for ski cross.
