If Canada’s cross-country skiers drink from the golden chalice of world cup success this season, a modicum of credit must fall to a sleepy fishing hole on the Livingstone River, just beyond the Highwood in Kananaskis Country.
It’s there Len Valjas, Jess Cockney and Graeme Killick escaped the unrelenting grind of long roller ski days, intensity workouts and punishing gym routines for the simplicity of catch and release. In between the blissful margins of cast and reel, in the empty spaces between bait and hook, the skiers found the contemplative headspace necessary for mental reprieve.
“For myself, it’s really important,” said Killick. “As an athlete you go through cycles. You get really tired at times. That’s OK, but if you don’t take a step back and do something else for a bit while keeping up your training, to take your mind off of it, it’s hard to be focused on racing all year.”
“Sometimes when you’re so stuck and focused on skiing, it actually hurts you,” Valjas said. “I surf, I bike a lot, too. They may not directly help, but they do because I’m able to get away from skiing.”
All three struggled with consistency last season on the world cup circuit, and made slight but significant changes to their training this year. Cross Country Canada’s funding cuts and a short season at the Haig Glacier wiped out many training camps, forcing the team to focus on fundamentals.
Clear-minded, pre-season optimism reverberates in their speech. Valjas, who caught the biggest bull trout of the summer and won the Frozen Thunder sprints by simply skiing away from the field in the final on Monday (Oct. 26), says he’s fully recovered from knee surgery that robbed him of medals last year.
Cockney, who was second in the sprint and is actually allergic to fish but still casts a line, is back in Canmore after spending the summer studying every movement of Alex Harvey. Killick, who claims he actually caught the biggest fish of the year, but said it got away, squeezed every ounce of weakness out of his body this summer, improving his double pole finishes. Cross Country Canada High Performance Director Thom Holland promised a Canadian other than the revered Alex Harvey would be on the podium this season, and the three anglers are prime candidates to reel in that prize.
The numbers and projections look good, as head coach Justin Wadsworth said testing has shown positive results across the board for the team. Devon Kershaw, recovering from whooping cough, has shown his fitness by defeating Harvey in a few workouts, while Ivan Babikov, fresh off a Bow Valley Soccer League championship title, has had some of the best results testing of his life. The head coach said he’ll take a strong group of athletes overseas, and while Harvey is expected to lead, the others are capable.
“Alex is looking at the overall world cup title. With his knee surgery complete and his overall fitness, he can really compete for it,” Wadsworth said. “Alex couldn’t really use his legs last year. Imagine what he can do now that he can use them.”
“We’re looking for a step back for Devon. He just has to put it down on snow. Ivan has shown good form too,” Wadsworth said. “Lenny has been really healthy. His body is holding up well. To see him ski like he did today, that’s really, really hopeful.”
Emily Nishikawa is the lone Canadian woman on the world cup team, and the most consistent. Always steady, she cracked the top-30 three times last year, and after winning the women’s Frozen Thunder classic sprint (the first sprint win of her career), coaches are projecting another big leap forward into an elite group.
“Emily will be consistent. Our goal is to get her in the top-15 in a race. If we can get her there, that’s a success,” Wadsworth said.
Nishikawa said she’s feeling fitter and faster than ever before, and excited to test herself on the world cup. As the only woman on the world cup team, she switched up training partners on occasion, and got a good view of Canada’s emerging talent.
“I saw some big improvements this summer. I feel faster and fitter. I had consistent training, building through the summer with no injuries. That consistency is key for me,” Nishikawa said. “This is what I want to be doing. It would be nice if there were more women on the world cup, but the guys are great, so I will be fine. I’ve been training with Dahria Beatty here and the younger generation, and I know I’ll have teammates in no time.”
Cockney made the biggest change to his training regime this season. He moved to Quebec to train with Harvey, spent a week training in Switzerland, and changed his weight training regime.
“It’s been a really strong training year. We have so many great coaches to choose from. The big draw was to train alongside Alex. He’s doing everything I want to be doing later in my career – winning sprints, competing hard at all the championships. It’s a big motivator for me,” Cockney said. “He’s a consummate professional when it comes to his craft. His focus is phenomenal.”
On the trails, on the river, the team’s ability to learn and adapt will play a big role in its success this year, especially with Ski Tour Canada bringing eight world cup races to Canada this year – something Wadsworth calls “Their Olympics.” Fortunately for Canada, they’ve learned from the best.
“We were down in Park City and we got to fish with a guy named Donnie from Yellowknife. He’s on the junior national team for fly fishing. You don’t think it makes much of a difference, we were using the same lures, but he was just hauling them out, catching six fish to our one,” Killick said.
