There’s no rest for Alpine Canada athletes.
For the past three weeks, Canadian ski cross, technical and speed racers have transformed Sunshine Village into a high performance training centre for top world cup and development team athletes.
Ski cross athletes have a partial ski cross course and pump track set up off the Great Divide Chair for a series of training runs, technique work and friendly races.
Canmore ski cross star Tristan Tafel trained hard on April 28, working the pump track against national team members such as Chris Del Bosco and Marielle Thompson.
“I love training at Sunshine, especially in spring. You get those really nice, easy mornings, get some sled laps, and stay at home and get some home-cooked food,” Tafel said.
The ski cross Olympic hopeful first skied at Sunshine when he was 18 months old, and said this camp will pay off once the world cup season returns next December. Skiing at home is always a thrill for Bow Valley athletes, Tafel said, although Canmore’s Kris Mahler missed the camp after his VW van broke down on a road trip through California.
“Going into Olympic qualifying, the main goal is to ski solid at all of the test events, and search for speed all season,” Tafel said. “It was nice to end the year solid and strong. I had some good results overseas and was second at ski cross nationals.”
The team crowned its pump track national title winner on the day, where Tafel lost his crown to Del Bosco.
“The pump track is a straight rhythm. It’s about sprinting and working the features as smoothly and efficiently as possible. You figure out the fastest way for your style, and work with it,” Tafel said.
Olympic gold medallist and world champion Marielle Thompson was also able to make the camp and said the training has been solid.
“We’ve been here for 10 days and it’s been really good. We’ve had variable weather and a great build for the pump track,” Thompson said.
Although she’s the best in the world, Thompson said there is always something to work on in training.
“I think I can always be better. I like chasing our men’s team because they are always pushing me. I know I’m not the best at everything, so there is lots to work on,” Thompson said.
Del Bosco spent time on snow and his mountain bike through camp, which is key for his performance. The two-sport athlete said mountain biking allows him to work on picking lines, reacting and adapting to terrain without growing weary of training.
“We managed to get a lot done. The goal for me was to work on starts and technique. It’s good to get the miles in,” Del Bosco said. “This year I changed some things in my preparation and I had success. I made gains in the gym and was on the bike a ton, which was huge for me and put me in a good headspace.”
Never shy to try different training regimes, the national ski cross team wrapped up its training last week, and was then sent to Vancouver to race Audi R8s around a closed race track. But it’s time on snow the team is chasing.
“It’s been a blast skiing at one of my home mountains,” Tafel said.
