January
Devon Kershaw returned home after a remarkable Tour de Ski performance, where the Canmore skier won four medals in eight races over a 10-day span.
Kelly McBroom, fresh off of a 22-month recovery from a torn ACL and MCL, broke her leg in her first European World Cup training run.
Brothers Scott and Christian Gow topped the men’s and junior men’s biathlon races in the first NorAm of 2011. Gow was named Alberta’s flag bearer in the Canada Winter Games. Other Bow Valley athletes named to the team included Tarah Cielak, Jesse Cockney, Macx Davies, Alicia Gallon, Gerard Garnier, Sara Hewitt, Annika Hicks, Graeme Killick, Emma Lodge, Emma Lunder, Emily Mellors, Marika nadal, Meg Ohsada, Luke Philp, Kevin Sandau, Martin Schrama, Logan Thackray and Heidi Widmer.
Alpine skiers Andy Trow and Cody Petersen were selected to ski for Canada in the World Junior Championship in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
Snowboarder Rob Balharry was named to Canada’s world championship team in La Molina, Spain.
Para-Nordic biathlete Mark Arendz won gold, silver and bronze IPC medals, shooting a remarkable 49 for 50 over the weekend of Jan. 23.
Banff’s Dasha Gaiazova posted a personal best eighth-place in Estonia.
With plenty of good snow, Blaine Penny and Kirk Howell crossed the finish line together to win the Lake Louise Loppet in a time of 4:48.18.
February
Canmore native Simon Philp scored two goals and picked up an assist in his debut for the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles, leading the team to a 6-2 defeat of the Olds Grizzlys.
Kevin Sandau and Jesse Cockney both finished in the top five at the U23 world cross-country ski championships in Otepaa, Estonia. Sandau was fourth in the 15 kilometre skate race, while Cockney was fifth in the sprint.
Alpine Canada announces it will launch a ski racing safety summit in light of several injuries to top racers.
Paul Stutz posts two top-25 results, racing as an independent ski racer in Europe.
Scott Gow finished in the top 10 at the U23 world championships in the Czech Republic.
A group of Bow Valley residents led by John McIsaac, launch a joint Canmore/Banff bid for the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
Scott Gow, Stuart Harden and Christian Gow finish one, two, three to lead Alberta’s charge at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Gow went on to win four gold medals at the games. Other medal winners include cross-coutry skiers Emma Lunder, Emma Lodge, Sandau, Cockney, Heidi Widmer, Annika Hicks, Emily Nishikawa and hockey player Luke Philp.
The Canmore Eagles squeeze into the AJHL playoffs despite a long losing streak to end their regular season. They face the Brooks Bandits in the first round of the playoffs.
Mark Arendz won his second IPC World Cup gold medal of the season in Solleftea, Sweden, and followed it up with a silver.
NorAm alpine skier Tess Davies won bronze in the women’s downhill at Aspen, Colorado. Andy Trow finished eighth in the men’s downhill.
Special Olympian Meg Ohsada won double gold at the provincial winter games in Leduc in the free skate and ice dance.
March
Canmore’s Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey made Canadian cross-country ski history by winning the nation’s first-ever world championship gold medal in Oslo, Norway.
Harvey nipped the Norwegians by two-tenths of a second in the classic sprint in front of 50,000 silenced fans in Norway.
Rob Balharry won two silver medals at a World Cup event in Calgary.
“It seems like I’ve always gotten close to the podium, but today was my day,” Balharry said.
The Brooks Bandits bounced the Canmore Eagles from the playoffs with a three-game sweep. The game was the final match for several long-time Eagles, including Tyler Horton, Cody Cartier, Brian Doust and Steve Papciak. The Eagles also signed general manager Andrew Milne for another three years.
Mark Arendz continued his winning ways, landing his third IPC gold medal of the season, this time in the pursuit in Finsterau, Germany.
The Banff Hockey Academy girls eliminated Airdrie from the Central Alberta Hockey League playoffs with a 7-0 victory.
Tristan Tafel won the NorAm ski cross title in his bid to make the Canadian National Ski Cross team.
Canmore special Olympian Shane Stewart earned another trip to the Canadian National championship after winning three gold medals at the Alberta Special Olympics.
Jack Fawkes, a 91-year-old carpet bowler, won the Wild Rose award at the Alberta 55 Plus Winter Games.
Sean Crooks and Rhonda Jewett were the 2011 winners of Sharkfest, the final leg of the Alberta Cup races.
Sara Renner and Beckie Scott were honoured at the Canmore Nordic Centre by having runs named after them.
Emiliy Nishikawa was the early winner at the Canadian National Cross-Country ski championships at the Canmore Nordic Centre, winning two golds in her first two races. Kevin Sandau and Brent McMurtry triumphed in the sprint.
Julie Thomas and C.J. Wright shredded Lake Louise’s dreaded ER5 run in the Big Mountain Classic.
The CCHS senior boys basketball team repeated as zone champions with a 90-88 win over Cochrane. Paolo De Soto led all scorers with 33 points in the final.
Canmore’s Annika Hicks won the gold medal in the 20-kilometre skate to conclude a strong week at the national championships. Dasha Gaiazova won the women’s sprint title, and Len Valjas won the men’s sprint. The nationals signaled the final race for national team veterans George Grey and Stefan Kuhn.
Madison McLeish captured her first Canadian title at Nakiska, winning the women’s super G in a tie with Britt Janyk. Jan Hudec won bronze in the men’s super G.
Zina Kocher cleaned up at the Canadian national biathlon championships in Charlo, New Brunswick, winning four gold medals.
April
Tristan Tafel came from behind to win a silver medal at Lake Louise at the Canadian National Ski Cross Championship.
Rob Balharry ended his slopestyle season with a third-place finish at Grouse Mountain, B.C.
Brian McKeever returned to the IPC world championship and won back-to-back gold medals with guide Erik Carleton in Khanty Mansisyk, Russia.
Lake Louise hosted the Canadian national snowboard cross championship, which was won by American Jared Minghini over Canadian Rob Fagan. Dominique Maltais was the women’s champ.
Paul Stutz won the Russian slalom national championship in Murmansk, Russia, north of the Arctic Circle.
Jan Hudec and Emily Bryden won the Bozo Cup at Mount Norquay.
May
Canmore Minor Soccer players joined a competitive league in Calgary, splitting the recreational players from the competitive players.
Several Canmore Illusions gymnasts performed well at the Gymnastics Summit in Canmore. Ivy Tupper, Krista Scurfield, Stephanie Nunn, Ariana Kolenda, Erika Lepper, Tess Engel and Melissa Cavaliere all won gold medals.
Lihani Du Plessis of Canmore medalled three times at the Western Canada Summer Games in the two-person scull.
Andy Trow, Madison McLeish and Tess Davies were all named to Canada’s alpine team, joining Banff’s Jan Hudec. Skier Kelly McBroom decides to take a leave from the ski team to go to school.
June
Canmore hosted the first-ever International Federation of Sports Climbing World Cup on Canadian soil, which was won by Akiyo Noguchi and Tsukuru Hori of Japan. Canadian Sean McColl was third. Banff’s Elise and Eric Sethna both competed in the event.
The BHS Bears rugby team won the school’s first provincial championship in team history, defeating Winston Churchill High School, 20-12. The week before, the Banff High School boys successfully defended their zone title, defeating the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans 31-19 at the Banff Rec Grounds, led by Matthew Soukas and Josh Bartlett.
Canmore United defeated Pika to win the Big Head soccer tournament title.
Cochrane’s Graham Torrie won the Organ Grinder Enduro-Challenge at the Canmore Nordic Centre, battling mud and rain.
The Canmore Figure Skating Club wrapped up another season, with Cassidy Dominico, Jane Gray and Meg Ohsada all winning medals.
T.J. Carriere won the Canadian National five-pin bowling championship.
Rundle Mountain Cycling Club racer Gord Jewett led the charge for the team with a fourth-place finish in the prologue and Lake Louise Road Race.
July
The Canmore Eagles committed to stay in the Bow Valley for another year, although they missed their goal of raising $100,000 to save the club. The team had two offers to move to another location.
Mark Jeffries won the inaugural Kananaskis GranFondo, racing from Longview to the Stoney Nakoda Casino.
Canmore’s Kyle McLaughlin launches his bid to run two Iron Man triathlons in two months to raise money for Mito-Canada.
Max Plaxton won his first national mountain bike title at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Catherine Pendrel won the women’s title.
Matt Duggan laid claim to the 2011 solo 24 Hours of Adrenalin title, completing it in 17 hours.
August
Aaron Sands represented the Bow Valley in the Gran Fondo Rockies Road Race in Nanton.
Darren Freeman, Mike Norton, Stuart Lodge and Pate Neumann claimed victory in the Sir Norman Watson race in Lake Louise.
Olympic snowboarder Mike Robertson decided to take a year off to recover from a concussion and coach with the Evolve Ski and Snowboard club.
Danielle Kabush and Mike Vine defended their Xterra Triathlon titles at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Zina Kocher is forced to re-qualify for her spot on Canada’s top biathlon squad, and joins the Biathlon Training Centre.
September
Several Canmore athletes competed in the Subaru Iron Man Triathlon in Penticton, including Martine Grenon-Lafontaine, Briana Botsford, Shawn Carr, Steve Sellers, Andrew Hicks, Earl Emberton and Kyle McLaughlin. McLaughlin finished his second triathlon in two months.
Five Bow Valley residents make the starting roster of the Canmore Eagles.
Rob Balharry is named to Canada’s national slopestyle team.
Bow Valley Kidsport introduces its adopt-an-athlete program.
Despite a rocky regular season, the Banff Rugby men’s squad earn a Calgary Rugby Union playoff spot with a win over Lethbridge. Their season ended after the team dropped a 25-22 game to the Calgary Saints.
Three Canmore Eagles earned invites to play for Team Canada West at the Junior A camp. Connor Hoekstra, Keegan Thompson and Nik Kosman all attended the Canmore-based camp.
Phil Villeneuve took on Canmore’s four big peaks in one day, running up Grotto Mountain, Lady McDonald, Ha Ling and East End of Rundle in 11 hours, four minutes.
October
Laura Ferreira, Angela Cooke, Emily Munro and Amanda Ferreira won the provincial high school golf championship again, the first back-to-back win for Canmore Collegiate High School since 1993 and 1994.
Liza Pye and her team Tecnu Extreme won the 2011 Gold Rush Mother Lode Low Down Adventure race in 74 hours.
Frozen Thunder returns to Canmore for the second straight year, allowing the Nordic Centre to open in October.
Ellie Greenwood finished her ultramatathon season with a win in Chile. She was forced to pull out of the 100 kilometre World Championship race with 10 km to go.
Canmore Eagles Connor Hoekstra was named to Team Canada West’s junior A team.
November
Alysson Marshall, Drew Goldsack and Kevin Sandau are selected to begin the cross-country ski season on the World Cup team, along with Chandra Crawford, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Dasha Gaiazova, Perianne Jones, Alex Harvey and Lenny Valjas.
Canmore Eagles forward Patrick Steel died suddenly in his billet’s home after complaining of illness earlier in the day. The team decides to play on in his honour, defeating the Camrose Kodiaks 6-3.
Scott Gow earned the final World Cup berth on Canada’s biathlon team. He joined J.P. Le Guellec, Brenden Green, Scott Perras, Zina Kocher, Megan Imrie and Rosanna Crawford.
Figure Skater Jane Gray won gold at the provincial skating championship in Grande Prairie.
Keegan McIsaac, Cassidy Peterson and Connor Howe landed on the podium at the Lethbridge speed skating meet.
Jan Hudec just missed the podium, finishing fourth in the men’s super G World Cup race at Lake Louise.
Nick Martin sheds 22 lbs. in 24 hours before winning the provincial heavyweight boxing title.
The Canmore Crusaders junior volleyball squad wins the zone championships in Calgary.
December
Lindsay Vonn swept all three World Cup races at Lake Louise, defeating her competition by a combined 3.5 seconds. Canmore’s Tess Davies and Madison McLeish made their World Cup debuts in December.
Chandra Crawford won a silver medal in Slovenia, her first World Cup medal since 2008.
Two weekends before, she finishes fourth in the sprint in Düsseldorf, Germany, her best individual result in two years. Canada placed four athletes in the top 10, as Ivan Babikov, Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey and Crawford all posted great results.
Mark Arendz won his first IPC biathlon gold medal of the season in Norway. Erick Carleton and Brian McKever also won gold in their IPC race.
