CANMORE – Trevor Philp is hanging up his skis.
A three-time Olympian in alpine skiing and world championship silver medallist, the 30-year-old technical skier is moving on from the sport after 11 years on the world cup circuit.
“I really think it was a constant learning journey for me,” said Philp. “It was full of some good races, a lot of bad races. So many of those bad times, I think I learned from as a skier and as a person. I wouldn’t change it. I loved it and it brought me to a lot of great places and I’m very happy with it all.”
Coming into the 2022-23 season, Philp wasn’t sure it would be his last. After all, he felt great physically and ranked 21st in the world in his specialty race, giant slalom (GS).
Although, the veteran said he wasn’t going to take any season moving forward for granted. Unfortunately, at the end of January, Philp's season was cut short before world championships.
Skiing a world cup super-G race in Cortina, Italy, the location of the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Philp hit an edge, crashed, and broke his fibula, a calf bone.
Ultimately, the leg injury wasn’t the catalyst for his retirement, but it drove Philp in the direction where he was ready to turn the page.
“I think this was still my year to hang them up whether I was going to finish out the rest of the year or not,” said Philp. “But my announcement would have been different timing or I would have come to terms with it sooner because when it happened. I thought there was potential [for a return], but as time went on I kind of got closer to that 100 per cent yes, for my retirement.”
Philp is the type of athlete coaches and teammates love. With him, he led by example and showed day in and day out there wasn’t a substitute for hard work. He had dreamed of standing on the podium, but he worked on process goals, first and foremost, to achieve success.
“The outcome is the Olympics, and you’re thankful it happened, but it’s not, for me, the daily goal. It’s not what you’re working toward each day,” said Philp. “It’s all these little things that then make you end up there.”
Beginning skiing at two years old in the Rocky Mountains, Philp would go on to join the Banff Alpine Racers. The club trains out of Philp's favourite ski hill, Mount Norquay (forget about Kitzbühel).
At age 21, Philp debuted at the 2014 Sochi Games. His crowning result at the Games came eight years later in Beijing, when he jived with the super-G course in China and finished with an exceptional 10th place.
On the world cup, Philp scored six top 10 finishes, including his best result in GS – a seventh in Beaver Creek, USA, in 2019. However, his proudest GS moment came the same year in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, when he put it all out there for a chance to qualify for the world cup finals.
“I had to be top 25 [to qualify], and I came in [ranked] 28th. I needed a great result to qualify,” he said. “I put it all on the line that day and got an eighth place and my mum was there watching in Slovenia, so that one felt like an extra special one, as well.”
A graduate of the University of Denver with a degree in finance, Philp now lives in London, England, with wife, Ana, as he transitions from being a full-time athlete.
From big dreams as a tyke in the Bow Valley to the big stage, he's looking forward to the next chapter of life, and is already enjoying living in one spot.
“I wouldn't have expected [my skiing career] to be so great," said Philp. "Obviously you don't know at the start this is how it's going to go or I'm going to have an 11-year career and go to three Olympics, so looking back it was amazing. I don't have any regrets."
