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BOW VALLEY – The white circus won’t make a stop on Canadian soil this season.
The FIS alpine ski World Cup races this weekend (Dec. 7-8) were cancelled in Mont-Tremblant due to warm temperatures and a lack of snow.
It’s more than likely that the two women’s giant slalom (GS) races will be moved to a World Cup in Europe later in the season; however, with the Quebec event being Canada’s only World Cup races on the 2024-25 calendar it’s a stinging outcome for the home team.
“Being able to race in Canada is super special and was just really amazing last year,” said World Cup skier Britt Richardson of Canmore.
“The fans were crazy and it was a really electric feeling being in Canada and on home soil racing. I’m really bummed about it but Mother Nature made the decision, I guess, and there is not much we can do when they are lacking snow.”
The event was cancelled on Friday (Nov. 29) with Peter Gerdol, FIS race director of the AUDI FIS Ski World Cup, saying the snow condition wasn’t suitable for World Cup racing, and he noted the safety of athletes, staff and volunteers was the primary concern.
In a media release, president and CEO of Alpine Canada Therese Brisson said the dire situation makes the national governing body “even more motivated” to host a better Mont-Tremblant World Cup next year.
Richardson will potentially suit up for the super-G on Dec. 21-22 in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, otherwise, she will return to GS action Dec. 28-29 in Semmering, Austria.
A 2024 Junior World Champion, Richardson said she heard some rumblings in the lead-up about the Tremblant World Cup being in jeopardy as the ski hill had a major lack of snow at the bottom of the course a week removed from the races.
Aside from Canadians missing out on racing in front of home crowds, the lead-up to the races was going to be filled with signings, press conferences and promotion, something Richardson said would have been good for the sport in the Great White North, especially with the younger generation.
“For me, that’s where I first fell in love with the sport, was watching the World Cup at Lake Louise and meeting the athletes and watching the whole event was super inspiring,” said Richardson. “Even though this year they were not able to pull it off with the snow, I hope that it still will stay on schedule for future years and that we can be back racing in Tremblant.”
The cancellation of the 2024-25 Tremblant World Cup caused a stir online, with many commenters calling for the World Cup to return to Lake Louise or somewhere in western Canada, which historically has colder and snowier conditions in late November and early December than eastern Canada.
Although a World Cup return to Lake Louise is farfetched, at least in the foreseeable future.
A post shared by Audi FIS Ski World Cup (@fisalpine)
A Dec. 3 article by the Canadian Press’ Donna Spencer reported that Alpine Canada is considering two locations in British Columbia for the men’s speed World Cup: Panorama near Invermere, and Whistler.
Previously, Brisson said that Lake Louise had a “difficult business model” for them to sustain, and it had been “challenging the past few years” when men’s and women’s speed races were held over two weekends at the Lake Louise Ski Resort. The last World Cup in Lake Louise was held in December 2022.
In a 2023 letter to Joseph Schow, Alberta’s minister of tourism and sport, Banff-Kananaskis MLA Sarah Elmeligi said Alpine Canada requested $1.3 million annually from Alberta until 2025, plus $1 million in capital to help with snow-making costs at the Lake Louise Ski Resort.
If Alpine Canada didn’t secure funding, Alberta would “lose this [men’s] event to neighbouring British Columbia.”
Patrick Gillespie, president of the Alberta Alpine Ski Association, said while provincial club numbers have been good the past few years, it’s been a “huge blow” to Alberta and Canada to lose the longstanding Lake Louise World Cup events.
“We traditionally would then have a NorAm (a feeder circuit to the World Cup) right after it, so that people like the Alberta Ski Team could then get some time on a World Cup track. They don’t get that now, so it is hurting our long-term progression.”
Alberta Alpine and B.C. Alpine are working together to host more NorAm races and other bigger scale events, including the GMC Cup this weekend (Dec. 7-8) at Norquay Ski Resort in Banff. Panorama will host two NorAm events later this month, and Lake Louise and Norquay will host a pair in January.
Gillespie said youth skiers need motivation, or something to look forward to to get to the next level. Bringing in events, such as the NorAms, helps to satisfy that itch.
“You’ve always got to be looking up and admiring that next level and so that will be a challenge, but I think we'll be able to do it nationally even without having the [World Cup],” said Gillespie.
“Even the fact that we’re running NorAms … it is our next step to the World Cup and we need to make sure we have those races.”
Jordan Small
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