Radical changes may be needed if World Cup ski racing wants to reduce the injuries which have claimed some of the sport’s biggest stars, Max Gartner, Alpine Canada’s chief athletics officer, said Monday.

“It’s gotten to the point where there are way too many severe injuries in the sport at the top level (and) even at the development level,” Gartner said in a telephone interview from the Calgary airport. “It needs some thorough looking (at) and some bold leadership to make some changes.”

Gartner and Paul Kristofic, head coach of the Canadian men’s team, will attend a meeting in Val Gardena, Italy, on Wednesday where a group of coaches and team leaders will discuss the rash of injuries which has affected athletes from all countries.

Gian Franco Kasper, the president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) said last week he hopes the meeting will “identify commonalities and seek practical solutions.”

The Canadian men’s team has lost two racers to serious injury in the last month.

John Kucera of Calgary, who won the downhill at last winter’s world championships, broke his leg in the opening World Cup super-giant slalom race at Lake Louise, Alta. The potential medallist will miss February’s Winter Olympics.

Jean-Philippe Roy of Ste-Flavie, Que., a giant slalom specialist, suffered a suspected torn ACL in his right knee in Sunday’s World Cup race in Val d’Isere, France. It’s unlikely he will ski at the Olympics.

It’s been a devastating season for some of skiing’s biggest names.

Along with Kucera, France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange, the World Cup slalom champion, and Austria’s Nicole Hosp, a former overall world champion, will miss the Olympics due to injury.

American TJ Lanning broke a vertebra in his neck and dislocated his left knee in a fall at Lake Louise.

Lara Gut of Switzerland, who won two silver medals at last year’s world championships, dislocated a hip and isn’t expected back until at least January.

Imagine the reaction of the NHL if Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Jarome Iginla, and Roberto Luongo were all hurt at the same time.

“We have these athletes and we can’t just replace them,” said Gartner.

“The severe injuries are still going up. In my opinion we haven’t really addressed it. Something radical has to change to get these injuries down.”

Equipment and course preparation are two areas that may be examined.

Gartner said skis have become shorter, meaning racers can make tighter turns, which puts more pressure on knees.

Ken Read, the former Crazy Canuck who is a member of the FIS alpine executive board, said early season conditions which makes the snow “very catchy” might have contributed to some injuries.

Another concern is water injection. This is where water, under high pressure, is injected into the snow. The resulting hard, thick surface can turn a race course into a “vertical skating rink,” Read said.

“Maybe we need to look at whether or not that is something where a little less is used,” he said.

The Olympics could also be a factor.

“People are training hard and training to peak for February,” Read said. “These races are where athletes are earning their spot to compete (at the Olympics).

“These races are critical, so they are pushing it.”

Gartner doesn’t expect all the problems to be solved this year.

“You can do some stuff as far as course preparation,” he said. “You can do little things.

“I think the core issue is we have equipment that is extremely powerful. People have to take a look at the equipment. That can’t be done short term. That’s something we are looking at in the future, maybe next year.”

Read said rules were put in place two years ago governing the length and width of skis.

“Do we have to take another look at the equipment?” said the former Alpine Canada chief executive officer. “I think we do, but that must be down with the ski manufacturers.

“Any time you make a change like that it is expensive for them and the last couple of years has been very challenging for them in the current economy.”

The courses used for downhill and super-G races can also be altered to make them more technical, which reduces speeds.

Gartner said coaches from all countries agree injuries are a problem.

“Everyone is on board,” he said. “It has to come from the coaches and the federations and the athletes.

“It’s not good to have a sport where it’s normal to have a severe injury every two or three years.”

For the Canadian team, it’s been a rough start to the season.

“These are always tough times,” said Gartner. “It’s like a family member getting an injury. You have to overcome that.

“You can’t dwell on these injuries. You have to focus on the skiing. You have to be smart but also stay aggressive. If you start to get defensive, sometimes injuries happen more often.”

The family of a Quebec couple lost for days in B.C.’s backcountry say they are stunned the letters SOS carved in the deep snow didn’t trigger an immediate, intensive search and rescue.

René Blackburn says he is not satisfied with the explanations the family has heard so far as to why officials failed to rescue Marie-Josée Fortin and came very late to the rescue of his son, Gilles Blackburn.

“It was botched, that’s for sure,” Mr. Blackburn said in an interview last night.
“They saw the SOS, but the search stopped at the ski centre and the hotel. It ended there. Someone should have gone and checked out the SOS.”

Added Gilles Blackburn’s mother, Ghislaine Boucher: “An SOS is an SOS. Isn’t it?”

In Golden, B.C., yesterday, the owner of the helicopter skiing outfitter that received two separate reports of SOS signs stamped in the snow before Ms. Fortin is said to have died said his company did everything it could to ensure a search effort was launched.

Rudi Gertsch, owner of Purcell Helicopter Skiing Ltd. in Golden, near Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, said his company properly followed its emergency protocol when it first caught wind of an SOS symbol and strange ski tracks on Feb. 17 - two days after the couple got lost.

The signs seemed to be left by skiers who went out of bounds from the resort, Mr. Gertsch said, so Purcell called the ski hill to launch an investigation even though the tracks were spotted on property leased by Purcell from the provincial government.

“It was not a missing heli-skier. It was somebody who skied out of bounds from the ski area. We followed the protocol from the ski area. If it was one of our skiers missing, it’s totally different,” and he would have called RCMP directly, Mr. Gertsch said.

But when Purcell received a report of two more SOS signs on its leased land on Feb. 21, Mr. Gertsch said he sensed something serious and this time called the RCMP, which failed to initiate an official search.

“What more could we do? All we can do is report it to the authority and follow the protocol,” he said.

Mr. Blackburn and Ms. Fortin were on a ski vacation when they ducked under the rope at the resort on Feb. 15 and became hopelessly lost, police say. They wandered aimlessly for days behind the resort, traversing 27 kilometres along a river valley, fighting fierce wind chills and fearing attack by wolves, before they were found on Feb. 24.

That’s when a Purcell helicopter, with Mr. Gertsch aboard, spotted an SOS, ski tracks and then a waving Mr. Blackburn. RCMP were called, and a full-fledged rescue operation was finally mounted. The 51-year-old man was airlifted to hospital and treated for frostbite, but it was too late for his 44-year-old wife, who family say had died two days earlier.

Jeff Dolan, director of regional operations with the B.C. Coroners Service, said an autopsy confirmed she died of hypothermia.

The coroner could not determine a definitive date of death, but Mr. Dolan said “there is nothing to suggest the date is different than that presented by her husband.”

Mr. Gertsch’s company was first contacted by an off-duty ski guide on Feb. 17. Purcell contacted the Kicking Horse resort, understanding that it would contact Golden and District Search and Rescue, since volunteer members also work at the ski hill. They hoped Search and Rescue would notify the RCMP.

Kicking Horse’s president Steve Paccagnan said it did a sweep of the above-ground parking lots, checked unreturned rental equipment and looked for reports of missing skiers. No signs were found.

Neither the resort, Search and Rescue nor Purcell called the RCMP, which is responsible for dispatching search teams.

Meanwhile, nobody noticed the couple’s abandoned vehicle in an underground parkade at an on-hill independent hotel, which they had checked out of.

The volunteer manager of Search and Rescue said this week that in retrospect, his organization regrets not contacting RCMP.

Purcell received another report on Feb. 21 by a group of skiers on the ground about two more SOS signs. Mr. Gertsch, who spends 100 days each winter schussing through the region, had never before seen an SOS in his territory.

“I personally notified the RCMP, and the RCMP should know if Rudi Gertsch reports some suspicious tracks, with my over 40 years as a professional guide, 35 years in this area, I would know when there’s somebody in distress. There’s a protocol to call the RCMP and that’s exactly what I did,” said Mr. Gertsch, acknowledging that that wasn’t the protocol followed on Feb. 17.

The RCMP admitted this week that it made an “error” in deciding not to launch a full-scale search after receiving the information on Feb. 21.

Steve Bachop, a director with B.C.’s Emergency Program, which oversees search and rescue operations, said a review would likely be done of the incident to determine whether any policies need to be changed.

Intrawest’s current debt negotiations will not have any impact on the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, an Intrawest spokesman emphasized to SAM today. “Our venues are finished, preparations are nearly complete and we look forward to welcoming the world to Vancouver,” added Dave Cobb, deputy chief executive officer for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in a statement released last week.

On Dec. 23, Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen said in a prepared statement, “Intrawest continues to be in active dialogue with our lenders regarding refinancing a term loan. Our core ski operations are off to a very good start this season and it is business as usual for Intrawest. We are continuing to provide our customers and homeowners with the memorable experiences that they have come to expect when they visit our resorts.” A spokesman told SAM today that there are “no additional comments from our company at this time.”

“Intrawest is generating strong cash flow from its resorts, is well capitalized, and core ski operations are off to a very good start this season,” Jensen said, according to a Bloomberg News report last week.

According to the Bloomberg report, Intrawest in September presented lenders with a plan to reduce its debt. One part of that plan was to sell assets, as Intrawest did last month when it agreed to sell Copper Mountain to Powdr Corp. Bloomberg reported that a person familiar with the debt negotiations said a portion of the proceeds of the sale would be used to pay lenders. While the sale price for Copper has not been publicly disclosed, Bloomberg learned that Intrawest told lenders the price could be as high as $107.4 million.

As winter recreationalists unwrap new outdoor toys this Christmas, search and rescuers also have new gadgets to help keep everyone safe this winter.

Fernie and District Search and Rescue team has a new avalanche transceiver which hangs below a helicopter and detects avalanche beacons and RECCO safety reflectors buried under snow, allowing them to fly over an avalanche site and detect where people might be buried.

Search and rescue president Chris Thomas said the equipment allows rescuers in the air to identify a smaller area to be searched by a ground team.

He added: “In the long term we are planning to put together a long-line helicopter rescue team. If there was an inaccessible place or a dangerous place that had to be searched, we could lower someone down on a line and they could dig while still attached to the helicopter. Then if anything happened they could be lifted out of there quickly.

“This would be a much quicker way to respond and potentially safer.”

The team has also purchased simulators to help team members practice avalanche searches – and they are inviting community groups to borrow them for their own rescue practices.

Thomas said: “The boxes are buried underground and have beacons, RECCO reflectors and a probe detector. The simulation leader can control how many of the boxes are switched on so that the team has a realistic experience of searching in the snow.”

Thomas said that the team’s new equipment should not deter people from being properly prepared for their backcountry trips.

“Check www.avalanche.ca for the avalanche bulletin for your area before you venture out and be aware of your surroundings and the snow conditions. There are a number of avalanche skills training courses being run in the area at the moment and I was pleased to hear that a lot of people are taking them.”

Thomas has visited local backcountry clubs to ask members to help improve knowledge of local avalanche conditions by reporting snow conditions to the Canadian Avalanche Association.

He said: “If we can get better avalanche bulletins for where people are going, it will be much safer for everyone.”

Snow observations can be reported to Canadian Avalanche Centre forecasters at forecaster@avalanche.ca

The search and rescue team is now operating as a society again. Earlier this year the board of directors resigned due to fears of personal liability following a lawsuit against Golden Search and Rescue team.

Thomas said there are now only three directors on the board but the society is fully operational. The province has paid for directors insurance for search and rescue societies.

• Fernie and District Search and Rescue is a supporter of The Free Press Prepare to Love Winter campaign. We want you to enjoy winter activities in the Elk Valley by having the training, equipment and knowledge to stay safe at all times. To sign up as a supporter and enter our prize draw visit thefreepress.ca/prepare

The Powder Highway Ultimate Ski Bum Chris Tatsuno has won a three Month Journey along the Powder Highway, including Free Lift Tickets at all of the Resorts, 16 days of Heli and Cat Skiing, Accommodation and Transportation.

The concept was to create a campaign to promote the Powder Highway, the highest concentration of ski destinations in the world, by utilizing the power of social media.

Chris is stoked to spend the winter on the Powder Highway and you can follow his adventures on PowderHighway.com.

View his winning video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLWHKnoecEE&feature=player_embedded

Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC) won for the second time early in the 2009 / 2010 World Cup season, taking today’s classic Saslong downhill in Val Gardena, ITA.

Osborne-Paradis, who won the Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart super-G last month, is the first Canadian to win twice in a season since Thomas Grandi won two giant slalom races in three days in December of 2004.

“Before Christmas normally I don’t ski that well,” said Osborne-Paradis, who now has two World Cup wins in his career. “But I have been getting better and I am figuring out these courses more and more, just becoming so much more confident on every course.”

“This is the first year that I have had a game plan on every course before I have got here, just with the experience that I have. I have put in my time and now it’s just paying off with me being able to know the courses,” he said.

Osborne-Paradis, the ninth racer of the day to leave the start hut, finished today’s race in a winning time of two minute 01.27 seconds. Austria’s Mario Scheiber put up the day’s greatest challenge to the Canadian’s time, finishing 0.13s behind. Ambrosi Hoffmann of Switzerland was third in 2:01.52.

Osborne-Paradis now has eight career World Cup podium results and has become the fifth Canadian male alpine ski racer with more than two career World Cup wins.

Osborne-Paradis downplayed the notion that his performace is motivated by the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games in his hometown of Vancouver / Whistler.

“I am not peaking right now or skiing fast because I want to win at the Olympics. I am skiing fast because I wanted to win today,” he said.

Osborne-Paradis is not the first Canadian male to win a DH in Val Gardena. In fact, Rob Boyd, who is currently a coach for Canada’s ladies speed team, won there in 1986 and again the following year.

It was a very solid day overall for the Canadians, with Robbie Dixon (Whistler, BC) placing sixth in 2:01.77 and Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC) 11th in 2:02.13. Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB) finished in 36th place.

A 29-year-old Brazilian has won a contest to be a B.C. ski bum, promoting the province’s slopes to folks around the world.

Thiago Lucene beat out 50 people from nine countries in the I Want to Be a Ski Bum promotion by Sun Peaks Resort.
In October, the resort called on skiers and snowboarders to send in a 60-second YouTube video about why they should be chosen to woo tourists to the facility through a daily blog and updates on Twitter and Facebook.  Here is Thiago’s submission:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sBdVs977K4&feature=player_embedded
Resort spokeswoman Melanie Simmons says Lucene’s energy and passion for skiing shone through in his creative video, phone interview and written assignment.

She says he’s excited about bringing an emerging snow culture to Brazil after having done much of his skiing in Chile, Argentina and California.

His three-month stint at Sun Peaks will begin in January.

With a silver medal Saturday and gold medal Friday, Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., is off to the best start of her freestyle ski World Cup career.

Jenn Heil and Kristi Richards shared the podium today
After posting mediocre jumps in the qualifying round, she was the 15th of 16 qualifiers for Saturday’s final. However, the 2007 world moguls champion rallied to grab the silver medal, just ahead of bronze medallist Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta.

“I feel everything is just coming together,” said Richards, 28. “I’ve been working on the same technique for four years, and it’s time (to perform).”

Richards was in jeopardy of missing Saturday’s final after almost failing to land her opening jump, but she picked up the pace to qualify. After that, it was more up-tempo skiing and cleaner jumps in the final.

“There was nothing to lose, so I was one of the fastest again and I skied like I know how to ski.”

With podium appearances in two Europa Cups and two World Cups this season, Richards says she has the feeling her inconsistency last season is a thing of the past.

Kristi Richards was all smiles after winning the inaugural FIS Mogul World Cup in Suomu, Finland today
SUOMU, Finland, December 11, 2009 – Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., won the gold medal in women’s moguls on Friday and Alex Bilodeau of Rosemère, Que., added a bronze in men’s moguls at a FIS freestyle skiing World Cup competition.

In women’s moguls, Richards earned her second career World Cup victory with 24.97 points posting the second fastest time and the highest style points. Aiko Uemura of Japan was second at 24.56 and Hannah Kearney of the U.S., third at 24.10.

“I’m so excited, I can’t ask for anything more than to start the season like this,” said Richards, 28, the 2007 world champion. “I feel like the last four years of work are coming together at the right time. I just went for it today in the final and didn’t hold anything back.”

Olympic champion Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., now living in Montreal, was fifth at 23.81 which assures her a berth on the 2010 Canadian Olympic team. Seventeen-year-old Chloé Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal was sixth, Sylvia Kerfoot of Vancouver 12th and Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City, 16th.

In men’s moguls, Jesper Bjoernlund of Sweden won the gold medal with 24.41 points, Bryon Wilson of the U.S., took the silver at 24.34 and Bilodeau was third at 24.19.

In 2002, the first TransRockies rolled out of Fernie, BC bound for Canmore, Alberta nearly 600km and 7 riding days away. Roughly 100 pioneers headed out into the unknown in North America’s first multi-day epic mountain bike race. At the time, they couldn’t know that the TransRockies would change the face of mountain biking in North America, spawning a host of multi-day epic imitators and attracting thousands of competitors from all around the World.

Supported by Travel Alberta, the TransRockies is returning its origins in 2010 with a brand new route from Fernie to Canmore through the most spectacular scenery in North America. Run by the best and most experienced event team in the business, the 2010 TransRockies is going to set the new standard for multi-day biking events with a revised 400km continuous route through the high Canadian Rockies that includes the most singletrack, the biggest mountains, the best and most complete rider support, and a host of new event services like shuttles to local towns and later start times.

TransRockies was the first to bring the epic format to North America and, in 2010 we’re going to raise the bar again for epic mountain bike adventure. TransRockies IX opens with a time trial around the iconic mountain biking destination of Fernie, BC before heading North and East to Elkford, the highest incorporated community in Canada. Stage 3 takes riders up and over the Continental Divide and across the border into Alberta where four days of riding on the legendary trails of Kananaskis Country await. Overnight stopovers include scenic wilderness campsites and two authentic Western ranches.

On the stages Stage 5 and 6, riders spend two immense Rocky Mountain days with with epic ridgeline riding on the spine of the Rockies. The ultimate Stage sees riders tackling a sweet singletrack ride along the TransCanada Trail to Canmore Nordic centre, site of the 1988 Olympics and multiple World Cup mountain bike races, before descending onto the Main Street in Canmore for a finish line party like no other.  For full route information click HERE.

“We are thrilled that the TransRockies is coming back to Alberta,” said Tourism, Parks and Recreation Minister Cindy Ady. “Participants will experience firsthand the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies in Kananaskis Country plus Alberta’s famous western hospitality and culture along the way. Worldwide media coverage of this epic event is sure to attract more adventure seekers from around the world to Alberta.”

In 2010, TransRockies IX will again set the standard for mountain bike stage races. Riders can look forward to the best value of any stage race, the best and most complete support, the smoothest and most professional logistics and organization, a spectacular continuous route through Canada’s most spectacular mountains and camaraderie like no other.  TransRockies is truly “Canada’s Best Mountain Bike Adventure”.

Registration is open now for 2010 so visit us at www.transrockies.com today to get full package details and sign up today!