More Opinion
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Kelly Vanderbeek
David Ford: Whitewater trailblazer
David Ford's career has blazed a new trail in the sport of whitewater
kayaking. He often talks of his motivation coming from once being told a
Canadian would never, and could never, be a world champion in the
sport. After countless years of intense training, in 1999 David became
the first non-European to win the world championship title, which he
held for three years.Sadly, his journey appears to be nearing its end. On April 15, David narrowly missed qualifying for his sixth Olympics.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Why do athletes keep risking it?
Why do athletes in snow sports choose to put ourselves in such extreme circumstances, knowing
we face serious injury and possibly death? Having lost two great
athletes in Sarah Burke and Nik Zoricic this year, questions and concerns within the snow sport community have never been louder or more fervent.So why keep doing it? It's simple. It's because of athletes
like Jan Hudec, Erin Mielzinsky, Ben Thomsen, Marie-Michele Gagnon and
Anna Goodman, to name but a few. They've defied the odds, and in doing
so found ways to inspire us all.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
What can we learn from Nik Zoricic's death?
Alone at my home in B.C., I scour the internet for anything to hold
onto. I try to cling to the community that I've laughed with, cried
with, and grown with. I'm searching for a reason, for support, for a
sense of understanding why someone like Nik Zoricic would be taken so
young, doing what he loved best - skiing.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Erin Mielzynski's magic moment
Erin Mielzynski shocked the ski community on Sunday in Germany by winning a women's slalom for her first-ever World Cup victory (and first time finishing in the top 10). It was the first win by a Canadian in a World Cup slalom since Betsy Clifford in 1971.Incredible doesn't begin to describe Erin's momentous achievement at the very young age of 21. She's young and fast, which is great news for Alpine Canada and the women's team, who needed (and I believe deserve) a pick-me-up. This positive affirmation will not only help Erin, but the whole team moving forward.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
First look at the Sochi downhill
Since returning from a World Cup stop in Russia I've been bombarded with
people hungry for information. Everyone wants to know what Russia was
like and how preparations look for the 2014 Olympics.
Sadly, we never made it to Sochi during our stay in Russia. However, we
did get a good week in Rosa Khutor, which is to Sochi as Whistler was to
Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Canadian skiers have aura of confidence
With new courses comes new excitement. Both Andorra and Sochi hosted
World Cup events for the first time this week. Luckily, these tracks
continued to favour the Canadians and strengthened their momentum that
began two weeks ago.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Back in the start gate
People may be wondering why I came back to the World Cup ski circuit so quickly, without any warm-up races or much training. I'm motivated to be prepared to ski a new downhill track in three weeks in Sochi, Russia - the Olympic venue for 2014 - and I want to be there.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Training for my return a glorious whirlwind
In the last three-and-a-half days I have spent approximately 23 hours in the air, 10 hours in five different international airports, 6 hours driving to and from airports, and I've landed in four different time zones, three Canadian provinces and three different coutries.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
When plans fall apart, the real magic happens
Over the two years since my knee injury, my time was filled with
extremely hard work to rehab and rebuild an injured body and spirit.
This taught me that, sometimes, the best laid plans and resolutions are
those that leave room for life.Between my training/physio/surgeries I had to fill my time with
things that kept my spirits high and my mind engaged. In doing so, I
began to refine many old skills and learn new ones. All of these positive things happened because my plans didn't go as I'd hoped or expected.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Christmas shopping tips for athletes
Bouncing from remote mountain village to village from September through December, athletes are faced with inflated prices, isolation and little selection when it comes time for Christmas shopping.For some, the stress of trying to maintain regular Christmas traditions can be rather overwhelming. And so, this is my guidebook to help them along - and give you some insight into a little unknown part of our world.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Veteran skiers worth betting on
In every sport there are some safe bets: reliable athletes that, more
often than not, deliver top results. However, sports such as golf,
whitewater kayaking and alpine skiing are more difficult to predict than
others.It's these idiosyncrasies within the sport of alpine
that makes team selection difficult - especially at a time when budgets
are tight. Organizations like Alpine Canada have to place their bets on
which athletes will continue to perform and draw in revenue dollars.
With only so much money to go around, there simply isn't enough to
support everyone. So the athletes who are performing well now get
supported. This makes sense, but it's still hard to swallow for many
strong athletes.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Kucera's return highlights downhill opener
The alpine skiing season begins in earnest this weekend with the opening men's speed events at Lake Louise, Alta., highlighted by Canadian John Kucera, who's returning to racing after injury, and teammate Eric Guay, who's the reigning world downhill champion.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Fundraising Fiesta
'Tis the season to...attend fundraisers. The tour of gala, media and dinner functions across Canada have neared completion as Canada's Alpine Ski team has gotten to meet, greet, and share a few drinks with some incredible people. The events have spanned from Montreal to Vancouver and will wrap up on the Nov. 21st in Calgary.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Let the season begin!
Most Canadians cringe when temperatures start to drop, but there's a select group for whom excitement is building. It's as if skiers have this wonderful little secret, that falling temperatures mean the playground that is winter is nearing.My excitement is now at a particular high as this weekend marks the beginning of the 2011-12 alpine World Cup season. As the world watches, athletes will be putting new equipment and skills to the test on the Rettenbach glacier near Soelden, Austria.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
On the comeback trail in Chile
Everyone loves a good comeback story. But how long is our attention
span, and what defines a comeback? Does it only take shape once old
glory is found again, or can it take different forms?
I have many questions in this realm as I face my own comeback from knee surgery head on.
I'm starting to realize that true comebacks are made up of a million
small victories, unseen and unsung. It's those small victories that give
you the power to continue, to take that next step.
- Kelly Vanderbeek More from the alpine injury summit Since Alpine Canada held its injury summit last week in Calgary, many experts (some self proclaimed) have gotten very vocal and involved in this movement. I think this is great - let's keep this discussion going!Here are a few more facts I learned in case you're interested (and if you missed Part 1 on the injury summit, click here).
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Inside the alpine injury summit
Coming into Alpine Canada's injury summit, held in Calgary this week, I
was hopeful we would find the magic bullet to solve the injury woes in
our sport.After the research studies were presented and discussions were held, we
all realized there was no single cause for the rash of injuries we've
been seeing. But there are still plenty of reasons for optimism.
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Kelly Vanderbeek
Taking stock, looking forward
For many people, the time for reflection, goal setting and taking stock
usually happens when they're ringing in the New Year. But for ski
racers, that time is now.
When the snow starts to melt, the national championships have wrapped
up, and thoughts of mountain biking return, we take a moment to reflect.
Where are we now? What have we accomplished? Where are we heading and
how do we get there?
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