Under 23 Questions: Philippe Boucher

In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Philippe Boucher, of the Centre National d’Entraînement Pierre-Harvey (CNEPH), who represented Canada at his first U23 Worlds (after previously competing at three Junior Worlds). 

Last week in Goms, Boucher placed 42nd in the freestyle sprint and 45th in the 15 k classic.

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“My full name is Philippe Boucher, but you can call me Phil.

I was born and raised in Lévis, Québec, and I learned to ski at Club de ski La Balada in Lévis.

I spent the time between Mont Sainte-Anne trials and Junior/U23 Worlds alpine skiing in beautiful powder snow at MSA. I rested three days at home. I left Quebec on Jan. 14 en route to Praz de Lys, France, for a training camp with the Canadian ski team.

The funnest workout training camp I did in the last training year to prepare for this was a 3-week training camp this fall on the Dachstein glacier in Austria with Alexis Dumas, my teammate on the CNEPH. We’ve been on the World Junior/U23 Championship trip for four years together; he’s one of my best friend and training buddy.

This is my second time in Switzerland and fourth time racing internationally, and so far it’s been good.

One difference I’ve noticed between Switzerland and Canada is the salami is awesome.

Skiing and racing in the Alps is fun and challenging. The weather can change quickly. I like when it’s unpredictable. Usually racing at altitude is OK for me because I’m based in MSA at sea level, but I’ve been training and racing a lot at altitude these past 4 years. I still need some time to adapt, but when I’m adapted it usually goes well for me. There are one (Mont-Sainte-Anne) mountains around where I live.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior/U23 Worlds in Goms is to compare my level of racing with the best in the world and to eat the good food at the hotel. No cooking is the best.

One race I’m especially targeting there is the 30 k skiathlon.

I really hope I can chat/make friends with someone from France and try to speak with their accent and expressions.

My favorite thing at the breakfast where we are staying is chocolate croissants.

Fondue is delicious. And the chocolate is miam !!

If I had a totally free day here and didn’t have to worry about race fitness or training, I’d spend it backcountry skiing in the Swiss Alps.

The best way to follow me on social media is on Instagram @p_boucher97.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BegRtZEFZH0/?taken-by=p_boucher97