Looking out at his athletes plugging along during a workout last fall, Mike Cavaliere of the Alberta World Cup Academy sat inside the team van and listened to his coaches. A few years ago when Cavaliere started the Canadian national training centre in Canmore, Alberta, he and his staff recognized the lack of high-level female skiers. Back then, they resolved to work toward producing more, but at a training camp in Whistler, British Columbia, all...
The art and appeal of racing usually boils down to the unexpected. One can guess who will win, pick the favorites and anticipate the moves, but nothing is ever over ’til, well, it’s over. In two entirely different pursuit races Sunday in Cantley, Quebec, the odds and work ethic played out for the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA). In the men’s 30 k classic pursuit, Graeme Killick and Jesse Cockney set out to aidi teammate...
Nearing the halfway point of the 10 k freestyle interval start at the Eastern Canadian Championships on Saturday, Emily Nishikawa heard a motivating split time: she was 10 seconds out of first. For different skiers under various circumstances, that might come as a surprise or a letdown. For Nishikawa, it told her exactly how to ski the second lap in order to beat Alberta World Cup Academy teammate Alysson Marshall. Hard. Fortunately, the 22-year-old Yukon...
Minutes before the NorAm freestyle interval starts on Saturday, three Alberta World Cup Academy coaches scrambled to get into position. In the women’s race as well as the men’s, they had several athletes starting one after another, many of which they knew would be competing for top spots. Earlier that morning in the wax room, AWCA head coach Chris Jeffries jokingly told sprint coach Stefan Kuhn that the men’s team had not swept a distance...
The Alberta World Cup Academy in Canmore, Alberta, recently posted a job listing for a “Senior Coach.” Program director Mike Cavaliere explained in an email that this is not a head coaching position and Chris Jeffries is not leaving. Rather, the Academy wants to add to its elite team with talented coaches looking to further enhance the program. Job notice from the www.albertaworldcup.com Applications should be in the form of a letter of application with...
It’s not as if one of the top two men on this year’s NorAm circuit really had an advantage. While Kevin Sandau had more recently heaved himself up the grinding hills at the Canmore Nordic Centre with his Alberta World Cup Academy teammates, both he and Brent McMurtry (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) spent plenty of time training there with the Canadian National Ski Team. Both Senior Development Team members, Sandau and McMurtry also grew up...
New-fallen snow at Whistler Olympic Park created additional excitement on Saturday during the Haywood NorAm freestyle sprints in Whister, BC. The deciding factor became who could best adjust to the slow powder while navigating the usual sprint-day tangles. Phil Widmer (Alberta World Cup Academy) led the men’s A-final from the start, and crossed the line in first to headline an AWCA podium sweep with his first victory of the season. Teammates Graham Nishikawa (AWCA) and...
ROSSLAND, British Columbia — The thing about competitive ski racing is, one has to be prepared for the unexpected. It’s not as if Jack Carlyle, a junior racer for Thunder Bay’s national development center (NDC), could have anticipated his bags would be stolen in the 15 minutes they were outside his house, but he dealt with it. NDC head coach Eric Bailey, who was supposed to drive him to the airport, told Carlyle to sit...
VERNON, British Columbia — Mike Cavaliere had a pretty distinct idea of what he wanted the Alberta World Cup Academy to look like when he developed the training center just over four years ago. With several AWCA athletes zipping around in the Canadian national team’s unmistakable neon jackets and four Olympians assisting them at last weekend’s NorAm opener at Sovereign Lake, things appeared to be going as planned. If anything, Cavaliere, a 2006 Olympic coach...
In what may be a first in the North American skiing, FasterSkier brought together four of the best ski technicians around for a roundtable discussion on a variety of issues. Nathan Schultz of Boulder Nordic Sport, Mark Waechter of Nordic Ultratune, Zach Caldwell of Caldwell Sport, and Patrick Moore of the Alberta World Cup Academy digitally joined FasterSkier Editor Topher Sabot and Associate Editor Audrey Mangan from all corners of the continent. The discussion is...
Unlike some of her peers, like Americans Simi Hamilton and Ida Sargent, Brittany Webster’s rise has not been meteoric. She’s never been on the podium at a major international race, and she has only contested four World Cups—all of which were in her home country of Canada. She doesn’t even have her own website like many of her compatriots—just a plain, infrequently updated blog on WordPress. But of all the North American athletes competing in...
As the Alberta World Cup Academy wraps up their third training camp of the year in preparation for the 2010-2011 season, one thing is clear: the combination of experience and enthusiasm that has been integral to the team’s past success is again in place. Seven athletes and one coach are new to the team this year, and there are many likely candidates to fill the leadership roles left vacant by six experienced athletes who retired...
The Alberta World Cup Academy left yesterday for a week long training camp at the Beckie Scott Training Centre on Haig Glacier today. Situated in Kananaskis Country just outside Canmore, the team will run the 18km trail up to the camp. From here, it is another 45 minute hike to the glacier where the majority of the training will take place. This week entails a heavy training volume for the athletes, which will be balanced...
