Canadian skiers are playing a key role in testing new air bags during World Cup training

Alpine skiing appears set to undergo a dramatic shift, and three Canadian racers are at the forefront of that. On Thursday, Canadian Jan Hudec and Italian Werner Heel became the first two skiers to wear an air bag on a World Cup course in downhill training at Val Gardena, Italy. Over the last four years, Italian ski manufacturer Dainese has been working with the Fédération Internationale de Ski (the world skiing governing body) to collect data on crashes and when air bags should deploy, and that's led to the air bags that Hudec and Heel tested Thursday. They could represent a major change in the skiing world, and one that could make the sport much safer.

The bags, which skiers will wear behind their necks, are based on ones that have been used in motorcycle racing since 2009. The challenge in converting them to skiing has been finding at exactly what point a skier has no chance to regain control, though. That's why Dainese has been getting racers to wear tracking chips over the last four years, collecting data on when a crash is inevitable and when the air bag should deploy. The bags didn't deploy during Thursday's training session, as neither Hudec or Heel crashed, but having skiers wear these on a World Cup course is a remarkable step. The bags already have at least one prominent fan, too, U.S. Ski Team men's head coach Sasha Rearick. Here's what he told The Associated Press:

The bags aren't approved for use during races yet, but up to six skiers will wear them in training for the rest of the World Cup season. That includes Hudec, fellow Canadians Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay, and Heel, all of whom are sponsored by Dainese. Other non-sponsored skiers can apply at each training session to wear the two remaining air bags. With Canadians wearing half the air bags at each session, though, it's clear that Canadian skiers are going to be key to the development and potential success of this technology.

Those are pretty good picks from a competitive standpoint, too: Osbourne-Paradis finished fourth at Beaver Creek two weeks back, while Hudec was seventh and Guay was 16th. Guay has hit 19 World Cup podiums over his career, too, one behind the Canadian record held by Sochi 2014 chef de mission Steve Podborski, and he finished first in downhill training Thursday (Osbourne-Paradis was third). Canada's skiers appear set to make plenty of noise on the World Cup circuit and in the Olympics, but their roles in testing this air bag technology could also have them near the front of dramatic change in skiing equipment.