Alpine Canada eyes Panorama or Whistler, B.C., for future men's World Cup downhills

Whistler and Panorama, B.C., are candidates to host men's World Cup downhill ski races in the future.

Alpine Canada president and chief executive officer Therese Brisson intends to find a replacement in Western Canada for the men's speed event held annually until 2022 in Lake Louise, Alta.

"What we really want to do is build, I'll call it a national alpine speed training centre. There are not too many places in the country where our athletes can train speed in early winter, late spring," Brisson said.

"Where can we build a national training centre for speed with safety equipment, air fence, crash pads and where do we have the right weather patterns for that? And also, what would be a sensible location for a World Cup?

"There's places like Panorama and Whistler that rise to the top."

Staging a World Cup in Canada is crucial for Alpine Canada on multiple fronts, including its business operations. The cancellation of women's giant slalom races Saturday and Sunday in Mont-Tremblant, Que., because of lack of snow and warm temperatures was a blow.

Mont-Tremblant's races drew an announced 15,000 spectators in 2023, when World Cup returned to the resort town northwest of Montreal after a 40-year absence.

"It's a bit of a stalling of the momentum of everything we were building around that event. Motivating to have an even better event next year," Brisson said.

"Especially for our Canadian athletes to not have that chance to race at home, they don't get to race at home very often. It's certainly disappointing for them."

She estimates Alpine Canada loses at least $1 million on the cancellation in lost fundraising opportunities and race costs that can't be recovered.

"If we were to have the event, it would be a significant revenue driver," Brisson said. "Not the event itself, but everything we build around the event, the fundraising activities, the sponsor activations. When you have an event that people want to come to and people are excited by, there's everything around it.

"Not being able to have an event this year will have a significant financial impact."

Minus the 2020 races cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada had hosted an alpine World Cup annually for 30 years.

While ski cross falls under the freestyle ski umbrella internationally, it's under Alpine Canada's jurisdiction domestically as a speed event. A World Cup is scheduled for March 12-15 at Craigleith near Collingwood, Ont.

Domestic races featuring the world's best ski racers help forge a connection between Canadians and what is a Eurocentric sport as the bulk of World Cup races are held outside of North America.

That connection is key to Alpine Canada's goal of growing the sport, so there's an urgency to return a men's speed event to Canada.

"If we build that national training centre first, we'll have a World Cup in fairly short order afterward," said Brisson, who said a location should be in place by 2026.

Lake Louise in Banff National Park west of Calgary hosted men's and women's downhills for decades but became a money-losing venture for Alpine Canada because of the high operational costs, the remoteness of the venue and a lack of paying spectators.

Races won't return there without a major injection of cash.

"If someone said, 'I'd be willing to invest in this $3 million a year for five years', it could be doable," Brisson said. "It was a bit of a challenge to get fans out, but the big thing is really cost structure and just a resort who's bought in, willing to build snow and build a track."

An element of Alpine Canada's strategic plan for 2021-2026 is to host races that break even or make money. A nearby community of ski racing fans that can easily access the hill is the "secret sauce", which Brisson said contributed to Mont-Tremblant's success.

Panorama, near Invermere, B.C. close to the Alberta border, hosted downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom Nor Am finals in April and the world junior alpine ski championship in 2022. Brisson estimated an investment of $3 million could provide what's needed for a training hub and World Cup downhill there.

"In Panorama, they have early winter training," she said. "With some very modest modifications and investment in safety equipment, we could envision a national training centre in Panorama with an annual World Cup and maybe hosting a para world championship."

Whistler is a tested downhill venue having hosted alpine ski races at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and a World Cup in 2008, although snow conditions and the international racing calendar dictate spring racing there as opposed to late fall.

"We've got a really nice training centre in Whistler," Brisson observed. "It's not a speed training centre with a full Dave Murray downhill, but maybe that's what we need to bring back."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press