Although the team of Canadian athletes taking part in the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup events this weekend shrunk with the cancellation of the snowboard cross and big air events, its still an impressive list.
More than 200 of the top snowboard athletes from more than 20 nations will be in Whistler this weekend to compete, but the Canadians have history and the hometown crowd on their side.
Last season, Whistler held back-to-back World Cup halfpipe events because a halfpipe that was scheduled for the following weekend at Mont-Sainte-Anne Quebec was cancelled due to a lack of snow.
In the first halfpipe event, Guillaume Morisset came third in the mens competition, and three others, David Melancon, Mike Michalchuk and Daniel Migneault finished in the top 10. In the womens competition, Natasza Zurek took the silver medal, and Maelle Ricker and Lori Glazier finished fifth and eighth respectively.
In the second halfpipe, the Canadian men pulled off their first ever podium sweep led by Migneault, Morisset and Michalchuk. David Melancon was eighth.
In the womens event, Dominique Vallee finished in second place, Ricker finished fifth, and Whistler World Cup rookie Mercedes Nicoll was 10th.
All in all, the Canadians finished with six out of 12 halfpipe medals.
In the parallel giant slalom, Jasey-Jay Anderson would have taken the gold medal but crashed in the final heat to win the silver medal.
Anderson will be back again this year, and has a bit of momentum after winning the bronze in the parallel giant slalom in Sweden last weekend, as well as finishing seventh in the parallel slalom.
All of the healthy members of the national team and development team will be in Whistler this weekend, where they will be joined by top locals that have earned the right to compete. A total of 13 Whistler-based athletes are on the list.
The Canadian team, as of Dec. 10, includes:
Mens Halfpipe
Brett Carpentier, 32, of Tremblant, Quebec
Guillaume Morisset, 27, of Stoneham, Quebec
Mike Michalchuk, 25, of Pemberton
Neil Connolly of Collingwood, Ontario
Hugo Lemay, 20, of Beauport, Quebec
Crispin Lipscomb, 23, of Whistler
David Melancon, 26, of Whistler
Jessie Kumlea, 24, of Whistler
Adam Baldick, 17, of Calgary
Dan Raymond, 26, of Whistler
David Schettini, 19, of Kamloops
Parker Ferguson, 18, of Uxbridge, Ontario
Ben Wainwright, 30, of Whistler
Daniel Migneault, 24, of Baie-Comeau, Quebec
Womens Halfpipe
Lori Glazier, 31, of Whistler
Dominique Vallee, 23, of Whistler
Maelle Ricker, 24, of Vancouver
Mercedes Nicoll, 19, of Whistler
Sarah Conrad, 17, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Helen Schettini, 18, of Kamloops
Sarah Kopinya, 16, of Whistler
Isabelle Piche, 22, of Buckingham, Quebec
Jaclyn Anderson, 17, of Calgary
Natalie Sawyer, 18
Stacey Burke, 27, of Whistler
Kristi Yzerman, 31, of Whistler
Mens Parallel Slalom
Jasey-Jay Anderson, 27, of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Jerome Sylvestre, 23, of Bromont, Quebec
Francois Boivin, 20, of Jonquiere, Quebec
Mike Kwiatkowski, 24, of Vancouver
Mark Fawcett, 30, of New Brunswick
Ian Hadgkiss, 29, of Whistler
Matt Horne, 24, of Burlington, Ontario
Andrew Watts, 25, of Calgary
Adam McLeish, 23
Womens Parallel Slalom
Alexa Loo, 30, of Whistler
Helene Cloutier, 23, of St Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec
Aimee Newton, 23, of Calgary
Constance Boisvert, 20, of Ste Foy, Quebec
Ekaterina Zaviolov, 18, of Calgary
Victoria Kravec, 20, of Calgary
Kimiko Zakreski, 19, of Calgary