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Freeskiing Championships cancelled

Athletes start a petition calling for Whistler-Blackcomb’s support

By Adam Daff and Andrew Mitchell

An event that launched the careers of athletes such as Jenn Ashton and Hugo Harrisson has been cancelled by Whistler-Blackcomb because of a clash with the FIS World Snowboard Championships in January.

The Canadian Freeskiing Championships has been a huge draw for local and international athletes during the past eight years but this year the snowboard championships are on and Whistler-Blackcomb could not find sponsors to help move the freeskiing event.

One of Canada’s best freeskiers, Ian McIntosh, has been acting on behalf of the International Free Skiers Association, or IFSA, during the past week and is starting a petition to try and get the event back.

"The whole deal is with this new halfpipe and the fact that they’re bringing the world snowboard championships to town the same week as our event (the Canadian Freeskiing Championships) normally happens," said McIntosh.

"So it’s conflicting and they’re saying…we’re going to put (the snowboard championships) in priority and you guys don’t get your event.

"Which to me is kinda bull----.

"For us as athletes this competition has gone on for eight years and the Canadian athletes, along with the French boys, rule the big mountain world tour and for there not to be a Canadian stop, it’s going to be very bad for a lot of people."

There are other events on the IFSA world tour but many young Canadian athletes can’t afford to travel to other events. Qualifying is also a huge issue.

"Last year here is where I got my start," said McIntosh.

McIntosh finished second in Whistler and went on to finish second overall on the world tour last year, and later in the season he became the first North American athlete invited to compete as a skier in a prestigious big mountain snowboarding competition in France.

"I know a lot of kids who want to get their start on the world tour and they’re not willing to try and travel down to Snowbird (Utah) to do a qualifier down there," he said. "Because it costs too much money to see if you’re maybe going to get into a qualifier so you can make an event.

"Not to mention when you go to Snowbird the qualifiers are already filled with athletes from that area, so it’s impossible to get on anyway.

"It really will leave all these skiers with no option."

Canadian freeskiers and their pictures and videos have done a lot to promote the Whistler-Blackcomb brand and McIntosh said Whistler-Blackcomb should be trying to accommodate their biggest annual competition.

"Whistler has really got its name from athletes like us," he said.

"Every magazine you look in there’s at least going to be one full page shot of Whistler-Blackcomb with some guy hucking off a cliff or a big pow-shot.

"Big mountain skiing is what skiing is; there’s this whole new jibbing thing but every movie you watch there’s always 80 per cent big mountain footage."

Ashton, who is also based in Whistler, agreed that it would be a big loss if the Freeskiing Championships were not in Whistler this year.

"It’d be a big event to be cancelled for sure," said Ashton.

Johnny Law, who also kick-started his career on the World Freesking Tour, added that the Whistler event was one of very few opportunities many freeskiers have to establish a resume.

"If you’re a jibber (trick skier) you’re in the park and people are constantly watching…the freeskiing championships is one of the only avenues to become a professional freeskier and I really do hope Whistler-Blackcomb supports it and it happens," said Law.

Michel Beaudry, a ski journalist and past judge for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships, had a different opinion because he said the entire sport of big mountain freeskiing is in trouble because of a lack of organization and safety concerns.

"It didn’t go off well last year, there were a lot of injuries and the resort (Whistler Mountain) wasn’t very happy with the way things went," said Beaudry.

"We pulled people out of everywhere…there were about four helicopter rides out.

"Last year there were a few guys who almost died, and they’re very, very fortunate they didn’t die.

"What happens when someone gets really badly hurt and sues the resort? Nobody wins.

"That’s the paranoia in the background of all this, but to me the sad thing is that the skiing has never been stronger, the talent has never been higher. It’s just that the business side isn’t growing to match the talent."

Beaudry said the injuries are mainly the result of the skiing conditions and to reduce the number of injuries, he says the sport has two options – get better support from the ski hills, or head to the backcountry.

"To me the sport has to go in the direction of big wave surfing (where the competitors wait for the right conditions).

"I hate to say it, but it really needs to be a heli-skiing or hiking kind of event. You just can’t ask these guys to take the risks they’re taking on runs that have been skied right up to the day of the event."

Beaudry still hopes the Whistler event will run, possibly in February when the base is thicker and the risks have been further reduced.

He’d also like to see more flexibility, with athletes waiting for a fresh snowfall or clear skies to compete, rather than following a schedule that means skiing in less than perfect conditions.

"It’s a crisis… and why should a resort put on an event where the competitors get hurt and the competitors just complain about the venue? They just want good press, which is understandable," said Beaudry.

"Is there a lot of money coming into Whistler because of the big mountain skiing? I don’t think so, but I also think it’s a great marketing thing because it communicates the fact that Whistler is a big mountain resort."

Insurance is also becoming an issue for the sport, said Beaudry, and the events will likely have to find their own insurance in the future unless it can be made safer.

A stronger organization is also needed because most of the contests are organized by individual groups, although some organizations like Mountain Sports International do host more than one event.

The IFSA is the sanctioning body for the World Tour, which includes the Canadian Freeskiing Championships, but does not have the resources to organize events.

"Freeskiing is just this amorphous group of people, and because there’s no money in it there’s no organization. (Organizers) would love to make money out of the event, but there’s not that many people willing to put the work in, the blood, sweat and tears to make sure it keeps going," said Beaudry.

Whistler-Blackcomb’s Vice President of Marketing Stuart Rempel conceded that the freesking event was an important one for local athletes but confirmed there wasn’t the resources to run the event this year.

"We informed the organizer (Dave Swanwick and MSI) of the event that we couldn’t hold it because of a conflict and we were contacted late in the summer to see if there was a way to move the date," said Rempel.

"We tried, but at that point in time we just couldn’t find sponsor dollars to cover the cost of the event no matter when we moved it."

Rempel said MSI and the IFSA had never supplied a lot of money to put on the freesking events.

"If tomorrow they (the organizers) said they could come up with enough money from any sponsors we might consider holding the event," he said.

"The problem now is that we’ve really run out of time.

"I think the fingers shouldn’t be pointed at Whistler-Blackcomb because we’ve supported the event… and we just can’t hold every event, every year.

"We have a major international event that we’re hosting that is taking a huge amount of resources and time and at some point you can’t put on everything."

Anyone interested in signing the petition for the freeskiing competition can do so at the True Matrix Core shop under the Casa Lounge in Whistler Village.