Sam Cordell crossed another item off his professional bucket list late last year in Idre Fjäll, Sweden by qualifying for his first moguls World Cup final. The Whistlerite ended up 16th with a score of 65.74 as Canadian legend Mikael Kingsbury (85.02) added another win to his unrivaled resume.
For Cordell, who’s only been on the national NextGen roster since 2022, every milestone matters.
“Canada’s one of the preeminent countries in moguls skiing. We have such a long history, and now I feel like our team is in a bit of a renaissance,” Cordell opined. “We have a bunch of guys my age that are all starting to come into their own, like Julian Viel, Louis-David Chalifoux, Elliot Vaillancourt. [Elliot is] a bit older than me, but he just got his first World Cup medal [Dec. 15] in France.
“Mik Kingsbury is 31. He’s the oldest World Cup winner in history. It’s him and it’s all the young guys who are six, eight or ten years younger than him, so he’s an amazing mentor for us. Just to watch him train and see how he deals with every little detail is invaluable.”
Newly-minted national teamers are still green in terms of top-flight international experience and must labour to secure funding even as they try to bolster their physical and mental skills. Cordell is accustomed to working each summer and basically being a part-time athlete. That’s why the grant he received from CANFund—an entirely donation-run organization—goes a long way.
“To get a grant like that, you can set yourself up and just train full time,” said Cordell. “You don't have to worry about financial costs at all—you just give yourself 100 per cent. Charities like CANFund fill that gap that a lot of people have in their athletic careers and I think they do an amazing job. Can’t express how much I’m grateful for that.”
Other Sea to Sky athletes who benefit from CANFund’s generosity include alpine skier Brodie Seger, ski cross racer Tiana Gairns and bobsled pilot Mackenzie Stewart.
'A proper ski education'
Cordell is originally from Vancouver and inherited his parents’ love of skiing. He signed up with the Blackcomb Freestyle Club (now Freestyle Whistler) at 11 years old and cut his teeth in all the freestyle disciplines, but moguls always came more naturally to him. The BC development team sent him an invite when he was 15, and he’s scarcely looked back since.
“Moguls combines aspects from every discipline of skiing, in a way,” Cordell explained. “You have the acrobatic sensibilities of slopestyle. You have the need to think on your feet that you get in freeride and big mountain—as you have to really find a line and learn a course over a couple of days. It has the technical edgework and turning side of racing.
"In moguls, you really get a proper ski education, so to speak…and to me it’s the perfect amalgamation of everything I like in skiing.”
One of Cordell’s most notable career achievements to date is the dual moguls bronze he earned last March at the Canadian National Championships. Nationals are typically the only chance that provincial or NextGen-level skiers get to test themselves against the senior team, and reaching the podium in Val Saint-Côme, Que. helped Cordell earn his recent World Cup opportunities.
He’s got plenty to say about the unique challenge of dual moguls.
“In singles, I suppose you're a lot more meticulous with your plan,” Cordell remarked. “You're looking to hit certain moguls and jump in a certain direction…there's a lot of little details that you're really focusing on. In dual, that all goes out the window—you're just focused on going as fast as possible while still staying on your feet and making it down the hill.
“A big part of dual moguls for me is relying on senses other than your sight. You're really listening in your periphery to know what the other skier is doing. If they're maybe out of control, you can sometimes [discern that] based on the sound their skis are making.”
The next few years will be key for 23-year-old Cordell as he tries to establish himself as one of Canada’s top talents. He specifically shouts out former BC team coach Josh Kober and his family for getting him this far, and looks forward to upgrading his game en route to (hopefully) a future Olympic or World Championships appearance.
