Alpine skiing | While waiting for the World Cup at Tremblant…

(Mont-Tremblant) Shoulder bag of de-icing salt, rake in hand, a dozen coaches and technicians from the Canadian women’s alpine ski team were busy on the courses of the Flying Mile trail at Tremblant resort last week.

On this almost still wintry morning when the sun wanted to break through, the mountain spat its waters through rocks and muddy channels along the edge of the slope. The snow, very firm at the start of this training camp the week before, was beginning to soften. As in the World Cup, salt is used to extract water from snow crystals, which then freezes to create a more solid and uniform surface.

“Caaaaass, no! Cassidy Gray hadn’t gotten the memo. The young British Columbian skier therefore rushed between the poles without hearing the amused warning of her teammate Valérie Grenier. The salt hadn’t had time to do its job…

Five or six bends and poof! Gray disappeared into the first wall of the Flying Mile. Grenier, Amelia Smart, Britt Richardson, Sarah Bennett and world champion Laurence St-Germain followed her one after another. Watching these athletes on a computer screen is one thing. Seeing them cut the curves a few meters from us is another. Photographer Martin Tremblay can confirm this.

In less than eight months, the same skiers – with the exception of slalomer Laurence St-Germain – will start from the same place for two giant slaloms of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, a first in 40 years for the queen resort. of the Laurentians.

“It’s a dream come true,” enthused Valérie Grenier as she got back into the chairlift between two runs. “I can’t believe it yet. It’s crazy. »

From April 4 to 14, Grenier and her teammates held their traditional spring camp on the slope itself where they will perform in front of an audience on December 2 and 3. The opportunity is unprecedented for those who spend most of the fall and winter in Europe, with a few hops in North America, most often in the Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. .

“We all feel very lucky to be on the race track. It’s still an advantage. »

Bennett, 21, nods. “It’s really something incredible, especially for me who is younger, underlines the Stoneham skier. When I go to World Cups, it’s rare that I’ve already skied there. I discover each time and I have no reference. It makes it super difficult. »

Injured and operated on a shoulder in mid-January, she resumed training on the courses in Mont-Tremblant. “Finally, we can be on a fair level with the European teams who still train on their World Cup tracks. It’s really cool that the mountain lets us do that. »

For Grenier, this camp is all the more special because she grew up on the slopes of Mont-Tremblant.

“I started at 2 years old and I’ve skied here all my life,” says the native of Saint-Isidore, a town 45 minutes west of Ottawa. “My grandparents have a condo here. At first, the whole family came there. It’s not that big and everyone slept on the floor! I have lots of cousins ​​and we all skied together. My parents then bought a condo. »

More attention

Before the camp, her coach Laurent Praz, recently promoted to head the women’s team following the surprise departure of American Karin Harjo, asked her if she needed “special treatment” for this return to his alma mater.

The Italian remembered his friend Federica Brignone, crowned with her title of World Cup champion and solicited from all sides when she returned home to her village in Valle d’Aosta.

The Franco-Ontarian did not see the need for it at all. She made the jump during the Easter weekend, when traffic was at its peak.

“Finally, I was wrong”, concedes the one who signed the first victory of her career over the white circus, on January 7 in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), in addition to concluding the campaign with a third place in Soldeu (Andorra) , last month.

” It’s crazy ! Wherever I am, there are people who know me, say hello to me, congratulate me, ask to take their picture. I did not expect that. As much as it’s a nice downhill ski racing community here, I didn’t think it was that bad. For real, I really like it. It warms my heart and it’s flattering, but it’s been a lot to deal with. »

By chance, a client of the hotel where Grenier was answering questions stops to take a photo on the sly…

The local star does not especially complain about this extra attention, especially since the skiers used to practice their art in relative indifference for years at Lake Louise, a stage that was dropped thanks to Trembling.

At the top

In the gate, the competitors will have a breathtaking view of Lake Tremblant, on the right, and the colorful roofs of the pedestrian village, towards which they will dive directly.

“From below, the public can really see a good part of the track, rejoices Laurent Praz. Normally it’s not that easy to find. Often the tracks turn between the trees. So you don’t have all that visibility. The arrival in the village on the pedestrian way, it will be super good and easy to access for the public. »

For the time being, the head coach is especially delighted to count on a secure place dedicated to his cause. On some mornings, the resort opened the chairlift earlier to allow them to slide down the full length of the run, sheltered from the public in the lower bowl.

“Honestly, in Canada, it is very difficult to have places to train where there is all this desire to have us, notes Praz. The club helps us, we have all the ski lifts, the whole village is very happy that we are here. Tracks are available when needed. It makes everything easier because the girls also feel a little more at home. It still makes a difference. »

At the top of the Flying Mile, skiers prepare for another descent. Meticulous, Valérie Grenier activates her muscles as she would before a World Cup round. In different positions, she stretches a rubber band held by physiotherapist Alexandre Gariépy.

Simultaneously, she engages in what looks like a new kind of rock-paper-scissors game. “Pepper, banana, salt, pear,” she enumerates, turning her head to locate the physio’s hand. This one deploys its fingers in a certain way. According to a pre-established code, a circle with the thumb and the index finger was equivalent to the pear, the raised index and little finger represented the banana, etc.

“It’s a neuro-athletic exercise,” explains Gariépy, who has been following the women’s team for five years. So not only are Grenier’s muscles sharp, his brain is as well.

A little further down, Laurence St-Germain listens to the instructions of Francis Royal, the new coach of the slalom group. “Today, the watchword is symmetry,” announces the formercoach head of the Quebec team, who had already been a mentor for the world champion for years.

“I let go, I change feet and there I have a power relationship with my foot before the angulation, explains Royal, mimicking the movement with his gloves in the chairlift. This relationship must remain the same throughout the angulation. It’ll help you get out of the groove. It will be interesting. You build your speed behind, but afterwards, you keep the same power relation in your angulation. »

St-Germain nods, familiar with this hermetic language for a Sunday skier. The ascent is fast: in less than five minutes, the skiers are ready to set off again. An express line allows them to cut the queue.

“It allows us to have rhythm, underlines Francis Royal. Our wish is that it be a legacy of the World Cup for sport and its development. »

Clack, clack, clack… Laurence St-Germain gets back to it and hits the short stakes with his shin guards. She holds her poles halfway due to a thumb injury sustained the previous week. She fell sideways into the main wall trying to correct a mistake.

“Have you sacred?

– I no longer sacred because I had fallen! “, she replies tit for tat.

A doctor initially diagnosed a fracture, but the radiologist saw it as a sprain instead. “Anyway, it’s going to take the same time to heal,” she slices, resigned.

The sun becomes more insistent and the surface softens. St-Germain hops in her car heading to Polytechnique Montreal, where the undergraduate biomedical engineering student had an afternoon presentation.

“It was on a Lego robot that we designed to insert screws into a basin,” she explains.

After half a dozen descents, the Canadian giants give the boards to the technicians who were waiting for them in a small enclosed area at the foot of the chairlift. With big bags on their backs, they walk back to the hotel through the almost deserted village. Thinking perhaps of the atmosphere that will reign there during the World Cup at the beginning of next winter.

In French !

A rare phenomenon in high-level Canadian sport, much of the communication is done in French within the women’s alpine ski team. Laurent Praz speaks the language of Ducharme, as does his successor in charge of the giant slalom/super-G group, Pierre Miniotti, also from Valle d’Aosta. Marie-Ève ​​Boulianne and Pierre Caron are still part of the coaching staff. The new high performance director, Jean-François Rapatel, is also from Quebec. “It’s super cool, we have a lot of discussions in French and the environment is bilingual,” said Francis Royal, head coach of the slalom team.

Simon Drouin, The Press