Alpine Canada and the ski resort north of Montreal have received conditional approval from the International Ski Federation (FIS) for annual slalom races from 2023 to 2025, the organization said in a statement Tuesday.
Improvements are currently being made to the course. Test events must take place in February and March.
The first World Cup of two giant slalom races is scheduled for Mont Tremblant on December 2 and 3, 2023.
“The people of Tremblant have been talking about hosting a World Cup for 15 years,” Alpine Canada president and CEO Thérèse Brisson told The Canadian Press.
Canadian slalom and giant slalom specialists rarely ski at home. Panorama, BC hosted a women’s slalom and giant slalom in 2007.
“Our women’s team is so strong in the technical events and despite that, we didn’t have a World Cup event,” noted Brisson.
“Getting a technical race was sort of a priority. That it is so close to Montreal, in the Laurentians, and even very close to Eastern Ontario, where there is a large pool of fans who do not have the chance to see a World Cup, was also a priority.
Canada, however, has been a regular stop on the downhill World Cup circuit for more than 30 years. Lake Louise, Alberta, will also host downhill events for men and women next November and December, for a total of six races.
Two-time Olympian Valérie Grenier is very excited about running giant slalom, her specialty, on the mountain where she learned to ski.
“I’m so happy,” said the 25-year-old skier from St-Isidore, Ont., after training in Italy for the World Cup in Sölden, Austria this weekend.
“It’s a dream come true, because every time I see athletes from other countries racing at home, it seems so amazing. We can see how much it means a lot to them and their supporters. I’m blown away just to think it could happen to me.”
Impact felt as far as Lake Louise?
Tuesday’s announcement, along with other variables, could impact the future of the Lake Louise stage, which has hosted the World Cup for 30 years.
The giant slalom races in Quebec would overlap the downhills in Alberta on the same weekend, if they keep the same window on the FIS calendar.
Brisson said Alpine Canada still wants to host the men’s events in Western Canada. The FIS has still not revealed its calendar for the 2023-24 season.
“Whether there will still be women’s sprint events in North America has yet to be determined,” Brisson said. My priority is definitely to keep the men’s speed events in the West.”
Austrian media, quoting FIS race director Klaus Waldner, reported that the 2022 stage in Lake Louise would be the last in the World Cup.
“It would be premature to say that,” said Brisson. When I asked the different resorts if any of them were interested in hosting a men’s World Cup at the start of winter or in February, (…) several raised their hands and showed interest. “Lake Louise is also part of the discussion.”
The men usually kick off their season with a block of races in North America, at Lake Louise and then Beaver Creek, Colorado, before heading to Europe.
The tradition will be broken this season with two men’s downhills on October 29-30 and two women’s downhills on November 5-6 in Europe.
One of the arguments of Tremblant’s candidacy is that its World Cup would take place a week after the slalom and giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, which makes it easier for the athletes to travel.
Alpine Canada took over in Lake Louise this year, after Winterstart Events ran the event for 10 years. Although the venue is tried and tested, it is expensive to hold a World Cup there, given that it is located in a national park and the costs for creating artificial snow have skyrocketed.
“For it to work in Lake Louise, you have to hold six races, as has happened in the past,” said Brisson. It’s probably the most expensive place in the world to produce snow.”
Whistler, British Columbia last hosted the men’s and women’s World Cups in downhill, super-G, giant slalom and alpine combined in 2008, as test events for the Olympic Games in Vancouver, 2010.
Tremblant isn’t high enough to accommodate downhill or super-G, however, Brisson admitted.
“However, there is a beautiful track that would allow you to have a giant slalom that would end in the heart of the village,” she concludes.