NEW BRUNSWICK – Canadian alpine star Jack Crawford isn’t the only Canuck who’s had big results on the slopes recently.
Representing Alberta, a trio of Canmore skiers matched up against the best in the nation at the 2023 Canada Winter Games [CWG] at Crabbe Mountain, New Brunswick.
In his top performance ever, 15-year-old Thomas Cais took a page out of Crawford’s book of speed and flew to silver in male giant slalom (GS).
“It’s definitely been my biggest accomplishment so far in racing,” said Cais.
After two runs on the small East Coast mountain, Cais clocked in at a time of 1:48.64 – a little more than a second slower than first place Emile Piche of Quebec at 1:47.25.
“On the second run at the top, it was a little bit stressful, but I started my run and there was a little bit of a slip up at the top where I got dragged a little bit, but I managed to catch up and it just motivated me to push a little bit hard through the bottom,” said Cais.
In the same race, Canmore’s Maxim Cater, 15, finished fifth at a time of 1:51.49.
A third Canmorite to crack the top-10 in GS was Emma Fynn, finishing in ninth in the female’s race with a combined time of 1:54.18.
On the eve of the biggest competition of her life, Fynn didn’t get much sleep the night before. She had a couple of nagging injuries, but nothing that would keep her out of any competition.
“I was super worried leading up to [CWG] because I have had several injuries in the past, so that was a bit stressful, but once I was on the plane, I was like nothing is going to stop me now,” said Fynn. “I knew it and it was a super big moment for me.”
Fynn finished in the top-15 in each race (12th in ski cross, 14th in slalom, and 15th in super-G), but as a 15-year-old, she finished in the top-3 in her age group in each event.
Growing up around some pretty exceptional ski talent, Fynn’s been influenced by the likes of national team athlete and Canmore’s Britt Richardson and Fynn’s older sister Kaite, who won silver in ski cross at the 2019 Canada Winter Games.
“Because [Kaite] went, that was one of my goals to go,” said Fynn. “It was super special and super exciting moment for me when I finally qualified.
“I definitely do look up to Britt and Kaite. Even though Britt isn’t my older sister she definitely has been like a sister to me my whole life.”
Fynn is inspired by the success of Richardson, who is currently the youngest member of the national team and recently won a bronze medal in a team event at the 2023 world championship. She hopes to one day also make the national team.
“I think I’m on a good path to make the national team. That’s definitely the goal,” she said.
In the male races, Cater finished 12th in super-G, 16th in slalom, and 33rd in ski cross.
Having already won silver, Cais would go on to take 9th in super-G, 25th in ski cross, and 28th in slalom.
In slalom, Cais had an unusual run and hiked back up the hill three times after skiing past the gates. While many other competitors would have gladly accepted a DNF, it was matter of principle for Cais.
“I just wanted to finish,” said Cais. “I also have an older brother [who skis] and he’s a big inspiration to me and he’s taught me to keep pushing, like even if you crash, he always hikes back up. Even if I’m not happy and I fall way behind, it’s still a finish and you just get to ski the rest of the course.”
Cais added that the Alberta ski team consistently showed it was among the elite provinces in the country on the slopes.
“It’s definitely good to prove that [Alberta] has some good racers and we can compete with the other provinces,” he said.
Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to be as good as Jack Crawford.
