SKI CROSS:
Star-crossed: Blue Mountain amped for Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix
By Gordie Bowles, S-Media
BLUE MOUNTAIN, Ontario ― After a historic showing on the world's biggest stage, the Canadian Ski Cross team aims to steal the spotlight in front of the home crowd this week at the Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix.
Coming off a golden sweep of ski cross at the World Freestyle Ski Championships at Deer Valley, Utah, the Canadian team is gunning for more hardware as the world tour descends on Blue Mountain, Ontario.
The Canadian women scored a rousing 1-2 finish at Deer Valley, with Kelsey Serwa claiming gold ahead of teammate Julia Murray. Chris Del Bosco, upended for gold in the X Games by American John Teller, was not to be denied at Deer Valley, staking his golden claim ahead of Finland's Jouni Pellinen and World Cup points leader Andreas Matt of Austria.
A week earlier at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, Serwa fended off a challenge from France's Ophelie David to win gold, while Del Bosco took silver and three other Canadians ― Stan Rey, Brian Bennett and Davey Barr ― finished in the top 10.
Del Bosco was fourth at the Vancouver Winter Olympics when a crash on the final jump took him out of the running for a bronze medal, so his Deer Valley medal was extra special.
"I had some tough luck at the last World Championships in Japan and then (last year's) Olympics, I was fourth in both of those events. I was kind of starting to wonder about these big events and I guess the third time is the charm. I managed to get it done this time,” Del Bosco said.
A jubilant Serwa, who was injured en route to winning gold at the X Games when she lost control on the last jump and crossed the finish line on her back, said, "I couldn't get out of bed two days ago and I didn't expect to win here. I couldn't be happier right now."
After a slow start to the World Cup season, the Canadian team has mounted an impressive midseason charge, claiming six World Cup medals in January and dominating at X Games and worlds.
Del Bosco has recovered faster than expected after off-season knee surgery, claiming a World Cup win at Les Contamines, France, to move up to second position in the overall world rankings. Del Bosco, a Vail, Colo., native who skies for Canada and has dual citizenship, is surprised at the speedy recovery from surgery May 2, 2010, to repair a left-knee tear. The original indication was that he'd be out for the season. But he recovered quickly, got back on snow in October and now he's skiing pain free for the first time in three years.
"Initially I was written off," he said of the prognosis for this season. "I can't really believe where I'm at now. A year is kind of what my surgeon [Dr. Tom Hackett] wanted me to get my mind wrapped around. That was a pretty big blow.”
But after his Deer Valley gold, Del Bosco has his sights on the overall title. "That's one of the goals," he said of getting the World Cup crystal globe.
Toronto’s Nick Zoricic has been the surprise of the season on the circuit. He claimed his first career World Cup podium finish in St. Johann, Austria. The 27-year-old former alpine racer with the Ontario Ski Team and the Craigleith Ski Club fought for the win but was passed by American Teller and settled for a silver medal. The Sarajevo-born racer led the Canadian team, whose previous best was fourth place earlier in the season at Innichen/San Candido, Italy, and he sits in fourth place in the overall standings.
“You need luck and for things to go your way,” Zoricic said. “I had a great start but I lost the race at the line when I made a little mistake at the bottom. That was a little disappointing but it still feels good to finish second.”
Zoricic said being able to share his success with his teammates made the landmark result extra special.
"We have great camaraderie between the guys and the girls as well," he said. "We are all very supportive of each other. When you cross the finish line and your teammates are jumping up and down and are genuinely happy for you, that gives you a great feeling. On a lot of other teams, it's not like that."
Kelowna's Serwa finished second in the women's race on the same day, a few days after winning in Alpe d'Huez, France, and took over the overall standings lead. Serwa’s teammate, Whistler's Ashleigh McIvor ― who won the hearts of Canadians when she made history by winning the first Olympic ski cross event last spring ― claimed two early season medals but suffered a season injury during training on Buttermilk Mountain for the X Games.
The 2011 Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix will be the first event to follow World Championships.
“We have the hottest winter sport in Canada,” said Ellis. “Last year’s event at Blue Mountain was a fantastic warm-up for the Olympics, and our team is more amped than ever to showcase what they’re made of at this year’s event.”
In the 2010 event, McIvor nailed down a second-place finish for the Canadians, with Norway’s Marte Hoeie Gjefsen winning. Austria’s Matt took the men’s victory, joined on the podium by Sweden’s Lars Lewen and Austria’s Patrick Koller. Brady Leman, fifth, was the top Canadian.
Matt enters the competition ranked first in the World Cup rankings, with Del Bosco second and Zoricic fourth. Germany’s Heidi Zacher leads the women’s rankings, with Anna Hollund of Sweden second and Serwa third.
“Winning medals at this venue is an extremely important opportunity for us to give the sport the growth it needs for a solid foundation from which to develop the next generation of athletes and engage future partners for the sport.”
Training at Blue Mountain gets under way Wednesday, with qualifying Thursday and the heats, semifinals and finals Friday.
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