Rocky Mountain Racers Season Report 2015-2016

The 2016-17 ski season kicked off for RMR athletes at the December NorAm races in Canmore. These races are always nice because athletes don’t have to travel and can stay at home in their own beds, and this home-field advantage was highlighted in some great results! Andrea Dupont was fifth in the first two races distance races and fourth in the sprint, while Anna MacIsaac-Jones claimed a bronze medal in the mass start skate and Maya MacIsaac-Jones finished two 6th places in the distance races. On the men’s side, Michael MacIsaac-Jones had a strong start to the year with a 5th place in the classic sprint qualifier.
 
After Canmore, the XC team (with some biathletes mingled in) headed to Vernon for another NorAm. Armed with fast skis and lots of motivation, the team had great start to the sprint day with Maya MacIsaac-Jones wining her qualifier. In the finals, Maya finished 1st to claim her first NorAm win, followed closely by fellow RMR teammate Andrea Dupont to sweep the top two steps on the podium. They were joined in their heat by another RMR teammate, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, who finished sixth, while Anna MacIsaac-Jones earned a hard-fought fourth place in the Juvenile Girls final. In the distance race, Andrea Dupont and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt had standout performances, finishing 3rd and 5th respectively.
 
With her solid start to the season, RMR athlete Maya MacIsaac-Jones secured a spot on the Canadian World Cup B-Tour in January. Although she was sad to leave her team behind in Canada, she headed to Europe eager to prove herself on the World Cup scene. After spending a few weeks recovering from jet lag and getting used to working with the Canadian team, she proved that RMR training can create big results by competing in 3 OPA cup races and 4 World Cup races, finishing top Canadian woman and 31st in the Planica World Cup skate sprint, coming shy of the top-30 by less than a second.
 
Meanwhile, as most people around the globe were clinking glasses and toasting the new year of 2016, seven RMR athletes were climbing on planes to head down to Houghton, Michigan for some competitive racing at this year’s U.S. Nationals. Between the group they had a good mix of experienced traveling veterans and some newbies to the out-of-country racing scene, but everyone, no matter how experienced, thoroughly enjoyed the experience in Houghton and was amazed with the impressive level of competition that exists outside of the Canadian circuit. 
   
As a club RMR had a small, but strong showing of finishes amidst the American field, including an impressive 9th place (and top Canadian) finish in open women by Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt in the 20km Skate mass start. Other highlights include Andrea Dupont’s effort to be the sole RMR athlete to qualify for heats in the open Skate sprint, as well as her 16th place in the 20km Skate. Also notable were Ember Large’s 22nd place in the 20km skate, and Junior Michael MacIsaac-Jones’ 38th place finish in the 10km skate. Rounding out the RMR crew racing in the USA were Stuart Harden and Guillaume Bertrand, who used the races to gain valuable international racing experience.

Following U.S. nationals, the RMR crew drove back up to Thunder Bay, Ontario, for the 3 races that make up the World Junior & U23 trials, but due to some extremely cold weather race #3 was canceled, making for some stiff competition and chilly fingers in the remaining 2 races. Going into the trials with some fatigue and long travel days was tough, but everyone pushed through and managed to pull out some very decent races in the end. Notable athletes and results from day one include Andrea Dupont who was first in open women, sharing the podium with Ember Large who placed 4th. Andrea then proceeded to dominate the field for a double win in both the 1.2km skate sprint as well as the 10km classic the following day. From the distance day, other results include Ember Large’s 9th position with Emma Camicioli close behind in 11th, and on the boys’ side Erik Carlton finished with an impressive 13th place in the Open Men category. Other notable results were Emma Camicioli’s 9th place finish in the sprint and Stuart Harden’s 15th in open men, also in the skate sprint. 
 
After a brief two-week recovery and training block from the Thunder Bay races, the RMR crew headed to Mont Sainte Anne to prove themselves once again on the NorAm circuit. The weekend comprised of a skate individual start, followed by a classic pursuit race, where the start order depended on the athlete’s result from the previous day. Result highlights include Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt’s 6th and 2nd places, Eric Carleton’s 12th place, Michael MacIsaac-Jones’ 14th place, and Ember Large’s 9th place.
 
Our next stops on the NorAm Schedule this year were the Eastern Canadian Championships. As in previous years, Easterns took place at Nakkertok in Gatineau, Quebec. Despite the notable lack of cheese curds, snow and kitchens the yearly trip to Ottawa was a blast. The sprint started off well, with Maya MacIsaac-Jones winning her second NorAm sprint title of the year and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt placing third. Michael MacIsaac-Jones also had a good showing in 11th in the junior men, and Beth Fowler also had a solid 18th place in her category. The second day was a short distance skate race, with more podiums from Maya and Olivia and some good races all round. The classic distance day was interesting, with many crashes in all the categories. Teammates Stuart Harden and Emma Camicioli won the staying-on-their-feet awards, but several other athletes fell once, twice or even three times!
 
In the meantime, RMR athlete Andrea Dupont was heading over to Europe as to compete for Canada on the World Cup circuit. With her solid performances in the Period 2 of the NorAm circuit, had secured her position as NorAm leader and was given this opportunity, which included two classic city sprints in Stockholm, SWE and Drammen, NOR. Classic sprints are among Andrea’s favourite races, and although this was not first time on the World Cup circuit, she was very excited to race at the highest level. While her final results were not what she was hoping for, Andrea was able to learn from the experience and use it to prepare her for World Cups later in the season. 
While most of the team was racing Canada, junior biathlete India McIsaac was heading to Romania to compete in Biathlon World Juniors, her first time heading to compete overseas. Armed with advice from her coaches, teammates, family and friends about the importance of having fun and learning from the experience, she set off to compete against the best girls in the world, most of whom were several years older than her. Despite some challenging races and struggling with her shooting, India came away from the event happy with her ski speed and with the knowledge that next time she races internationally, she will be able to take all the lessons she learnt at World Juniors and use them to her advantage.
 
Two weeks after Easterns, many of the Rocky Mountain Racers drove up the Icefields parkway to Prince George, BC for Western Canadian Championships. The skies were blue and it was an adventure in icy corners and klister. Our coaches and volunteers once again provided excellent skis despite tricky conditions. The classic sprint kicked off the weekend with some more podiums from Maya MacIsaac-Jones and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt. In the distance skate race, the winner of most interesting result of the day was Anna MacIsaac-Jones, with a tie for 4th place. RMR also occupied half of the top ten in Senior Women with Olivia 2nd, Maya 3rd, India McIsaac (racing up) 7th, Ember Large 8th and Emma Camicioli 9th. On Sunday, several racers went home to prepare for the Ski Tour Canada, but the remainder of the squad fared well, with highlights including India’s 3rd place in Junior Women, Emma’s 4th place in Senior Women and Anna’s 6th place in Juvenile Girls. 
 
While some of the team tackled Canada’s best at the Western Canadian Championships, young RMR biathlete Gillian Gowling went head-to-head against the best in the world at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Gillian, along with 3 other Canadian biathletes, competed in three different races, where she finished top Canadian woman and scored a top-30 result in the 7.5km sprint. In addition to gaining valuable racing experience, Gillian took advantage of the Learn & Share seminars and activities at the Games, where she learned about clean sport, life after sport, and experienced firsthand the incredible passion for skiing in Norway.
 
Shortly after Westerns was the inaugural Ski Tour Canada. This event was the focal point of the season for Canada's best racers, of which RMR athletes and staff were well represented. Maya MacIsaac-Jones, Andrea Dupont and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt were each selected to be part of the Ski Tour team, while John Jaques was an important member of the waxing staff. The eight World Cup races spread over twelve days and across 4 different Canadian cities on opposite ends of the country was arguably one of the most taxing race experiences anyone had ever had. In the first race of the Tour, a skate sprint in Gatineau, Maya led the Women's team off with a spectacular bang, being the first Canadian woman to race to a top thirty result in a World Cup this season. After being in one of the fastest quarter finals of the day, Maya finished a career best 29th. The following day, the classic 10km mass start in Montreal, was a rough day for RMR. After a large crash early in the race, Andrea suffered a concussion as well as other small injuries. Despite finishing the race, Andrea was forced to pull out of the Tour and she did not start the following races in Quebec City where she was eager to have another go at the sprint - her strongest event. Maya had another impressive performance at the Quebec City sprint finishing 34th, less than a second from a qualifying position in 30th. Olivia showed consistency with three 42nd place finishes, and both Olivia and Maya were among the five girls who completed every race at the tour. 
 
For some of the RMR biathletes, their season came to a close with the Canadian Biathlon National Championships. For many, it was not the first time attending this event, which occurs every close to the end of the biathlon season. This year, athletes raced on the grueling trails in Valcartier, Quebec, and were treated to both soft slush as well as hard-packed icy conditions. The race trails were beautiful, but almost all up hill, making it a challenging course for most. RMR ahletes participated in four medal events throughout the week, where several members of the team posted top 10 results and Nate Gerwing brought home a bronze medal in the team relay.
 
For the XC athletes, their season came to a spectacular close with Nationals in Whitehorse, Yukon. Some strong results on the women’s side include Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt’s 2nd place, Maya MacIsaac-Jones’s 3rd place, and Andrea Dupont’s 5th place in the Senior Women’s skate sprints. Emma Camicioli and Ember Large also had excellent races placing finishing in the top-20 in the Senior Women’s skate distance race. It was the younger skiers, however, who shone on the trip as India McIsaac came away with two bronze medals in the skate sprint and skate distance, while Anna MacIsaac-Jones came away with a top-10 in the skate distance and Gillian Gowling with a 14th place in the skate sprint (her first sprint race ever). Beth Fowler and Erik Carleton also represented RMR at Nationals, with Beth posting some strong performances and Erik having the best race of his season in the skate distance to finish 10th Senior man. For RMR, Nationals was a great experience because not only were the athletes able to have some great performances, but the event was also a great opportunity for the team to compete with the best skiers in the country.
 
The team is now back in Canmore, recovering and recuperating from a long and exciting season. While some athletes will be heading off on vacation, others will stick around in Canmore for the month of April working, catching up on homework, and enjoying the beautiful crust skiing conditions in the Rockies.