yyzcanuck Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 From this link... High hopes on the slag heap Defunct Dutch coal mine hosts season-opener Terry Bell, The Province Published: Thursday, October 02, 2008 From the fairways of the Whistler Golf Club to a snow-covered slag heap in Holland, that's the itinerary for Canada's top alpine snowboarders this week. The national snowboard team held its annual fundraising golf tournament Wednesday. Today the five-member alpine contingent flies to the Netherlands for its season-opener, a men's and women's parallel slalom on a 260-metre indoor course at Landgraaf next Friday. "It's flat in Holland but there's a big hill that's a remnant of an old coal mine where they've left all the slag or whatever in a big heap," says Richmond's Alexa Loo, who was 23rd there last season. "It's a bit strange. But being a Canadian there's a bit of nostalgia there because it smells exactly like a hockey rink. It's kind of that refrigerator, sweaty kind of smell." The place is owned by Soelden, an Austrian resort. The atmosphere is festive with music, beer and $15 schnitzels. The facility has a six-man chair lift, a T-bar and a rope tow. There's even a 'mid-station' where you can have a drink. "The run's 20 seconds long so if you really need to stop and have a drink ... there you go," said Loo with a chuckle. Still, it's a good early test for the world's best boarders. It's climate controlled. The snow's said to be the best of any of the world's indoor facilities. Loo is hoping to get off to a quick start and see some improvement this season. She was never quite 100 per cent last season after having surgery to repair a torn ACL in her left knee in February 2007. "I was scared that I wouldn't be able to come back from the injury," she said. "It's a big one, it's a potential career wrecker. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do what I had to do to get it healed. "But I wanted to quit on my terms. When I did it, I thought this isn't the end. I'm not ready to hang it up." Over the summer Loo has made some changes on her board. She's changed the setup on her bindings and is using a stiffer boot. "Everything's coming together," she said. "I'm stronger than I was last year. I'm feeling really good about the season. I'm looking forward to it." Loo will be joined on the slag heap by Calgary's Kimiko Zakreski, Jasey-Jay Anderson of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Toronto's Michael Lambert and Matt Morison of Burketon, Ont. Morison, 21, is a rising star. Last season he had three third-place finishes and a win in the final World Cup race of the year at Valmalenco, Italy. Canada has not done well at Landgraaf. Caroline Calve of Gatineau, Que., led Canada last year with a sixth-place finish. She's injured and won't make the trip this year. Anderson was the top man, placing 10th. But the Canadian snowboard team spent a good part of the summer training at Camp Green on Farnham Glacier near Radium Hot Springs. Canadian alpine head coach Mark Fawcett hopes that the access to Farnham will help his crew close the gap on the Europeans who've always had an early-season edge because they've been able to access well-developed training sites on their glaciers. "Now with Farnham we actually have a venue to be able to train in September without having to travel halfway across the planet," he said. "This is one of the first seasons where we're really prepared for an October race." Canada has two World Cup snowboarding podiums this season. Whistler's Crispin Lipscomb was third in a halfpipe in New Zealand on Sept. 7 and Squamish's Maelle Ricker was third in snowboardcross in Argentina on Sept. 13. tbell@png.canwest.com © The Vancouver Province 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yyzcanuck Posted October 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 From this link... Sluggish start to year for Canadian 'boarding teams The Province Published: Sunday, October 12, 2008 Canada's snowboarders finished a long way from the podium as the World Cup season opened Friday with a parallel giant slalom at an indoor venue at Landgraaf, the Netherlands. Matthew Morison of Burketon, Ont., was Canada's top rider, placing 20th. Jasey-Jay Anderson of Mont Tremblant, Que., was 21st and Michael Lambert of Toronto 35th. Richmond's Alexa Loo was 27th in the women's race. Calgary's Kimiko Zakreski was 34th. Austria's Doris Guenther won the women's race, with fellow Austrian Heidi Naururer finishing a close second and Nicolien Saurbreij of the Netherlands placing third. On the men's side Austria's Benjamin Karl took first, American Adam Smith placed second and German Patrick Bussler finished third. © The Vancouver Province 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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