With just a few months left before the cups begin, Vernon talent has been added to Canada’s Freestyle Ski Team roster.
Elena Gaskell joins the women’s World Cup Slopestyle Team, while Patrick Dew and Noah Morrison join the slopestyle development team.
The season features four FIS freestyle World Cups in Canada: on Jan. 12 in Calgary, Alberta and on Jan. 26 in Tremblant, Quebec for the moguls skiers; the first-ever halfpipe World Cup in Calgary on Feb 14-16 and, closing the season, a Big Air and slopestyle contest in Quebec City on March 14-17, 2019 in which the Vernon talent will take the reins.
Related: Gaskell opens in New Zealand
Athletes of all four disciplines will ski in the FIS Freestyle World Championships, which take place Feb. 1-10, 2019 at Deer Valley and Park City, Utah. The Big Air event is on the schedule for the first time in the history of the Worlds. Its inclusion comes on the heels of the IOC’s decision to include the event in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Canada’s roster changes fall on the heels of PyeongChang Olympics’ conclusion.
“It is not unusual to see changes on teams in a post-Olympic year,” said Peter Judge, CEO at Freestyle Canada. “For some skiers, the Games are the ultimate goal before they move on to something else. For others, it’s time to rest before coming back completely healthy for the next Olympic cycle. We have a very solid core of athletes in all four disciplines. I’m thinking here of Mikaël Kingsbury, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Cassie Sharpe and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand – who all made the podium in PyeongChang – but also those who push the boundaries of the sport, like Evan McEachran and Teal Harle. Our objective over the next few years will be to build around them and groom the next generation of young skiers to be our medal hopes at the Olympics in 2022 and 2026.”
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