CAST Alpine Director Dusan Grasic describes new slope as “a dream come true”

CALGARY, AB (October 9th, 2007) – The Canadian Alpine Ski Team will train on home snow throughout the fall for the first time ever.

With a new downhill training course built by the CODA operations team and funded by Own the Podium 2010 set to open on Camp Green @ Farnham Glacier adjacent to the existing technical runs, Alpine Canada Alpin said all its fast-improving teams will head to British Columbia over the next two months instead of training on the crowded glaciers of Europe.

“It has always been my dream that we would have our own facility and we would be able to actually train on a very challenging downhill course right here in Canada before the start of the ski racing season,” said CAST Alpine Director Dusan Grasic. “Unlike in Europe, we will have this whole place to ourselves. I don’t think any nation in the world has that option or advantage,” Grasic said.

As a result, all of Canada’s national team athletes that set a record for World Cup medals last season will train at Camp Green @ Farnham Glacier between September 22nd and October 26th.

Established two years ago thanks in part to a donation from Don & Shirley Green, Camp Green @ Farnham Glacier is a leading summer training facility for Canadian snowsport athletes. Located near Invermere, BC, the project was created in partnership with Alpine Canada Alpin, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association and the Canadian Snowboard Federation. The Calgary Olympic Development Agency (CODA), which operates the facility, subsidizes more than $1-million in operating costs to go along with a significant financial contribution made when it was launched.

Own the Podium 2010 is a winter sport technical initiative designed to help Canada win the most number of medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and to place among the Top 3 at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Alpine Canada Alpin has also established a goal to be a world leading ski racing nation by 2010.

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) is the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada with more than 50,000 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteer members and over 200,000 supporting members. ACA manages the high performance programs for the athletes of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who represent Canada throughout the world. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit the new www.canski.org.

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