HIGH ACHIEVERS: Para skiers Alexis Guimond, Emma Archibald, Kalle Ericsson, Sierra Smith making big international impressions

By Martin Cleary

If Gatineau’s Alexis Guimond and Ottawa’s Emma Archibald ever happen to cross paths, they’d have plenty to talk about over a cup of coffee.

They’re both in their early 20s, are competitive para skiers in different disciplines and have something in common that’s rather unique.

Guimond, who won a medal in each of his first seven para alpine World Cup ski races this season, only uses one pole instead of two as he zips between gates because of muscular impairment.

Archibald, who made her debut this week on the para nordic World Cup skiing circuit, would fully understand Guimond’s approach because she doesn’t use any poles when she travels on the flats or up and down hills.

Born with Amniotic Band Syndrome and clubbed feet, Archibald isn’t able to grasp the poles in either hand. She only has three fingers on each hand. Instead, she uses the power generated by her forward and backward arm movements to send her over the courses in her classic and freestyle races.

At six months old, Guimond accidentally rolled off a countertop and his landing resulted in paralysis on the right side of his body. When he was 12 years old, he fainted and fell after a long mountain bike ride. It was determined he had suffered a stroke, which caused paralysis on the left side of his body.

His two accidents impacted the size and strength of his legs and his arms had muscular damage, meaning he can only hold a ski pole in his left hand.

Guimond understands the limitations on his turns, his strength isn’t consistent and his balance has been affected, but he has made the absolute most of his situation.

A two-time Paralympian who won the 2018 giant slalom bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Games, Guimond continues to be one of the most successful men’s standing skiers on the World Cup circuit.

On Dec. 20, he won the men’s super-G gold medal in Steinach am Brenner, Austria, narrowly defeating his two biggest rivals – Arthur Bauchet of France by 0.17 seconds and Robin Cuche of Switzerland by 0.23 seconds.

During that pre-Christmas World Cup stop, Guimond also was second in a giant slalom and third in another super-G.

The para alpine World Cup season started in mid-December in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Guimond opened with a bronze-medal effort in the downhill and followed with a silver in the second downhill.

Guimond finished this week’s World Cup racing in Veysonnaz, Switzerland with bronze medals in both giant slalom races. He was fourth after the first run on Monday, but used the third-best time in the second run to reach the medal podium. On Tuesday, he showed his consistency by finishing third in each run.

He didn’t enter Wednesday’s slalom race and was one of seven skiers not to finish the super-G race on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Archibald is getting her first para nordic World Cup experience this week in Toblach, Italy.

Archibald, who discovered nordic skiing during a 2019 Paralympic search camp and was invited to a Nordiq Canada para development camp in Canmore, AB., has posted two top-six results with two weekend races remaining on her schedule.

On Wednesday, the fourth-year University of Ottawa nursing student and Gee-Gees’ nordic team captain placed sixth in the women’s classic 10-kilometre interval race in a field of 12 international skiers. This would be a welcome change for Archibald as she quite often is the only skier in her classification in her domestic races.

In the classic 10-kilometre mass-start race on Thursday, she was fifth among seven finishers. On the weekend, Archibald is scheduled to compete in the freestyle sprints on Saturday and the freestyle 10-kilometre interval race on Sunday.

“Emma had a great first FIS para nordic World Cup race against a very strong field of World Cup, world championship and Paralympic medallists,” Nordiq Canada high-performance director Kate Boyd said, after the Wednesday race.

“Her placing and points achieved against this field of athletes shows us she is in the mix with the best in the world. We are excited to see what Emma can achieve.”

Back on the para alpine World Cup circuit, Swedish-born Kalle Ericsson of Kimberley, B.C., and guide Sierra Smith of Ottawa recorded an impressive debut in Veysonnaz.

In their first four races this week at the top international level, Ericsson and Smith teamed for two silver medals, one bronze and one fourth-place result in the men’s vision-impaired classification.

The five-time 2023 national champions began their para alpine World Cup careers with a bronze in the men’s giant slalom. They followed that with a pair of second-place results in another giant slalom and a slalom. On Thursday, Ericsson and Smith were fourth in the super-G race.

Kalle Ericsson and guide Sierra Smith are now 3 for 3, claiming 🥈 in today’s SL! The first 🇨🇦 men’s SL podium since Mac Marcoux and guide Tristan Rodgers in 2019! pic.twitter.com/hb8guJcffM— Alpine Canada Alpin (@Alpine_Canada) January 24, 2024

Smith started as the guide for Ericsson about 13 months ago. The 23-year-old graduate of Louis-Riel high school and the University of Calgary had stepped away from the national alpine ski team program because of injuries. As a guide, Smith leads Ericsson down the hill and around the gates as they speak to each other on headsets.

“She’s great, we have a super tight relationship,” Ericsson told the Kimberley Bulletin last March. “Sierra will ski with me now until we decide we don’t want to ski together.

“So, we train and we’ll race together as long as we can, hopefully to the 2026 Cortina Winter Paralympics.”