SIERRA SMITH
Sport: Para Alpine Skiing
Event Category: Men’s Visual Impairment
Role: Guide Skier for Kalle Eriksson
Age: 25
Hometown: Ottawa
Residence: Calgary
Local Club: Mont Ste. Marie
First Paralympics
Instagram: @sierrrasmith
By Dan Plouffe
It was only a couple of years ago that Kalle Eriksson and Ottawa para alpine skiing guide Sierra Smith launched themselves into international competition and rapidly established themselves as Paralympic medal contenders.
The first-time Paralympic participants have also had to quickly learn to absorb many bumps on the way, but they’re keen to enjoy the ride and will hope that their final landing is a podium spot at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Let’s rewind a little. Being in position to reach for a Paralympic podium as a guide skier was never something Smith had envisioned.
The Louis-Riel high school grad had represented Canada in her youth at the Trofeo Topolino and Whistler Cup, where she won a bronze medal. She was later part of the national team program, but injuries and the pandemic put a halt to her competitive pursuits.
Smith didn’t expect to return to the sport at a high-performance level, but she still had a strong desire to stay connected to skiing. So the Mont Ste. Marie product continued to coach, including with the University of Calgary Dinos program while she was studying kinesiology at U of C.
But once she met Eriksson, a new pathway opened itself. Eriksson, 21, had lost all but 6% of his vision in 2020 after sustaining rare and severe damage to his retinas from the sun’s reflection while skiing without goggles on a glacier in Sweden.
“He didn’t have a guide, so I decided to ski in front of him,” Smith recounted in an interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages in advance of the Paralympic season. “He was really fast, and we got along great. That’s when I realized how much I missed it, and I found a way to get back into skiing for something bigger than just myself.”
Smith communicates with Eriksson through a two-way headset system as they tackle courses at speeds nearing 100 km/h. One of the few women guiding on the men’s side of the sport, Smith has developed a strong connection with her racing partner since they first joined forces and won the vision impaired category at the PEI 2023 Canada Winter Games.
“It’s unreal getting to travel the world and race with your best friend,” she recently told the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “Wearing that maple leaf as we’re flying down the hill is something I’ve always dreamed of, and it’s an honour to be able to represent Canada out there.”
Since the Canada Games win, Eriksson and Smith have grown their tradition of dazzling debuts. They hit the podium in their first three World Cup races in 2024 and then a week later they won their first World Cup event at Cortina d’Ampezzo in the slalom.
And the custom continued in February 2025 in Slovenia when they won silver medals in both the slalom and giant slalom at their first World Para Alpine Skiing Championships.
“That one was super exciting,” Smith underlined. “It was our first big event — we’d only done a handful of World Cups before the World Championships, so it felt like a much bigger stage with more weight behind it.”
Kimberley, B.C.’s Eriksson and Smith had the fastest runs in one of the two heats in each discipline, but missed out on the gold medal with combined times that were just .32 and .25 seconds off the pace respectively in the giant slalom and slalom.
But it was the gap ahead of the fourth-place finisher – 2.42 seconds in the giant slalom and 2.75 in the slalom – that most definitely illustrated their Paralympic podium potential.
It was “a great season” overall in 2024-2025, recalled Smith, as she and Eriksson captured nine medals in their 12 World Cup series starts, with a “cherry on top” coming when they won their last giant slalom race of the year.
While the Paralympics promise to offer another level of stress, Smith noted that they’ve felt a little extra pressure to perform each time they’re in a global event, having only attended half of the World Cup stops last season due to funding challenges.
The pair had been looking forward to building more confidence by racing in more World Cups this season in the lead-up to the Paralympics, but they only got to compete in nine in the end.
Eriksson was injured in his first day training after Christmas and had to go two weeks without skiing. He later suffered bone bruising after straddling a gate and Smith has been injured as well, with the duo missing the final two World Cup events in February.
“This season hasn’t looked how we imagined,” Smith posted on Instagram. “Frustrating, humbling, and motivating all at once. We’re putting in the work and we’ll be back full tilt.”
A third-place ranking in downhill training Wednesday in Cortina was a solid signal that they’ll be in good form come their first race Saturday. And their record of five podiums in seven World Cup starts this season (silver and bronze medals in both downhill and giant slalom, plus a slalom silver) provides further faith.
“We’re healthy and we’re back and the injuries are behind us now,” she indicated via the CPC on Wednesday. “We’re all good to go for the Games and we’ll try to keep it that way.”
Smith and Eriksson and have skiing in spring-like conditions in advance of the Games, and soft or slushy snow can be expected in Cortina as well.
Perhaps not optimal for the pinnacle of their sport, the forecasted highs of between 1°C and 5°C throughout the Games will at least be pleasant for the fans in attendance.
Smith will have many pulling for her as she proudly carries on her family’s tradition of wearing the maple leaf on the ski slopes.
Smith’s mother Julie Klotz was a slalom forerunner at the Calgary 1988 Olympics and a past national team member, while her grandfather Trevor Klotz was a key leader in establishing the Club Mont Ste. Marie ski team and once raced at the famed Kitzbühel downhill (and crashed in fog) in 1958.
“Mont Ste. Marie is a ski hill like no other. You know everybody and everybody knows you and it’s just one huge family,” Smith recently recalled. “I know they’re all coming out to the Games and cheering us on. They’re the biggest supporters I’ve ever met.”
SIERRA SMITH COMPETITION SCHEDULE
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