Skipress - Index

Skipress - SkiPress Canada Vol.22 No.4 - Index

TEAM FREESTYLE
BY G.D. MAXWELL
IT TAKES A VILLAGE…
TO BUILD A Dynasty
After years being Canadianized, is the Quebec Air
Force about to take to the skies again?
G.D. Maxwell believes the answer may well be oui.
It wasn’t that many years ago, the Freestyle aerial team roster read like the Lac Beauport,
Quebec phonebook. Laroche, Langlois, Fontaine, Poulin, Rozon, Corriveau, Côté — not
a Smith, Jones or Omischl to be found. It wasn’t that athletic skiers from La Belle
Province had an unnatural urge to take to the air; they just had more opportunity.
There were, in that magic time at the dawn of freestyle, more water ramps in Quebec
than everywhere else in the world… combined. Most were privately built; many were,
perhaps, not quite world-class but nonetheless capable of training what became the
dynastic Quebec Air Force. It took two failed referenda, a prickly political-correctness
movement and a generation of neglect for Canada’s aerialists to morph into the
Canadian Air Force. But what goes ‘round, comes ‘round, and what’s coming around
now is a whole new generation of high-fl yin’ Quebecois.
Regardless of what it’s called, air traffi c control for the Canadian freestyle team had
better be brushing up on its French.
The current crop of aerialists, led by Ontario’s Steve Omischl, may sport names like
Bauer, Nissen, Spero and Shouldice, but the wave of the future — the development
team — verily drips with nostalgia for those earlier days. Gurein, Tougas, André,
Bélanger, Morin and Rochon are the names to watch.
It doesn’t take Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery of this back-to-the-future
resurgence. Just a pleasant road trip to Lac Beauport where you’ll stumble across the
Centre national d’entraînement acrobatique Yves Laroche, the water ramps at
le Relais ski centre.
“The Lac Beauport facility is simply the best ramp in the world,” enthuses Steve
Omischl. “That’s why I’ve chosen to train there the last couple of seasons instead of
Lake Placid or Park City.”
There were more water ramps
in Quebec than everywhere
else in the world… combined!
“Lac Beauport has made a profound difference to Freestyle Canada,” adds Peter
Judge, Freestyle head. “The biggest problem we faced was our lack of a world-class
training facility. It’s tough when you’re at the mercy of other associations. You can’t
pick your time or be certain of availability.”
And with the likes of Nico Fountaine, Phil and Yves Larouche running programs there
or “just dropping by,” says Steve, “It’s an amazing pool of talent to talk to about the
sport and technique. I pick their brains for technical advice all the time.”
As for the future, whatever it’s called, My Air Force is destined to fl y with a distinctly
French-Canadian accent.
20 THE SPRING SKIING ISSUE 2008
Photos: Robert Parent/CFA
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Ryan Blais tries out for role in Superman movie.
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