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Get in TouchFew moments are more special for Valérie Grenier than when she straps into her skis and kicks out of the start gate at the FIS Alpine World Cup in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
After getting a taste of what the home crowds and events could be in 2023, Grenier and the other Canadian women’s giant slalom skiers missed out on the opportunity in 2024 due to poor conditions.
In 2025, they’re back in Québec, and ready to rock in the hunt for the World Cup podium on home snow.
“Racing at home is something that I never even thought that I would have the chance to do,” Grenier said. “I did Lake Louise earlier in my career, but it wasn't my real home, so Mont-Tremblant feels so special to go there, and it's just my favorite one.”
Grenier grew up in St. Isidore, Ont., and spent her weekends in Tremblant, where she dove into ski racing with the Mont-Tremblant Ski Club. Since impressing in her early years, she has gone on to make 134 World Cup starts, claiming four podiums and two giant slalom wins in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in 2023 and 2024.
Thousands of fans are expected to show up to cheer her and the other Canadians on after the inaugural 2023 event drew over 15,000 to the races on Saturday and Sunday.
That added attention is always welcome, though, especially this season, as home snow serves as a precursor of sorts for those vying for spots at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics.
“I think it'll be good practice for the Olympics too, because it's a race where there's more attention on us Canadians and more pressure, in a way,” Grenier, a veteran of two Olympic Games, added. “I feel good about my skiing. I feel like the training has been going really well.”
This season, Grenier once again leads the Canadian contingent as she seeks a return to the podium for the first time since 2024. She comes off a 13th-place giant slalom finish in Copper Mountain, Colorado, which followed a season-opening 11th place in Soelden, Austria.
After finishing 12th in the World Cup giant slalom standings last season, she sits 13th so far this year and remains Canada’s top hope in the two giant slalom races.
“I’m excited to do all the World Cup races before the Olympics, because it feels like it's also good practice to still have a lot of racing going on and going into the Games,” the Canadian ski team veteran added, looking ahead to February’s Games.
“I feel good and confident. Cortina is a hill that I love too, and it will be nice to do a lot of the events too, compared to Beijing 2022, where I only did the giant slalom.”
Yet, even as she eyes a third Olympics and her first since suffering an injury in the super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January 2024, which required several surgeries, she doesn’t find herself anywhere near the twilight of her career.
However, that doesn’t mean she feels the youngest either, especially with another contender in Britt Richardson, the 22-year-old who finished 16th at Copper Mountain and continues to bring a youthful exuberance to the team alongside 24-year-old Cassidy Gray, among others.
“It's nice, but it's weird. Now I'm getting used to it more, but at first it felt so crazy,” Grenier said of becoming a veteran. “I feel like I went from being the youngest to the oldest so quickly. I still feel like I'm 18 years old, so it's strange, but I like it, and the girls are so fun.
“We're such a good team, we all get along so well. We all support each other, and it's nice to have a mix of ages on the team; it brings up different vibes, and it’s super fun.”
Following the two races in Mont-Tremblant, which will be broadcast on CBC Sports and cbcsports.ca (http://cbcsports.ca), the tech side of the women’s circuit on theFIS Alpine World Cup heads to St. Moritz, Switzerland on Dec. 13-14, with further eyes on the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics, which host alpine skiing from Feb 7-18.