Dear Friends of Canadian Ski Racing:

With the 2016-17 World Cup season now completed, I am pleased, on behalf of the entire team at Alpine Canada, to send you this season-end note.

I would like to thank all of you who have enabled our athletes to have an incredibly successful season. 

Through your support, our alpine, ski cross and para-alpine athletes delivered a season of incredible performances and results. Here is a quick snapshot of the titles and podiums all three teams collectively amassed:

-4 Crystal Globes
-14 World Championship medals
-50 World Cup Podiums
-1 Nations Cup
-7 Overall Discipline Nor-Am Alpine Titles
-2 Overall Nor-Am Alpine Titles
-2 Overall Nor-Am Ski Cross Titles
-2 FIS Junior World Alpine Ski Championship medals
-2 FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships medals

In the final month of the season, Alpine canada hosted two major events in Canada: AUDI FIS Ski Cross World Cup Event at Blue Mountain and the Alpine National Championships at Mont Tremblant, Quebec. If you missed out on catching the action live, you can see some highlights through this link. 

We would like to thank all of the volunteers who worked so tirelessly to support Canadian ski racing at the national, provincial and club level.  Through the Canadian Ski Racing Awards, we continue to acknowledge the pivotal role of volunteers, clubs and others in our sport.  A complete list of 2017 Canadian Ski Racing Award recipients can be found here. 

We would also like to thank the many organizations and individuals who support Alpine Canada and our ongoing success as a world-leading ski nation.  Thank you to our corporate partners and suppliers, our donors, government partners, Own the Podium, Canadian Olympic Committee, provincial ski associations, ski resorts and clubs, all of whom contribute to our success.

MARKETING INITIATIVES

We kicked off the 2016-17 season with successful media and fundraising events in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary.  We also once again joined with BC Alpine on their very successful “Peak to Peak” Vancouver event this past November.  Our Canadian marketing initiatives included the following key events and campaigns:

Our 3rd annual CIBC National Ski Day (January 14th, 2017), featuring 17 resort partners coast-to-coast that drove awareness for Alpine Canada, our athletes and mission.  National Ski Day generated over 10 million media impressions across Canada.  This initiative featured outdoor billboards on the highways leading to Whistler, Collingwood and Mont Tremblant, in addition to locations in downtown Vancouver, promoting Alpine Canada and Canadian ski racing. This campaign also raised over $40,000 for our high performance programming.

AUDI FIS Ski Cross World Cup Finals, supported by Mackenzie Investments (March 3rd – 5th, 2017) in Collingwood, Ontario that showcased the top ski cross athletes from around the world as they competed for final World Cup points and trophies.  Canada Ski Cross athletes provided the fans at home with a reason to cheer, thanks to incredible athleticism and podium performances from Marielle Thompson (1st), Brady Leman (1st) and Chris Del Bosco (2nd). The World Cup Finals were broadcast  and streamed live by CBC Sports.  Alpine Canada hosted thousands of ski racing fans cheering on our world-leading athletes.  This event showcased strong partner engagement from Alpine Canada Gold partners including, Audi, Mackenzie Investments and CIBC.

Canadian Ski Racing Awards, presented by Helly Hansen (March 25th, 2017) saw 10,000 Canadians participate in our annual voting for Athletes of the Year, Coaches of the Year, and other deserving categories.  We are proud to recognize athletes, coaches, clubs and resorts for their excellence and contributions to Canadian ski racing.  Winners of the 2017 Canadian Ski Racing Awards were honoured at the Alpine Canada Gala in Mont Tremblant, Quebec in conjunction with the Sports Experts Canadian Alpine Championships. This Gala in turn generated approximately $50,000 in fundraising to support our high performance programs.  

Our digital platforms benefited from a brand refresh to better connect with our stakeholders, fans and followers, which contributed to new official merchandise sold on our online store, and impressive social media growth this past season.  Over 200,000 Canadians visited our website this past season, and over 1 million video impressions of World Cup race highlights were delivered through Facebook.  Over 50,000 Canadians engage and interact with Alpine Canada through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels. 

FINANCIALS

To support our high performance programs, we are pleased with the continued growth in corporate and individual financial support for Alpine Canada.  This past season, Solace, Element Fleet Services, National Bank, and PCL Construction all became new partners with Alpine Canada.  Most recently, we also announced Stingray Digital Music as a new partner.

These partners join together with our long-standing friends at Sport Chek, Audi, Mackenzie Investments, Descente, Helly Hansen and CIBC, among others to provide important funding for our programs. 

We are also pleased that many of our partners have also chosen one or more Alpine Canada athletes for headgear marketing relationships.  This past year, athletes such as Marielle Thompson, Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Mac Marcoux, Morgan Megarry, Ben Thomsen, Stef Fleckenstein, Simon Fournier and Jeffrey Read have all become ambassadors for one or more of our partners.  Each athlete receives honorariums in the form of financial support.

Alpine Canada also enjoyed ongoing support and growth from our donor and philanthropy efforts.  This year, hundreds of Canadians generously donated to Alpine Canada to support our athletes.  All donor revenues generated are directed 100% to high performance programs. We are also pleased that several donors have also created new athlete headgear partnerships.

We are, of course, very appreciate of the ongoing funding Alpine Canada receives from Sport Canada, The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees and Own the Podium.

THE MONTHS AHEAD

As you know, 2018 is an Olympic and Paralympic year, with significant planning now underway to maximize our performances in PyeongChang, South Korea.  Our coaching leadership teams are hard at work, reviewing the optimal dryland, preparation and competition schedule and programs, aligned to the goal of World Cup, Olympic and Paralympic performances next season. 

On behalf of all of the staff at Alpine Canada, it has been a great privilege to work with you this past season. Thank you again for everything you have down to enable our athletes’ success.

My Best Wishes,

Mark Rubinstein
Chief Executive Officer