Calgary, Alta. (January 18, 2017) – The most exciting, iconic and daring race on the men’s alpine calendar is on the docket for this weekend. Beginning this week, the men will take to the famed Hahnenkamm track for a downhill race on Saturday, vying for one of the top honours in a skier's trophy case: a Kitzbühel podium. Alpine Canada athletes will also be gunning for top performances in the super-G held on Friday and the slalom race on Sunday.

The Streif, as it’s referred to on tour, tests every athlete who pushes out of the start gate, with several of alpine’s greatest skiers ending up on the wrong side of the finish line. It’s the win every speed skier is searching for. In front of over 50,000 screaming fans, athletes will hurl themselves down the Hannahkham at speeds of over 150km/hr in a quest to be crowned the champion of the Kitzbühel downhill.

Canada’s Crazy Canucks conquered the Hahnenkamm in the early 1980s winning the famed downhill four years in a row. Ken Read in 1980, Steve Podborski in 1981 and 1982, and Todd Brooker in 1983 all captured one of the most prestigious wins on the circuit. In 2013, Canada’s most decorated male alpine skier, Erik Guay, missed gold in the super G by just 0.13 seconds.

This generation’s band of men’s speed skiers, known as the Canadian Cowboys, will charge the track looking for the first Canadian win in over 30 years. 

On the slalom side, Canadian Ski Team technical ace Erik Read, son of the legendary Crazy Canuck Ken Read, will push out of the start gate. Read has been making a name for himself of the tech circuit capturing four career-best finishes so far this season, including a slalom-best 13th-place finish at Zagreb (CRO). Also racing the slalom this weekend is Calgary’s Trevor Philp who skied to a career-best 14th-place finish on this track last year.

KITZBUHUEL ROSTER

Phil Brown

Dustin Cook

Erik Guay

Manuel Osborne-Paradis

Trevor Philp

Erik Read

Ben Thomsen 

Broderick Thompson

Tyler Werry

CANADIAN PARA-ALPINE SKI TEAM

With a successful & dominant speed series wrapped up, it’s back to tight, quick turns for the Canadian Para-Alpine Team. The team has shown strength this season in both the technical and speed disciplines. This series will include two slalom races and one giant slalom race in Kranjska Gora (SLO). To date, the team has picked up 19 World Cup podiums. This is the team’s final stop before heading to Tarvisio (ITA) for the World Championships.

KRANJSKA GORA ROSTER

Erin Latimer

Alana Ramsay

Alexis Guidmond

Braydon Luscombe

Mac Marcoux (guide: Jack Leitch)

Kirk Schornstein 

Kurt Oatway

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA

Alpine Canada is the national governing body for alpine, para-alpine and ski cross racing in Canada. With the support of valued corporate partners along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, world championship and World Cup medallists to stimulate visibility, inspiration and growth in the ski community.