Milestones in Canada’s skiing history – 1879 to the present
Settlers from Scandinavian countries were responsible for skiing’s early development in Canada. They skied in groups, built small jumps, and competed against one another. Other Canadians gradually became interested in the sport and began importing skis from Norway or made their own. In the early years, interest in skiing was divided between cross country and jumping, and the earliest clubs were formed to promote jumping.
8 February, 1879 – Canadian Illustrated News (first recorded news story about skiing in Canada):
“Mr. A. Birch, a Norwegian gentleman of Montreal, has a pair of patent Norwegian snowshoes upon which he has taken a trip to Quebec starting Friday last. The snowshoes are entirely of wood, nine feet long, six inches wide, and have a foot board and a toe strap. He walks with the aid of a pole and crosses ice not buoyant enough to bear a good sized dog, so buoyant are the shoes in action.”
The distance skied from Montreal to Quebec City was 170 miles (272 kilometres).
2 March, 1887 – Montreal Gazette:
“A NEW IDEA: An effort, and in all probability a most successful one, is being made to introduce the use of Norwegian shoes amongst our snowshoers. (The shoes) are made of long strips of wood, about six inches wide and from seven to ten feet in length the points being curled. At a proper balancing point is the rest for the foot, the proper covering being a boot, there being a heel rest.
“The mode of travelling is a shuffling sort of gait something after the style of skating and is a splendid exercise for the upper portions of the legs. It is by no means easy to fall in with the motion but the verdict was that it was the best for long distances and after a thorough acquaintance would be a splendid working article. The shoes are specially adapted for deep snow and mountain travelling and they have one decided advantage, being that they are absolutely free from the discomfort of having wet feet or snow covered legs at the end of a tramp.”
1887 – Banff Scandinavian axemen, working on railway construction crews near Silver City, at the base of Castle Mountain, made skis by hand and used them on the job. Skis described as “being hand hewn from a pine tree with an additional piece of wood nailed to each ski for boot plates, extra strength and thickness.” No evidence of either camber or ski harness, but they apparently had a felt sole nailed to the boot plate, leaving the heel free so no harness was required.
1891 – Revelstoke, BC – site of one of the first ski clubs in Canada. By 1895 a ski club had also been formed in Rossland, BC.
28 November, 1891 in Revelstoke’s Kootenay Star (First recorded ski news story from Western Canada):
“Yesterday a young man mounted on a pair of Norwegian snowshoes essayed the task of skimming over the snow-covered surface of Main Street but owing to its being considerably cut up by traffic he did not make much headway. These snowshoes are simply thin slats of wood, about three inches in width and 10 feet in length, turned up in front like the bow of a canoe. The feet are fastened to these slats by leather straps in the centre, leaving about five feet clear fore and aft which is not lifted clear of the snow but glides along the surface. A pole about six feet in length is carried either for steering purposes or as a help in propulsion.”
1893 – Children of Lord and Lady Aberdeen (Governor General of Canada) skied in Ottawa under the direction of their Swedish governess.
1894 – Banff George Harrison Paris was first Banff resident to use skis, which were sent to him by a Norwegian American from North Dakota.
1897 – Rossland, BC 6th March: the first recorded ski race held in Canada. There were only two competitors, and Olaus Jeldness was the winner. The race started at the top of Red Mountain, descended 700 metres and then to the Black Bear Compressor (site of the present day Rossland Museum).
1900s – in this era, jumpers were well paid professionals, jumping for big cash prizes. Heavy betting took place at races. Famous names included: Ragnar Omtvedt, Henry Hall, Lars and Angers Haugen, Hans Hansen. The most notable female ski jumper in the 1920s was Isabel Coursier of Revelstoke Ski Club.
1902 – Douglas Lawlor, aged 8, wins senior racing championships in Rossland, BC, following a series of accidents and mishaps which took the highly regarded senior competitors out of the race. His prize was a fine set of matched smoking pipes, presented by the town’s mayor.
1904 – The first ski club in Eastern Canada, the Montreal Ski Club was formed on February 11th and held its first competition (in jumping) the same winter.
1907 – Rossland, BC February 16th: Torgal Noren broke the Canadian record for ski-jumping with a jump of 90 feet, beating the best previous record of 84 feet.
1910 – Banff Conrad Kain arrived in Banff and built a small ski jump on Tunnel Mountain. He wore Norwegian skis, which were copied by Jack Stanley (who owned a lumber mill) and given to local Banff enthusiasts.
1911 – Banff Conrad Kain organized a winter sports festival in March, which lasted all night under the light of over 100 lamps. There was a refreshment tent and $55 was collected from the sale of food.
1912 – The Fram Ski Club of Camrose and the Edmonton Ski Club (both founded in 1911) formed the Ski Association of Western Canada – first attempt in Canada to provide some structural organization for the sport. The effort was unsuccessful, but ultimately western clubs became affiliated with an eastern based organization which would be founded in 1921.
1912 – Montreal: one of the world’s first ski films was shot on location in the city by a Russian film crew.
1913 – Ski meet in Camrose on January 31st drew very large crowds to watch new sport.
1914 – January: Montreal’s first cross country race was held over a distance of six miles (ten kilometres). Named the Mount Royal Cross Country, it became an important annual event
1914 – First North American military training on skis was instituted by the McGill Canadian Officers Training Corps.
1914 – Use of two poles with ring baskets became popular, replacing the single pole with small basket and spike end.
1915 – Ski jumping in Calgary, featuring American celebrities such as Anders Haugen. Jumping took place on river bank in front of large crowds. The last few jumpers greased their skis with liquid soap due to problems with fast melting snow.
1917 – First Winter Carnival in Banff, organized by Norman Luxton and B. W. Collison, was paid for with financial aid of a few hundred dollars requested from Ottawa. Ski jumping featured jumpers from Revelstoke (Nels and Irvind Nelson) and Camrose (Adolph Maland). Cross country racing was also featured – Maland won, followed by Chris Gottaas of Calgary, who subsequently won three more cross country titles in Banff.
1917 – Club de Mont Royal d’Amerique formed. First French ski club, known for its instruction to children, junior competition, and cross country skiing.
1917 – Skiing began in the Maritimes. Club formed at New Denmark, north of Fredericton, by a number of Scandinavian families, mostly Danish but also including some Norwegians. Many settlers made their own skis and participated in informal ski jumping and cross country events on winter weekends.
1917 – Banff Banff Ski club formed (later became Banff Ski Runners which was a downhill club for many years but is now a cross country club, based in Canmore)
1920 – Montreal February 28th: Percy Douglas of the Montreal Ski Club, proposes the formation of the Canadian Amateur Ski Association (CASA).
1920 – Banff Women’s ski races were included in the Banff Winter Carnival, with a distance of 5 to 6 miles (a shortened version of the men’s course). Racers included the Nelson sisters of Revelstoke, and Pearl Moore and Janni Edwards of Banff.
1921 – Calgary Jump erected on top of the grandstand building at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Grounds and in late January it was the site of a jumping competition staged for the Calgary Winter Carnival, featuring the best jumpers in the world, including Nels and Ivind Nelson from Canada, and Lars Haugen and Henry Hall from the U.S.
1921 – Montreal February 19th: first meeting of CASA and first Dominion Ski Championships held on the same day. Four member clubs: Montreal Ski Club, the Ottawa Ski Club, the Cliffside Ski Club (Ottawa) and the Quebec Ski Club. The organization aimed to schedule tournament dates so as to avoid conflicts; to conduct its own annual ski competitions; to endeavour to standardize rules regarding the sport; to foster interest in skiing and encourage the development of local clubs and to establish a means of distinguishing between the amateur and the professional skier.
Because of their concern with regard to amateurism and professionalism, CASA outlined rules to be enforced and in 1925 became affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. In 1926 CASA also became a member of Federation Internationale du Ski (FIS), the international governing body for skiing.
In 1928 the elected position of Western Vice President was created by CASA to include Western Canada, after which several western clubs joined the organization, including: Grouse Mountain Ski Club, Hollyburn Pacific Ski Club, Vancouver Ski Club, Revelstoke Ski Club, Banff Ski Club, Jasper Ski Club and Camrose Ski Club.
By the early 1940s, CASA had expanded to approximately 200 member clubs, representing over 30,000 skiers.
Note: From 1921-25 CASA championships featured jumping and cross country racing only. In 1926 Nordic combined was added, and in 1936 downhill and slalom events were added to the programme. Four way competitions (downhill, slalom, cross country and jumping) were the norm for both junior and senior national championships for about 30 years, but by the mid-sixties had been replaced by single discipline championships.
1923 – Montreal Ski Club held its first women’s race over a distance of 3 miles.
1927 – extract from Montreal Star article dated 5th February: “Skiing has made tremendous strides in Canada over the last few years. The great out-door sport has swept the country from coast to coast, enlisting armies of recruits, and is fast becoming one of the most popular of our winter pastimes. No other outdoor activity repays its devotees with a more abounding measure of health and strength; none provides greater delight or a keener sense of freedom. Under a velvety mantle of snow, the bush trail, the lakes, the swamps, obstacles during a summer jaunt, become easy to traverse. Like the snowshoe the ski provides the key to the wilderness, giving the freedom of the land.”
1928 – First Canadian Olympic team competes in St. Moritz at the second Winter Olympic Games..
1928 – Red Birds Ski Club formed in Montreal (all members had to be graduates of McGill University). Herman (“Jackrabbit”) Johannsen came to Canada from Lake Placid and eventually, as an honorary member, became chairman of the Redbirds Ski Club. Later he was Technical Chairman of CASA and helped to establish international standards in racing.
1928 – Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways began running ski trains from Montreal to the Laurentians every winter till the outbreak of World War II. These trains carried thousands of skiers to the mountains every weekend.
1929 – In Montreal Ski Club news: “Jackrabbit” Johannsen along with Mr. Alan Tiffin staged two “slalom” competitions, one in St. Saveur and one in Shawbridge. “This style of racing, while new in this country seems bound with a few alterations in the rules to suit our snow conditions, to be very popular from a spectators’s point of view.”
1930 – Daisy Bourdon of Revelstoke was for many years the undisputed Canadian women’s champion in cross country ski racing.
1930s – The Night Riders of the Canyon (later Trail Riders) of Camp Fortune in Gatineau Park, near Ottawa, slept in bunk houses near Camp Fortune Lodge and did much heavy labour such as constructing bridges, clearing trails and doing other trail work for their club. As well, they would ski along the trails after a snowfall to make a skiable track. This was one of the first organized methods of trail grooming and maintenance.
1930s – Montreal Daily Star: “Color and Romance for Ski Enthusiasts Fostered by Designers of Smart Costumes; Problem of What to Wear This Season Solved. Models and more models are ready for the pleasure skiing girl. The real problem comes when the competitive enthusiast starts her hunt for equipment. It must be warm but light if she is to hike over the many hazardous trails without burdensome trappings in the shape of flying scarfs (sic), hats that will not stay on and mits (sic) equally contrary. The girl who wishes to ski in competition must be as lightly clad as the weather will permit, thus she seeks a costume less weighty, and in most cases, of a more sombre hue, although not necessarily without attraction.
“One suit ostensibly for competition struck us as being entirely fitting for the purpose. It was a model of navy slacks, a white light woollen jersey blouse open at the neck, a red sash just to add a touch of color contrast. Most competitive skiers do not bother about a hat. Sometimes a bright band around the head suffices, other times, nothing whatever is worn on the head. A light top coat went with the costume just described in case of a too stiff breeze. With or without the topcoat, this costume was very acceptable for competitive events.”
1930 – First 50 km. race run in Eastern Canada, Shawbridge, won by Erkki Pentilla of Montreal Ski Club in 5 hrs, 13 mins and 15 seconds. The official rules for downhill and slalom races are adopted by FIS.
1931 – The Dominion (National) Championships move west for the first time, to Revelstoke, B.C.
1935 – Montreal Gazette, April 18th: “To finance the (1936) Canadian (Winter Olympic) team, an Olympic Ski Trust fund has been started and a campaign for subscriptions to the “1935 Ski Year Book” inaugurated. If insufficient funds are raised, the committee said it may be found necessary to cut down the number of our representatives.
1936 – Montreal Gazette, February 7th, reporting on the 1936 Intercollegiate Ski Union Championships held in Hanover, NH: “Stamina and ability over an exceptionally long and difficult course told the story in the cross country……Chief complaint of the McGill Redmen was that they wasted too much time passing others on the trail.”
1940 – C.A.S.A. cooperated with the Department of National Defence to form and train a winter ski unit in the Laurentians.
1943 – The Lovat Scouts, a highly skilled Scottish mountain regiment, was sent to train in winter in the Alberta Rockies, in the Jasper area and on the Columbia Icefield. Between December 1943 and April 1944 they learned to ski, undertook back-country expeditions and made a number of first-time winter ascents of several local mountains.
1951 – First Canadian Junior Championships held in Ottawa. Competitions were “four way”, meaning skiers had to compete in downhill, slalom, cross country and jumping. There were no age categories – all competitors had to be aged 18 or under. The four way requirement was phased out during the 1960s, and defined younger age categories were introduced in 1974. In 1957, girls were allowed to compete in the Junior Championships for the first time. Until 2002, the Canadian Junior Championships were held as a separate event, but since 2003 they have been combined with the Canadian Senior Championships under the name Canadian National Championships.
1960/61 – first official Senior Canadian National Cross Country Ski Team was formed by the Canadian Ski Association. Qualifying skiers were named to the team on an annual basis, a system which continues to the present. The first Junior National Team was not formed till the late 1970s or early 1980s.
1959 – The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) was founded to present Olympic bids by Ernie McCullough, a former Olympian who had competed in athletics at the 1948 Olympic Summer Games. Prior to being the successful bidders for the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, CODA had made three previous bids for the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics.
1967 – the Territorial Experimental Ski Training programme (TEST) was started in Inuvik, NWT by Father Jean-Marie Mouchet, a French oblate priest who had moved to the north in 1946. Funded by the Government of Canada as a Centennial project, this programme transformed the lives of many aboriginal teenagers from the Mackenzie Delta region who, under the dedicated coaching of Bjorger Pettersen, became the top cross country skiers of the early 1970s, many of them being named to Canada’s National Ski Team and skiing in several Olympic Winter Games. Two of the most prominent members of the TEST programme, Shirley and Sharon Firth, skied in four consecutive Winter Olympics (1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984).
1967 – the Canadian Ski Marathon was founded as a Centennial Project by Don McLeod (1964 Olympian in cross country skiing and long time member of the National Ski Team). This 160 km ski tour, held over two consecutive days, has been run annually since 1967 in the foothills of the Laurentian Mountains in the Province of Quebec.
Late 1960s – ski jumping started to lose popularity as many jump hills fell into disrepair, while cross country skiing began to thrive.
1969 – Cross country skiing was given full discipline status within the Canadian Ski Association (CSA) under the name Cross Country Canada; formerly it had been merely a standing committee. Until 1978, Biathlon was part of the cross country discipline.
1970s – Start of the boom years – public participation in nordic skiing grew and many clubs hosted races for all ages and abilities of skier. Many new loppets (long distance races) were started, most of which continue to be held to the present, increasing in popularity every year. Part of the reason for increased public interest in skiing was due to the Federal Government’s “Participaction Programme” which encouraged Canadians to get off the couch and become fitter than the average 60 year old Swede!
1970s – In response to growing demand, the first coaching manuals and “learn to ski” books were published and many clubs began to use volunteer club coaches to train their young skiers and encourage competition. There was a mushrooming of the cross country retail ski industry across North America, and thousands of cross country skis were imported from Europe, another trend which continues to the present day.
1970s – track setting technology evolved, and many clubs began using snowmobiles and track setting devices to improve the quality of their trails.
1972 – The Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan were the last time that wooden skis were used in Olympic competition. New technologies were introduced in the mid-1970s, including the use of fibreglass for ski construction and carbon fibre for ski poles.
1973 – The Chairperson of Cross Country Canada became a full member of the CSA Executive Committee, thus giving cross country skiing a greater role in the management of Canadian skiing.
1975 – Founding of the Canadian Nordic Ski Instructors (CANSI).
1976 – The Jackrabbit Ski League was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Gordon Konantz, with the goal of teaching children how to ski with the emphasis on fun rather than competition. In 1980 the programme was adopted by Cross Country Canada and became popular in every province and territory. Hundreds of thousands of children learned to ski in the Jackrabbit programme, including Canada’s first Olympic cross country gold medallist, Beckie Scott.
1976 – First Paralympic Winter Games held in Omskoldsvik, Sweden. Canada sent two athletes to compete in Cross Country and came away with a gold medal, won by Lorna Manzer. In subsequent Paralympic Winter Games from 1980 to 2010, Canada has won 11 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze medals.
1980 – Founding of the Canadian Masters Association, and the World Masters Association. The first World Masters Cross Country Ski Championships held in February at Morin Heights, Quebec. 104 masters skiers took part.
1981 – no World Masters XC Championship held as FIS, the International Ski Federation, had not sanctioned such an event. In the summer of 1982, Bill Gairdner of Unionville, Ontario founded the Canadian Masters Cross Country Ski Association. Bill was elected President, and Dave Rees, then of North Bay, Ontario, was Vice President.
1981 – CODA’s bid to host the 1988 Olympic Winter Games was successful, and construction began at the Canmore Nordic Centre of the ski trails, daylodge and other buildings. The Nordic Centre became the first cross country venue in North America to have snow-making on its trails. although the technology had been in use at alpine skiing venues since the 1970s.
1981 – First Canadian Cross Country World Cups held at Labrador City and Whitehorse, Yukon. Cross Country and Biathlon World Cups were held several more times in the 1980s both before and after the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
1982 – second World Masters XC Ski Championships held in Uppsala, Sweden in February, with 350 participants. During the week of competitions, Bill Gairdner proposed the founding of a worldwide masters association. This idea was enthusiastically received by all participants and in June 14 ski nations met in Zurich, Switzerland to formalize the World Masters Cross Country Ski Association, with Bill Gairdner elected as the first President and Jan Hansen of Morin Heights, Quebec as Vice President. Member nations are represented by the President of their National Masters Cross Country Ski Association
1983 – the event was renamed Masters World Cup and 520 participants from 20 skiing nations took part in the week-long competition in February at Telemark, Wisconsin, USA.
1984 – Cross Country Canada (CCC) incorporated and adopted its first constitution. In 1989 CCC spear-headed the reorganization of the CSA into a federation of autonomous disciplines (cross country, alpine, jumping, biathlon, etc.). CSA continues to be the nominal authority for Canada in international skiing and represents Canada at Council meetings of the International Ski Federation (FIS).
1987 – Pierre Harvey became the first Canadian competitor ever to win an international cross country event, when he won gold in the 30 km World Cup race at Falun, Sweden on March 7th. Harvey subsequently won two more World Cup gold medals and one bronze in 1987 and 1988, before retiring in 1989.
1987 – Herman “Jackrabbit” Johannsen passed away on January 5th, at the age of 111. Born in Norway on June 5th, 1875, he had immigrated to Canada in 1928 from the United States and was an active skier until the last couple of years of his life. A pioneer of skiing in North America, he helped popularize the sport in both Canada and the U.S. He cut the first cross country ski trails in the Laurentians, where he also organized races, taught skiing, coached, officiated at competitions and was a tireless champion of physical fitness throughout his life.
1988 – Calgary’s Olympic Winter Games held from 13th to 28th February. All nordic skiing events were held at the Canmore Nordic Centre. At the 1988 Paralympic Winter Games, held in Innsbruck, Austria, Canada earned 4 gold medals (Sandy Lecour of Canmore, AB and Francine Lemire of Corner Brook, NF each won 2) and one bronze medal (in the relay).
1988 – Four Canadian and four Russian skiers, members of The Polar Bridge Expedition, skied from Russia to Canada via the North Pole between March and June.
1989 – Angus Cockney became the first Inuit to ski to the North Pole, when he completed IceWalk ’89 in March and April, an international polar expedition.
1995 – Canada hosted the Nordic World Championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
1995 – Canada hosted the Masters World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. In 2002 and 2011 Masters World Cups were hosted in Val Cartier, QC and Vernon, BC respectively.
1997 – Canada hosted the World Junior Championships in Canmore, Alberta.
1998 – Colette Bourgonje won 2 silver medals at the Paralympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
1998 – After Canada’s disappointing results in the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games, Beckie Scott and Sara Renner made a decision to settle for nothing less than excellence in the years ahead. Their decision spurred on their team-mates and changed the way Canada’s cross country ski teams are viewed by the world.
2001 – Beckie Scott won Canada’s first World Cup medal in 10 years, a bronze in the women’s individual sprint.
2002 – Beckie Scott became the first North American cross country skier to win an Olympic Gold Medal, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. Her initial result in the Women’s Individual Pursuit was bronze, but subsequently the winners of the gold and silver medals were disqualified, making Beckie the only Olympian in history to win a gold, silver and bronze medal in the same event!
2002 – Brian McKeever won 2 gold and 1 silver medal at the Salt Lake City Paralympic Winter Games.
2005 – Sara Renner won a bronze medal in the women’s individual sprint race at the Nordic World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, the first Canadian and first North American woman to win a World Championship medal.
2005 – Cross Country World Cup hosting returned to Canada when World Cup competitions were held at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club (Vernon, BC) and at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Subsequent cross country World Cups were hosted in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2020 at Canmore, and in 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2020 at Quebec City. Medals were won at various Canadian World Cups by Beckie Scott, Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford
2006 – Chandra Crawford won gold at the Torino Winter Olympic Games in the women’s individual sprint. Beckie Scott and Sara Renner won silver in the women’s team sprint.
2006 – Brian McKeever won two gold and one silver medal, and Colette Bourgonje won 2 bronze medals at the Torino Winter Paralympic Games, in cross country skiing. McKeever also won a bronze medal in biathlon.
2006 – Devon Kershaw won a bronze in the men’s individual skate sprint at the World Cup in Borlange, Sweden, Canada’s first men’s World Cup medal winner since Pierre Harvey in 1988.
2006 – Beckie Scott ended the 2005-2006 ski season second overall in World Cup points, the best ever result by a Canadian woman.
2007 – An International Paranordic Committee (IPC) cross country World Cup was held at Mount Washington, BC and again in 2009. Colette Bourgonje won 2 gold medals in cross country and 2 golds in biathlon in 2007, and 2 silver medals in cross country in 2009.
2010 – Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Brian Mckeever won 3 gold medals in Paralympic cross country skiing, while Colette Bourgonje won a silver and a bronze medal. In the Olympics, Devon Kershaw came 5th in the Men’s 50 km, 0.6 seconds out of 3rd and 1.6 seconds out of 1st place, the best Olympic result by a Canadian male cross country skier to that date.
2010 – Brian McKeever became the first athlete in the world to be named to the Olympic and Paralympic teams and although he did not race in the Olympics at Vancouver, he won three gold medals at the Paralympics.
2011 – Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey won gold at the 2011 Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway, in the men’s team sprint, the first ever gold medal won by Canadians at the World Championships.
2012 – Devon Kershaw ended the 2011-2012 ski season second overall in World Cup points, the best ever result by a Canadian man.
2014 – Alex Harvey ended the 2013-2014 ski season third overall in World Cup points, in a season which included six podium finishes (3 firsts, 2 seconds and a third)
2015 – At the FIS World Championships, Alex Harvey won a silver medal in the men’s individual classic sprint and a bronze in the 30 km pursuit race (15 km classic, 15 km free technique.
2016 – Canada hosted Ski Tour Canada 2016, the first time a World Cup ski tour has been held outside Europe. The Tour took place over 12 days in March with races held in Gatineau, Montreal and Quebec City, all in the province of Quebec, and in Canmore, AB where the final week of racing took place, marking the first time the season-ending globes have been presented to the overall winners outside Europe.
2017– Alex Harvey and Lennie Valjas won gold in the World Cup team sprint at Toblach, Italy.
2017 – Alex Harvey finished the 2016-2017 season third overall in World Cup points, which included 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
2017 – The Canadian men’s relay team won bronze in the World cup team relay at Ulricehamm, Sweden, half a second out of first place (Norway) and tied for second with Sweden (but declared third in the photo finish). The relay team members were Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Knute Johnsgaard and Len Valjas. This is the first time a Men’s relay team has achieved a World Cup podium finish.
2018 – Alex Harvey finished the 2017-2018 season fourth overall in World Cup points, which included 2 silvers and 1 bronze. He came 4th in the Men’s 50 km at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.
2018 – Brian McKeever becomes Canada’s most accomplished Paralympian having won a total of 17 medals (13 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) at five Paralympic Winter Games: 2002 – 2 gold, 1 silver; 2006 – 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze; 2010 – 3 gold; 2014 – 3 gold; 2018 – 3 gold, 1 bronze.