Canadians look to ride momentum into ski cross world championships

Tara De Boer · CBC Sports

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 3:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The apical Canadian skis transverse athletes are acceptable to pursuit the podium astatine the freestyle skis satellite championships successful St. Moritz, Switzerland this week. 

The FIS snowboard, freestyle and freeski satellite championships, which began Wednesday and run through to Sunday, March 30 includes the skis transverse events. The skis transverse athletes statesman their contention connected Thursday, with the finals acceptable for Saturday and Sunday. The contention volition beryllium unrecorded streamed connected CBC Sports, and besides disposable connected CBC Gem.

Two-time Crystal Globe victor Reece Howden of Cultus Lake, B.C. presently sits successful 2nd spot successful the wide standings and is acceptable to vie on with Toronto seasoned Kevin Drury, who sits successful sixth overall.

Other members of the Canadian men's squad see Jared Schmidt, ranked 14th overall, and Gavin Rowell who sits successful 24th. 

WATCH | Canadian athletes acceptable for worlds: 

Canadian women owning podiums 

On the women's side, the Canadians are consistently uncovering occurrence connected the slopes this play — and Abby McEwen, Courtney Hoffos, and India Sherret, are hoping to support the momentum going.

Heading into the satellite championships, Sherret is successful 2nd spot successful the World Cup wide standings, and Hoffos sits successful seventh place, followed by McEwen successful eighth.

At the Craigleith Ski Club stop, the last limb of the circuit up of satellite championships, 2 Canadian women made it onto the podium: Hoffos placed second, and McEwen took third. 

Sherret finished 5th wide aft taking the apical spot successful the tiny final.

WATCH: Sherret has momentum connected her side:

Both the men and women volition vie successful the qualifying contention connected Thursday, wherever the apical 2 successful each vigor beforehand to the adjacent circular with the last 4 remaining heading to the Big finals for medals. 

"The girls connected our squad person been truthful beardown for truthful long, I deliberation that determination has ever been a truly unthinkable Canadian beingness successful skis cross," Sherret said successful an interrogation with CBC Sports.

The Cranbrook, B.C. autochthonal is speedy to database disconnected retired Olympic golden medallists Ashley McIvor and Kelsey Serwa arsenic bequest athletes, arsenic good arsenic existent chap teammate Marielle Thompson who has competed successful 3 Olympic Games. 

"Someone is ever pushing the envelope for winning Olympic medals and satellite championships and overalls," Sherret said.

Last month, Thomson won 3 consecutive golden medals connected the World Cup circuit aft topping the podium astatine World Cup lawsuit successful Val di Fassa, Italy — efficaciously qualifying herself for Milano Cortina 2026.

After reaching the podium astatine 2 of five events that had been pre-designated by the federation, her occurrence connected the slopes led her to suffice for information for the 2026 Canadian Olympic Team.

'Watching those girls, it is inspiring," Drury, a 10-year vet of the sport, told CBC Sports. "If I'm successful the Big finals, the girls Big finals is ever earlier the guys and I'm ever asking the coaches, 'who won?'"

After a clang connected the Georgia halt of the World Cup circuit led Thomson to acquisition surgery, she was forced to beryllium retired for the remainder of the season, incapable to support her World Cup wide rubric from past season.

WATCH | Part of Howden's occurrence is attributed to his hobby: 

Medal caps disconnected 2024

To headdress disconnected 2024, Drury deed the World Cup circuit podium for the archetypal clip since 2022 successful Val Thorens, France successful Dec. 2024, aft winning bronze. 

This past play astatine Craigleith Drury won different bronze medal to decorativeness disconnected the World Cup circuit. 

He joined Howden connected the podium, who won his 3rd golden medal of the play aft securing archetypal spot connected Canadian soil. 

"The men get assurance from the women, the women get assurance from the men. It's a peculiar athletics successful that sense," Kris Mahler, who presently sits successful 15th spot overall, told CBC Sports. "It's unthinkable to ticker what they're doing close now." 

WATCH | Howden, Drury reach the podium:

Mahler competed this play aft recovering from a breached cervix aft a clang astatine the the FIS Ski Cross World Cup successful Arosa, Switzerland successful Dec. 2023. 

The Canmore, Alta., autochthonal sat retired astir of the 2024 play aft severing his C7 vertebrae, astatine the basal of the neck, starring him to deterioration a cervix brace for 2 consecutive months arsenic portion of the betterment process.

But the intelligence situation of suffering an wounded arsenic terrible arsenic this 1 was the astir challenging portion of betterment for Mahler.

"It was a large learning." Mahler said. "It's been an absorbing play coming disconnected of the wounded from a results standpoint, but I've been moving with my scientist and we're truly picking isolated however we attack this contention [Craigleith] and immoderate of the large ones coming up." 

Mahler yet was not selected to vie astatine the satellite championships. 

Drury connected the different hand, broke his tibia successful 2020 and precocious underwent enarthrosis country aft a clang successful Italy. 

Despite these setbacks, Drury decided to proceed his vocation successful the athletics and is preparing to vie connected Thursday.