Terrace’s Caleb Brousseau has arrived in Russia ready for his debut as a para-alpine skier on Team Canada at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.
He was chosen for the team in January and has been having a stellar year.
Brousseau finished top 10 in all of his events at his first world competition of the season in Panorama, B.C. with a best finish of 7th in Downhill in January.
At Copper Mountain in Colorado, the third World Cup series event he’s taken part in this year, he placed ninth in slalom.
Brosseau injured himself snowboarding in 2007, but didn’t let that derail his athletic dreams, quickly taking on sit-skiing and becoming one of the top up-and-coming para-alpine athletes in the country.
This year and last have been all about preparing for the Paralympic Games, taking place March 7 to 16 in Sochi, Russia.
In January, Brousseau said he and his teammates spent all summer dryland training in Whistler, where he lives when he’s not competing.
“This year we’ve been non-stop,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good about it.”
And although the pre-season push was big, before the season officially began, he got to take a break here at home with his family and friends, skiing Shames Mountain for about a week in December.
“Each and every day was powder,” he said, noting it was especially welcome because last season living in Whistler, he only had about 10 powder days in total.
Brousseau has a Facebook page called Skiing with Caleb Brousseau that he’ll be updating regularly, and The Terrace Standard will be following his journey, as well.
And he says his family won’t be travelling to Sochi to watch him, but you can bet there will be viewing parties here in Terrace cheering him on.
