Mont-Tremblant, Quebec – A promising weekend for Canadian alpine skier Valérie Grenier took a heartbreaking turn Sunday at the world Cup giant slalom, as a first-run crash dashed her hopes for a second consecutive podium finish. Despite the setback,Britt Richardson managed to secure a 12th-place finish,offering a luminous spot for the Canadian team competing on home snow. The race, held December 7th, saw thousands of spectators witness both the highs and lows of World Cup competition.
(Mont-Tremblant) A promising run for Valérie Grenier ended with a first-run crash at Sunday’s World Cup giant slalom, while Britt Richardson was the lone Canadian to reach the second run, finishing 12th.
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The speed, power, and precision of World Cup skiers are truly best experienced in person.
At Tremblant, the final five or six turns are within clear view. Beyond that, fans rely on the giant screen broadcasting the descent and the live timing board to follow the action.
Riding the momentum of Valérie Grenier’s podium finish the previous day, several thousand spectators eagerly anticipated seeing her navigate the course during Sunday morning’s first run. Starting eighth, Grenier was keeping pace with the leaders, just under three-tenths of a second behind New Zealander Alice Robinson, Saturday’s winner.
A roar erupted as the local favorite approached the final section of the course. But the excitement was cut short when Grenier, pushing a bit too aggressively into her carve, lost control and fell on the first gate of the final wall. Thankfully, she avoided injury, but her run ended there, leaving her unable to complete the Flying Mile.
PHOTO ERIC BOLTE, IMAGN IMAGES, FOURNIE PAR REUTERS CONNECT
Valérie Grenier in action
Grenier skied gently to the finish area, offering a humble wave to the applauding crowd.
“I was really sad. It’s too bad to finish like that. Plus, I was getting to the bottom, it was very close to the finish. It’s not the end of the world, but I was really disappointed, disappointed for the crowd too. I think it’s a shame.”
Valérie Grenier
She explained her mistake stemmed from an attempt to accentuate her turn after the gate to prepare for the following curves. Her inside ski “screwed” into the snow, as analyst Geneviève Simard of Radio-Canada illustrated, with the rear of her skis catching and causing her to rotate 180 degrees.
“It’s something that happens to me often enough,” Grenier revealed. “It’s too bad it happened today. I’ll have to keep working on that.”
Despite a slight mistake on the flat section, she wasn’t sure if she’d executed a particularly fast run until she checked the intermediate times (+0.27s at the last split).
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Valérie Grenier was eliminated in the first run.
“It’s even more frustrating, but it’s encouraging at the same time to see that I’m still there, that I was skiing well, maybe even better than yesterday,” said Grenier, who now sits ninth in the giant slalom standings.
Grenier headed to Montreal’s airport in the late afternoon, buoyed by her third-place finish on Saturday – her first podium since serious injuries in January 2024 – and a renewed sense of optimism.
“I’m really happy with the weekend, especially Saturday. Overall, I’m just proud of my skiing. I feel a little more like myself. I can see that I’m capable of skiing fast. That gives me a lot of confidence for the season.”
Richardson 12th
Grenier’s misfortune dampened the atmosphere in Saint-Bernard Square and foreshadowed a frustrating day for the Canadian team. Cassidy Gray (35th) and Arianne Forget (37th, as on Saturday) missed the cut, while Justine Lamontagne and Alberta rookie Kendra Giesbrecht were eliminated in the opening gates.
Britt Richardson was the only Canadian to advance to the second run, posting the eighth-fastest time in the first run. She appeared to be on track for a second top-10 finish of her career, sparking hope among the Canadian team staff in the finish area. A less decisive finish, however, dropped her to 12th place (+2.19s behind winner Julia Scheib), ending any anticipation of a celebratory surge.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Britt Richardson
The 22-year-old achieved her third-fastest result of her career. “Of course, I wanted a little more from that second run,” she said. “I’d like to be a little more consistent and stay in the top 10 like I did in the first run. I’m still working on finding that consistency in my skiing, being able to put down two solid runs each time.”
Forget came within half a second of the top 30 and a second run, an improvement for the representative of the independent S1 Racing team.
“I attacked more than yesterday,” she said. “I had more intensity. There were still some doubts, which caused me to make a small mistake on the flat. I lost some time, but it’s good to see that even with those doubts, I’m not really far from the top 30. So I know it’s possible, it will come very soon.”
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Arianne Forget
Despite the more subdued second day, Gray, 22nd in the first giant slalom, struck a positive tone regarding the Canadian team’s weekend.
“We spend all our time together, so we’re really happy for Val. I’m so proud of Val, Britt, Ju, Kendra, all the girls. With a very small team, we’ve done great things.”
Cassidy Gray
Gray and Grenier will now trade giant slalom skis for longer boards as they prepare for the two downhills and super-G scheduled for St. Moritz, Switzerland, from Friday to Sunday.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to speed, to see how it goes. We’ve had good training runs in Europe, so I feel pretty good about that,” Grenier said.
The next giant slalom is scheduled for December 27th in Semmering, Austria. Fans will have to follow the action remotely then.
