The Canadian Ski Marathon was created in 1967 by National Country Ski Team member Don Macleod, and a dozen other determined skiers as a Centennial celebration and as a way to expand interest in cross-country skiing. In 1968. the Marathon turned into a 100-mile, two day wilderness event which has remained the format to this […]
Diane was a member of Canada’s National Ski Team from 1969 to 1973. She retired from competition in 1973 to take on new challenges in skiing. Those included teaching and coaching. She coached, among others Felix Belczyk and Deedee Haight at that time in Nancy Greene League at Rossland and eventually as National Team members. […]
Pierre Harvey was a member of Canada’s National Ski Team from 1981 to 1988 and has been Canada’s greatest cross-country skier competing internationally. He participated in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games in Sarajevo and Calgary and won three World Cup events, the only Canadian cross-country ski racer to do so. Then in 1988, in […]
Jim Quarles was a member of the Bishops University Ski Team then member of the National Ski Team before becoming the biggest retailer of cross-country and alpine skis in North America. A dedicated alpine skier, he slowly converted to cross-country and became a huge fan! He participated in the Canadian Ski Marathon over 20 times, […]
Marie-Andrée was one of Canada’s top cross country ski racers from 1980 to 1992 when she was a member of the Canadian national team. She began her racing career in 1977 when she joined “Les Fondeurs” of Saint-Jérome. At 14 years of age she entered her first competitions. Two years later she won the cross […]
Dave Jacobs finished in first place in several national races including the Quebec-Kandahar downhill and combined titles in 1956. He finished third in the Canadian Slalom Championships in 1956. He was the Canadian National Downhill Champion in 1957 and a member of the Canadian National Ski Team between 1957 and 1961. He was the head […]
Convinced of the great benefits cross-country skiing had on the physical and mental health, Bill Deskin devoted a big part of his professional life teaching the basics and secrets of his sport. Cross-country Director at Ski Chantecler from 1970, he became Director of the Domaine l’Estérel in 1976 and was still there in 1997, the […]
Tom “the Atom Bomb Barbeau was, in the early 50’s, a very active racer who climbed the podium several times at the Canadian Championships. Injuries kept him away from the Olympics. Jolly, loved by everyone, Barbeau believed that everybody should love skiing! It became his motto as a ski instructor for 25 years. Inventor of […]
Yves LaRoche is a member of one of Quebec’s most prominent ski families. Guy and Suzanne LaRoche had seven children, five of which have competed on various World Cup circuits. One can almost say the LaRoche are born with skis. The family home in Lac-Beauport is located up against the slopes of Mont-Saint-Castin. This is […]
Owner and operator with his wife Louise of the Far Hills Inn in Val-Morin since 1971, David Pemberton-Smith was a visionary who introduced to the Laurentians a model for an integrated and complete cross-country resort. He was first in the region to mechanically groom and track-set trails as he added to the historical Maple Leaf, […]
