As hosts of the North American Cup snowboardcross races, which resume today and Friday, organizers of the events at Tabor Mountain knew some of the world's best racers were coming to Prince George.
They did not expect five-time World Cup champion Dominique Maltais to show up last weekend for the first two Prince George races in the NorAm series.
Maltais is taking a one-year sabbatical from racing the World Cup circuit and the 34-year-old from Petite-Rivire-Saint-Franois, Que., and made the trek to Prince George to serve as coach and wax tech for a couple young stars of the sport from her home province -- Danny Bourgeois and Indrik Trahan.
"I don't think people recognize me because I'm on skis," said Maltais, through a smile. "I'm not racing and I'm not retired yet, I'm just taking a year off to recover my back and my knees. Maybe they are expecting me to be home and recovering, but I love what I'm doing. I love the snowboardcross environment and I'm here to help some kids from Quebec."
Maltais was dominant on the World Cup circuit, winning the Golden Globe overall title in 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. She also won the Winter X Games in 2012.
Outside of snowboarding, Maltais has a job as a firefighter in her hometown. With the 2018 Olympics in South Korea looming, she says she's not ready to call it a career after 11 seasons.
"Last year my back bothered me all season so I just decided to take a break," Maltais said. "I'm not that young anymore and if I can recover and go back racing I'll be really happy. But I have to consider I have my life to live after that and when you have injuries that aren't getting better you have to look at everything."
"I hope I can get healthy and be in good position to make a decision on that," she said.
Maltais was impressed with the Tabor course on Sunday and said it was providing a stiff test for the 87 athletes entered in the weekend races.
"My athletes love it, it's a pretty technical start with a few big jumps and really good turns all the way down so you can carry good speed," said Maltais. "I think the level of all the athletes is very high and the staff and all the volunteers have made a really good job. We like the course when it's hard when you can carry some good speed."
Bourgeois, 20, a native of Rosemare, Que., made it to the medal podium with his third-place finish Sunday, after an eighth-place finish on Saturday. Trahan broke in to NorAm in 2013, competing in parallel slalom and GS snowboarding races. The 22-year-old from Trois-Rivires, Que., reached the NorAm medal podium several times and has competed at the World Cup level in parallel slalom and GS events.
The two races last weekend attracted 30 women and 58 men, representing nine countries and more are expected this week. Now that the word is getting out about Prince George and facilities it was left with as a legacy of hosting the 2015 Canada Winter Games, Maltais says Tabor has real potential to play host to a World Cup event.
"For sure, when I'm looking at the track, for World Cup there would have to be bigger features all the way down but the major lines are awesome and the speed you can carry is good," said Maltais. "They (did) a very good job here. The fact all those banks are made out of dirt, you don't need a lot of snow and everyone is really happy about that. You don't see that (dirt berms) very often. I know in Vancouver (at the 2010 Olympics) we didn't have a lot of snow and they made it with hay, with about six inches of snow on top."
Maltais has been to three Olympics and won two medals. In Turin in 2006, the year snowboardcross made its Olympic debut, she won bronze. In 2010, she failed to advance to the medal round, then won silver in 2014 in Sochi.
Snowboardcross is well-supported in Europe, where most of the World Cup events are held, but in North America sponsorship for snowboardcross is dwindling. In January, a World Cup scheduled March 11-13 for Squaw Valley, Calif., where there is no lack of snow, was canceled due to the cost of putting on the event.
"It has to be on TV more often," said Maltais. "We need more visibility so people can follow the athletes."
Ma'lle Ricker of West Vancouver, the 2010 Olympic champion and a two-time world champion, is also making her presence felt on the slopes at Tabor this week, helping out some of the Canadian athletes. Ricker, who won the Winter X Games in 1999 and 2006, announced her retirement from racing in November 2015.
For Meryeta O'Dine of Prince George, 18, who won silver in Sunday's women's race and fourth on Saturday, having two of the biggest names in snowboardcross come to her home hill to offer a few tips was like a dream come true.
"It's awesome that they're here all this week, they're almost the most approachable people here," said O'Dine. "They've won just about everything there is to win in the sport. It's awesome and definitely motivating that they're here and it's great to see them supporting all the younger and up-coming kids."
Qualifying runs start at about 9:30 a.m. today. The top 16 males and top 16 females advance to the elimination heats, which start at noon both days. Spectators are welcome.
