Grippin' and rippin' on slalom skis


Left: 2010 | Right: 2005 | Not a lot has changed..


My dad, Brett Frip and I. Brett Frip is one of the organizers of the Ski-A-Thon


My mom and I after the medals


And for good measure a new shot from the Lake Louise NorAms in December

» Ottawa, ON, 3-8-2010 - 1:20 PM
Rest Week

First off, can anyone believe the weather outside in Ottawa right now? Unbelievable.. But as nice as it is, it needs to get colder because I'm not finished with the winter yet!

After podiuming in the second Super G in Aspen I was ready to tear it up in downhill, but it was not to be. Evidently I like to turn (oh really?!) and need to figure out how to glide faster, because the top flats of the downhill track were killing my times. Oh well, live and learn! Even with the mediocre downhill results I managed to hold onto the NorAm overall lead going into the NorAm Finals next week in Vermont and New Hampshire.

After Aspen I returned home for a week of rest, racing, forerunning and fundraising. The first few days were nice and relaxing as Mari came to Ottawa. After a few days with her and a day of training at Fortune with the Quebec Team, my dad and I went up to Tremblant for the Boys and Girls Club Ski-A-Thon (www.skiathon.com). Todd Brooker (Canadian HEAD rep) was another guest of the event. It was a lot of fun to ski with a Crazy Canuck and the man who got me involved with HEAD skis. The event was a huge success, raising $106,000! I met a bunch of really cool people, and it was a ton of fun. I just might have to attend again next year!

The day after the Ski-A-Thon was the annual GMC Cup race at Camp Fortune. Canadian Olympians Pat Biggs and Ryan Semple (both slalom specialists) were racing that day, so my expectations were to be as close as possible to those two. Things worked out a little better than I had planned as I came through the finish of the first run to find myself in the lead. More than a little surprised, I tried to duplicate that success in the second run but it was not to be. I made a bunch of mistake and Pat ended up with the win, but I did come second, 0.01 in front of Ryan. Hundies matter!

The next day was the K1 OSZ Championships GS race at Mont Ste Marie. My younger sister Becca even convinced me to wear all of my Olympic forerunning gear. The forerunning was a lot of fun and made me realize that I really miss skiing on Outaouais because it is so fun! Rebecca didn't do as well as she was hoping, but did end up tying for the overall medal win for 1998's because of how well she did in the slalom the previous weekend. Way to go Bec!

I'm leaving for Mont Orford tomorrow for a few days of training before the NorAm finals, where I'm aiming to wrap up some World Cup spots for next season!!

Front page of the Aspen/Snowmass website


Arcing it up at Fortune. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Stewart of Photo Buddies


Mari and I after the Fortune race


Camp Fortune Podium


I think it's too big Sprout...


Handing out medals at MSM

» Ottawa, ON, 3-4-2010 - 11:20 AM
Sprott's Gold Medal Pledge: The Final Tally

I posted a few weeks ago about Eric Sprott and his incredible pledge to donate $100,000 for every Gold medal won by a Canadian at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. With the conclusion of the games on February 28th, and a record setting 14 Gold medals by Canadian athletes, Sprott has made his donation official. The 14 Golds means Sprott Asset Management LP and the Sprott Foundation will donate $1.4 million dollars to the Canadian Athletes Now Fund!


"Like all of Canada, I was electrified by the exceptional performance of so many of our Canadian athletes during the Vancouver games," said Sprott. "But it's the massive outpouring of pride Canadians are exhibiting towards our athletes that we wanted to capture with the Gold Metal Celebration. Nothing unites a Nation like sport."
- Eric Sprott


Several (try all) major news sources in Canada have been covering the story and here are a few places to read more on Sprott and CAN Fund:

Marketwire Press Release

Financial Post New Report

Sprott Gold Pledge Website

CAN Fund Website


Most of you know that Eric Sprott has been my sponsor for the past two years, and this past year became my headgear sponsor. I am extremely proud to have Eric supporting me, and his pledge and commitment to sport is pretty special and something I've definitely never seen before.

Many of Canada's Olympic medalists in Vancouver were recipients of CAN Funding this year. For example John Montgomery (Gold, Skeleton), Charles Hamelin (Gold, ST Speed Skating), and Joannie Rochette (Bronze, Figure Skating) were all recipients this year.

And word on the street is that Jasey Jay Anderson, the Gold medalist in Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom at the Vancouver Olympics and CAN Fund recipient, is at Sprott's office in Toronto today with his Gold medal to thank Eric for his generosity. Very cool!