Mont Edouard NorAms moved to Whiteface

By Published On: January 19th, 2022Comments Off on Mont Edouard NorAms moved to Whiteface

Photo courtesy of Whiteface

With another block of NorAm racing scheduled to overlap with the Olympics in February, the men’s Mont Edouard races have been relocated to Whiteface Mountain in Upstate New York.

The province of Quebec approached the U.S. Ski Team a number of weeks ago to address an impending problem with the local lodging ordinances related to Covid. The guidelines in Quebec state that indoor gatherings should be kept to single-household bubbles. This would have made it difficult to house everyone attending the races in a logical and affordable way, according to Chip Knight, alpine development director for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Working together with their Canadian counterparts on the NorAm subcommittee, the decision was made to move the series from Mont Edouard to Whiteface in an effort to avoid the issue altogether.

Efforts were taken to make the schedule similar to what was originally planned. The four-day series is now scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 8, instead of Monday, Feb. 7. Two GS races will most likely be held over the first two days and slaloms will round out the series on Feb. 9 and 10.

The series, hosted by NYSEF, will now be geographically closer to the Burke NorAms, which are taking place less than a week later on Feb. 14. The move could also potentially reduce travel complications and the number of times athletes need to cross the border. With Whiteface also hosting women’s NorAms during the week of Feb. 14, the move helps consolidate the work and cost necessary for hosting races at the NorAm level.

Whiteface is scheduled to host the World University Games next year, making this an even more ideal venue for unofficial alpine test events.

The Whiteface and Burke NorAms overlap with the Olympics, so there are no World Cup races during those weeks. This was an intentional scenario, which may make these NorAms especially attractive to World Cup athletes that did not secure Olympic spots, potentially raising the already-high level of competition. 

The official schedule for the men’s Whiteface NorAm has not yet been released.

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About the Author: Lexi Hanus

Raised on the east coast, Lexi grew up ski racing for Burke Mountain Academy. She later went on to race for Colby College's Division I alpine ski team while pursuing a B.A. with a major in Sociology. She began her role as content coordinator for Ski Racing Media in July, 2021, and is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts.