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WINTER
2017
in conversation
Iwasbornandraised inOwenSound,
whichhasgreat tobogganing,but ifyourgoal is to tuckdown
amountaingoing140km/h, it’sbest to travel outside thecity limits.At theageof14myparentsboughtmeabookof
Greyhoundbus ticketsandsoon thereafter Ibecamearegularon the7ambus toCollingwood to trainwith theNational
SkiAcademy (NSA).EachdayNSADirectorandCoach JurgGfellerwouldcollectmealongsideHWY26,andafter
agooddayofwork Iwould take thebushome toeat dinner, collapse inbed,wakeupanddo it all again. Twoyears
later, Iearned theopportunity toski forCanadaand in thespringof2016,after10yearson theWorldCupcircuit, I re-
tired—ranked3
rd
in theworld. Iowea lotofmysuccess to Jurgand thecoachesandstaffat theNSA.
Thispast fall theNationalSkiAcademycelebrated30years—Jurg isa foundingmemberandhasbeen theNSADirector
since1986. Prior to theNSA, Jurg coached theCanadianNationalMen’s Ski Teamat theWorldCup level,World
ChampionshipsandOlympicWinter games.Due inpart to Jurg’smanyyearsat thehelmof theNSA, it hasbecome
oneof the topskiacademies inNorthAmerica,withahalf-dozenathletesmaking it to theCanadianNationalSkiTeam.
Jurg’spriorityat theNSAhasalwaysbeen toprovideabalanceof freedomandstructure tostudentswhowish topursue
their love for skiingwhileattaining theacademics requirements tobe fullyprepared for ‘lifeafter skiing’.My timewith
theNSAwas short-lived,at just two seasons—however I returnmonthly tovisitwith Jurg. I recently satdownwith Jurg—
wemanaged tostop teasingeachotheraboutSwiss food longenough togetanactual conversationdownonpaper.
BY LARISAYURKIW
wi th jurg gfel ler
