The Q with Erik, John and Manuel

Erik Guay

Ski Racing Canada/TSN.ca staff

1/19/2008 2:34:22 PM

Three of Canada's best ski racers - Erik Guay, John Kucera and Manuel Osborne-Paradis - sat down with SRC magazine shortly after their wild ride on the Streif, to answer questions posted by fans on TSN.ca.

Guay's 9th place in Saturday's downhill led the Canadian Cowboys, a close-knit group of friends, teammates and competitors. The Canadian team scored five top-15 results over two days in Kitzbühel.

Canadian history runs deep at Kitzbühel, from heartache to triumph, ski racers from Canada have clearly made their mark at the Hahnenkahm-Renner downhill on the Streif course, the world's most treacherous ski race track. Steve Podborski won twice while Ken Read and Todd Brooker each claimed a single victory in their career. It was also the site where Brian Stemmle nearly lost his life in a horrifying accident.

Lou in Toronto... Love the whole Canadian Cowboys thing, a perfect way to distinguish this new generation of skiers from the Crazy Canucks. Do you find that the Canadian Cowboys has taken hold in Europe? Do people - other than ex-pats - come up to you and reference the name?

Erik Guay: Ya, I think so, especially in Kitz. I really saw a change when we're coming down... people are recognizing us as Canadian Cowboys and not the Crazy Canucks. We are the new school coming up and it's good that we're starting to get recognition.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis: Especially this season. Last season the Canadian Cowboys caught on pretty good. This season I find most of the Europeans associate us as Canadian and the Canadian Cowboys. It's a good thing to be noticed as the next generation and not just coming after the Crazy Canucks. We are a group that is worthy and for real.

John Kucera: For sure. For example, in the Atomic press conference we had on Thursday night I was asked about four questions that were centered around the Canadian Cowboys. I find that when I'm walking through crowds here in Europe that I hear "hey look, it's the Canadian Cowboys".

Kevin... What do you see when you're in the start gate at the top of Kitzbuhel? What emotions are you feeling before you go.

EG: First jump, that's about it...

JK: You see the big sign that says "Red Bull gives you wings" and at that point you get wings and you fly for 60 meters.

EG: It's the most intimidating first turn in skiing racing for sure. It's a little nerve racking. What you do in the first few turns dictates the whole run.

MP: On this course, there are things to be respected, I am not necessarily fearless by any means, but I try to put things behind me on race day and focus on things I need to do. Everybody has to race the same hill and the same turns. If you can put behind you all the shenanigans and focus on what you need to do, you can put down a good run.

Mike in Edmonton... Manuel, spreading the spirit of the Canadian Cowboys, have you ever striped down to nothing but your cowboy hat on the dance floor at cowboys during the Calgary Stampede?

MP:: Bite me O'Flynn!

Steven in Simcoe, Ont... Is there anything different in your preparation for races in Europe compared to North America? Do you find any difference in the quality of snow?

EG: Different snow for sure. I don't know which one I like better, but North America and Europe are for sure different. Probably main thing is the weather - North America is more the grippy winter snow and Europe is a little more natural.

JK: The thing is all courses are prepared really well and all (most) are water injected - so similar but in some way it is different.

EG: Biggest difference is atmosphere - fans are everywhere in Europe. You can really see it here in Kitzbühel. You can really see everyone coming into the finish.

JK: Kitzbühel is the only place that you really notice the crowd when on the course. You can hear them - which is impressive when you are travelling at 140 km

EG: Hearing the cheering is good because it means you are having a good run, or had a big crash! (all laugh)

Liam in Vancouver... In the past, the best skiers in downhill had the fastest skis, but maybe not the best skier. I notice now that Atomic is no longer always at the top with Head, Rossi and Fisher all now on the podium. Has the playing field leveled so that it comes down to skiing rather than the skies on your feet?

EG: I don't think so...if you look at who's winning I'd have to say it's the skiers, not the skis. For example, Bode was on Atomic and now he's on Head and he's still winning. Experience definitely has a lot to do with it. It has more to do with experience. It takes a couple years for young guys before they start putting down the top results. I don't think the skis make that much of a difference.

MP: Every athlete has a company that suits their style and will be better skiers on. The skis you will do well on usually depends on your style.

JK: Fast skis are important for sure. You're not going to win on slow skis. But if you ran all the fastest guys in a straight line on their best skis then everybody would finish with pretty well the same time.

SRC: Do you think that you have skis that are faster than others in your arsenal of skis?

EG: There are skis that are faster in some conditions. Once in a while it will happen that you will get a slow pair of skis and it will affect your run but that's rare.

MP: Sometimes a guy will get sunshine on the course, which is usually faster, and sometimes you will get shade. This affects the skis but that's not really in our control.

JCR, a Canadian living in Belgium... How do you approach your start for the race? Are you aware of the current times before you or you are in your own mental bubble? By the way, are you planning to attend the post race party at the Londoner after the race?

EG: Yes - to the Londoner!!!

JK: I change a lot, sometime I watch the race and the times, and other times I am in my own bubble - depending on the venue. But here at Kitzbühel I won't watch anyone - I made that mistake two years ago when I watched Manny ski into the nets.

EG: Yeah, I should have done that today. I should have stayed in my own bubble and not have watched McCartney's crash.

MP: Depends on the venue - some places you are pretty comfortable bit Kitzbühel is pretty knarly.

Laurin... I've always wondered what you guys considered the wildest part of the ride. The Mausefalle has always looked to me from TV like the hugest drop-in imagined when you consider the speed going into the entrance. How do you train for something like that, when it appears so intimidating? The first time must just be survival! The other part that always wowed me is the fall-away turn (Hausbergkante?). It looks like you can't help but get on your uphill/inside ski. How do you set yourself up and exit? Good luck guys! You're doing yourselves and your fans proud!

MP: We don't really train for courses like Kitzbühel. If we trained on courses like this then there wouldn't be any team left. We can only get away with doing the Mausfall jump a few times. If we did this course too much then we would be hanging out in hospital. We train downhill on courses that have some challenging parts to learn the right skills with the hope we can transfer these on the world cup courses. If we get too comfortable on courses like the Hahnenkamm then it would probably be more dangerous.

JK: The more I run on each course the better it gets. It improves my mental preparation

Wesley in Vancouver...Two questions: 1. what's your favourite ski resort in Europe and why? 2. What is your favourite racetrack in Europe? Good luck the rest of the season!

EG: You cannot go wrong here in Kitzbühel - what an atmosphere. But my favourite place to ski is St. Moritz, it's always sunny and sweet place to be.

JK: Wengen is a cool place to be both the track and resort having to take the train up there. The track has everything, cliffs, tunnels, a section with super-G turns and a section where you are going 155 KM at one point

Chris in Toronto... I think you are probably all old enough to be aware of pre-parabolic racing skis. Can you tell us all what some of the changes to your ski techniques you have had to make in order to adjust to the smaller (and in my opinion slower) parabolic ski sidecuts? (I ride only Volkls, the short ones are 205's and the long ones are 215's!)

MP: When I was younger (before parabolic skis) I was known as slalom skier. When the new parabolic skis came in I just kept the same size skis so my turns got longer. That's the only difference. That's why I'm a downhiller now. Plus, the last time I trained slalom I only had three runs because I knocked myself out. Those slalom skiers are crazy. Have you seen how close they get to those gates!

EG: Manny went from a SL 215 to a DH 215 !

Jarrod... Canada is looked on by the other countries with envy as a team that actually enjoys each others company. Why is friendship and comradery so easy for you guys to achieve and so difficult for other countries to find.

(Start jabbing each other...)
MP: Because we keep inside what we hate about each other (all laugh)

JK: Because we respect each other's philosophies (sarcastic)

SRC - I heard things about Erik's bike shorts for working out.

EG: Hey - Johnny has worn that shirt for two months!! Every day! (all laugh)

MP: We can fill a whole magazine article on each other's fashion problems.

Dale... Erik, with the knee injury, I would like to know why you do not wear a knee brace? Most NCAA athletes wear them to protect themselves. That is if they make it to the Pros they have their knees intact. The injury occurred on a practice run. Why not have a bit of extra protection? Plus with the type of knee injury, there is a good chance it could have been prevented.

EG: The first reason is because racers are not allow to wear knee braces in world cup races. Knee braces work well in sports where you move in one direction but when moving all the time it prevents you from certain movements and would put you in the fence a lot faster.

Markus... Erik, what was your best finish at the caribou cup? Also does Pat know about you and Mira? Its okay, I'm sure you'll make a great brother-in-law.

EG: Markus must have changed his.

SRC - first off, what is the Caribou Cup?

EG: Caribou Cup is a race from the top to the bottom of Tremblant where you race a little, stop for a shot, race some more, stop for another shot, ski across the lake, another shot, run into the Caribou and grab a beer and so on. I never won it - second or third was my best finish.

SRC - who is Pat and Mira?

EG: Pat was my best friend growing up and Mira is his little sister.

Don in Vernon, B.C... How much does equipment affect the outcome of WC downhill's? You don't hear about waxing very much these days. Has Atomic lost its advantage to Head? Which DH course is the most over rated? The most under rated? What is your favourite ski racing moment?

JK:  Kvitfell. It's a great track. Last year at the bib draw, they did it in a bingo hall and they had to stop the game. This made everybody mad that they had to stop the bingo game.

Robb... Having a great time following you as usual. Glad your back is better Erik and Manny, what can I say? You bounced back from a horrible race in, I think, Val Gardena and now you look strong, confident and fast. Do you think the reason the Lauberhorn seemed so easy is because you lost so much speed at the top that the middle and bottom came at you differently? I think it's great you could stay relaxed after nearly getting snared! Best wishes to you both from me and Katie.

EG: I did not find Wengen easy at all - I had a horrible time.

Patrick in Whistler... I would like to know which gondola did you go to the top of the course? Do you try to get a gondola of a previous winner that you respect? (Editor's Note: Kitzbuhel has each gondola named after a previous Kitz winner)

EG: I had Alberto Tomba today - but I don't try to get a certain Gondola

JK: First time I was going up I was terrified out of my mind and on top of that, my first ride up was on the Todd Brooker gondola... all I could think of was him cart wheeling down the run.

MP: Had Ingemar Stenmark. Won lots of slaloms but couldn't find DH win. Had Franz Klammer - he's pretty good for an old guy (all laugh).