Downhill ski season begins in Lake Louise

LAKE LOUISE, ALTA. Manuel Osborne-Paradis was OK with the cancellation of last year’s World Cup in Lake Louise, Alta.

The Canadian man who has won the most medals in Lake Louise couldn’t race there in 2016 because he was otherwise occupied. On the eve of the cancelled downhill, his wife Lana gave birth.

“I wouldn’t have raced. Sloane was born the night before,” Osborne-Paradis said. “As we got closer to the due date, I wasn’t skiing that well anyway. It worked out very well for me.”

Sloane Grace Osborne-Paradis celebrates her first birthday Saturday when dad steps into Lake Louise’s start hut.

Warm weather wiped out last year’s men’s races for the first time in 29 years.

The ski weather gods are more obliging in 2017. Lake Louise was given the green light for the downhill and Sunday’s super-G.

But Wednesday’s first training run was delayed and then cancelled because of heavy snowfall overnight and soft track conditions in temperatures just above freezing.

Osborne-Paradis, who lives in nearby Invermere, B.C., is the most recent Canadian to both stand on the podium and win in Lake Louise.

He was second in the 2014 downhill, won super- G gold in 2009 and was second in downhill in 2006.

“Lake Louise has a special place in my heart. It starts the season off very calmly,” the 33-year-old said. “It’s not, ‘Get on a plane, get over jet lag and move into a hotel room.’ That part is awesome.”

Osborne-Paradis and reigning world super-G champion Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., lead the Canadian team into the traditional season opener for the world’s top downhillers.

Dustin Cook of Lac-Sainte-Marie, Que., Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., and Calgary’s Tyler Werry will race in one or both events this weekend.