Canadian Rockies Academy descends on Jasper for another season on the slopes

Friday, Jan. 16 was picture perfect day up at Marmot Basin. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as the ‘black jackets’ arrived on-mass to take part in skiing and snowboard evaluations with Marmot’s instructor’s corp. 

The ‘black jackets’ are of course this year’s crop of snow-bound talent participating in the Canadian Rockies Academy. It’s without a doubt that Jasperites have noticed the addition of 165 people, hailing predominantly from the UK, who’ve descended upon the town for the next 11 weeks. 

Skiers and snowboarders were split up and then had their riding ability evaluated by Colin Borrow and the team of his instructors at the mountain. 

Borrow surely runs a tight ship given that all 165 participants were run through their paces by lunch time, testing their mettle on what was new terrain for the majority of them. 

It’s not all fun and games though. Participants in the academy pay big bucks to come to Jasper to improve their skiing and riding skills as well as learn the ins and outs of teaching. “Some people are looking for a career break,” said Steve La Borde, who along with his wife Karen are spending their third season in Jasper as group organizers and ‘house parents’ along with two others.

Other participants “are just coming for improvement,” said La Borde, “but the bulk of them are serious about getting in the leisure industry one way or another.” 

When touring the participants around town, La Borde tells “them that we’re in the heart of the rocky mountains and that we’re in a national park, which is a world heritage site.” There’s also cultural differences that La Borde emphasizes when discussing the town. In the UK you can drink on the street, he said, which is not allowed here. 

The academy is also cognizant of the fact that Jasper is a small communal town so they are trying to become, as positively as possible, part of the community for their 11 week stint, said Alun Williams, the chairman of the Academy of International Sports. 

As some residents may have noticed, about 60 ‘black jackets’ were volunteering at the street party last Saturday and will do the same this coming weekend. The academy is also hoping to be involved in the next community dinner acting as servers, said La Borde, adding that “the Alberta provincial ice hockey championships happening (in Jasper) on the 13,14 and 15 of March, and they’ve asked us to man the security for that.”

La Borde knows as a manager the importance of making a good impression with Jasperites. “We don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, the academy are coming back.’ We want people to think, ‘Hey, those guys are coming back this year!’”

There will be 165 participants here for the next 11 weeks, approximately 60 of whom will stay on for an additional three weeks.