Aiming to create a celebration like the International Pee-Wee Tournament for hockey, Défi Alpin pitched itself to a youth regimen and found two key partners in the hopes of making the alpine ski event the largest in North America for children under 12 years, reaches a provincial level.
Presented at the Relais as part of the Quebec Carnival from its beginnings in 2000 until 2019, the Défi Alpin Tanguay presented by Entourage sur-le-Lac believes that it has found its niche in April and that there will be no turning back . The 23rd edition will continue to take place at the Relais from April 5th to 7th.
“We postponed our dates due to the pandemic and it was a success from the first year,” explains manager Laurence Boudreault. It's an end-of-season party. This year we filled all 500 places in three minutes. We have added 50 and there are still 60 young people on the waiting list. The skiers come from 40 clubs from all over Quebec and there are a few young people from Ontario.”
“In the future, we would like to welcome 1,000 young people and present the event over four days instead of three,” Boudreault continues. The challenge is to find a formula to increase the number to 1000 skiers. Like the Pee Wee tournament, we’re creating an experience for young people.”
Olympians Lucie La Roche and Anne-Marie Lefrançois, who attended the unveiling of the new logo and new partners this afternoon, were delighted by this enthusiasm. “Because there are no qualifications, young people like others are waiting in line to get a pass to the Quebec Summer Festival,” said La Roche, who competed in the 1988 Calgary Games and held a position as a city councilor after a 20-year term Exile in Toronto for six years in Lac-Beauport. There is no qualification, but medals will be awarded to the top three. At this age, young people have few opportunities to compete with skiers from across the province.”
A nervous mother
Through her volunteer work at the Relais Ski Club, Lefrançois has another reason to be in the front row at the Alpine Challenge, while her 9-year-old son Thomas will be in action.
“It’s fun to get back into the world of skiing,” said Lefrançois, who competed in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. After the 2003 Games I attended the event and the atmosphere was exceptional. Young people compare themselves and that increases the tension. We skied as a family and my son joined the club this year. It's sometimes more stressful than my competitions. I don't know if our son will follow in my footsteps, but I will support him if he wants without pushing him.
The challenge is started
At the end of his speech, La Roche put forward the idea of a challenge with Lefrançois to start the competition. “Because I’m a grandmother now, I’ll be skiing on two skis and Anne-Marie will be skiing on one,” La Roche joked.
La Roche's words quickly caught on. “The idea comes to life and I get involved in every project and the fun,” emphasized Boudreault. Gail Kelly, who also wore Team Canada's colors and is a veteran of the relay, was also able to take part.
Laurence St-Germain, reigning world champion in slalom, has already taken part in the Défi Alpin.