Sit-skier Brian Rowland is looking towards the 2025-26 FIS season ready and refreshed.
As the World Cup series for Para alpine begins Dec. 10 in Steinach am Brenner, Austria, familiar faces like Rowland are gearing up for a season bookended by the biggest upcoming event in winter sports: Milano Cortina.
A competitor at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, he finished middle of the pack in giant slalom and super-G as Canada’s sole male in the discipline. Four years later, he’s ready to hit the slopes again.
“Compared to then, I’m feeling a bit more confident,” Rowland told CBC Sports.
“I didn’t have a ton of racing behind me when I was going into the 2022 Games, so my skiing has definitely improved since then, and I’ve learned a lot.”
In the years since his Paralympic debut, Rowland has continued to compete. Last April, he pulled several podiums at the Europa Cup and International FIS competitions at the tail end of his campaign.
During the off-season, the athlete from Merrickville, Ont., found other ways to satiate his need for speed.
“I got a BMX this summer,” Rowland beamed.
Besides hitting pump tracks across Canada over the warmer months on his new bike, he also wakeboarded out west and got back on a dirt bike. He was paralyzed from the waist down following a motocross incident in 2015. Still, he manages to rip around on some sticks even when there’s no snow.
Equally important to Rowland, he finds a way to give back to his community at the same time.
“I volunteer with a program called Ski Ability Ottawa. My friend is the organizer, and we offer the chance for anyone to get out and waterski,” Rowland said.
For Rowland, giving folks like him the push to get out there and try something new is paramount.
“I really enjoy giving back to the community,” he said.
Since his last Paralympic appearance, he’s also been part of Classroom Champions, a program where athletes mentor young students in effort to achieve their goals and embark on their own journey in life.
Upon returning to the slopes this fall, fresh out of the first Para alpine events at the Southern Hemisphere Cup in September, Rowland nabbed a silver medal in giant slalom. It was his strongest start to a season to date.
“Racing, sometimes, is getting into survival mode,” he explained. “It’s a little nerve wracking, a little bit tense. You’re trying to go as fast as possible and still make those gates.”
Looking at last year’s performances, with this year’s appearance in Chile in mind, Rowland is ripping down the hill faster than ever, and racking up more FIS points than before.
Sometimes he crashes, but he never burns. Every time, he gets up and goes again.
“When you’re flying down those hills, and in downhill especially, it’s my favourite,” he said. “You’re kind of hanging on for dear life at times.”
His next competition will be alongside his Alpine Canada teammates this December in Austria, but as Milano Cortina approaches only three months afterwards, Rowland reflects on his time in Italy back in 2023. There, he disappointingly posted a DNF during a World Cup.
This time around, he knows the mountains and anticipates better performances.
But what Rowland also hopes for, other than a podium and representing Canada on the world stage, is for everyone back home to catch the Paralympics.
“Sit-skiing is such a crazy sport, and I highly recommend that people just tune in and watch the Paralympic Games,” he urged. “It’s very special, and it doesn’t get a ton of exposure.”
“And it’s definitely not easy to take up,” added Rowland, who made the transition from snowboarding to sit-skiing following his accident.
“It’s a challenge, and I love the challenge.”
His next challenge, competing across the Winter Games’ Slalom events against the world’s leading sit-skiers this season, will be one to watch.
As the Alpine Team geared up to leave for training at Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia, he repeated his one request for Canada this coming March:
“Tune in.”
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