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When Alpine Canada announced its team for the 2025/26 season, a bemedaled, prodigious teen made his debut with the organization after his impressive rookie year with the FIS.
In the official post, released on Oct. 3, the names of athletes from across Canada and a range of disciplines list down the page alphabetically by first name. At the bottom, one of the team’s newest members and a force to watch this year: Samuel Peters, the 17-year-old Para skier from Kelowna.
But his journey to becoming the youngest member on the team this season and a multi-podium competitor didn’t start on the mountain. It began elsewhere, at age six, with a chance invitation to learn how to sit-ski.
“I was at the grocery store with my mom,” Peters, succinct and straightforward, recalled to CBC Sports.
“A volunteer with Powderhounds asked if I wanted to try it, and we were like, ‘Oh yeah, we’d love to.’”
The Powderhounds Adaptive Program, an initiative from the nonprofit organization People in Motion, gives folks the opportunity to learn how to navigate the slopes, regardless of age or disability.
With the program’s aid at Big White Ski Resort, Peters warmed up to sit-skiing over time, as he mastered his rig and the mountain’s intricacies as he entered his teenage years.
After learning from former Team Canada skier and adaptive coach Sarah Morris-Probert, his coach introduced him to ski racing when he was ready to take off.
WATCH | Peters in motion as Big White’s first Para ski ambassador:
Soon, dreams of Olympic gold solidified, and racing became Peters’ top priority.
In 2022, at age 15, he made his competitive skiing debut. A year later, he graduated from high school to pursue ski racing full-time. Then at age 17, he became a rookie with the FIS, competing around the world in slalom, giant slalom, and super-G.
At FIS International Para Competitions in Park City, Uta., and Winter Park, Colo., he clocked speeds over 100 km/h, and podiumed seven times. He pulled four golds in two months.
Last season, often the youngest athlete on the mountain, racing against Paralympians with years of experience and other sit-skiers with their own distinguished careers, Peters remained unfazed.
“Being one of the youngest on the circuit felt pretty cool. I enjoyed it,” he said.
Quietly confident, Peters knows the impact that performance his performance can have. Training five days a week for the 2025/26 season, he’s certain about his ability to deliver, and his chances in taking home hardware during this year’s circuit.
“I do what I know I can do,” he asserted. “If I can focus on that, then I can get to the podium at some point.”
After a fourth-place finish at the Southern Hemisphere Cup in Chile this past September – the first time that Para alpine has been present at the competition – the 17-year-old will be heading to Resterhoehe, Austria from Dec. 6-7 as the season ramps up. This year, there’s something that may give him a boost as he looks to top last year’s performance: a new Tessier sit-skiing rig.
“This new rig is basically like a racing car,” he explained. “The other one was like a normal, regular car.”
With new gear and a season bookmarked by Milano Cortina 2026 in March, Peters is confident about what he’ll be able to do on the slopes, and optimistic that he’ll be in Italy for his first Winter Paralympics.
“The big hope is to go to the Games and finish all my runs,” he said. “And to also have that experience for the next Games.”
That’s because Peters is certain about competing in the long run, and Milano Cortina is another stop along the way as he continues to carve a name for himself during the 2025-26 season.
“[Milano Cortina] would definitely give me more confidence going into the 2030 Games,” he said.
“I’m willing to go and do this for a while.”
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