Brutal Bormio could be kinder to Canada's Olympic downhill skiers

Bormio in February is not Bormio in December.

The men's alpine ski course for the 2026 Olympic Games is a regular stop on the World Cup circuit.

Canadians have been successful there in December downhills. They say the Stelvio slope, with its 1,010-metre vertical drop and speeds hitting 100 kilometres per hour, is a hairy ride.

"Uh, scary?" said Cam Alexander, who was third in Bormio's last two downhills.

"It and Kitzbuehel are probably the most intimidating tracks that we race. Bormio, maybe even a little bit more so. Bormio is just consistently scary the whole way down. Kitzbuehel has more probably high-risk features at the very start and the finish, but Bormio's just like, you have to be on it the whole way because it really doesn't let up.

"It's dark, and it's bumpy. It's intense."

Bormio's track, says his teammate Brodie Seger, "is just frying your legs by the bottom."

The first of three scheduled training runs for the Olympic men's downhill is on Wednesday. Saturday's race offers the first alpine ski medals of the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

Bronze medallists Steve Podborski (1980) and Edi Podivinsky (1994) are the only Canadians to step on the Olympic podium in men's downhill.

Toronto's Jack Crawford was a bronze medallist in alpine combined in Beijing in 2022. He claimed a World Cup silver in a Bormio downhill in 2022.

"I've always known Bormio as this super, super dark, icy, gnarly track," Crawford said. "In February, it might look a little bit different. There might be a little more sun. It's a different time of year than when we normally race it.

"Really just want to go in with an open mindset and see what the slope gives because it could be completely different from what we're used to."

Crawford