Canada's Para alpine athletes hunt for medals in Beijing after a season away from racing

When Canada's Para alpine athletes hit the Yanqing National Alpine Centre slopes, they will have medals on their minds.

After reaching the podium 10 times at PyeongChang 2018, expectations are high for one of Para alpine's most prominent nations.

Team Canada has 11 athletes at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, including returning medallists Mollie Jepsen, Mac Marcoux, Alana Ramsay and Alexis Guimond.

Jepsen and Marcoux may not be old, but they lead a confident group of Canadians when it comes to racing against the world's best. At just 18 years old, Jepsen captured four medals in the women's standing events at her first Paralympic Games in 2018, while Marcoux, a visually impaired skier, won five across 2014 and 2018.

This season has been special for the Canadian team as it returned to racing following a 2020-21 campaign focused fully on training, with stops in Switzerland and resorts across British Columbia.

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"We did just a ton of repetitions at the end of the day, and the teams were skiing really well," Matt Hallat, Alpine Canada High Performance Director of Para alpine, told CBC Sports about last season. "The challenge was that there was no yardstick to tell where we're at in comparison to our competition."

While the season off from racing did not help to gain a competitive edge, it allowed athletes to adjust to some newer situations. Marcoux paired with a new guide (Tristan Rodgers), while other athletes — such as Michaela Gosselin, Logan Leach and Brian Rowland — marked their first international experiences.

Now heading to the biggest races of many athletes' careers, Team Canada is prepared to take on the world's biggest stage, coming off a five-medal