Squad leads Nations Cup standings following Sunday's win and superb showing in Germany.
Four highly competitive athletes, bombing down a 50-second ski run that seems tighter at times than your average grocery store aisle.
Eight skis and poles being tossed wildly at times off triple rollers and off-camber jumps. Oh yeah, it can be a volatile mix.
The mayhem-filled nature of ski cross heat racing, the most unpredictable of World Cup skiing disciplines, was on display on the weekend in Bischofswiesen, Germany, where falling snow, poor visibility and a relatively tame track that did little to separate the field, just added to the capriciousness of the competition.
Though it all, however, the powerful Canadian squad - which leads the Nations Cup standings - got a win and two other podium finishes to make it 16 podiums in eight races.
"It's a good team," head coach Eric Archer said in a conference call, noting the deep men's squad, in particular, "feeds off each other. On any given day, somebody goes out and some-body else decides to step it up."
On Sunday, David Duncan, a London, Ont., native now living in Whistler, was second in the men's race, while Marielle Thompson of Whistler was third on the women's side.
Duncan's season-long numbers are indicative of the roller-coaster ride that is ski cross.
Third and fourth at the season-opening stop in San Candido, Italy back in December, he then finished 58th, fourth, 34th, seventh and 29th before his second on Sunday.
"I've either made the final or wound up in the fence," said Duncan.
But it was who wasn't on the podium Sunday that was as much a story.
On the same course Saturday, 21-year-old Tristan Tafel of Canmore, Alta., just the 28th-fastest qualifier among the 32 men to advance to heat racing, survived a wild, spill-filled semifinal and went on to win his first World Cup race in his rookie season on the circuit.
"I'm in shock," Tafel said after his win. "In the final [when he grabbed the holeshot], I kept thinking, 'I'm going to get some contact at this turn or this jump,' and it never happened. As I turned the corner going into the finish, I was like 'Holy cow, I'm in the lead and I might just win my first World Cup.' "
On Sunday, however, Tafel and two other skiers from Saturday's final didn't even qualify for heat racing.
Also Sunday, veteran Chris Del Bosco, who was third on Saturday and has finished second overall on the circuit each of the past three seasons, was eliminated in the round of 32. Only the top two advance out of each four-man heat.
"This course, it was another one of those European designs we're so much in love with," said Archer, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"The start was very important, especially with the conditions today, and in Del's heat, the four guys were really even through the first three rollers, side-by-side and bunched up tight into the corner. He got stuck in the middle, had his weight on the wrong side of somebody else's skis and got washed out. That happens in this sport."
The Canadians and some others on the circuit, love the X Games-style courses that feature extended straightaways, dramatic turns, big tabletop jumps and multiple options - the kind of tracks, Duncan says, "separate guys with higher skill sets versus the rest of the pack."
Meantime, with three races remaining in the season, Del Bosco is third in the point standings with 317 and very much in the hunt for his first overall Crystal Globe. Alex Fiva of Switzerland leads with 382 and Brady Leman of Calgary, who was eighth on Sunday and 19th Saturday, has 375. Sunday's winner Filip Flisar of Slovenia is fourth with 302, Andreas Matt of Austria has 297 and even Duncan, despite his up-and-down campaign, sits sixth with 278.
A win is worth 100 points. "It's a testament to just how tight the top guys are," said Duncan. "No one has been able to run away with it and today, it tightened up even more. I definitely take it race by race, but the next races [in Branas, Sweden, March 3 and Grindelwald, Switzerland, March 10-11] are ones that historically I do fairly well on. My goal is to be on the podium and hopefully step on that top step."
Thompson, who has had to carry the flag for the Canadian women much of the season with world champions Ashleigh McIvor and Kelsey Serwa, plus Julia Murray all out with injury, is second in the overall, 30 points back of leader Ophelie Davide of France.
Four highly competitive athletes, bombing down a 50-second ski run that seems tighter at times than your average grocery store aisle.
Eight skis and poles being tossed wildly at times off triple rollers and off-camber jumps. Oh yeah, it can be a volatile mix.
The mayhem-filled nature of ski cross heat racing, the most unpredictable of World Cup skiing disciplines, was on display on the weekend in Bischofswiesen, Germany, where falling snow, poor visibility and a relatively tame track that did little to separate the field, just added to the capriciousness of the competition.
Though it all, however, the powerful Canadian squad - which leads the Nations Cup standings - got a win and two other podium finishes to make it 16 podiums in eight races.
"It's a good team," head coach Eric Archer said in a conference call, noting the deep men's squad, in particular, "feeds off each other. On any given day, somebody goes out and some-body else decides to step it up."
On Sunday, David Duncan, a London, Ont., native now living in Whistler, was second in the men's race, while Marielle Thompson of Whistler was third on the women's side.
Duncan's season-long numbers are indicative of the roller-coaster ride that is ski cross.
Third and fourth at the season-opening stop in San Candido, Italy back in December, he then finished 58th, fourth, 34th, seventh and 29th before his second on Sunday.
"I've either made the final or wound up in the fence," said Duncan.
But it was who wasn't on the podium Sunday that was as much a story.
On the same course Saturday, 21-year-old Tristan Tafel of Canmore, Alta., just the 28th-fastest qualifier among the 32 men to advance to heat racing, survived a wild, spill-filled semifinal and went on to win his first World Cup race in his rookie season on the circuit.
"I'm in shock," Tafel said after his win. "In the final [when he grabbed the holeshot], I kept thinking, 'I'm going to get some contact at this turn or this jump,' and it never happened. As I turned the corner going into the finish, I was like 'Holy cow, I'm in the lead and I might just win my first World Cup.' "
On Sunday, however, Tafel and two other skiers from Saturday's final didn't even qualify for heat racing.
Also Sunday, veteran Chris Del Bosco, who was third on Saturday and has finished second overall on the circuit each of the past three seasons, was eliminated in the round of 32. Only the top two advance out of each four-man heat.
"This course, it was another one of those European designs we're so much in love with," said Archer, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"The start was very important, especially with the conditions today, and in Del's heat, the four guys were really even through the first three rollers, side-by-side and bunched up tight into the corner. He got stuck in the middle, had his weight on the wrong side of somebody else's skis and got washed out. That happens in this sport."
The Canadians and some others on the circuit, love the X Games-style courses that feature extended straightaways, dramatic turns, big tabletop jumps and multiple options - the kind of tracks, Duncan says, "separate guys with higher skill sets versus the rest of the pack."
Meantime, with three races remaining in the season, Del Bosco is third in the point standings with 317 and very much in the hunt for his first overall Crystal Globe. Alex Fiva of Switzerland leads with 382 and Brady Leman of Calgary, who was eighth on Sunday and 19th Saturday, has 375. Sunday's winner Filip Flisar of Slovenia is fourth with 302, Andreas Matt of Austria has 297 and even Duncan, despite his up-and-down campaign, sits sixth with 278.
A win is worth 100 points. "It's a testament to just how tight the top guys are," said Duncan. "No one has been able to run away with it and today, it tightened up even more. I definitely take it race by race, but the next races [in Branas, Sweden, March 3 and Grindelwald, Switzerland, March 10-11] are ones that historically I do fairly well on. My goal is to be on the podium and hopefully step on that top step."
Thompson, who has had to carry the flag for the Canadian women much of the season with world champions Ashleigh McIvor and Kelsey Serwa, plus Julia Murray all out with injury, is second in the overall, 30 points back of leader Ophelie Davide of France.