As time creeps slowly closer to the big 2010 event, more and more elite athletes are making a home in Squamish. The latest addition to Squamish's high performance family is Tom Velisek, one of Canada's top snowboardcross champions. Velisek moved here from Vernon with his brother last winter to foster an advantage when it comes time to compete for the gold.
A member of the Canadian Snowboard Federation, 24-year-old Velisek competes on the World Cup circuit for the Canadian National team. He is one of only four men in the country selected to represent Canada in this discipline and is one of the best riders in the world. A 2002 North American Continental Cup champion, Velisek placed third in the 2003 World Cup race in Germany and won the 2004 World Cup race in Austria.
Velisek now plans to go for gold in Turin, Italy in 2006, and to dominate the World Cup tour all the way to a 2010 gold medal.
"My objectives are simple," he said. "I want to be the best in the world. That means winning the snowboardcross overall, the World Championships and two Olympic Games."
Snowboardcross, the newest event on the snowboard scene, will make its first appearance as an official Olympic sport at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. More commonly referred to as SBX, snowboardcross consists of a race between riders who start in groups of four and race through a challenging obstacle course, built with tabletop jumps, staircase drops, moguls, banked turns and tight corridors. The challenge is to negotiate the obstacles, not to mention the other riders.
The physically demanding sport requires a rigorous 20-hour a week training regimen, to which Velisek recently introduced his newest passion: mountain biking.
"It's great for cross-training," said Velisek, adding that the area's numerous and challenging bike trails are one of three reasons he moved to Squamish from Vernon last winter.
"There's also fishing and being close to the hill," he said, referring to Whistler Mountain's new SBX terrain.
Velisek has a long road of competitions, travel and training before 2010, but he said he's thrilled to be based in the heart of 2010.
"I love it," he said of Squamish. "Absolutely love it."
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