INNISFAIL – Last week Keith Ible was in the mountains at Kimberley, B.C. bursting with excitement and sheer triumph.
It had been a momentous week for him at the 2024 FIS World Criterium Masters Alpine Skiing tournament.
The tourney, held from Feb. 28 to March 7, is a prestigious FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) event that attracted up to 300 racers up to the age of 95 from a dozen countries around the world.
It is the first one ever held in Canada.
“Some people get to the Olympics, and for masters racing this is our Olympics,” said Ible. “The best in the world who belong to masters that have the fastest time in their age group gets a glass globe with the ball on top, so it’s called a pendulum globe.”
He was aiming to race in as many disciplines as possible.
Ible is now 81-years-old.
He was racing in the elite super senior category for participants between the ages of 80 to 85.
The slalom race on March 3 was his first but equipment failure forced a fall four gates before the finish line.
Two days later Ible placed seventh in the Super G.
“The race was challenging. The competition was fierce,” he added. “There’s a couple from Japan that are just awesome, and from the United States there are a couple of guys I’ve raced against before.”
He still had two more races to go in Kimberley; both in giant slalom on March 7. These were his last events at the Kimberley tourney.
He finished seventh again in both races.
“This has exceeded my expectations because the world competition was way above my pay grade,” said Ible of his three seventh place finishes at the world-class tourney. “I'm so happy with my coaching and how they got my techniques up.”
It has been an extraordinary busy and stressful past two weeks for Ible to get himself prepared for the more than half a dozen ski races at a pair of ski resorts in two provinces.
He trained hard with coaches from his Calgary club. He meticulously prepared eight pairs of skis to bring to both competitions.
However, when he left his acreage just west of Innisfail on March 1 to head out to Kimberley most of his equipment, including eight pairs of skis and three ski bags, went missing.
“I’m now on different and borrowed equipment,” said Ible. “I went back home to get old equipment that I had in the garage that I hadn’t raced on.”
Nevertheless, he eventually got to Kimberley to begin almost two weeks of high-level championship skiing.
Ible is a lifelong Innisfailian, whose parents Fred and Janette owned and operated the family-owned Fred's Food Market for many years where Jackson's Pharmasave is located today.
He learned to ski at the Innisfail Ski Hill and trained under the late Ralph Oxtoby.
“I can name 15 skiers that are unbelievable who all learned on that 200-metre hill, and all the techniques. You just need practice,” said Ible, who later became an instructor under Oxtoby.
He began ski racing at the age of 70 with the Alberta Masters Ski Club. He is a member of the club’s 70-member Calgary branch, which his family affectionately calls the “Alberta Geriatric Racers.”
“We do take our training seriously with skiing specific exercises; Pilates and diet to maximize energy and minimize muscle loss caused by aging,” said Ible, adding it was a club member who inspired him at the age of 70 to try ski racing.
“One of the guys said I'd be a better coach if I learned to race and learned about speed because I was teaching kids under eight to race,” said Ible. “And this guy says, ‘you look like you are enjoying yourself. Why don’t you join the masters?’ I never stopped.”
Over the next decade Ible earned numerous medals for skiing at the masters and FIS levels, including a gold in the combined overall for completing and medaling in all 10 races at the Canadian Masters and FIS races at Quebec’s Stoneham Mountain Resort.
For his age group, he has been named to the Canadian national team and now has a top 10 FIS world ranking.
Following his tourney-ending giant slalom race in Kimberly Ible headed back to Alberta from March 9 to 11 to ski at the Canadian Masters Alpine Championships in Nakiska.
His plan was to enter five races; two slalom, two giant slalom and one super G race.
“I'm healthy, and I'm still racing,” he said proudly. “I’m still a contender for medals.”
And maybe another crack for a pendulum globe.
