Throughout the research of my book, “Experts Only! The History and Ranking of Eastern North America’s Hardest Trails”, I have observed Quebec ski areas routinely recognizing local athletes that have achieved the pinnacle of their sport by naming a trail in their honor. This seems like an appropriate honor since many of these skiers and riders have spent tireless hours training at the mountain that has named a trail after them. For example, in Quebec the following athletes have trails named after them:
- JP Auclair (legend) - Stoneham
- Nicolas Fontaine (3x Olympian) – Mont Orford
- Lloyd Langlois (Bronze Medalist 1994 Olympics) – Mont Orford
- Erik Guay (3x Olympian) - Tremblant
- Jasey Jay Anderson (Gold Medalist 2010 Olympics) – Tremblant
- Alexandre Despatie (2x Olympic Silver Medalist in diving!)– Ski Chantecler
Why don’t we have trails on the east coast after our successful athletes? Just off the top of my head the following athletes should have trails named after them.
- Seth Westcott (2x Gold Medalist Olympics) - Sugarloaf
- Bode Miller (6x Olympic Medalist/Legend) - Cannon
- Andrew Weibrect (2x Olympic Medalist) - Whiteface
- Kelly Clark (3x Olympic Medalist/Pioneer) - Mount Snow
- Donna Weinbrecht (Gold Medalist/Pioneer) - Killington
Should Avalanche be renamed Bode Miller, Upper Skyward renamed to Andrew Weibrect, Outer Limits renamed to Donna Weinbrecht?
What are your thoughts, should the mountains south of the border recognize athletes that have reached the pinnacle of the sport?