Gordon of Peterson/Calder returns home to honor former teammate and friend Rob Bosinger
Gordon Perry races by one of the slalom gates at the Bozo Cup head-to-head race at Sunshine on Saturday.
Brendan NogueBanff Crag & Canyon — Over 140 racers of all levels were on hand for the first annual Bozo Cup, a head-to-head dual slalom alpine drag race used as a tribute to its namesake, Rob Bosinger, and because of this there was more than enough trash talk to go around.
Of the three divisions involved, junior, amateur and professional, it was the pros that seemed to have the most to say to each other at Sunshine Village.
“I had a strategy but it didn’t pan out,” said former Canadian Alpine Ski Team member Felix Belczyk, after his loss to former teammate Roman Torn.“My plan was to give him a few extra drinks last night but it didn’t work out. Now I’m stuck on the B-side and I have to fight my way back,” Belczyk joked, adding that he would love to have another race with anyone from his old posse.As we all know there are two sides to every story and if you asked Torn just what went down the night before he had somewhat of a different view.“I guess he tried but he sandbagged and left early. Maybe it’s karma coming back to haunt him,” laughed Torn.“He’s got the better of me the last few races anyway so I’m somewhat grateful I won. Either way we’re both getting old,” he added, after his second round loss to Jan Hudec, which sent him over to the B-side as well.
Hudec was one of the few skiers that decided to stray away from his normal racing attire. The up-and-coming World Cup alpine racer donned a cowboy hat duct taped to his head in order to stay on, jeans complete with an oversized belt buckle, topped off with a sleeveless T-shirt that would make fashion fans cringe.“Gotta be a redneck,” said a smiling Hudec. “I just came out here to dress up and have fun. Everyone else was wearing their suits, that made me a little nervous,” he confessed.
Not nervous enough mind you, Hudec made it all the way to the finals to face Banff-raised Canmore resident Thomas Grandi.Despite coming out on the losing side Hudec can take pride in the fact that he got to race in the finals with Grandi as several big names in the competition had the Canadian Alpine Ski Team veteran in their sights.“I want to beat Grandi in the finals,” said a confident Paul Stutz. “I like beating Grandi,” he added with a smile spanning ear-to-ear.Stutz, who will join the World Cup circuit for the slalom discipline next season, didn’t get his wish of facing off against Grandi in the finals but they did meet on the way there.Unfortunately for Stutz he came out on the losing end, forcing him to settle for third place.
“These young guys can get a little cocky. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, experience comes out on top,” explained Grandi.The young and cocky skiers weren’t the only ones looking to take on Grandi. Peter Bosinger, brother of Rob, said that he wanted to face off against the four-time Olympian in a head-to-head race.Peter, a former U.S. national skit team coach, was a member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team from 1984 to 1989.“That’s where this costume came from,” said Bosinger, referring to his dusted off racing suit, clearly from the mid-80s.“The cool thing about this event is you have the opportunity to race against all ages and experiences and that brings the intensity up. As the day goes along you start looking over your shoulder more and more, which can be tough because those ruts are starting to look like bobsleigh tracks,” he added.
Grandi admitted to being inspired by the Bosinger brothers at a young age saying that they were the ones who inspired his generation of skiers.“Things have come full circle, now I’m the old guy inspiring,” said Grandi. “It’s real cool to be here amongst the different generations of racers. I just hope I can leave a strong legacy like so many of them did.”
Rob Bosinger, otherwise known as Bozo, passed away at 38 from Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) in the summer of 2005.When the former Canadian national ski team skier retired from racing he gave back to the ski racing community by becoming a coach, both at a national level and locally with the Banff Alpine Racers.Rob was also instrumental in developing this head-to-head racing series, which has run under a number of names until now, for seven years.The Bozo Cup was part of The Rob Bosinger Memorial Race weekend that included a “Gentle Giant Slalom race” for corporate sponsors as well as the Felix Belczyk Kinder Cup for K1 and K2 racers.
Fundraising efforts went all weekend long with all proceeds going towards the Canadian SADS Foundation and The Rob Bosinger Alpine Scholarship Fund.
