Brian Rowland seen here competing for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, says that he learned valuable lessons in his Games debut that can help him this year in the mountains of Cortina.Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
On a steep, icy slope, balanced on a single ski at over 100 kilometres an hour, Brian Rowland is exactly where he wants to be. It’s not where life first took him, nor where he expected to end up, yet it’s where purpose, competition, and dedication collided.
Growing up in the Ottawa Valley, winter sports were a way of life. Hockey on outdoor rinks filled some days, but snowboarding became Rowland’s obsession from his very first try. The long Canadian winters meant days at local hills and before long, bigger dreams followed. That included trips out west, chasing snow in British Columbia and even soaking in the energy of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as a fan.
“Snowboarding just became pretty much my favourite thing to do in the winter, if not in my life,” Rowland told the Globe and Mail. “I became obsessed with it and just had a big passion for getting out.”
However, things changed five years later after a motocross accident left the Merrickville, Ont. native with a spinal cord injury. Not only did snowboarding become a distant activity, but Rowland also lost his job as a plumber.
“That first winter, I didn’t do any kind of winter activities. I was still getting used to my body being paralyzed,” said Rowland. “The following summer, a friend of mine who is someone I went to school with in my hometown said, ‘You should get into para alpine skiing.’”
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Curious about how he could hit the slopes again, Rowland was introduced to a sit-ski and began trying to learn this new winter sport in his life. Meeting his first coach, Andy Van Grunsven, in 2017 was the start of his Paralympic dream.
Sit-skiing is unique in that it exists only in para sport. Introduced at the Paralympic Games in 1988, the discipline places athletes in a bucket mounted to a single ski, racing at high speed with no able-bodied equivalent. Stacy Kohut became Canada’s first sit skiing alpine champion with gold in the super-G in Lillehammer in 1994.
Van Grunsven would volunteer his own time to train Rowland in Eastern Ontario at the Calabogie Peaks. Luckily, snowboarding for many years and riding dirtbikes for almost a decade meant Rowland had interchangeable skills he could use when strapped to the sit ski, which made the transition slightly easier. Still, there were crashes and hard moments.
“I fell in love with the sport, and it gave me a new purpose in life to race, to compete, to have that goal of going to the Olympics, and making the national team. That was a big goal of mine for the first couple of years,” said Rowland.
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Perhaps Rowland could have chosen a sport with less dangerous consequences, but there is a particular thrill that comes with being on a steep slope and going at very high speeds on one ski.
“Speed. It’s just like, so cool for me,” Rowland said with a chuckle.
So cool, it’s become Rowland’s full-time job representing Team Ontario. In-season training camp consists of long days sharpening the tool kit. Mobility in the gym, a dozen warm-up runs, speed training, skiing giant slalom gates, and lots of footage review are a few goals on the agenda before a session of dry needling and body recovery. Mental preparation between the gates is just as important.
“When I’m pushing out of the gate, I’m just thinking, ‘Okay, let’s do this, top to bottom, keep my shoulders level at the gates,’” he said. “I try to pump and convince myself that I know what’s going on here and I’m in control. I’m the pilot of this ski. It’s go time.”
Being part of Team Ontario and later Team Canada means competing at World Cups and travelling around the world with silverware on the table. Rowland enjoys every part of it, but nothing beats being with the best para alpine skiers on show days, who drive him to be better every day.
“I have poured my heart and soul into this sport, and it comes with a lot of sacrifices,” Rowland said. “But, I do live an exciting lifestyle, and I wouldn’t really trade it for anything.”
The goal to be a Paralympian became reality at the 2022 Beijing Games, with the now 39-year-old being the only male sit-skier to represent Canada.
“It was definitely a dream come true,” Rowland recalled. “It was very special to get to ski on that speed track that I’d seen the Olympians ski on TV a couple of weeks before that. It was intimidating, but I was pretty happy. Very special, very cool, super exciting.”
Unfortunately, the alpine skier returned home without reaching the podium after a few mid-pack finishes. Yet, it is those same mistakes and emotional heartache that motivated Rowland to aim for more.
With more experience under his belt, confidence is at an all-time high, and going for the medal is on the table. Now, he has another shot at the Cortina mountains at the 2026 Games.
“I’ve skied Cortina before, and it’s an awesome venue. I’m really excited to get back there and it’s a place where I think I can have some success,” said Rowland. “I have some friends, and a lot of my family is going to be there in Italy to watch. And that, on its own, is very exciting.”
For Canadians at home, Rowland hopes they’ll tune in. Not just to watch him, but to watch the sport itself because in his words, “It is badass.”
“I am a very patriotic Canadian and I’m going to give it my all and my best, and I won’t be leaving anything out there. I’m going for the gold.”
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