This is a second moment of glory for the young slopestyle skier. After reaching the finals in the X Games at barely 17, the young Mont-Tremblant native has for a second time been invited to participate in the world’s most prestigious freestyle skiing competition: the Dew Tour.

Copper Mountain, Colorado, had better watch out. From December 16 to 19, the elite of this sport – which is considered “extreme” – will welcome Phil Langevin … returning with a vengeance after spending two years on the sidelines due to injuries. When he got back on his skis this fall, Phil performed better than ever. It’s a promising return.

Patience and lots of time…

Phil is coming back from afar. In November 2019, when he was training in Austria, he landed too far along doing a jump and injured his foot. Even after several weeks of rest, the pain persisted, causing him to refuse invitations to participate in the 2019 Dew Tour as well as the 2020 X Games. Then a cyst was discovered in his heel; he didn’t know it was there. The physicians couldn’t confirm whether the pain was coming from this bony mass or from a bone bruise. What’s more, excising the mass via surgery – defined as quite risky – could result in Phil’s having to give up skiing for good.

“Dr. Fontaine, of the Canadian team, called me five months later and suggested that I do some tests. I trained at Robfit and started doing some small jumps. I got back onto my skis gradually and in September 2020 it was like I’d never had a problem,” says Phil.

Heading off for a new season, Phil injured himself again in December 2020. This time it was his shoulder. The result? Two months of forced convalescence. He managed nonetheless to qualify for the very last competition of the season, last March, in Silvaplana, Switzerland. He came back strong, but ended up missing the finals by only one point.

“Missing the finals by one single point is hard to accept, but I had come back strong and that restored my confidence,” he states.

Hope springs eternal

The Dew Tour will be Phil’s first competition of the season. He was invited in September, as he was participating in a training camp with his teammates from the Canadian slopestyle team at Hintertuxer, Austria.

According to him, a video posted on his Instagram account could explain the unexpected invitation to the famous competition. In the video, you see him executing – perfectly – a “dub cork size lead mute”, a figure that only Phil has landed (See picture).

“I had to cancel twice because of an injury. So let’s just say that I am really eager to go. I grew up watching the Dew Tour and the X Games. Being invited to participate means a lot to me. It’s like going to the biggest music festival, except you’re the artist. People are there to watch you perform. I don’t just want to participate, either. I want to go there to be able to win,” he adds.

Next steps

A good performance at the Dew Tour would certainly win Phil an invitation to the X Games. He would not, however, have racked up enough World Cup points in the past two years to ensure him a spot at the Olympic Games. But all is not lost. A World Cup podium would still allow him to obtain a spot for Beijing.

“Participating in the Olympic Games remains my ultimate objective. I have to make peace with the fact that the timing isn’t great, and remain strategic. If it’s not in 2022, it will be the following Games, because age 24 is perfect for participating. But right now, I really have a fire in me and I’ll do everything I can to get there,” he concludes.

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