When I became part of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team in the winter of 60/61, I naively believed that we would be a key factor on the international scene. Our first competition – friendly – on European soil was in St Christoph, close to Saint-Anton (Austria). Our coach, an Austrian, had organized the meet with his Austrian National Team counterpart. What a disaster! When the torment ended, the Austrian coach asked our coach when our A team would arrive. We were the A team!

Our morale was in our boots when we arrived in France for the Critérium de la Première Neige in Val d’Isere – the traditional first large meeting of the skiing season – where the course was run on the La Daille, a run renamed O.-K (or OK) in honour of Henri Oreiller and J. C. Killy. That’s where I first met the young French team which would dethrone the Austrians and the Swiss, the two dominant teams of the era.

Among the future stars, I noticed Yves Bienvenue. A bit older than I, he had a style and a position on his skis that inspired me. I told myself that this young man who skied so well would be my model. Quite naturally, a friendship developed between the French skiers and the Canadian Francophones. I got to know Yves and I appreciated his calm, his determination and his precision.

We were between two Olympic Games and each of us was working hard to qualify for their respective team. Participation determines qualification and the competitions determine the selections. Yves Bienvenue was among the four best of the French. As a junior racer, he was crowned champion of the Alpine countries at Sestriere, champion of France in downhill, and he came third at Madonna di Campiglio. On the FIS A circuit, he came ninth and was the fourth French racer at Cortina d’Ampezzo, second and third at Crans-Montana.

But it’s not always easy to get a position on an Olympic team and relationships with the coaches are important, particularly when the spots are bitterly disputed. It’s called “politics”. The directors and coaches can create or destroy a career. Yves Bienvenue was not selected for the Innsbruck Olympic team and – his heart broken – he exited competition.

Married since 1962 to Françoise Kehian, he was already the father of Thiery when he met Raymond Lanctot in Badgastein, Austria. Raymond was a distributor for Rossignol skis in Canada and a founding member of the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA). The two men established a relationship and when Raymond Lanctot learned that Yves had left competition, he suggested a job in Québec.

Initially, Yves was a ski instructor at Mont Plante, in Raymond Lanctot’s school. Young skiers learn well with a high-calibre man. Soon he was recruited by Tony Sailer in Whistler, British Columbia, for Tony’s competition school. For 10 years Yves worked in the summers in the Canadian West, and winters at Mont Plante. Raymond Lanctot appreciated Yves’s qualities and involved him in his import company. Yves stayed there until 1979, then created his own import company, specializing in high-end clothing and equipment.

A Canadian citizen from 1970, he settled immediately in Mont-Tremblant, keeping a small pied-à-terre in Montréal for work. In fact, Yves has been a part of our community for 58 years. Very involved, he became the municipal councillor for lac Mercier, where he was the initiator and negotiator of the purchase of the Domaine Saint- Bernard lands; later, he was a councillor for the new City of Mont- Tremblant. Since his retirement in 1992, Yves has been accumulating cycling kilometres in summer, while in winter, he skis with equal pleasure. Yves is also happily enjoying being the grandfather of Honoré and Galia.

All the qualities that Yves had and which inspired me so much are still there. We are connected by the unforgettable experiences that we share and which still guide our lives.

More from this author by clicking on his photo below.