Valérie Grenier is confident she can return to top form after a serious injury early this year. After all, this isn't her first time overcoming a major setback.
The Canadian alpine skier hit the slopes at an Alpine Canada camp in Chillan, Chile, from Sept. 13-24. It marked her comeback after multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation following a devastating crash during a World Cup super-G race in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, on Jan. 28.
"I realized that I'm pretty resilient and that it seems like nothing can really get me down that much, even though I've had a lot of injuries, or chronic injuries and things like that,” Grenier said of her recovery during a video conference Thursday.
“It seems like I always get back up and just really fight all the way through."
Grenier needed shoulder surgery to repair a fractured humerus and underwent reconstruction of her right knee due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a partial medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear and a torn meniscus.
The 27-year-old from St. Isidore, Ont., also suffered a major injury in February 2019 after breaking her ankle and leg in multiple places during a downhill training run at the world championships in Are, Sweden.
Grenier came back from that injury stronger than before, and in 2023-24 ranked ninth overall and fifth in the giant slalom World Cup standings at the time of her fall in Italy.
Two days before her crash, Grenier finished in a three-way tie for third on the same hill, earning her fourth career World Cup medal and her first in downhill. She also won giant slalom gold in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for the second win of her career on Jan. 6.
That hot stretch gives her confidence that she can pick up where she left off.
"I feel like it's realistic to want to stay maybe in the same standings as last year,” she said. “That's kind of like my biggest goal.
"I feel good about my skiing. Even right before my injury, I was in such a good spot that I feel like, technically, I probably don't need that much time on snow to really be back to that level."
Grenier spent the first part of her recovery at home with her parents before dedicating six weeks to physiotherapy at the Institut National du Sport du Québec (INS) in Montreal.
She said her shoulder didn’t heal quickly, preventing her progress in the early stages. Her knee, however, recovered well initially but later plateaued because of a cyst behind it — something her surgeon ultimately helped solve.
Overall, Grenier said she’s on a great timeline and progressing at the right rate, but isn’t yet certain when she’ll return to competition.
In Chile, her knee had “no issues at all” but the shin on her right leg wasn’t responding well to harder snow — something her team attributes to a lack of strength in the muscles around it.
Looking ahead, Grenier, who leaves for another camp at Val Senales in Italy next Saturday, said she would love to compete in the World Cup opener at Solden, Austria, on Oct. 26-27, but isn’t sure that’s realistic.
Otherwise, she’s aiming for a return at Killington, Vt., on Nov. 29. That event precedes the World Cup in Mont-Tremblant, Que., on Dec. 8-9, where Grenier would be the headliner after growing up on that hill.
“I really don't want to rush things, so I'm not worried if I can't start in Solden,” she said. “I want to be able to start feeling 100 per cent and just really feeling like I can actually ski like myself, and basically try to go for the win and not just to go for the ski.”
Grenier said her plan is to focus on giant slalom over speed events after her crash, but added that super-G would be in the cards depending on how she feels in training.
Once she has consecutive days down the hill without shin problems or knee swelling, Grenier feels good about getting back to where she was.
“I don't need too much volume on snow, and I'll be good still technically, so I just need to keep that confidence,” she said. "It might not go that way at all, and it might be super tough, and I'm ready for that too, but I think it's good to aim high.
“I don't know if it's crazy to say, I don't know if it seems unrealistic, but in my mind, it's a possibility, and even if it doesn't happen, it's fine -- I would rather aim high and aim for that. And if it doesn't, then it'll be next year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
