For the second time in his young career, Cultus Lake’s Reece Howden is a Crystal Globe champion, and this time he did it on a Canadian slope.
The 24-year-old ski-cross star won a World Cup ski-cross race in the final event of the season at the Craigleith Ski Club in Collingwood, ON. That victory on March 17 gave him enough points (725) in the FIS standings to clinch the world championship. Sweden’s David Mobaerg finished second with 574 and Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann third with 508.
“It’s pretty huge to win in Canada and to secure the globe on home soil,” Howden told Alpine Canada. “There are so many aspects to ski cross, your equipment, your mental state, and just staying healthy from crashes. I’ve been pretty fortunate with everything coming together this season.”
Howden won all four of his heats leading up to the final, in which he faced Wilmsmann and France’s Youri Duplessie Kergomard and Terence Tchiknavorian.
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“In the finals I knew that I needed to have a start that really mattered, that I really needed to bring it,” said Howden, who bested Wilmsmann, with Tchiknavorian in third. “I was able to battle my way into first and from there I focussed on my own skiing and not making any mistakes.
“It was a little stressful this week, but to be able to race and win under pressure means a lot, and it’s sick to be back home in front of the home crowd.”
It was the third World Cup win this season for Howden, who finished first at Sweden’s Idre Fjall in late January and won at Innichen, Italy in mid-January. He had eight top-three showings on the World Cup circuit and added a silver medal in a team event at the World Championships in Bakurani, Georgia, skiing alongside Whistler’s Marielle Thompson.
Howden captured his first Crystal Globe during the 2020-21 ski season.
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