ABOUT THE ONTARIO PARA ALPINE SKI TEAM (OPAST)
The Ontario Para-Alpine Ski Team’s goal is to educate, promote and train para-alpine ski racing in the province of Ontario. As members of AOA these athletes train and compete together to promote para-alpine ski racing locally, provincially, nationally & internationally. The team participates in a weekly fitness training tracking program and in a spring and fall testing program at the CSIO Toronto (Canadian Sports Institute of Ontario – Toronto). Personalized, incremental strength and conditioning programs will continue throughout the fall months until the athletes return to snow in November.
The OPAST has a long legacy of moving athletes to the Canadian stage.
2025-26 OPAST HEAD COACH
Nick Kwasniak
Nick is steadfast in believing in the development of strong, educated, athletic ski racers who enjoy skiing at any level and embrace the culture of sport.
Did you know? Nick is recruiting for his team! Reach out nick@alpineontario.ca to learn more.
Get to know Nick in three questions:
1️⃣ Q: Hometown?
A: Collingwood
2️⃣ Q: Where and how did you discover your love of coaching?
A: From my earliest days of working with NGSL skiers back in the late 80’s
3️⃣ Q: What is something that is little known but that you deeply admire about this team?
A: They are deeply committed to improving every day
2025-26 OPAST ATHLETES
James Budrow
Hometown: Ottawa
Age:19
Education/Career: Marketing
James Budrow, 19, has demonstrated great development on the OPAST team over the past several years. Acquiring significant experience at the Ontario Winter Para Games, Ontario Winter Games, and Canada Winter Games and Nationals. James is a passionate athlete who has been progressing rapidly and consistently achieves good results.
Ellen Rowe
Hometown: Toronto, now Ottawa
Age:31
Para Class: Sit Skier
Spinal cord impairment, Aug 2023
Education/Career: Graduated from Queen’s University with a BA (Hons.) in History and World Language and a Master of Public Policy from McGill. Ellen works for the Federal Government in Defence and Cyber Security.
Goal: Ellen looks forward to learning all there is to know about racing and improving her sit-skiing skills while having a blast!
Ellen and her family have enjoyed recreational skiing together since she was a child. After falling ill and using a wheelchair since Aug 2023, she was defeated, thinking she would miss a ski season. That was until she learned about the CADS Edelweiss adaptive skiing program! Ellen is tremendously grateful to the amazing volunteers who helped her quickly gain the skills and confidence to ski independently as of 2025. She cannot wait to get back on the slopes and race this season!
Jessica McPhee*
Para Class: Sit Skier
Spinal cord injury, skiing 2018
Hometown: Dorchester
Age: 36
Education/Career: Graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BASc in Management Engineering, and have been working for PepsiCo Foods Canada for 10 years. In her current role as Commercialization Manager for Frito-Lay Canada, she plans how to manufacture and distribute all new product offerings at scale.
Goal: To continue to place in the top 10 at National Championships this year.
Jessica has skied recreationally since the age of 6 with her family, and it has been a passion of hers throughout her life. After her accident, she joined the CADS program at Craigleith and quickly found that racing was a possibility!
Learn about all aspects of the classification process across Para Alpine, Para Cross-Country and Para Snowboard in a dedicated series of six articles published ahead of the 2025-2026 season, culminating in the Paralympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina. LINK HERE