CALGARY -- Olympic gold medallist Ashleigh McIvor of Whistler, B.C., and Winter X-Games champion Chris Del Bosco of Sudbury, Ont., will lead Canada's 13-member ski-cross team this season.
Returning to the team will be head coach Eric Archer and technical coach Brent Kehl, Canada Ski Cross said in a release Tuesday.
The Canadian team will be attempting to maintain its two-year grip on the FIS World Cup overall Nation's Cup title this season. Included on this season's schedule will be a World Cup race at Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ont., on Feb. 11, 2011.
Also looking for medals this year will be Davey Barr of Whistler, who finished third at the 2009 world championships; Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., ranked fourth in the world; and Julia Murray of Whistler, who has three World Cup podium results in her career.
Dave Ellis, director of Canada Ski Cross, said this season is important as the team builds for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
"We've achieved a lot of success in a short time and our mission is to continue the development of this relatively young program," he said in a release.
"Our team has a lot of talent with champions at all levels of the sport. We've also got some new younger skiers that are hungry to push for their opportunity to succeed."
The ski cross world championships will be held in Deer Valley Feb. 3-4, 2011.
Also included on the men's team are Brian Bennett of Quesnel, B.C., Brady Leman of Calgary, Dave Duncan of Golden, B.C., Nick Zoricic of Toronto and Stanislas Rey of Whistler.
The women's team also features Danielle Poleschuk of Calgary, Aleisha Cline of Squamish, B.C., and Marielle Thompson of Whistler.
