Alpine Skiing

Canada Post Corporation will honour the XVI Olympic Winter Games, being held this year in France, with a commemorative stamp booklet of five se-tenant stamp designs. The stamps are being issued on February 7, 1992 - a day before the Games officially open in Albertville. Located in the Savoie Region in the heart of the French Alps, the Games will not only take place in Albertville, but in surrounding villages such as Tignes, Courchevel and the frequently visited Val d'Isère. The Savoie is situated in south-eastern France near the borders of Italy and Switzerland, strategically important for its passes through the western Alps. Five separate sports have been chosen to represent Canada's participation in these Olympic Winter Games. Among the most popular and spectacular, these include alpine skiing, figure skating, ski jumping, hockey and bobsledding. Canada has a proud tradition of participation in the Olympic Winter Games, particularly in the five sporting disciplines depicted in this stamp booklet. While western Canadians were thrilling to the exploits of daredevil ski-jumpers, those in the east were being introduced to alpine skiing, thanks also in large measure to the influence of Canadians of Scandinavian descent. Over the years Canadians have excelled in the various disciplines such as downhill, slalom and giant slalom. Canada can boast world and Olympic gold medalists the likes of Anne Heggtveit (1960), Nancy Greene (1968) and Kathy Kreiner (1976). In recent years Canada's men's skiing team has been dubbed the "Crazy Canucks" in international circles for their tenacity and skill, which has helped to increase the popularity of the sport at home.