Steffan – AKA that guy with the afro – is currently an XC Ottawa rookie – but not a rookie to skiing. Steffan has been skiing since before he can remember, and has been racing competitively since he was 12. During that time, he has been a member of the Junior National team, been overall open and U23 quebec male champion from 2010 to 2013, represented Canada in the World Junior Championships in Hinterzarten, Germany, spent a year on the Pierre Harvey National Development Center in Quebec City, and achieved consistent strong results and progression at the national level continuously for the past 6 years.
Steffan’s strength lies in the distance races, where he can wear down his competition until they break. His best distances are the 15, 30 and 50 km races – no matter in classic or skate. Some notable results include an 8th place finish in the 30 km classic race at the Eastern Canadian championships (in spite of breaking a pole!), a 9th place finish in open men at a NORAM cup 15 km skate in Rossland, BC, and an 8th place open man finish at a NORAM cup 20 km skate at Mont-Orford, Quebec. That said, Steffan can still sprint when the need is great – he achieved an 11th place finish in the skate sprints at the 2012 Western Championships in Canmore, BC, and a 13th place open man finish in the classic sprints at the 2011 Canmore Nationals. He also raced to a bronze medal finish for Nakkertok in the Team Sprint at the Mont-Saint-Anne nationals.
Steffan is also studying Mechanical Engineering at Carleton University and is currently in his 3rd year. He is also a web designer, and he can speak German, English and French. This year he’ll also be racing for Carleton University.
Steffan is sponsored by Skigo, Salomon, and Alcoa.