No confirmation was given as to the exact circumstances of the accident. The photoshoot occurred on a part of the Holiday River ski area that had been closed for private use, but terrain conditions were deemed to be safe for all skiers.
Excerpt for Fall Line Podcast episode 189 interview, August 29, 2025, between host George McNally and Austin Grimm
McNally: So you’re lying in the snow, broken bones, not sure how long until help arrives. What are you thinking in that moment?
Grimm: To be honest, I don’t really know. That whole day, and even parts of the day before are gone.
McNally: What do you mean “gone”?
Grimm: I mean I don’t remember them.
McNally: Wait, wait. Are we talking about amnesia?
Grimm: Maybe? Something like that. Also, I was on a lot of painkillers that day, so along with the concussion, there was some...interference.
McNally: Yeah. Yeah, I get that. It had to be awful, though, right? You nearly died.
Grimm: I don’t know about that. I remember waking up in the hospital and not knowing where I was or how I got there. For the first few days, I thought the fall had happened duringthe World Cup race. It was only after that I understood it had happened the next day. I have to give big thanks to the Holiday River ski patrol who got me off the snow so fast. And all my doctors and surgeons at the hospital.
McNally: How many surgeries did you have?
Grimm: There’s a screw in my wrist. Plate in my ankle. They had to go in twice because my lung kept collapsing. It was a lot.
McNally: It’s a miracle you’re alive. And yet here you are, five months later. And you’re talking about competing? Most people might go through something like that and say, “You know what? That’s enough for me.” No one would blame you if you left the national team and decided you wanted to be a dog walker or something.
Grimm: Well, I do love dogs. But I love skiing more. I don’t know who I’d be if I couldn’t ski anymore. And race. I’ve been working hard with my coaches, physiotherapists, and trainers to get ready for competition.
McNally: For the World Cup? The Olympics?
Grimm: We’ll see. I don’t want to get back on the mountain before my body is ready. I’ve been through a lot in the last five months. I need to know I can take an impact if I fall. That I’m strong enough to be able to keep up with the best in the world.
McNally: And maybe even pass them?
Grimm: That’s the plan, yeah. I want to go out and race the best race I can, but winning is nice sometimes too.
McNally: Winning at the Olympics?
Grimm: Two months ago the doctors weren’t sure I’d be able to do much more than walk without pain, so everything else is a bonus day.
Excerpt from Total Sports Network article, December 11, 2025
Newcomer Harrison Qualifies for Olympics in Ski Cross
In a surprising performance, newcomer Kage Harrison has qualified to represent Canada at the winter games in Milano-Cortina, after finishing second in the 2025/26 Ski Cross World Cup season’s inaugural event at Val Thoreau, France, this weekend. The twenty-year-old from Calgary had only joined the senior men’s team for last year’s 2024/25 season and is an unexpected qualifier for the upcoming Olympic team.
“I knew I was in good shape before the start of the Big Final,” Harrison said. “I’d been skiing well all weekend. I just had to go out there and keep it up and I knew I had a shot.”
Harrison placed second behind Norwegian skier Anders Flaska. Canadian three-time ski cross champion Matthieu Girard came fourth in the Big Final, and veteran teammate Andrew Spinner placed sixth in the Small Final. The other Canadian at the event, Cedric Berard, failed to move out of the preliminary heats and placed thirtieth out of thirty-two competitors.
With only two months left before the start of the Olympics, the Canadian men’s ski cross team is facing uncertainty. Harrison and Girard have qualified, along with teammate Austin Grimm, who qualified last season. However, Grimm suffered a serious injury while skiing outside competition and his return to the World Cup circuit and the Olympics this year is in question.
“We’re hoping Austin will be able to join us. He’s making good progress with our trainers and coaches, but we still needthe all-clear from team doctors,” says Canadian ski cross head coach Ivan Bondarenko.
If Grimm is able to compete, that leaves one spot on the Canadian Olympic ski cross roster, and only four more events for either Spinner or Berard to accumulate the necessary points to qualify.
Skiing Canada Sports Brief, January 19, 2026
Spinner Punches Olympic Ticket
