Olympic silver medallist Mike Robertson of Canmore will open Alberta's first ski/snowboard cross course this weekend at Lake Louise Ski Area.

The public got their first taste of the new course in the ski area's terrain park last weekend, but the men's snowboard cross star at the 2010 Winter Olympics will officially open the course Saturday at 11 a.m.

"When I grew up, I could only ride a (snowboard cross) course every once in a while. Now the kids can go out and ride it whenever they want to," Robertson says. "It will be a huge change. I think it will develop a lot of interest in the sport, because people will see how fun it is."

The 650-metre course is in the ski area's terrain park at the bottom of the Juniper run. Designed by Jeff Jhansi and Jim Sidorchuk, the course will host the Canadian championships for both ski cross and snowboard cross on the first weekend of April. When it isn't being used by the new Evolve SSX Club for training or races, the course will be open to anyone with a valid lift pass.

"We've made it so that a five-year-old skier could get down it, but an expert could make the same features much more challenging by hitting them at higher speeds," says Sidorchuk, the Calgary-based president of Evolve SSX. "This just brings another level of training for kids who start with freeride skiing and in terrain parks."

Ski cross and snowboard cross follow the same format, with mass start races between a group of skiers or snowboarders (usually four per heat) on a downhill course of bumps and turns. The sports get their names from their similarity to "motocross" races.

Snowboard cross became an Olympic sport in 2006 and was joined four years later at the Vancouver/Whistler Games by ski cross.

"It's a really raw form of racing - the first one down wins," says Sidorchuk.

The new course will allow Calgary-area athletes to train near their home instead of having to enter competitions on the nearest ski/snowboard cross course at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. The first competitive event on the course will be a ski cross on Saturday, followed by a snowboard cross on Sunday. Both events will be open to competitors of all ages who are members of a national or provincial ski or snowboard freestyle association.

Evolve SSX already has 60 members between the ages of 11 to 19, split down the middle between skiers and snowboarders. Sidorchuk expects the new course will help the club draw twice as many members by next year.

"The sport has great potential for drawing young skiers," he says.

Lake Louise owner Charlie Locke decided to host the course after watching the snowboard cross and ski cross events last winter in the Olympics.

"It took me about 20 seconds to say, 'That's a good idea,' " Locke remembers.

For more details about the club or to register for this weekend's races, visit evolvessx.com.

tedwards@calgaryherald.com