When you search notable athletes from Maidstone, Sask., only one comes up, Jill Shumay, a local curling skip who took her Saskatchewan rink to the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
There is, however, a mention of an up-and-coming star. She hails from Maidstone but trains in B.C. for a sport many would never connect to the flatlands of Saskatchewan: moguls.
Kids around here dream of playing baseball or hockey. Curling for some. Football for others. Not many think, “Let’s go down a hill, hit bumps, do flips and tricks, then land and do it again.”
One did.
Now she is climbing the ranks fast.
Her name is Talance Kalmakoff.
At 18 months old, before most toddlers learn balance on a sidewalk, Kalmakoff was already sliding on snow.
Her introduction to skiing came through family, following her older sister into a world of early mornings and long days on the hill. Racing came first. Then exploration. Tree runs. Terrain park. The freedom of choosing her own line.
By the time she watched the Canada Games in 2023, something clicked.
Moguls were not just a discipline. They were a challenge that never stopped changing.
“I chose moguls because there’s more skiing in it,” Kalmakoff said.
“It’s not just lapping the park. Every run is different.”
For viewers who only see moguls during the Olympics, the sport can look deceptively simple. Thirty seconds. Two jumps. A blur of knees and speed.
What people don’t see is the year-round grind behind those thirty seconds.
Kalmakoff trains twelve months a year, rotating between airbag work, water ramps, and on-snow camps across the world. Tricks are learned in pieces, then repeated until muscle memory takes over. Only once they are consistent enough are they allowed into full top-to-bottom runs.
“You don’t just send it,” she said.
“You earn it.”
Training follows the snow. Spring camps in Whistler. Fall camps overseas. Then the season begins, and the real test starts.
A typical in-season day begins early. Breakfast. Gear. Then straight to the mogul course. Training blocks run two to four hours, depending on the cycle. Three days on snow, one day off, adjusted again as competitions approach.
After skiing comes the gym. Stretching. Light strength work. Physio when needed. Then schoolwork.
It is a schedule built on discipline, not glamour.
Away from the stopwatch and score sheets, Kalmakoff is still very much a teenager.
Friends and coaches know her as “T” or “Tal,” a nickname that fits her quiet presence. She describes herself as shy at first, someone who takes time to open up.
“That’s when my witty side comes out,” she said.
She is the kind of athlete who cheers for others even while competing against them, hoping everyone around her has their best day. It is a balance of sweet, silly, and serious, the same mix that carries her through long training cycles and high-pressure starts.
When she is not locked into the mogul course, she is rarely standing still. She skis everywhere and anywhere on the hill, gravitates toward the park, and unwinds through softball when snow gives way to summer.
Those small details sit quietly alongside bigger goals, grounding her in the moments between camps, flights, and competition bibs.
Moguls, she said, never really get easy.
That is the point.
“The challenge is what keeps pulling me back,” Kalmakoff said.
“There’s always something to learn.”
The highs come with the lows, sometimes on the same run.
At Apex Mountain Resort in B.C., a place she describes as a second home, conditions turned difficult. Rain. Cold. Then sickness. Just before dropping into one run, the cable on her boot snapped. Later, confidence turned into overreach, and a jump went too big, costing points.
Still, she pushed through.
Her Sunday run was stronger.
Days later, the moment came quietly, through a text from her coach.
She had qualified for the NorAm circuit.
“It felt really good,” she said.
“But it also made me realize how much more work there is.”
NorAm, she explained, is not the finish line. It is the door.
Behind it are deeper fields, tighter margins, and the pathway toward World Cup competition.
What makes moguls unforgiving is not just the jumps. It is the rhythm. Lose your line. Miss a turn. Get late by half a second. Recovery has to be instant.
Consistency is the real battle.
“You’re putting your body through a lot every run,” she said.
“People don’t always see how demanding it is over a whole season.”
Balancing that demand with school could have been overwhelming. Instead, Kalmakoff credits Holy Rosary High School for making it manageable.
The school allows her to complete most of her coursework online while travelling, with strong communication and support from teachers. When she returns, the transition is smooth.
“There’s no added pressure,” she said.
“They want me to succeed too.”
Away from the course, her support system runs deep. Family travels when possible. Her mom remains a constant presence at competitions, there for the wins and the hard days alike.
Those moments matter, especially in a sport where teammates are also competitors, and schedules rarely line up long enough to catch a breath together.
Through it all, Kalmakoff says she has learned more than how to ski faster or land cleaner.
She has learned discipline. Time management. Resilience.
She has learned how to ask for help.
Looking ahead, her goals are clear. Climb the NorAm ranks. Earn World Cup starts. Keep pushing.
She also hopes her journey resonates with younger girls watching from the sidelines.
“I want to leave a lasting impression,” she said.
“To show that you can push past boundaries and still have fun.”
For kids growing up in small towns, staring at flat horizons and dreaming big, her advice is simple.
Do not let geography define belief.
“Big dreams can come from small places,” Kalmakoff said.
“If you work hard, stay patient, and believe in yourself, you can go way farther than you think.”
From the plains of Saskatchewan to the steepest courses in the world, she already is.
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Awesome! I hope all your hard work and perseverance go well for you always and what doesn’t, helps you to keep at and learn from it
Thank you so much!