Dave Irwin

Who is Dave Irwin?

Dave Irwin is a former alpine ski racer who represented Canada at two Winter Olympic Games and won a World Cup. He was one of the "Crazy Canucks", a group of Canadian downhill racers who rose to prominence on the World Cup circuit in the late 1970s. He currently lives in Canmore, Alberta, near the Rocky Mountains.

Dave Irwin was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada where he learned to ski at the age of three at his father's ski resort. By the age of 17, Irwin had been selected to be a member of the Canadian National Ski Team.

Irwin's first World Cup race was the downhill at Schladming, Austria on December 22, 1973 where he placed 14th. Two years later at Schladming, he won the downhill event in a time of 2:00.84 beating the second place finisher, Klaus Eberhard by almost two seconds. Irwin reached the podium again in 1982 with a third place finish at the World Cup downhill in Whistler, B.C. behind winner Peter Müller, and team mate Steve Podborski.

Irwin represented Canada at two Winter Olympic Games. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Irwin finished eighth. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, USA, he placed eleventh.