At first, it was "scary" for Britt Janyk to think about what life might be like if she wasn't racing. After all, the Whistler native - who turns 31 on Saturday (May 21) - has been a Canadian Alpine Ski Team member since her teenage years.
But Janyk has cast those fears aside and is entering the next chapter of her life, as she announced her retirement on Tuesday (May 17) in Vancouver.
"I think there comes a time where you recognize that there's a certain amount of intensity and a level you need to maintain to be at the top at the World Cup level," Janyk told The Whistler Question on Tuesday before making her official announcement. "I've been there at the top and I know what that feels like for me.
"I can leave knowing that I still truly love it and I'm not leaving because I don't feel good about what I'm doing anymore. It just feels like it's the right time to move on."
Though Janyk, who now lives in Squamish, hadn't been on a World Cup podium since her downhill win at Aspen early in the 2008 season, she was still among the globe's elite female speed racers right to the end of her career.
She added three more top-10 finishes to her World Cup resum茅 this past season, giving her nearly 30 in total, and finished off the year by winning the national downhill and super-G titles. Her 15 Canadian championship victories are second only to Nancy Greene.
But Janyk said she was committed since the beginning of the 2011 campaign to make a decision on retirement this off-season. She said she spent the past month mulling it over and that discussions with family and retired teammates such as Emily Brydon and Allison Forsyth helped her come to Tuesday's announcement.
"Before I made the decision, I was back and forth quite a bit really having a hard time with it," said Janyk. "Since I've made the decision, there's a lot of peace and I feel more calm and centred, and I just feel excited about it, and that's a great feeling."
While Janyk picked out many personal highlights - from her first Nor-Am Cup victory to earning her two World Cup podium finishes in the space of a week - nothing trumped skiing the Olympics on her home mountain.
"It was just such a special moment and really nothing else in my career tops that one," said Janyk, whose best result during the Games was sixth in the downhill. "I felt when I came into the finish of the downhill that I had the whole town there holding me up.
"It's a special place, Whistler."
Janyk's path from a youth racer with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club to being a key veteran on the national team wasn't always an easy one. She was off the team and paying her own way to races in 2006 before turning her focus to speed events and regularly threatening the podium. She suffered a torn ACL when she was 18 and on Tuesday called that injury "a big moment" in her career.
"Maybe not a great moment," said Janyk. "But I was able to move forward from that."
Younger brother Mike, also a national team veteran, called Britt "an incredibly talented skier" and "a huge inspiration."
"My whole career I've been chasing her," he said. "Britt made the B.C. team and I wanted to make the B.C. team; Britt made the national team and I wanted to make the national team.
"She went through ups and downs but when she came back from being off the team and was so successful, that was one of her most impressive achievements. It takes an amazing person with a lot of dedication and toughness to do that."
Britt said she'll miss the travel, her teammates and the camaraderie among the World Cup skiers. She said she's not completely sure what she'd like to do next beyond giving back to the sport.
"It's given me so much, and to be able to share my knowledge and experience with younger racers in B.C. and the country is something I'd really like to do."
