Browning returns to smalltown roots

He's come a long way since the Caroline Skating Club Carnival.

After four Canadian and world championships, the first quadruple jump ever landed in competition and countless masterpieces on ice, Kurt Browning is jumping back to his roots.

And after nine years of touring professionally through major cities in the United States, Browning can't wait to get back to where it all began.

He headlines a cast of Canadian and world champions who will perform at the Canada Games Arena as part of the Celebration on Ice tour Sunday.

"I'm so excited. I'm so looking forward to it," Browning said during a break on the road last week. "These days I spend most of my time in the States but I started in small club carnivals and stuff. I tour Canada with Stars on Ice but we always go to the same 10 or 12 big cities and that's it. That's frustrating because Canada is huge and has a fantastic fan base but this is a great chance to get around to some different places. It's been a while since I've been back where I grew up. Grande Prairie is bigger than Rocky Mountain House and Caroline, but this feels so good to me."

Browning, 37, will be sharing the spotlight with fellow Canadian and world champions Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler and a solo Shae-Lynn Bourne as well as with Canadian champions Josée Chouinard, Valerie Marcoux and Craig Buntin.

"It's exciting for the fans but that's what I think too. It's exciting for us," he said. "Brian and I have toured together for several years but Elvis was doing his own thing. Finally, there's something for the three of us to do together.

"We're also really happy to have (10-time Canadian ice dance champion) Shae-Lynn Bourne with us. She's such a gifted skater. She's one of those individuals that had a very long career with a partner but could also have a successful career on her own. It will be interesting to see how she does."

Although the Grande Prairie show will be nearly sold-out, figure skating doesn't have the same draw it did 10 years ago when Browning was making the transition to the pro ranks. Then, ice shows in sold-out NHL-sized arenas and made-for-TV competitions could be seen nearly every weekend.

These days, says the Alberta native who now lives in Toronto with his wife Sonia Rodriguez and son Gabriel, skating doesn't have the same superstars to keep the fans coming back for more.

"There was a succession of things that happened to make skating so popular. Baseball was on strike, there were Olympics two years apart and Nancy (Kerrigan) got bumped on the knee. The networks were using skating because they were guaranteed to have people watching. All those things contributed but it seems we've lost that momentum," he said.

"At that time there were some great North American title holders. But (Olympic champions) Tara (Lipinski) and Sarah (Hughes) have disappeared. We need these people to exist in the sport to create familiarity."

While Browning may be scaling back the number of performances he does every year - he's doing a 20-show guest spot with Stars on Ice in the U.S. instead of the entire tour - he says it's still "a blast" to perform for a pumped audience.