Alain Masson has been going full tilt for the past month.

Masson is currently at the helm of Team Yukon at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals in Canmore, Alta.

The former Olympian attended the Haywood NorAms in Thunder Bay, Ont., in January, when Yukoners Emily Nishikawa and Janelle Greer qualified for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Estonia.

Less than one month later he was coaching Team Yukon at the Western Canadian Cross Country Ski Championships in Kelowna, B.C.

He then coached at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S. – where Nishikawa picked up three of the Yukon's five medals – before hopping a flight to be a wax tech for the Canadian National Team competing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo, Norway, the venue for Alex Harvey and Devon

Kershaw's historic gold medal in the men's team sprint.

Masson returned to Canada last week before heading off again to the nationals in Canmore.

Quit a schedule, that.

But he's used to it, having been wax tech for the Canadian team at two or three Winter Olympic Games (he's lost count), the most recent at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Being an Olympian himself – as a cyclist in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games and twice as a cross-country skier, in 1988 in Calgary and 1992 in Albertville – and continually seeing the world's top skiers has taught him a thing or two.

"It's exciting and it's a good thing for me to be involved in; it keeps me in touch with the top international level,” Masson said.

"It's just that Canada doesn't produce as many of these athletes as other nations where the sport is more prominent, more important. In Canada, we produce one or two of those kinds of athletes every 10 years, whereas in other nations, like in Scandinavia, they can have a few of these skiers every year. That's the difference.”

The first step to further improving the Yukon's already impressive medal count – five at this year's nationals alone – is to continue gaining experience, he noted.

"The only way to be competitive nationally is you have to compete at that level,” Masson said. "At least now they know what they have to work on over the summer, whether it's technical, fitness, they know exactly what they have to do.”

Near the end of the season, he's about ready to take a break.

"We work really, really long days, so it's nice to have a break,” Masson said.

And it's a break Claude Chabot, executive director of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, said is well deserved.

"He's got to be pretty tired,” Chabot said. "He's pretty impressive. We're very lucky to have him.”