STE. ADELE, Que. — If a champion is defined in part by a thirst for rewarding experiences away from the competition, Jenn Heil fits the bill.

The reigning Olympic freestyle skiing moguls champion spent most of last year away from international competition to rehabilitate an injury and reconstruct her skiing technique. But she also took advantage of an opportunity to travel to West Africa in support of equal rights for young girls.

The journey for the 25-year-old Spruce Grove, Alta., native, who now calls Montreal home, was with Plan Canada and its Because I’m a Girl campaign. It took Heil to a remote desert village in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of the population there lives in tiny adobe houses and spends most of the day tending to crops, for which they travel great distances to find the water needed to grow them.

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