Chanse Switzer Surges with Big Weekend in Alberta

AIRDRIE, Alta. – After a whirlwind weekend of PBR bull riding in southern Alberta, one rider stood tallest across the two-event swing in Brooks and Camrose.

Hazenmore, Saskatchewan's Chanse Switzer went 3-for-4 on the weekend and collected 136 national points, climbing from unranked to No. 11 in the PBR Canada national standings.

Switzer's run started in Brooks, where he covered his Round 1 bull, but came up short in the Championship Round. One night later at the always-popular Rose City Invitational in Camrose, the field chased but couldn't catch Switzer. He covered Key-Lix Hudson Bay for 85.5 points, then picked Skori Bucking Bulls' standout Linebacker in the final round. Switzer bested the consistent bucker for 88.2 points to claim the event title.

For Switzer, the win carried extra meaning because the Rose City Invitational is built by a fellow bull rider, PBR Canada veteran Coy Robbins.

"You can go to pro rodeos, you can go to PBR events all year long, and you can win some cool prizes, some cool buckles from committees that do an awesome job, but it is definitely really cool to go to an event that one of your fellow bull riders and friends puts on," Switzer said. "They do such an amazing job with that event. Like it feels like a PBR Canada Cup Series event, all the energy, the crowd, the pyro, it all adds up.

"To go out and win it and get that cool buckle that I got, and to have one of your good buddies present it to you and shake your hand for the picture, it's a pretty cool feeling."

In a lot of ways, the win felt overdue for the 27-year-old. The past year hasn't been kind to Switzer, who has dealt with a string of injuries and, in his words, the kind that can weigh on you mentally as much as physically.

"It started last spring, I broke my thumb on my riding hand. So that put me out a little bit of the spring, missed quite a few events, but came back and ended up winning the long round in Ottawa at the PBR and had some success," Switzer explained.

"After that, I went to Olds, Alberta in September and ended up winning the rodeo, but hung up to my bull after and he stomped me on my ribs, kind of right underneath my armpit. Ended up collapsing my left lung, puncturing a hole in it, and that put me out for probably another four or six weeks.

"That was also the week before my wedding, and so I spent five days in the hospital and got out about three days before my wedding."

Then came another scary moment to start his season at the Cup Series event in Lethbridge, Alberta.

"And then kind of rolled into the spring, went to Lethbridge, pretty much one of the first events of the year. And same kind of thing, just come off my bull pretty early and got my sternum stepped square on. Ended up with no broken ribs or anything, but collapsed both my left and my right lung, punctured two holes in my left lung."

Switzer admits that recovering from internal injuries is different than rehabbing a broken bone and that difference can creep into a rider's head.

"You know you can do it. It's just kind of getting everything aligned a hundred percent," he said. "I can't even count on my hands; I've had countless broken bones over the years. Bones always heal. You just don't really miss a beat in that sense, but this was the first two times and it was unfortunate that it happened twice in six months to me. You couldn't do it again if you tried."

"But this was the first time that I ever had internal injuries going on. It kind of opened your eyes to give you a bigger picture. I love this sport. I know that it's what I was meant to do and I'd never trade it for anything in the world, but it definitely opened your eyes to show you that, holy shit, like what we do, it's dangerous, it's scary."

"I guess coming back from a broken bone, it's just like you're counting down days ready to get back to it. But with internal injuries, it definitely took a bigger toll on my mental game because it's like, I don't know, is my body ready?"

Switzer hadn't placed at a PBR Canada event in 2026 until this past weekend. After a strong showing at a pro rodeo in Drayton Valley the weekend prior, he said his body finally felt good again and just as importantly, his mind stopped getting in the way.

"I was on a bit of a rough streak, just kind of not riding to the best of my ability. But I think it was more so just because I was overthinking everything," Switzer said. "It got to the point where after you fall off about five or six bulls that you know damn well you should be not falling off of, you should be riding every single one of them. Like I want to say my give a shit kind of ran out.

"I just said, you know what, to hell with it, I'm just going to go back to having fun."

Now, with his confidence reset and his season back on track, Switzer says his focus is simple: keep riding, keep it fun, stay healthy, and let the points take care of themselves.

"I think my goal is I'm just going to keep my foot down and keep a clear head on me and just go ride bulls and have fun and hang out with my buddies and take care of my body and my health, everything like that, and just be ready to keep chipping away and the points will add up on their own."

With dozens of events still to come and an Ontario Cup Series run on the horizon, Switzer says one stop is already circled.

"I am pretty excited to go back to Ottawa. I had some success there last year and had a really good time," he said. "It's not every day do you get to fly over to Ontario to go compete at these big Cup Series events, but we get to do it once a year and we get three events out there. That building and everything is pretty electrifying. So I'd say that I'm definitely looking forward to that one most."

"There's not really one that I would pinpoint that I'm not excited for. I always look forward to all the Cup Series events. We're closing in on Ottawa, so I'm really looking forward to the Ontario runs here these next three weeks. I think it'll be good."