Unusually warm seasonal temperatures have led provincial sports organizations to withdraw from the B.C Winter Games in Quesnel, a decision that will impact athletes across East Kootenay.
B.C Alpine Ski, Freestyle B.C and B.C Snowboard have pulled out of the annual sporting event that is scheduled to take place on the last weekend of February, due to insufficient snowpack at Troll Ski Resort.
“Sadly, there is no snow at Troll and B.C Games organizers couldn’t pivot to another mountain this late in the program. This has been an incredibly tough season already, with the lack of snow and massive swings in temperatures that have caused havoc with our training and race calendar,” stated Johnny Crichton, B.C Alpine vice president, in a media release.
B.C Winter Games Society released a statement that said there was not enough snow to adequately accommodate athletes in a safe way.
“Mountain-based sports, already facing a difficult and shortened winter season, require significant snowpack and technical venue builds to run safe and meaningful competition,” it stated.
This decision means that one alpine skier and one snowboarder from Cranbook, three alpine skiers from Kimberley, and three freestyle skiers from Fernie will not be able to compete at the event.
Biathlon and cross country require less snow than the other sports, and will be going ahead as planned albeit in a modified way. Cross country skiing will have plenty of representation from the East Kootenays with one athlete from Cranbrook, two from Kimberley and two from Fernie competing at the event. A biathlon competitor from Kimberley will also be attending.
To make up for poor weather conditions, B.C Alpine Ski has offered alpine skiers the chance to compete at another event on the same weekend at Apex Mountain Ski Resort in Penticton.
Crichton mentioned that Apex has opened their slalom race zone to accommodate B.C Games athletes from eight different provincial zones and that the event would include an opening parade, a closing ceremony and video footage of the competitions.
“B.C Alpine wants to give these selected kids an option to attend an event on the same weekend, if it makes sense for the families affected by the cancellation of BC Winter Games alpine events,” he stated.
B.C Games Society communications manager David Conlin said that although event changes have happened before, this is the first time all five winter sports have been impacted by weather in the same year.
“This is the first for all five sports having this kind of modification,” he said.
