First Tracks

First Tra cks

Anoth er Ban ne r Year for Club Fu n draisin g: $2.5 Million !

Club fa cilities acr oss BC just keep getting be tter and be tter following ye t anothe r incr edible year of f undraising. Fernie Nordic S ki Club has received a n $8 22,500 gra nt for a trailhea d facility fr om a tourism infrastruc tu re fund. Fr om the Gaming Capital Pr ojec t Grants program, Ove rlande r S ki Club and 100 Mile Nord ic s each receive d $250,000 f or new snow cats, Ne lson Nor dic Ski Club received $48,030 for a new groomer shop, a nd Telema rk Nordic Club received $11,180 for a n ele ctric snowmobile. T he Northern Deve lopment Initia tiv e Trust has given $298,39 6 to Whiske y Jac k Nor dic S ki Club for a ne w lodge, $30 0,000 to C aledonia Nordic S ki Club for the third phase of their snowmaking project, $279, 399 to Williams La ke Cross Countr y S ki Club for a new lodge, an d $135, 000 to Be ar Mountain Nordic Ski Club fo r a ne w snowcat. Multip le clubs in the Columbia B asin rece ive d fun ding fr om Columbia Basin Trust for fa cility upgr ade s and gro oming equipme nt. I n a ddition , many B C clubs ra ise d substantial f unds thr ough Nor diq Ca nada ’s online An nual Club Fundra iser, to the tune of $90k fr om 350 donors. Congra tu latio ns to the many dilig ent gra nt writers on th e legacie s y ou a re cr ea ting f or your ski c ommunities. You ar e worth your we ight in gold!

A Roll er sk i Tre ad mill for B C

Thanks to signifi ca nt e ff orts and fi nancial support of many individ uals and org anization s f rom across the country, C ross Country BC has be en ab le to purchase and install a rolle rski tre admill at Whistler Olympic P ark. This is no ordina ry “r unning” treadmill. With a f ootprint of approx imately 3.5m by 5m, it can be used for both c lassic and skate techniques, it ha s a n incline u p to 30% a nd it we ighs appr oximately 7, 000 pounds. And ye s, specia l pole tips ar e r equir ed so as not to da ma ge the belt!

This is a muc h ne eded ste p if we wa nt B C’s young athletes, co ache s, a nd development systems to get to the next level. The tre admill will off er signifi cant adva ntages f or physiological testing a nd technique re fi nement for both ab le-bodied a nd P ara-Nor dic a thletes. In this close d and co ntr olled envir onment whe re the coa ch is standing be sid e

P hot o: M. S. Jaco b, Rev els to ke Nordic S ki C lu b

the a thlete, imp rove ments to te chnique can be ma de quickly – it spee ds up the proce ss. With a large mirror in front and a video c amer a on the side (projected on a T V scree n in f ront), feedba ck c an be instanta neous. Athletes can also con tr ol the foc us of a training se ssion through e xa ct intensity, gradient, an d dur ation in a ski-spe cifi c enviro nme nt. Moreover this will allow coaches to expand the ir biomechanics knowledge and physiological unde rstanding. Tre admills are so adva ntageous that some cross country sk i na tions will actua lly fl y them to the Olympics for their athle te s to use during the Games.

A skate roller ski treadmill f or Whistler Olympic P ar k was ac tually envisioned as part of the 2010 Olympic legacy, and a treadmill room wa s included in the original d esign of the Biathlon Technica l Building. O ver the years, the re have be en many discussions w ith C an adian Sport In stitute Pacifi c (CSI- P), Whistle r Spo rt L ega cies, O wn The Podium, UBC , Dr. Hans-C hr ister Holmberg, a nd other subject ma tter ex pe rts, an d we are e xcited to fi nally get the vision of the tre admill over the fi nish line. On a related note , this initia tive prompte d CSI-P to fi na lly b uild a perma nent and suitable la b spac e for physiological testing, directly upstair s of the treadmill.