Skiers from all across Canada will be converging on Prince George to compete in the 2023 Under 23 Nordiq Canada Selection Trials and Nordiq cup in under two weeks.
Hosted by the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, these two events are huge in the world of skiing.
Kevin Pettersen, the Club’s Director of Competitions, said “the athletes are vying for a national position to represent Canada at the World Championship events.”
Those events are the World Junior Championships that are being held in Whistler the following week or the World Nordic Championships that are being held in Planica, Slovenia.
Between 225-300 athletes will be competing in these trials, starting on January 18 and ending on the 21st.
“It is very exciting,” Pettersen said. “We have had our eye on this event for a number of years, and we are really happy to get the nod from Nordic Canada to host the event this year.
Two international teams heading to the world championships could be showing up in Prince George to train at the event as well.
“Team Poland is coming in to train, they are arriving next week. They’ll be racing, and there is a Czech athlete with them as well. It also looks like team Liechtenstein and team Kazakhstan are showing interest in coming as well,” Pettersen said, calling the event a “mini world cup, in some ways.”
He also said the preparations are coming along nicely, “we are feeling good about being ready to welcome the country.”
Right now, the forecast is set to be around -8 for the week of the trials.
“That is probably ideal,” Pettersen said. “Any colder, in the -15 and -20s, it puts a lot more risk on the athletes and volunteers. But you certainly don’t want to see it much warmer than that.”
The event will also be open to the public to come and watch.
“It is not all that common for people to think of skiing as a spectator sport, but they are tremendous spectator sports,” he said.
“In Europe, spectators line the courses five, six, seven deep… this is really exciting, they are fighting hard to earn these spots to go to the World Championships.”
The ski club announced they would be hosting this event in late October, as well as two other major international events in 2024.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
