Hannah Deuling couldn't have asked a better day to try out the trails at Otway Nordic Centre for the first time.
It was a blue-ski afternoon Sunday, the sun felt warm on her face, the trails were challenging and the snow conditions were lightning-fast, just the way she likes it. The 16-year-old from Whitehorse got a chance to try out the course she will race this morning at 11 in the women's 7.5-kilometre individual race and she was loving it.
"The trails are really steep and twisty, they're really cool," said Dueling, part of the five-female, five-male Yukon cross-country ski team. "The tracks are fast but we practice corners a lot and I really like the downhills, so I'm excited."
The Yukon team arrived in Prince George on Saturday afternoon.
"We like the hills," added Natalie Hynes, 17, also from Whitehorse. "I've never been to Prince George. The trails are some of the nicest I've seen from traveling. I personally like the forests,because some of the places we've been to there haven't been many trees. The snow here is also really nice."
The age group for cross-country skiing at the Games is under-23, so this could be the first of two Canada Games competitions for Deuling and Hynes.
"It's really cool to have a multi-sport event," said Hynes. "It's a whole different experience."
Racing starts this morning with the men's 10km classic interval start. After the women race, the para-nordic events start at 1 p.m. with the 2.5km sit ski female race and 2.5 km standing male race, followed at 1:45 p.m. by the 2.5km sit-ski male race.
The weather is supposed to remain the same all week, with sunshine and no new snow in the forecast. Classic races are also scheduled for Tuesday (sprints), with free technique events set for Thursday and Saturday.
"This (was) the first training day -- we'd not set the red course until this week just to save the snow and it was groomed (Saturday) night ," said sport leader Jim Burbee. "Everybody's out there and they're coming back with smiles. "Some of the (para-nordic) sit-skiers are going out now and I couldn't catch them."
"It's perfect. With all the rain and the snow, it's fast. Conditions are ideal and the crew is so upbeat, we're really excited. It's a really nice setup with the biathlon event (last week) which went so well. We're being paid back for some of those minus-20 C days we had."
Burbee oversees a volunteer crew of 130 for the races. There are 187 skiers from 10 provinces and three territories, 27 of which are para-nordic athletes.
The field of athletes includes 12 of Canada's 18-member team which competed in the junior/under-23 world championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Four of Canada's team who raced in the International Paralympic Committee nordic championships in Cable, Wisc., are also in Prince George for the Games, including Brittany Hudac of Saskatchewan, who won two gold, two silver and a bronze medal at a Para-Nordic World Cup event last week in Japan.
