The Canada Winter Games will soon come to an end but it's only the beginning as far as Tabor Mountain Ski Resort is concerned.
Indeed, the calendar is filling up thanks to the new snow cross track at the hill, 15 minutes east of the city.
Next weekend, Tabor will host its leg of a three-race ski-cross series that also has stops at Nakiska near Calgary and Big White near Kelowna.
Then, March 17-19, Alpine Canada's national ski cross championships will be held at Tabor, bringing some of the country's top athletes in the sport to Prince George.
"Alpine Canada is just in love with our track, it's the premier track in Canada," said Tabor Mountain owner Fern Thibault.
That's because it meets standards for national and even international competitions.
"It's the way it's built, just the construction of it and the thought we've put into it," Thibault said. "The length of it, the flow of the track - it has huge corners in it so it's a safer track that you can ride at speed so people feel comfortable with it."
The track was built over the summer with financial help from the Canada Games.
"It was something we were already doing and Canada Games came along and grabbed our concept and worked with us on it," Thibault said.
"The Games happened at the right time."
That the track's foundation is built out of soil is a big reason why Tabor has been able to successfully host its part of the Games despite the scarcity of snow. Another factor was the "snow farming" that crews engaged in by stockpiling snow in a cleared area.
"We keep it clean, we mow it, there are no willows in it, so it's easy to go and scrape it up with a blade and move it to wherever we need it," Thibault said.
Thibault is looking ahead to next winter as well. He's expecting teams from across North America - both on the skiing and the snowboarding side - will show up to train to go along with another round of competitions.
There is also the possibility of hosting World Cup events, according to Thibault.
"We've built to that standard and people don't realize what we have sitting right here," he said.
Prince George's Meryeta O'Dine will be among the competitors when Canada Winter Games snowboard cross is held at Tabor today.
Qualification rounds run from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the finals go from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Medal ceremonies begin at 4:30 p.m.
