Mike Norton has been to the cross-country ski resorts all over Europe, and knows how weather conditions are affecting the venues for World Cup and NorAm cross-country ski races this season.
So when Norton, Cross-Country Canada's acting race director, heard there wasn't a lot of snow in Prince George for this weekend's Haywood NorAm/Buff Sprints Western Canadian championships, it wasn't the first time he'd heard that complaint. It's been an abnormally warm winter all over the Northern Hemisphere.
He wasn't expecting to find the trail conditions at Otway Nordic Centre are among the best he's seen anywhere.
"It's all relative to what people are used to and where I'm from (Canmore, Alta.), six inches of snow is quite a bit, but in places like Prince George and Rossland, two feet is considered a low snow year," said Norton. "When I arrived I heard it was icy and dirty, but it's totally amazing. The skiing Thursday and Friday was absolutely incredible.
"Considering what's going on in Europe these days and the snow conditions over there - we have one guy, Jess Cockney, who just came back from Europe and he said this course was better than any World Cup course this season. I've been to a dozen World Cups and they are really struggling over there with snow conditions."
Norton says the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club deserves to take a bow for how it's prepared the course for 315 skiers converging on Otway this weekend for three days of racing. The younger skiers in the Teck Northern Cup event will get their chance to race today and Sunday.
"The volunteers here are absolutely amazing, everyone here is still kind of hyped up from the Canada Games and it's a real professional crew," Norton said. "This is a pretty big event, the last selection race before Ski Tour Canada and there's a lot on the line for a lot of these guys. The top guys in the country are here and there's some real tight exciting racing.
"I keep telling the groomers there's nothing to worry about with snow. Even if it was plus-15 C all day there still enough snow here to put on a good event. The skiers here are very lucky. It is an awesome venue."
Today's classic sprints are labour-intensive for the track officials but they're lots of fun for spectators to watch. Racers leave in groups of six in each heat and only the top two advance. The longest course is only 1.4 kilometres and all the action converges on the stadium finish line. Qualifying starts at 9 a.m. and heats begin at 11:45.
Sunday's mass start race starts at 9 a.m.
