Jim Martin doesn't have to be convinced of the benefits Prince George is reaping as a direct result of having hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games last February.
As chief of race for this weekend's Nor-Am Cup ski cross event at Tabor Mountain Ski Resort, Martin is seeing the legacy of the Games firsthand while he and his volunteer crew make preparations for the races Saturday and Sunday.
"None of this would be possible without the Canada Games and the legacy left behind in the different venues and the equipment we have and all the effort that went into training the officials," said Martin, past-president of the Prince George Alpine Ski Club. "It's a key thing; you need the volunteer officials helping run the event, you need the venues being outfitted properly, and then you need the athletes."
You also need some co-operation from Mother Nature and Martin was happy to see a substantial dump of new snow on the hill Thursday morning which has left the course well-covered. But he's not totally content.
"I'd like to see another four feet," Martin quipped. "We have enough snow for the competition and we've had a lot of athletes out (Thursday) doing some training. The kids are smiling. The track is just a little shorter than what we had for Canada Games."
One significant change from the course used for the ski cross events during the first week of the Canada Games is the largest jump, which was near the finish line, has been moved for this weekend's races higher up the hill, where there was more snow available to build it.
Ski cross is an exciting form of freestyle skiing in which groups of four or six skiers race each other on a course built up with high-bermed corners, roller bumps and big-air jumps. The first two across the line in each heat advance to the next elimination round. It has been an Olympic sport since 2010.
"This is like what the WHL is to hockey, people are working to make that next step (to the World Cup level)," said Martin.
Racers from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the western United States and Maine have made the trek to Tabor to compete in the first Nor-Am Cup event of the season. Among the group of 40 skiers are two from Prince George - Tiana Gairns and Gavin Rowell - as well as Jason Oliemans of Smithers, the only other northern B.C. racer entered.
There's no truth to the rumour the American teams and their high-valued dollar will be buying beverages in the clubhouse for the Canadian racers and their coaches.
"Our dollar is like pesos now for us," laughed Martin.
Gairns, 16, has been identified as a prospect for the Canadian development ski cross team.
Until the end of last season, she was an alpine racer with the Prince George club. Rowell, 17, is now based in Kelowna, where he trains with the Okanagan FIS program.
"Tiana and Gavin are the only FIS-aged (16-and-older) athletes in the club, the program has shrunk a little bit at that age group this year," said Martin. "It just made sense to out Gavin with another club so he has some people to ski with and Tiana has higher-level training with the national program."
Today is a training day, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
On Saturday, time qualification runs to determine seeds run from 9:30 a.m.-noon. Racing follows at 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, and spectators are welcome.
Tabor Mountain is located 20 kilometres east of Prince George off Highway 16. Tabor will be the site of snowboard racing event Jan. 29-31.
The Nor-Am Cup tour stops next weekend at Nakiska, west of Calgary.
