Maxine Forder of the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club won the Atoms category.
December 15, 2007 was an extraordinary day for one young cross-country skier. Sporting bib number one, and opting to leave his poles at home, five-year-old Liam Espedido was the first cross-country skier across the start line of the Coast Cup #1 race at Whistler Olympic Park, the Nordic venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Espedido doesn't fully grasp the concept of an Olympic and Paralympic Games yet, but he is the first person to race on the cross-country ski course of the 2010 Winter Games. And when asked if he hopes to watch the Games here in 2010, Espedido responded with a wholehearted "yes please."
Five-year-old Liam Espedido of the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club experienced his first cross-country ski race.
Day for kids
Heavy snow filled the sky as John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), welcomed the 100-plus racers and thanked the day's event organizers 鈥? the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club.
"We realize how magical it is going to be for the people of the world to watch on television in 2010," said Furlong. "This is all about children and I hope that every child that comes in here today will realize that they are skiing on the same course as the Olympic and Paralympic athletes. And the next time they come back they will bring another child with them."
Along with his sister and mother, Espedido skis with the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club. The family is already planning a return trip to Whistler Olympic Park for another fun race during the winter holidays.
"It's great having the kids involved and that's what it's all about," said Donna Lawson, Espidido's mother. "We're very, very excited to watch [the 2010 Games here]. In fact one of the women I used to [dragon boat] race with is an official for the start of this race and she said we'll have [these trails] forever 鈥?it's true."
John Aalberg, VANOC director of the Whistler Olympic Park (right), discusses the Nordic ski course with a competitor.
Finding his way
John Aalberg, VANOC director of Whistler Olympic Park, remembers a much different scene during his first visit to the Callaghan Valley, where the venue is now situated. In spring 2004, Aalberg trudged through hundreds of kilometres of rolling subalpine terrain while prospecting the area for its potential as the Vancouver 2010 Nordic venue.
"It is like a jungle here in the summer 鈥?you know it took me an hour to go about 500 metres," said Aalberg. "I was calling it swimming in the Callaghan because I was using my hands to get through the brush, the alders and the blueberry bushes."
Aalberg was the mastermind behind the layout of the area. And he knows his cross-country ski courses. Aalberg, a two-time Olympian in cross-country skiing, also worked six years for the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games before he was asked to develop Whistler Olympic Park. He said the true litmus test will be when international and World Cup ski teams race on the course.
A course with character
Aalberg is pleased with the Whistler Olympic Park cross-country ski and biathlon courses because, for him, it has become a fun trail to ski. Of course it also fulfills the many requirements of Olympic course standards. For instance, an Olympic cross-country ski course has to have a hill of a certain gradient and length at a certain place along the course. He said the ski trails of Whistler Olympic Park surpass the Torino 2006 and Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games for its technical demands on racers.
"These [trails] are going to distinguish themselves by being more technical courses 鈥?you technically have to be a good skier here," said Aalberg. "It's the wilderness and it's technical terrain here with a lot of hills and trees and we couldn't just bulldoze our way through this area."
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