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Nordic clubs ramp up for 2010 Games

Volunteers needed for test events in January; head coach hired for CVTC

By Clare Ogilvie

More than a dozen Nordic enthusiasts will gather on Blackcomb Mountain this weekend to learn about volunteer positions at Whistler’s new ski jumps.

Clinic leaders will build a small jump out of snow and participants will get a chance to jump, measure, and learn about ski jump preparation said John Heilig, sport manager of ski jumping and Nordic Combined for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

“There is a need for a lot of sport-skilled volunteers and those are very interesting roles because you are up front with the athletes and the venues,” he said.

“These are sports that have no real history in the resort area so we are really hopeful that we will get a lot of volunteers to help us out with these. If people have interest there is certainly opportunity.”

VANOC is in the process of launching a volunteer website where anyone who is interested can sign up and get involved. The address is www.vancouver2010.com.

The new ski jumps will be located at the $115.7 million Nordic venue in the Callaghan Valley, just south of Whistler. The venue will be almost completed by this winter. Only the day lodge will need to be finished next year.

Several events are planned for early 2008 including:

• Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Nationals Jan. 4-6.

• Cross Country B.C. Cup Jan. 19-20.

• Ski Jumping Continental Cup and Nordic Combined World Cup "B" Feb. 29-March 2.

• Cross Country national championships March 16-24.

• Biathlon national championships March 24-30.

Each of these events, the upcoming World Cup test events, and indeed the Olympics will need hundreds of volunteers, both sport technical people and events helpers.

VANOC is looking across the country, and particularly in Calgary, host of the 1988 Winter Games, for volunteers. But it is also working closely with the three Nordic clubs in the Sea to Sky corridor to reach out into the communities to find new volunteers.

Heilig said there is special interest in getting a strong team of on-hill volunteers, not unlike the Weasel Workers, but for Nordic rather than alpine.

“We don’t even have that expertise anywhere else in Canada and being a big alpine community in Whistler we think there is a great opportunity to source that type of volunteer,” he said.

Typical jobs for this type of volunteer would be snow removal for the runs, and preparing the landing hill for the jumps. These are potentially critical roles as the Callaghan gets significant snow.

Local Nordic clubs are excited by the opportunity the venue is creating.

This year saw the founding of a new Nordic club in Squamish, which plans to make the Callaghan venue its base of operation when it comes to events.

“We are definitely looking at the Nordic venue as home base for this club because it will be brand new, there will be lots there and it is pretty close, only about a 30 minute drive,” said John Tisdale, who is heading up the Squamish Nordic Club.

The club plans to offer a program for kids, youths, and adults in the 2007-08 season after Christmas. It is also hoped that a biathlon-training program for youths will also get up and running.

(To find out more about the club go the Squamish Chamber of Commerce website and follow the links.)

There is also a growing desire amongst all the clubs to work together to get the most of the venue, both leading up to the Olympics and as a legacy.

“The exciting thing about the new facility is that it provides a place for all of us to use,” said Tom Barratt of the Whistler Nordics club.

“Individually all the clubs are not that big and they are small relative to the clubs in the Interior, where there might be 800 club members. So by all of us working together it increases the capacity for training for the kids and sharing resources.

“The exact logistics haven’t been worked out but the intent is certainly there, so we are all very excited.”

Pemberton’s Spud Valley Nordic Club, which has been active and successful for many years, is also looking forward to the Callaghan becoming operational.

“It will just be fantastic,” said Delores Franz-Los of Spud Valley Nordics.

It’s likely the club will still run its weekly programs at the Nairn Falls site as it has for many years. But, said Franz-Los, the Callaghan will be a great place for weekend events and to host competitions and coaching sessions.

Currently, she is also spearheading a drive to help raise awareness around the volunteer needs for the training, test, and Olympic events.

“People are very interested but we haven’t seen what the commitment really means yet,” said Franz-Los.

“But there is a long way to go between saying you are interested and actually getting there. Next year, for instance, there will be two events and one is a week-long event, which is a great experience for people. But first of all you have to be able to commit to that, not every day, but to a significant amount to gain the experience and knowledge you will need to go further. So it will take a little while but there are keen people in the valley.”

Cross Country B.C. (CCBC) is also collecting information on volunteers through its website. And recently it announced that a new training centre would operate out of the Callaghan Valley site.

According to CCBC’s website, the Cross Country Technical Building, which has waxing facilities, will be home base for the Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC) in the future.

The CVTC’s head coach is Amy Caldwell, who will be based in Squamish until the venue is operational. She spent 12 years coaching at the Stratton Mountain School in Vermont. Some of those she has coached have gone on to become members of the U.S. Ski Team and the U.S. Olympic Team.

The program will offer coaching and administrative support, waxing and ski preparation support at designated competitions, a team van, and free use of the Nordic centre facility when it opens. The fees for the program will be $500.

  The training centre program officially began on June 1.