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nordic sites

The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Society has identified the Madd River Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley as the site for nordic events for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Society has identified the Madd River Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley as the site for nordic events for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Society members, including David Bentall, who is in charge of facilities, and sports representative John Johnson, toured the area last week with a consultant who has done extensive work with nordic parks. "We needed to prove out the feasibility of the site," said acting Whistler Resort Association President Craig MacKenzie. The society’s plan is to host all the nordic events, including cross-country, biathlon and jumping, in the Madd River area. Part of the reasoning is that keeping the nordic events separate from the alpine events would also separate the crowds coming to see alpine and nordic events and create less congestion around the village. "There are snow records for the valley — it has a different snow pattern from Whistler," MacKenzie said. "And we’ve identified areas where we need some additional information, such as topographic maps and additional snow data." Alpine skiing and snowboarding events would be held on Whistler and Blackcomb, which have hosted numerous World Cup events in the past. Nordic World Cup events would have to be held on the Olympic facilities in the years prior to 2010. Most skating events and hockey games would be held at existing facilities in the Lower Mainland. A speed skating oval would have to be built for the Games. The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Society is proposing it be located at UBC. The Canadian Olympic Association will send a site inspection committee to Vancouver and Whistler in August. Vancouver-Whistler is competing with Calgary and Quebec City for the COA’s approval. The COA will decide in November which bid it supports.