The Flin Flon Creighton Ski Club is preparing for its biggest races of the season, as it will host the Sask Cup Provincials.
In one month’s time
skiers from across Saskatchewan will compete for “medals, ribbons and glory,” according to Dave Price, chief of control for the event.
February’s weekend of races marks the fifth time the Flin Flon Creighton Ski Club has hosted the Sask Cup Provincials since 2009.
“So that’s really great,” said Price.
The local ski club has upwards of 15 skiers on the junior racing team as well as a number of Jackrabbits – the younger ski group.
Information packages have just recently been sent out so it’s still too early to tell, but Price says there could be 70 or 80 skiers taking part in the Valentine’s day weekend races.
The early registration deadline of Wednesday, Jan. 28 should leave the Flin Flon Creighton Ski Club with a good idea of numbers.
In years past, the ski club has welcomed hundreds of athletes to ski the local trails.
“We’ve established a reputation since 2009 for having the best trails in the province,” said Price, noting that the “amazing hospitality” at the club’s chalet has not gone unnoticed.
“People who haven’t been here before are usually pretty impressed. Once people have been there they are likely to come again,” he said.
The Sask Cup Provincials will draw from roughly a dozen ski clubs from across the province including Flin Flon, La Ronge, Regina and Saskatoon.
This winter has been quite different from years past in both temperatures and the amount of snow accumulated.
Price says as long as the trails don’t lose any snow they will be manageable, but a few more centimeters would go a long way.
“The trails are in good shape, but we haven’t had a lot of snow this season,” he said. “We are hoping to have more snow to get the trails in really good shape.”
Compared to last year alone, Price says the trails were healthy with snow, but not the bumps and ridges are noticeable.
“Early in the season it’s usually humpy and bumpy and it takes a bit of snow to get rid of that. We do have equipment to [to get rid of those] but we can’t use it without the snow.”
As of Friday, the Flin Flon Airport had reported NUMBER of snow.
Price says if the amount of snow decreases they could be forced to shut down a few sections of the trail, but it won’t cancel the event.
“The event won’t be affected by the snow,” said Price. “It only conditions that would affect the event would be cold temperatures.”
Skiers can safely participate in the Sask Cup Provincials if the base temperature is -20 or warmer – or -18 for the younger skiers.
In last year’s provincial meet the temperatures were colder than favourable and forced all of the races to be held in one day rather than two.
Because the majority of athletes participating in the provincial races will have to travel a fair distance, Price says the temperature call will have to be made a few days ahead of time.
“The go-or-no-go call will be made the Wednesday’s before hand,” he said. “But we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
