The trails are groomed, the racers are ready and the weather is likely to be cooperative.
The Flin Flon Ski Club is prepared to host the Saskatchewan provincial cross-country championships.
This year’s event, set for Feb. 16 and 17, will be the ski club’s biggest provincial event since Flin Flon hosted the 2014 Sask Cup and a similar provincial event in 2016.
“The trails are in awesome shape. If we get any kind of warming, people should take advantage of it. We’ve had so much snow this year, they’re in as good a shape as we’ve seen in years,” said Dean Grove, ski club president.
Grove said community volunteers have come forward to assist, including several who helped with the club’s previous large events.
“There’s a lot of the same core people who are still involved,” he said.
“I think it’s all coming together. It’s just about getting the manpower in certain things. The organizational piece is all there. It’s just plugging in the people who can help in different spots.”
Athletes from throughout the province of Saskatchewan are slated to hit the trails. That includes a number of local skiers; some who may be medal threats.
David Richard and Sarah Faktor, who both earned medals at last winter’s Saskatchewan Winter Games, may be in contention for podium spots, along with other skiers like Jemedie Morris and Grady Bedford.
“David just missed out on Canada Winter Games. He wasn’t that far off on a very strong men’s team. If he’s in good shape, he’s definitely a medal contender,” said Grove. “Sarah has been coming on. If she has good races, she could potentially hit the podium as well.”
Three different courses will be used for the event. The first, a one-kilometre loop, will head south from the club’s chalet, through the woods to Beaver Pond and back to the chalet. That track will be used for the classic and free technique one-, two- and three-kilometre events.
The second loop will incorporate the club’s eastern trail system, first heading west to Spirit Hill before looping north of the chalet then down to Corkscrew Hill before returning to the finish line at the chalet. The mass-start 6.6-kilometre and 9.4-kilometre classic events on Feb. 16 will use this circuit.
Another loop incorporating both Baldy Hill and Powderpuff Hill will be used for the interval-start, 6.7-kilometre and 9.3-kilometre, free technique races on Feb. 17.
