Riding Mountain Ski Tournament – Report

The weather certainly tested everyone that participated in the 1st annual Riding Mountain Ski Tournament in Riding Mountain National Park. The event was held on January 20th, World Snow Day and was probably the coldest day of the year with a daytime high of -26C and a wind-chill making it feel like -37C!

20 kids aged 5-11 years old joined in for the afternoon on skis. Ski conditions were tough and the slow glide really made the kids work hard, helping them stay warm. The dash for cash (the chocolate variety) was quite popular with the younger kids and they had the chance to run the sprint both head-to-head as well as on a relay team. Even with the chocolate prize at the end of the sprint, the terrain park with its jumps and bumps proved to be most popular. As the day wound down, many kids stayed on the hill running the jump one more time. For some of the participants, this was their first time racing around over jumps and through hoops with a group of other kids, and they loved it!

What a great experience for the area kids to get together and share the enthusiasm of xc skiing. Those involved are committed to holding more events to keep the camaraderie and enthusiasm for this great winter sport going.

This ski tournament was also scheduled on the Occupy Winter day to demonstrate to Parks Canada how important winter in our National Parks is.

Thanks to Cross Country Canada for providing the participation incentives and to the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba for the race bibs. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped organize and came out to run the event and to Friends of Riding Mountain National Park for the use of the ‘club house’ and for grooming the trails.

Kurt Mazur
Riding Mountain Ski Tournament organizing committee
Riding Mountain Ski Club, Jackrabbits Leader