It was only a couple of months ago the Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating club hosted the junior national short track speed skating championships on the Olympic-sized rink at Kin 1.
This weekend the club is at it again, bringing the BC provincial short track championships to Prince George.
With a field of 180 skaters coming to the provincial meet, that’s more than three times the 63 skaters who raced at junior nationals. No doubt, with that many skaters and a crew of 50 or 60 volunteers overseeing the races, the rink will be a busy place this Saturday and Sunday.
Thirty Blizzard skaters aged nine-23 are racing this weekend. The club has 186 members. All skaters competing this weekend are required to meet certain time standards as defined by their age groups.
Racing starts at 9 a.m. both days on the rink that was built for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
“I personally think we have the best facility in the province for short track,” said Blizzard club president James McIntosh. “Typically, Prince George ice is regarded as the fastest ice in BC. It’s a combination of typically colder outside temperatures and the care that rink staff put into it.
“If it’s cold outside (unlike what’s predicted for this weekend) that keeps the ice cold. Out of the areas that have Olympic-sized ice (Richmond, Abbotsford and Kamloops also have 100-foot X 200-foot rinks) we’re the coldest.”
McIntosh said the legacy of the Games gives the club access to the protective mats on the boards and an undated electronic timing system that produces live-time race tracking on the all Sportity. The entry code for the app this weekend is BCST2025.
“We have the equipment, we have the facilities, let’s make good use of them and put on a big show and welcome everyone to a weekend of fun,” said McIntosh. “We’ve had some pretty good support from local businesses. Our club sponsors are reliable and the hotel partners are willing to help out, everybody’s easy to deal with.”
