Cold Prince George weather forecast forces format adjustment for Teck BC Cup races Saturday

This cold spell is lasting a bit too long for organizers of the Teck BC Cup cross-country ski races in Prince George.

With 300 skiers expected for the event Saturday and Sunday at Otway Nordic Centre, there’s been a change of plan, knowing there’s a high likelihood, with an overnight low of -24 C expected, that it would be too cold to race Saturday morning.

So instead of sprint races starting at 10 a.m. as originally planned, it will be a mass start event starting at noon on Saturday.

The cancellation threshold for skiers 14 and younger is -15 C, so if it’s any colder than that and the younger skiers are not allowed to race. The temperature cutoff is -20 C for skiers older than 14.

“You would also have to look at the wind chill and the length of the race and could shorten the race,” said John Aalberg, the chief of competition. “We’re hoping it will be getting warmer than -15 and we can run everybody.

“We’ve already changed it to a mass start so it’s not a seven-hour-long sprint. You need to have seven hours and it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to start until the afternoon. So we moved it to 12 o’clock and then if it’s still cold we would delay it hour by hour.”

Aalberg said races for the older skiers will be first on the start list.

Friday is a training day for the skiers to get to know the course.

The interval start race format for Sunday remains the same, with skiers leaving the start gate every 15 seconds, starting at 9:30 a.m. Racing should be complete around noon Sunday.

The forecast for Sunday calls for a high of -8 C and a low of -11 C.

“It’s a big group, a little bit more than last year or similar and that’s why we’re doing all we can to accommodate the people who come from far away,” said Aalberg. “There’s like 50 from Hollyburn (Ski Club) in Vancouver and it’s a long trip for many of them.”

Races distances will range from 10-15 kilometres for the older skier and between 2.5 and five km for the younger ones.

With coaches and wax technicians included, Aalberg says the races will involve close to  400 people, most of whom will be staying in Prince George hotel rooms eating in local restaurants.

“Four hundred people, that’s a good injection into the economy,” said Aalberg.

This is the second of three Teck BC Cup events this season. The series also stops at Kelowna for the BC championships Feb. 28-March 2. The top skiers will then advance to the Nordiq Canda national championships in Canmore, Alta., March 17-23.

Aalberg, who designed the paved roller ski track at Otway that was built last fall, just returned from Paralympic Games test event in Italy. He will be back there next year to serve as the head technical director for the cross-country events.