Asked what impressed him most about his one-week trip to British Columbia as part of a ski exchange between the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club of Prince George and Skinouk of Gatineau, Que., 14-year-old Victor Lafontaine didn’t hesitate.
“The highlight was when I saw the Rockies, it was so nice because it was my first time,” said Lafontaine. “We did a ski at Wells and saw the Rockies. I really liked it. I made some friends here.”
Eleven Quebec skiers from Skinouk ranging in age from 12-15 made the trek west for a one-week trip that culminated with two days of racing in the Teck BC Cup events Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 15-16) at Otway Nordic Centre and they were among close to 300 racers who gathered in Prince George for the race.
Skinouk reached out to the Caledonia club and sent out an invitation to come to Gatineau in early December to take advantage of the Canadian Sport Friendship Exchange Program, sponsored by the federal government to promote athletic development and strengthen cultural ties between Canadian communities.
Fourteen Caledonia skiers went to Quebec and they were the return hosts for the Quebec skiers who spent the past week (Feb. 12-19) in Prince George. Last year the Skinouk group did the exchange with a group from Iqaluit, Nunavut.
”It’s been amazing," said Phil Malette, whose 13-year-old daughter Emilie was part of the exchange. "The kids have been really happy and the club has been great at hosting us and we’ve had some amazing activities."
The group went to the UNBC campus and Northern Sport Centre on their first day in PG, then went to Wells for some skiing and Barkerville for a guided tour of the historic gold rush townsite.
“Someone had (groomed) the trails in Wells and we were able to go 200 metres up and see the (mountain) views, we were blessed on a beautiful sunny day, and there was snow,” said Malette.
The group also spent some time on Cluculz Lake, where one of the Caledonia families has a cabin, and all the kids got to ski on the lake and do some outdoor curling on the ice. They toured around the city and posed for photos with Mr. PG. On Sunday, after the races, they got to test their marksmanship on the biathlon range at Otway.
“Maybe one or two have done biathlon before,” said Malette. “The kids were thrilled to actually use the .22 (rifles) and actually try it.
“I’m sure the kids have made great friendships and will be chatting and hopefully seeing each other later.”
The group spent one morning downtown with Lheidli T'enneh elders learning about the first nation’s history, culture, and the effects of colonization and residential schools, and that was followed by a volunteer activity making sandwiches for the Central Interior Native Health Society warming centre.
The weekend races brought podium results on Saturday when four of the top five finishers in the girls U16-1 five-kilometre classic race were exchange athletes.
Alice Leblanc of Skinouk won silver, Skye Cadell of Caledonia was the bronze medalist, with Skinouk’s Julianne Gauthier and Mahee Mignaught finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
“It’s really fun racing, the view is amazing and the racers are so strong you have to push yourself very hard,” said Gauthier, 14, who was fourth in the freestyle race on Sunday, one spot below her clubmate Leblanc, who won bronze.
“It was my first 10K of the year and it was hard but it passed by really quickly. I gave my all.
“The Caledonia team is really fun, too, so I had one of the best weeks of my life, honestly. It was so pretty when we went skiing (at Wells), all the mountains. The mining village at Barkerville was really fun to see. This is my second exchange, last year I went to Nunavut, and it’s so fun. You get to meet people and visit a place you’ve never been to. I have never been to British Columbia before.”
While in Gatineau, the Prince George contingent skied and ran with their Skinouk hosts and also got to try paranordic sit-skiing. They hiked Gatineau Park and spent a night at Morin Heights ski resort, where they were part of the Premiere Neige race. They also attended a QMJHL game between the Gatineau Olympiques and Shawinigan Cataractes. Their tour also included a visit to Ottawa, where they were in the House of Commons gallery for Question Period, followed by a meet and greet with MPs involved with youth athletics. They also went to the Canadian Museum of History.
Gatineau is across the river from Ottawa and all of the 11 Quebec skiers speak English, but only two or three of the Caledonians are bilingual.
Scott Moore, 14, has been in French immersion since kindergarten and the Duchess Park Secondary School Grade 8 student welcomed the chance to test his French fluency.
“It was fun to get a taste of their culture,” said Moore. “It’s kind of nice listening to their conversations and learning new words and just putting it together.”
Moore raced his first 10-kilometre event on Saturday and finished 16th in the boys U-16-1 class. A year ago at the BC Winter Games he raced down main street in Barkerville and being back there on the snow-covered streets brought back a flood of good memories.
“Our tour guide was really into it, it was good,” said Moore.
The kids created an Instagram page to share photos, built around their trip mascot, Bawk the Chicken.
The only downer was it was unseasonably cold for the trip to Prince George with lows dipping into the mid-minus 20s C and daytime highs in the mid-minus teens all week.
“It’s a bit cold,” said parent chaperone Annick Gagnon. “I’ve heard the hiking and mountain biking is awesome here. It’s like, year-round, so maybe we’ll be back. The skiing was awesome and the families that hosted us were super-welcoming so we had a great time.
“My hosting family has been trying some French with me. There were so many highlights, beside the human connections, I’d say Wells and Barkerville (stood out) because it was an opportunity for us to learn the region’s history and we had a good time at the Indigenous centre downtown. That was a great experience for the kids.”
The Caledonia participants who went to Quebec in the exchange were Lillianna Botten, Gwenyth Ditto, Isla Witso, Rowyn Beaulieu, Maisie Hoehn, Skye Cadell, Amelia Legut-Petersen, Scott Moore, Samanyu Saxena, Willem Grose, Luke Hillhouse, Sullivan Nelson, Alistair Bell and Harry Isaacs. Darren Ditto and Cara Moore were the parent coaches.
