This week in Prince George history, Dec. 25-31:
Dec. 31, 1930: The Canadian Amateur Ski Association announced that Prince George would host the Western Canadian skiing championship and Olympic trials for the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, The Citizen reported.
RJ Verne, president of the Western Canadian branch of the association, said the association had intended to host the championship at Grouse Mountain near Vancouver, but the collapse of a bridge near the facility meant the event needed to be relocated.
"The decision of Mr. Verne was communicated to Pete Sandnes, of the local organization on Wednesday last, and it came in the nature of a surprise, as while it was hoped the western skiing championship meeting might be brought here, there was no thought the Olympic game trials would also be sent here," The Citizen reported. "Mr. Sandnes (says) it is a remarkable tribute to Prince George that the Olympic trials should be sent here, while the dominion championship meet comes to close at Revelstoke, but he thinks this decision was reached in view of the superiority of the facilities on Connaught Hill for jumping, which by the way very closely resembles those at Lake Placid, and the superiority of Prince George district over Revelstoke for conducting cross-country races."
At the time of the report, a date for the tournament hadn't been set. But it was expected to fall on Feb. 8-9, 1931 between the dominion championship meeting at Revelstoke on Feb. 3-4, 1931 and the annual tournament of the Burns Lake club on Feb. 14, 1931.
"Mr. Sandnes says a meeting of this kind should bring together at least 25 contestants in the skiing contests from outside points, in addition to a considerable number of spectators," The Citizen reported. "The Canadian National Railway makes a practice of issuing special fares to the travelling public for the annual tournaments of the skiing associations, and in connection with the suggested meeting in Prince George there is a probability special concessions will be extended to all contestants entered in the jumping and other Olympic trials.
The Western Canadian skiing championship and Olympic trials were held in Prince George on Feb. 10-11, 1931. The Feb. 12, 1931 edition of The Citizen reported on the outcome of the event:
The Western Canadian skiing championship and Olympic trials in Prince George were a "great success" The Citizen reported.
"If there is any lesson which can be learned from the big meeting it is the importance of co-operation," The Citizen report said. "Skiing was an unknown sport to the great majority of Prince George residents three months ago, when Pete Sandnes appeared on the scene and enlisted the co-operation of Alderman FD Taylor in an effort to organize a local club and prepare a hill. Much credit is due to Pete Sandnes and to Alderman Taylor for the launching of the sporting project, but the success which has attended it would not have been possible but for the very hearty co-operation of the citizens, and the members of city council."
The event received the praise of the skiing organizations of the western provinces, and positioned the city to host future competitions.
The competition opened on Feb. 10 with a men's 18 kilometre cross-country skiing race. That was followed by a 2.5-mile women's cross-country race and an exhibition of jumping on the boy's slide.
The men's course started from a point on Summit Lake Road, went across the Nechako bridge (now called the Cameron Street Bridge), and down Third Avenue to the finish line at the post office.
"Most of the spectators selected the finishing line from which to see the race and when N. Jorstad, of Winnipeg, the leader in the contest, turned into Third Avenue a double line of enthusiasts was formed, along the street, and he was cheered enthusiastically," The Citizen reported. "K. Nysven, of Burns Lake, came close behind the leader, approximately one minute later and J. Nordmoe, of the Camrose club, was right on his heels finishing 22 seconds after him."
Sandnes was the fasted Prince George competitor, coming in seventh with a time of one hour, one minute and 27 seconds -three minutes and 13 seconds behind the leader.
On the following afternoon Mayor Paterson officially opened the city's Connaught Hill ski jump, and Sandnes took the official first jump.
"The jumping was well managed. Sixteen of those entered came over the hill, and all but three made a second jump," The Citizen reported. "There was no waiting, and for an hour and a half there were thrills aplenty. The longest jump of the afternoon was made by N. Kaldahl, of Hollyburn club. He got 123 feet in his first effort and 124 feet the second time."
The skiers were given a combined score, based on their performance in the cross-country and ski jumping events.
Nordmoe topped the competition with a combined score of 303:30, H. Smedja of Vancouver with 285:80, K. Engstad of Burns Lake with 278:80 and Sandnes rounding out the top four with 275:00.
The tournament also included the election of Jeanne Corning as the Queen of the Snows, with a total of 108,150 votes from across B.C. Anna Dahlgren came in second with 107,675 votes and Erma Goheen was third 74,375,
The Queen of the Snows competition was a fundraiser for the provincial ski clubs, and the ladies hosted a number of social events throughout the province to garner their votes.
The Ritts-Kifer Hall hosted an elegant awards dinner and dance at the end of the tournament, with Queen Jeanne holding court over the proceedings.
According to documents at the Canadian Ski Museum, while 25 skiers qualified for the Olympic ski team, only 15 were able to attend the Games because of lack of funding during the Great Depression.
Jostein Nordmoe was one of the four Canadian men in the combined event (an 18 km cross-country race and ski jumping), and Kaare Engstad was one of three Canadians in the 50-kilometre cross-country race. Both men qualified for their berths on the Olympic team in Prince George. The majority of the remaining members of Team Canada came from Eastern Canada.
Engstad placed 16th in the 50km, and Nordmoe placed 10th in the combined, making them the top Canadian competitors in the skiing events.
Overall Canada won one gold medal (hockey), one silver medal (1500 metre speedskating), and four bronze (men's single figureskating, and men's 500m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m speedskating) at Lake Placid.
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at: pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
