The 81st Haywood Ski Nationals came to an official close with the women's and men's 30- and 50-kilometre classic cross-country ski races at Callaghan Valley on Sunday (March 23).Blizzard conditions turned to warm sunny skies as snow turned to slush on valley roads and lots, marking a near end to a stream of 13 provincial, national and international Nordic events. The Squamish Life National Biathlon Championships draw the final curtain on the season Sunday (March 30).It's soon time for the approximately 500 CALOC volunteers to shed their green jackets and prepare for next season. Callaghan Valley Local Organizing Committee (CALOC) Managing Director Denise Imbeau said there was a lot of doubt about the group having the capacity to pull off such a busy multi-sport season. While most venues have separate organizing groups for each sport, CALOC runs a four-sport show while coordinating with six sports organizations."What's important is that we on the West Coast with very little Nordic history, or perhaps limited Nordic history, for us to pull this off like we have as a community, as a corridor, is inspiring trust from all the sports and it's looking very good for their sports," said Imbeau.Part of what makes CALOC different from sport-specific groups is that it goes beyond running the actual events. It also has the capacity to take over outside elements like marketing, websites and various other "hoopla.""We had tons of comments from people saying that our banquet was the best banquet they've been to and our entertainment was the best, our volunteers were so happy to help," she said.VANOC Director of Nordic Sports John Aalberg said the support doesn't begin and end along the trails and Squamish residents have shown huge support on and off the snow."The local community of Squamish has really stepped up in terms of organizing the off-venue things too like hosting and accommodation. It's really come together as a good team," he said. Besides running a good series of competitions, it takes a quality course to win over the athletes. After completing a grueling comeback season on the National Team after taking last year off to have a baby, Olympian Sara Renner of Canmore, Alberta conquered the ultimate endurance test. "The course today is a great course for the 30 km," she said after winning gold. "It skis really well and the strongest person will win on these race courses and the sprint courses are also very good on this course. There's no such thing as an easy cross-country ski race and while the profile might be on the gentler side, that's not such a bad thing - especially for gliders like me," she finished with a laugh.Despite recent criticisms from some Haywood athletes that the Callaghan course is too easy, 50-kilometre gold medal winner and recent Canadian citizen Ivan Babikov was impressed. "For classic 50 km this is really hard. I like these trails. In a long distance like that and six, seven times going up this uphill it makes a big difference and those guys who don't have the engines get dropped."Cross-country skiers are growing accustom to the new Nordic venue and feel it will bode well for them in the future."I think I definitely have a good feel now," said 30-kilometre silver medalist and Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford.
