Otway A World-Class Facility

Jan 9, 2019 | 1:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Council got an update from organizers of the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships during its last Council meeting. One message was loud and clear: the Otway Nordic Ski Centre is in a league of its own.

“When we were preparing for the Canada Winter Games, we had Len Apedaile from the International Paralympic Committee come up and do some training with us for the para nordic side of the Canada Winter Games,” says Kevin Pettersen, Chair of the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships. “He made the comment that, because of the proximity of the biathlon range, the main stadiums, how level everything was, our facility was one of the best he’d seen on the Continent.”

He says the snow-making equipment installed at Otway Nordic Ski Club late last fall, more world competitions can be sought as those events require a guaranteed snow plan. But Pettersen says it will also be good for the community as a whole. 

“We felt that snow-making not only provides a legacy for hosting future world-class events, but 99% of the time [Otway] will be used in our community, for our community,” says Pettersen, who says they can open the skiing a month earlier with the equipment.