Canada’s top cross-country athletes hit the trails

The Eastern Canadian Championships, one of the most important races of the year for cross-country skiing in Canada, were held at Bishop’s University’s Golf and Ski Club over the weekend, in collaboration with the Club de Ski de Fond Orford. While the weather conditions made the races quite difficult, a total of over 400 athletes from across Canada braved the blizzard for the three-day event. As one of only three ski tracks recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) in Quebec, it’s quite spectacular that Bishop’s had the chance to hold this event. “Bishop’s offered the golf course and gave people from all Eastern Canada the chance to come here,” said Jean Pinard, Vice-President of Communications for the Club de Ski de Fond Orford, adding that for a ski trail to be recognized, it has to follow certain criteria, like having a specific percentage of uphill slopes. The Eastern Canadian Championships started on Friday with athletes making their way from as far away as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to take part in the sprint, free technique race.
The heavy snowfall didn’t make things easy for these athletes, as Lennoxville received around 30 centimeters of snow that day, but they did what they could in the conditions that they were presented with. See full story in the Tuesday, Feb. 11 edition of The Record.