The Resort played host to athletes from 15 countries for a week of competition last March. It was the first run for the Nordic area’s new stadium, staging lanes and world-class trails.
For five days, whatever weather one could dream up hit the Resort – from raging blizzards to Pineapple Express rains to beautiful sun. But the athletes and a corps of 325 volunteers weathered it all with a smile, causing Canadian Paralympic team coach Kasper Weitz to tell local media that the facilities and people were “awesome”.
And that’s something that Resort Director of Business Services Don Sharpe says he will always remember. “For me, the amazing part was the volunteers. That really made it for the athletes and the people who were there,” Sharpe said. “They were out there in the blazing snowstorms and in the pouring rain.”
The way those volunteers banded together _ especially the organizing committee _ is one of the World Cup’s legacies, Sharpe said.
The other legacy is physical. “They left behind a whole series of fencing, timing equipment and significant electronic gear that will be used for future events,” he said.
And there will be other events. “I think we’re in line for another event,” said Sharpe. “We’ve been told we’d be right up there.”
In 2009 Whistler’s Callaghan Valley must host an international-calibre event at its as-yet-unfinished Nordic facilities, as a precursor to the 2010 Winter Olympics. That event is already booked for March 2009. “We told them we’d be interested in being part of a series,” Sharpe said.
Competitors could go from one venue to the next without having to return to their home countries, first. “We were told that would be easy to do.”