Black Tusk Nordic Events Society

13/02/2023

One week already since the Closing Ceremony of the FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships.

Last but not least, THANK YOU to all the spectators who came from near and far as well as those who tuned in on the Livestream. We appreciate your support and hope you enjoyed your experience!

Photos by Joern Rohde, Whistler Traveller

For many more photos from the whole event, check out the Official Event Photography at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhZpQSjCP1Bc7Lww7DuuGlduHN5TsD9N/view

13/02/2023

13/02/2023

Thank you to our generous sponsors, donors, partners, and governments for making this event possible. We are very grateful for all your support and contributions.

Photos by Joern Rohde Whistler Traveller

To see many more photos from the event, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhZpQSjCP1Bc7Lww7DuuGlduHN5TsD9N/view
Coast Outdoors Whistler Olympic Park ZiZU Optics Surge Activewear Feel Slovenia Salomon Nordic Rossignol Nordic Fischer Nordic SWIXCanada Julbo Canada BN3TH Apparel Blackcomb Snowmobile Beedie Anthem Properties Group Ltd. Adera Homes Nordiq Canada Ski jumping Canada Tourism Squamish Go Whistler Vauhti Wax Canada

10/02/2023

Thank you to our many, many volunteers and staff for working tirelessly before, during, and after the event to make it all possible. None of it would have happened without you. The hard work, dedication, and positive attitude you all showed was inspiring and is testament to the strength of our nordic community. Big shout out also to the Whistler Olympic Park staff for being amazing hosts at the beautiful venue.

THANK YOU and congratulations on pulling off a successful FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships!

Photos by Joern Rohde, Whistler Traveller
Whistler Olympic Park Nordiq Canada Ski jumping Canada FIS Cross-Country Skiing FIS Nordic Combined FIS Ski Jumping

10/02/2023

Who else is still glowing from Alex Loutitt's Gold Medal jump this past Thursday, Feb 2?!

We are so honoured we got to see her jump at home here in Canada, which is an extremely rare occasion, let alone witness her win gold! Before Loutitt's World Cup Gold medal in Japan a few weeks ago, the only other Canadians to win gold in World Cup ski jumping are Steve Collins in 1980 and Horst Bulau in 1983. It was so special to have ski jumping legend Steve Collins there watching at Whistler Olympic Park last week and most importantly that he got to present the gold medal to Loutitt. Thank you Steve for being there.

Congratulations Alex!

Read more here: https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/local-sports/alexandria-loutitt-flies-to-ski-jumping-gold-at-nordic-world-juniors-6485581

Photos by Joern Rohde, Whistler Traveller

Ski jumping Canada Whistler Olympic Park

10/02/2023

Thank you to our Grooming Team who did an impeccable job keeping the tracks set and the corduroy flawless for the world-class athletes competing in the Junior World Championships.

Last week we did a Q&A with two of our awesome groomers:
1️⃣ Simon Smith, 2010 Olympic groomer & head groomer at Whistler Olympic Park
2️⃣ Dirk Van Wijk, 3x Olympic groomer, all the way from Nakkertok Nordic in Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario

Keep reading to find out more about them and what they do ⬇️

Q: What are a typical groomer’s work hours?
Simon: This past week, we’ve started at 6pm and finished anywhere between 1:30-4am. With the fresh snow that’s coming we’ll probably be starting around midnight; we have to pack the snow down and prepare the trails to have as little fresh snow sitting on them as possible before everyone shows up. Working with the weather as opposed to trying to work against it is key.

Q: When do you sleep?
Simon: Right now I’ve been getting around 4-5 hours of sleep each night and then having a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon if I can.

Q: Do you listen to music or podcasts while you groom?
Simon: The radio is sometimes your best friend when you’re out here in the middle of the night. Listening to my favourite music like classic rock and alternative rock keeps me going. I used to have old superstitions when I was doing race grooming that it had to be the Tragically Hip playing on the radio while I groomed.
Dirk: Typically I have it fairly quiet in the Cat, especially when I’m setting the race course tracks. I do listen to CBC alot when grooming normal stuff - I did a lot of grooming in China and Korea and we turned the radios on over there but it didn't really entertain us very much so we turned it off.

Q: How long have you been grooming for?
Simon: I got into snowcat in February 1999
Dirk: I got into snowcat in the early 2000s but I did a lot of snowmobile grooming before that. I go way back to even the snowshoe grooming days. We would snowshoe along pulling a tracksetter - a toboggan with blocks on the bottom - for kilometers!

Q: What training and qualifications do you need to become a groomer for a Junior World Championship?
Simon: It starts with interest - I’ve found that everyone wants to be a groomer until they find out you start work at midnight. There are no specific qualifications or licensing to drive the snowcat, it’s just willingness to show up in the middle of the night when everyone’s tucked into bed or still out at the bars. Being a nordic skier definitely helps when it comes to track setting, but it’s not a requirement. There are very good track setters out there who don’t ski, they just understand what’s needed.
Dirk: When you’re grooming for races, it’s important to have someone with experience with races. Simon has had lots of experience with Nationals and World Cups here as well as the Olympics. I’ve gone to three Olympics: 2010 here and then Korea and China, and have quite a bit of World Cup experience. Dealing with the juries and knowing what they want for scrub zones, neutral zones, and turning zones for classic cross-country ski racing. Typically free technique is a bit easier because you don’t have to put classic tracks in, although the finished surface is obviously pretty important. Timing of grooming is especially important because if it is snowing, we want to have the least amount of fresh snow on the trail as possible, but get off the course to give the stadium and course crews enough time to set up.

Q: How many groomers are there for the Junior World Championships right now?
Simon: There’s myself and the usual grooming team here which is two other full-time staff plus one part-time staff. Dirk has been helping as the liaison between the race jury and the groomers. There is also a groomer from Prince George who came down to learn, share ideas, and witness the high caliber world of racing and grooming. The biggest help for me is my other two operators Bob and Andrew because they are taking care of the rest of the park. We are still open to the public for cross country skiing and the athletes are training on the other trails. My focus has only been on the race courses so luckily they are looking after everything else.

Q: Are you grooming differently this week for the Junior World Championships as you would on a regular day?
Dirk: We’re trying to make the race courses as good as we possibly can. Typically on a normal ski day you’re scrubbing the tracks from the day before as well as putting the new one in as you go - that you would never do in a race situation. For the Junior World Championships we’re doing at least 3 times over for the race course. A 5km course turns into 15km at 5km/h, so each lap takes us about 45 minutes to an hour.

Q: Do you have any crazy stories from a night while grooming?
Simon: It’s always interesting in the middle of the night. One I always remember from 15+ years ago when I was grooming in Ontario, is that there was a coyote that would follow me around. I always figured it was because I was rumbling through the forest, stirring up their dinner. The coyote would be about 10 minutes behind me and you could see their footprints in the soft snow that I had just groomed, for kilometers and kilometers. The next day I would go skiing and sure enough there were the remnants of bunny fur that the coyote had dragged out onto the trail. It was really smart.
Something more relevant to here is driving up the Callaghan road when we’re in a big snow cycle. Trying to get to work here is interesting when the snow is coming up onto the hood of the car and covering the headlights, especially being the first one on the road when the plows are busy on the highway. It’s the full Ace Ventura scenario with my head out the window trying to see because I have no headlights.

07/02/2023

Highlights from yesterday's Closing Ceremony at Whistler Olympic Park.

Once teams filed in with their flags, closing remarks were given by Norman Laube and Reid Carter, Chair and Vice-Chair of Black Tusk Nordic Events Society.

Berni Schödler, renowned Ski Jumping expert and FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup Coordinator, presented the Marc Hodler Trophy to the Champions, Team Norway! They gained the most points overall in all three disciplines in the Junior category.

The FIS flag was then officially passed to representatives from Slovenia, who will be hosting next year’s 2024 FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia. Slovenian Ambassador Andrej Rode was there to accept the flag from FIS representative Berni Schödler. We look forward to watching the competitions unfold next year in Planica!

With that, the 2023 FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships have come to a close. Thank you to all the athletes, coaches, support teams, and spectators for traveling from near and far to be here. Congratulations to all the athletes and best of luck with your future competitions! Thank you also to our generous sponsors and of course the 300+ volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this event possible. None of it would have happened without you. Thank you all for making this an incredible event!

Photos by Joern Rohde, Whistler Traveller
Nordiq Canada Whistler Olympic Park Cross Country BC Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Cross-Country Skiing FIS Ski Jumping FIS Nordic Combined Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

06/02/2023

Today's results from the final event of the Championships - the Ski Jumping Mixed Team event:

1. SLO (Kosnjek, Masle, Prevc, Bartolj)
2. JPN (Nakayama, Sugiyama, Ichinohe, Sakano)
3. GER (Scharfenberg, Bayer, Goebel, Schwarz)

What an exciting way to close out the FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships at Whistler Olympic Park. Congratulations to all athletes!

Photos by Joern Rohde
Whistler Olympic Park Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Cross-Country Skiing FIS Ski Jumping Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

06/02/2023

Yesteray's results from the Ski Jumping Junior Men's and Women's Team events - Sat Feb 4:

Top 3 Men's Teams:

1. AUT (Smid, Obersteiner, Embacher, Schuster) 972.5
2. POL (Wrobel, Joniak, Tomasiak, Habdas) 966.7
3. SLO (Ekart, Masle, Zavrsnik, Bartolj) 925.8


Top 3 Women's Teams:

1. JPN (Nakayama, Sato, Ichinohe, Miyajima) 805.3
2. SLO (Kosnjek, Vetrih, Bodlaj, Prevc) 785.5
3. GER (Haeckel, Boehme, Scharfenberg, Goebel) 725.6

What an exciting way to wind down the Championships at Whistler Olympic Park. Congratulations to all athletes!

More podium photos to come...

Photos by Joern Rohde Whistler Traveller .
Whistler Olympic Park Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Ski Jumping Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

05/02/2023

Our final Ambassador of the event: John Heilig, in memoriam.

John Heilig was the number one expert in the world in Ski Jumping and was relied upon by Olympic Committees around the world for his knowledge. Here at Whistler Olympic Park, we were lucky to have him as one of the key specialists who made this beautiful venue a reality leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was the face behind our Ski Jump from the beginning and was one of the first to be hired leading up to the 2010 Olympics.

John was a key member of our Board and Organizing Committee for the 2023 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships, representing Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. He was a tireless supporter of the Nordic sports, inspiring youth to be active and have fun while recreating and competing on snow. He was instrumental in getting his initial idea for the Junior World Championships off the ground, even before the Organizing Committee was formed. He was so excited that Canada was awarded the 2023 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and that he would be part of showcasing Whistler Olympic Park again some 13 years after our own Winter Olympics of which he was a big part of.

John passed away suddenly February 2021 while working in China, helping to prepare the ski jumping venue for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Thank you John for everything you have done to make this event possible and for Nordic sports as a whole, in this community and internationally. We miss you dearly and we all carry a bit of your enthusiasm in our hearts. The spirit and camaraderie that we've seen during the Junior World Championships was what you embodied: to inspire each other and, most importantly, have fun on snow.
Photos 2 & 3 by Joern Rohde,

Nordiq Canada Whistler Olympic Park Cross Country BC Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Cross-Country Skiing FIS Ski Jumping FIS Nordic Combined Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

05/02/2023

FINAL DAY of the FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships!

Last chance to be part of the action in-person or online via Livestream. The Ski Jumping Mixed Team event is our grand finale. See you there!

The Closing Ceremony will be held at the ski jump area.

WATCH LIVE at www.wjc2023.ca/livestream/
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05/02/2023

Check out Highlight Videos from today and the whole event!

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05/02/2023

Today's results from the Nordic Combined Junior Mixed Team event:

1. AUT (Guetl, Hirner, Slamik, Walcher)
2. GER (Graebert, Haasch, Armbruster, Sommerfeldt)
3. ITA (Senoner, Pinzani, Sieff, Bortolas)

What an exciting day to wind down the Championships at Whistler Olympic Park. We witnessed all 3 nordic disciplines in one day: Cross-Country Mixed Team Relays, Ski Jumping Team events, and Nordic Combined Mixed Team events!

See you tomorrow at 11:00 am (PST) for the grand finale Ski Jumping Mixed Team event followed by the Closing Ceremony.

Photos by Doug Stephen
Whistler Olympic Park Cross Country BC Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Nordic Combined Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

05/02/2023

Today's results from the Cross-Country Mixed Team Relays:

Junior Cross-Country Mixed Relay 4x5km:
1. NOR (Andreassen, Heggen, Brusveen-Jensen, Holbaek)
2. SWE (Eriksson, Danielsson, Ericsson, Bergstroem)
3. ITA (De Martin Pinter, Ghio, Laurent, Artusi)

U23 Cross-Country Mixed Relay 4x5km:
1. FRA (Duchaufour, Arnaud, Pierrel, Rousset)
2. SWE (Lindstroem, Kvarnbrink, Hansson, Gisselman)
3. SUI (Kaelin, Wi**er, Weber, Savary)

What an exciting day to wind down the Championships at Whistler Olympic Park. We witnessed all 3 nordic disciplines in one day: Cross-Country Mixed Team Relays, Ski Jumping Team events, and Nordic Combined Mixed Team events!

See you tomorrow at 11:00 am (PST) for the grand finale Ski Jumping Mixed Team event followed by the Closing Ceremony.

Photos by Doug Stephen
Nordiq Canada Whistler Olympic Park Cross Country BC Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Cross-Country Skiing Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

04/02/2023

*Updated Schedule*

We've made it to the biggest day of the Championships! ALL 3 DISCIPLINES in ONE DAY!

Today is the last chance to watch Cross-Country Skiing and Nordic Combined!

Watch LIVE at www.wjc2023.ca/livestream/

Be part of the action today, in-person or online via Livestream! See you there.
Nordiq Canada Whistler Olympic Park Cross Country BC Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Cross-Country Skiing FIS Ski Jumping FIS Nordic Combined Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia

04/02/2023

Today's results from the Nordic Combined Junior Individual Gundersen:

Top 3 Women:
1. Annika Sieff (ITA)
2. Nathalie Armbruster (GER)
3. Lisa Hirner (AUT)

Top 3 Men:
1. Iacopo Bortolas (ITA)
2. Tristan Sommerfeldt (GER)
3. Paul Walcher (AUT)

With the snow flying, it was another wonderful day here at Whistler Olympic Park.

See you tomorrow for the biggest day of the Championships! ALL 3 DISCIPLINES in ONE DAY! The Junior and U23 Cross-Country Mixed Team Relays, the Ski Jumping Junior Men’s and Women’s Team events, and the Nordic Combined Junior Mixed Team events! Events begin at 10:00 am (PST).

Photos by Doug Stephen and Joern Rohde
Nordiq Canada Whistler Olympic Park Ski jumping Canada Sport Canada Sport Canada - Français FIS Ski Jumping FIS Nordic Combined Go Whistler Tourism Squamish viaSport British Columbia