December 15, 2007 was an extraordinary day for one young cross-country skier. Sporting bib number one, and opting to leave his poles at home, five-year-old Liam Espedido was the first cross-country skier across the start line of the Coast Cup #1 race at Whistler Olympic Park, the Nordic venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Espedido doesn't fully grasp the concept of an Olympic and Paralympic Games yet, but he is the first person to race on the cross-country ski course of the 2010 Winter Games. And when asked if he hopes to watch the Games here in 2010, Espedido responded with a wholehearted "yes please."

Day for kids

Heavy snow filled the sky as John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), welcomed the 100-plus racers and thanked the day's event organizers – the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club.

"We realize how magical it is going to be for the people of the world to watch on television in 2010," said Furlong. "This is all about children and I hope that every child that comes in here today will realize that they are skiing on the same course as the Olympic and Paralympic athletes. And the next time they come back they will bring another child with them."

Along with his sister and mother, Espedido skis with the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club. The family is already planning a return trip to Whistler Olympic Park for another fun race during the winter holidays.

"It's great having the kids involved and that's what it's all about," said Donna Lawson, Espidido's mother. "We're very, very excited to watch [the 2010 Games here]. In fact one of the women I used to [dragon boat] race with is an official for the start of this race and she said we'll have [these trails] forever – it's true."

Finding his way

John Aalberg, VANOC director of Whistler Olympic Park, remembers a much different scene during his first visit to the Callaghan Valley, where the venue is now situated. In spring 2004, Aalberg trudged through hundreds of kilometres of rolling subalpine terrain while prospecting the area for its potential as the Vancouver 2010 Nordic venue.

"It is like a jungle here in the summer — you know it took me an hour to go about 500 metres," said Aalberg. "I was calling it swimming in the Callaghan because I was using my hands to get through the brush, the alders and the blueberry bushes."

Aalberg was the mastermind behind the layout of the area. And he knows his cross-country ski courses. Aalberg, a two-time Olympian in cross-country skiing, also worked six years for the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games before he was asked to develop Whistler Olympic Park. He said the true litmus test will be when international and World Cup ski teams race on the course.

A course with character

Aalberg is pleased with the Whistler Olympic Park cross-country ski and biathlon courses because, for him, it has become a fun trail to ski. Of course it also fulfills the many requirements of Olympic course standards. For instance, an Olympic cross-country ski course has to have a hill of a certain gradient and length at a certain place along the course. He said the ski trails of Whistler Olympic Park surpass the Torino 2006 and Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games for its technical demands on racers.

"These [trails] are going to distinguish themselves by being more technical courses – you technically have to be a good skier here," said Aalberg. "It's the wilderness and it's technical terrain here with a lot of hills and trees and we couldn't just bulldoze our way through this area."
Canada's first Paralympic course

Whistler Olympic Park is also unique because it is home to Canada's first Paralympic competition course designed specifically for athletes with physical disabilities. Para-Nordic National Ski Team head coach, Kaspar Wirz, said his athletes are happy to have a first race on the Paralympic course because it brings a sense of reality that the Paralympic Winter Games are really coming to Canada.

"The first comment I heard from the [sit ski] athletes on the finish line was that it was good," said Wirz.

Wirz is undecided about how many times the team will train at Whistler Olympic Park, mostly because he doesn't want to wear out the excitement of skiing on the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games course. The Para-Nordic Cross-Country Ski Team will, however, become familiar with the course, the conditions, the clothing choices and the wax.

"The waxing part will be different because this is the first time since 1984 that we're not racing on artificial snow," said Wirz. "This is the first time since '84 that we are racing just on what Mother Nature gives us."

While many Olympic Winter Games in the last twenty years have relied on a combination of real and artificial snow, the Callaghan Valley area has an abundance of natural snow during the Nordic sport season. Wirz said real snow and the low altitude will present ideal conditions for wax technicians.

Beyond 2010

"We're doing this for the Games but we're always thinking every minute, every time we have an opportunity to think about what's the legacy here," said Aalberg about providing a new Nordic sport facility for the area.

So, just in time for winter holidays, Whistler Olympic Park officially opened up 35 kilometres of recreation and competition trails. Located in the Callaghan Valley, 20 kilometres south of Whistler, BC, Whistler Olympic Park will host the biathlon, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping events during the 2010 Winter Games.

Coming up in the new year, the Whistler Olympic Park ski jumps will be used for the first time in competition during the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Nationals/North American Jr. Championships, hosted by Callaghan Valley Local Organizing Committee (CALOC) on January 2, 2008. Additionally, the Whistler Olympic Park biathlon course will be the site of the Biathlon Cadet Zone Trials and BC Winter Games Trials, hosted by West Coast Nordics on January 12, 2008.