For the past year, 15 youth athletes, their families, and coaches from Black Jack Ski Club and Nelson Nordic Ski Club have been planning, fundraising, and anticipating a unique opportunity to exchange culture, friendship, and local lore with eight athletes and a coach from the Yellowknife Ski Club.
The youth participated in this exchange thanks to the Canada Sports Friendship Exchange Programs, which delivers program funding from Exchanges Canada.
The group from Yellowknife visited the West Kootenay in February and then local skiers visited Yellowknife in April.
The experience was special for all involved and the participants’ shared love of cross country skiing helped them to create meaningful connections with new friends who live over 2,000 km away.
Travelling between our region and Yellowknife with a big group and lots of skis is not easy!
The group from Yellowknife arrived in Rossland from Kelowna airport via bus in the pitch-black night at 1 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, to start the exchange.
The next morning the youth woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked by their host families.
Little did they know that the upcoming week was going to be the start of a very memorable and impactful exchange experience.
While in our region, the skiers from Yellowknife participated with the Black Jack and Nelson skiers in many fun and educational experiences.
They visited local museums, including the Rossland Museum and Discovery Centre to learn about our region’s mining, skiing, and indigenous history and the Doukhobor Discovery Centre to learn about these influential settlers in our region and to enjoy some borshch.
The group challenged themselves in several training sessions and by skiing up to “ring the bell” in the Clearwater Challenge at Nelson Nordic.
They even gave downhill skiing a try, shredding the slopes at Red Mountain.
The group also enjoyed presentations from the RCMP and Richard Desautel, a Sinixt Elder.
They soaked in the hot spring at Ainsworth and enjoyed the beautiful views over Kootenay Lake.
The group also enjoyed a traditional Italian-Canadian meal at the Colander.
The Yellowknife skiers had a great time in Rossland and when they left quite a few tears were shed even though the Rossland and Nelson skiers would see them in six weeks.
On March 31, the 15 athletes and two adults from Nelson and Rossland left for Kelowna where they would stay the night so they could catch their early flight to Yellowknife.
Once in Yellowknife these athletes were warmly welcomed by their host families.
They did many fun activities such as Mike’s Race Night, learning Tłı̨chǫ (one of the 11 official languages of the Northwest Territories), touring the legislative buildings, and skiing in the Yellowknife Gold Loppet.
The athletes also enjoyed ice fishing on a frozen lake which was a surprisingly warm activity due to the great weather.
They had to auger through four feet of ice before they could start fishing.
The group also visited the Yellowknife Historical Museum, where our skiers learned their hometowns share a similar mining history with Yellowknife.
They also enjoyed a fish fry, dog sledding, and caught a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis.
Once the week was up and the last day had finally come the Kootenay athletes were very sad to leave, knowing the challenge of travelling to see their northern friends again.
The fly and drive back to Rossland was a long one with the 15 kids returning at midnight to be welcomed back to their homes in the Kootenays.
It’s safe to say they all fell into a long deep sleep.
The two exchange weeks were impactful and memorable for the athletes and everyone involved.
While they learned that some things are different, their shared bond over cross country skiing and the warmth of the cross country ski community really brought the groups together.
The 15 athletes from Rossland and Nelson and the eight athletes from Yellowknife all felt sad that their trip was over.
They had to leave their new friends but were so glad that they participated in the exchange and made so many fond memories.
Thank you again to the Canada Sports Friendship Exchange Programs, Exchanges Canada, Black Jack Ski Club, Nelson Nordic Ski Club, Nelson and District Credit Union, and all the people who supported their fundraising to help make this amazing youth experience happen.
