Alpine Canada, together with the provinces, decided yesterday to recommend cancellation of all races for the remainder of the 2020 season. Today that decision is clearly made and we are cancelling the remaining ski race calendar of BC Alpine-sanctioned races and events, effective immediately. In keeping with health advisories from the Government of Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and after consulting with medical professionals, we prioritized the health and safety of our community, fans, athletes, staff and volunteers involved in our events. It was not an easy decision and we all know the impact it has on our athletes, clubs, community and the ski industry as a whole. As the governing body, one must always err on the side of caution in these situations.
The alpine ski racing community is our greatest asset and something we are all very proud to be a part of. It grows by fostering development of our kids and bringing people together on snow. The same community that comes together to create skiers for life and world class athletes must now come together and be a part of not spreading the virus. You all volunteer and work hard to see young people grow and develop as racers, and now we are asking you all to volunteer to help avoid the spread of this virus and make sure the alpine ski racing community is a part of the solution.
The goal is to limit large gatherings and travel. As a club you can continue training and keep normal club activities going unless the recommendations change. We honestly hope you will do that to ensure your athletes have a fun end to the season, even without events and racing with athletes from other clubs. This situation will obviously impact all of us, so let’s work together to make sure we keep our clubs strong and vital for next season. This is now an opportunity to train more at home and to challenge ourselves to think outside the box, to keep our athletes active and make them even better ski racers. Our ask to all clubs is that we train at home, work on skill development and make the most of this situation to prepare for next season.
This is not the end-of-season letter from BC Alpine, as we hope you all will be on snow for a few more weeks, taking precautions to avoid spreading the virus and always following guidelines from local health authorities.
Stay strong and keep having fun on your home hill!
See information for BC Alpine clubs here:
BC Alpine COVID-19 Club information
Additional COVID-19 information and updates can be found here:
Government of Canada:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html
Preventing COVID-19 to spread in communities:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html
Mitigation strategies for communities:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf
Government of BC:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/coronavirus-(novel)