Last winter was the biggest season Dreadnaught Ski Racing has ever had, setting a new precedent for the non-profit, volunteer run organization, but 2023/24 is going to far surpass it.
With nine events booked, including the Master World Criterium, which is essentially the World Cup for Masters ski racing, Donna Briggs of Dreadnaught has calculated that this season will not only continue to cement Kimberley and the Kimberley Alpine Resort (KAR) as a premier destination for ski racing, but will inject around $1.8 million into the local economy.
READ MORE: Prestigious season ahead for Dreadnaught Ski Racing
For the Master World Criterium, scheduled for Feb. 28 to Mar. 7, there will be competitors, coaches and support members coming from all over the world, including Japan, Chile, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the U.S.A., just to name a few. Hotels in downtown Kimberley are already booking up.
“This will probably be the most international event that has ever taken place in this town, I’m almost positive,” Briggs said. “This will attract the most international people ever to this city. It will probably be more like 20 to 25 countries.”
READ MORE: Kimberley to host FIS World Criterium Masters in 2024
Dave Nighswander, President of the Masters’ National Committee, explained that in order to host the World Criterium, a ski resort has to have had a points race for Masters the previous year to prove they’re capable of hosting a race of that caliber, and the year before that you’re supposed to host a non-points race, to demonstrate you’re ready to hold a points race.
“That year before was the year the lift was down and it was kind of the tail end of COVID, so the reason that Kimberley was even able to do it was they’d held a national Masters Race here the year before so we got a pass, held the event last year and the [international representatives] raved about it, they absolutely loved the venue,” Nighswander said.
The FIS Masters’ Chair then assigns someone to write a detailed, factual report about the race, and everything they said was positive.
“That just proves the skill base of Dreadnaught and its volunteer base,” Nighswander said.
The roughly 200 to 250 competitors at the Masters World Criterium will compete in three different categories, A, B and C, and Dreadnaught will be running concurrent tracks on both the Dreadnaught and Main Upper and Lower runs simultaneously.
“The racers that come are not has-beens, they are definitely full on,” Nighswander said. “It’s quite a range, and everyone has to come and have a target which is just a little bit above them, so if you aim for that it’s never going to happen.”
Because of the size and scope of this event, and that they will be running concurrent tracks, Dreadnaught will be looking for 70 to 80 volunteers.
“Most of the positions you need to be able to ski, you don’t have to be able to ski well necessarily, but ski into a position,” Briggs said. “But we do have other positions available that don’t require skiing at all. You can actually walk into position, you wouldn’t need a lift pass or anything. And we’ve got preparation type stuff, like helping with the opening ceremonies, or social coordinator.”
To volunteer, contact dreadnaughtvolunteer@gmail.com
This coming season will also see a Kootenay U12/U14 Zone Race and Provincial Qualifier the weekend of January 13, with around 100 to 150 participants expected and the Kimberley Alpine Resort Club putting on the race.
Briggs said this is the first zone race that’s happened here for five years, due to the pandemic and then the arson that put the Northstar Chairlift out of commission for an entire season.
There is also a U14/U16 Kootenay Zone Speed Camp from Jan. 19 to 21 expected to bring 50 to 75 participants, followed by a FIS Speed Camp with another 100 to 125 athletes from Jan. 22 to Jan. 31.
In February there will be a U16 Speed Series expected to draw 100 to 200 athletes plus 50 coaches and families from Feb. 1 to 4. From Feb. 8 to 11 is the Alberta North Zone Speed Camp.
There will also be a Para Alpine FIS Race with around 45 athletes and 10 coaches from Feb. 12 to 16. Briggs said this will be both a Canadian National and a FIS race, which will allow up and coming athletes to get some points, which they need to acquire to move up to Nor-Am and World Cup level races. Briggs also indicated that Dreadnaught is currently working on hosting a World Cup of Para in 2025. The event this race this year will be a preparation for that, to allow these Canadian athletes to get the points they need.
The Saskatchewan Alpine Ski Provincial Championships, with around 70 athletes, plus 10 coaches, officials and a lot of family members and volunteers are scheduled for Feb. 20 to 23. Then on March 2 to 5 the Banff Alpine Racers will have a training camp with around 30 athletes and four coaches.
Briggs and partner Lloyd Steeves have been working around the clock, all year long, on this incredible schedule of ski racing in Kimberley, writing countless grant applications, working on infrastructure, coordinating and just generally working to make Dreadnaught Ski Racing sustainable and keep it going for many years to come.
