Goodbye Edmonton, Hello Yellowknife!

Hi all, I know blogs are suppose to be short but so much happened today I have to share it “all” with you!

When I checked out of our hotel in Edmonton this morning, so did another twenty plus Rock and Ice athletes that came in overnight. Athletes from France, Italy, Australia, Japan, Korea and Canada already had their “game on” looks. Everyone was checking out each other’s luggage and gear.

The check in at the airport was quite comical as the oversized luggage check in Security Officer was overwhelmed by the athlete’s skis and pulks. This resulted in her having to call for help over the radio.

The flight from YellowKnife to Edmonton was surprisingly short. Within one and a half hours First Air landed us on schedule and fed us brekkie. Perhaps Air Canada should take a lesson or two from this company.

Upon our arrival (temperature -13 C but with the wind feels like -23 C) yes it is still winter here, we met the Race Director Scott Smith and his Media Director Brian Desjardins. We were then shuttled to our home for the race compliments of the Chateau Nova (www.ChateauNova.com) located just off the main street of YellowKnife.

Another comical moment, our shuttle driver was from Australia and was volunteering for the Rock and Ice Ultra. Problem was he has only been in Canada for a week and isn’t used to driving on the right hand side of the road. So, we almost had a head on collision leaving the airport parking lot.

Since the athletes were arriving throughout the day the media couldn’t connect with them. Instead, we were taken to participate in YellowKnife’s non running winter sports. Our host of fun was Greg Robertson (www.bluefishservices.com) who brought out the snowmobiles to ride across Great Slave Lake. Talk about frozen, they estimate the ice pack on the lake is 3 meters thick. No wonder why they have a 8 lane wide road in the middle servicing the small communities around YellowKnife. During the winter months you can reach these locations in 10 minutes. In the summer, add another 35 minutes!

The newest sport of YellowKnife is kite skiing on the lake. Imagine a giant kite pulling you across the lake while you wear a pair of skiis or snowboard. Needless to say some of us were dragged across the snow as a lone husky followed wagging his tail in laughter. Warren practiced the use of his snowboard for his …….

A quick drive through town revealed the number one fashion item is a parka and if you want to be a fashion model any Canada Goose Model.

Dinner was at the Black Knight Pub (www.blacknightpub.com) known as the only Scottish Pub in the North. Unfortunately no local beer is produced in Yellowknife so we had to settle for beer from the western part of Canada. I had one of the most interesting dinner tables and discussions in my life. The table of 7 was composed of a person from Nova Scotia, France, YellowKnife, Ottawa, Australia and Denmark.

This is the beauty of an international event, the participants come from all over the world for a common goal, to compete and then to shake each other’s hands in friendship when it is all over. I heard this great saying recently, you can learn more about a person in a hour during play then a lifetime at workplace. So true!

Friday is athlete day, they register, go through their safety checks and learn about the monster they are about to face. I will be there to watch and then share their emotions with you.