| A mass start launches the Perkinstown Snowshoe Race, which will take place Jan. 20, 2007, in Perkinstown, Wisconsin, in the Chequamegon National Forest. See
accompanying listings for details.
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Snowshoeing with Jim Joque
Why the Winter Olympics excludes snowshoe racing
As long as I can remember, I have always watched and enjoyed the Winter Olympics. I recall watching Peggy Fleming take the only U.S. gold medal for her graceful figure skating in 1968 at Grenoble, France. It
was thrilling to see Eric Heiden of Wisconsin set world records in five speed skating events at Lake Placid, New York, in 1980. And of course I remember the U.S. Hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union. CANCELLED: DAR VOLLRATH MEMORIAL SNOWSHOE SERIES
MOST PARTICIPATING EVENTS – AND THEN SOME – GO ON REGARDLESS | 2007 UNITED STATES NATIONAL SNOWSHOE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Midwest events
Jan. 27: Bigfoot Boogie, 5K & 10K, Traverse City, MI; www.runsnow.com; Runfittc@aol.com; 231/933-9242
Feb. 3: Tartan Terrific Snowshoe Race, 5K & 10K, Stillwater, MN; www.homestead.com/tartanterrific; jimmcdonnell@comcast.net; 651/735-6945
Feb. 3: Iowa State Snowshoe Championships, 4K & 8K, Cedar Falls, IA; gallscott@hotmail.com; 319/266-4727
Feb. 10: New World Snowshoe Championships, 5K, 10K & 20K Luck, WI; newworld@lakeland.ws; 715/472-8231
Feb. 24: Twin Cities Snowshoe Shuffle, 5K,
10K, 20K & kids fun run, Minneapolis, MN; www.esns.org; campbovey@esns.org; JURIKA@esns.org; 612/787-4030
March 9-10: U.S. National Snowshoe Championships, Elm Creek Park Preserve, Maple Grove, MN; Junior National Boy's and Girl's 5K, Senior National Men's and Women's 10K, Citizen's 5K, Kid's Kilo
event, 4 x 2.5K, Snowshoe Team Relay, demos, displays and other activities; www.2007snowshoenationals.com; www.snowshoeracing.com; usssa_membership@msn.com; 651/773-2136; 612/825-1983 |
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More recent highlights include Dan Jansen of Wisconsin finally winning a gold medal in the men's 1,000-meter race in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway; when snowboarding and women's hockey first became an official Olympic sports at Nagano, Japan, in 1998; and when the U.S. curling team took the bronze medal at the 2006 games in Turin, Italy. the first curling medal ever for the United States. Out of all the exciting events I've witnessed over those years, my
favorite has been the luge competitions. Introduced to the Olympics in 1964, the luge is a small one- or two-person sled where the riders lay flat on their backs with feet pointed forward as they speed down a long and winding icy track. Not much press was given to the two U.S. teams that took the silver and bronze metals in the men's luge doubles at both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. But those races provided edge-of-chair excitement to me. In my younger years, I often fanaticized about learning to luge and competing in the Winter Olympics. Needless to say, with no first-hand exposure to the sport (or any athletic ability anywhere near the Olympic level), I never fulfilled that dream. But one summer several years ago, my wife and I were on vacation in western Canada. We spent an afternoon at the Canadian Olympic Park near Calgary, home to the 1988 Winter
Olympics and now a winter sports training site and recreation area. 1988 was the year the heroic Jamaican bobsled team became world renowned for their "true Olympic spirit" (after which Disney retold their story in "Cool Runnings"). At the time of our visit, the bottom third of the luge and bobsled run was frozen over and covered to keep the ice intact. The park was offering luge rides to the public for $13 (in Canadian dollars). It was my one chance to luge.
After 15 minutes of training and a few seconds on the crash-course, a helmet was slapped on my head and my butt positioned on a sled. On the count of three, someone gave me a push down the runway.
My heart raced as I did all I could to ride the curves. I kept my feet in as close to perfect position as possible and fully enjoyed the thrill of hearing that magnificent sound of metal slice across ice. The ride was
exhilarating, to say the least. At 35 mph, the experience lasted all of 45 seconds. It was nothing like 75 to 90 mph speeds reached by the pros of the sport.
Olympic pipe dream
Why, you ask, would my Olympic dream involve a luge sled and not snowshoes, the sport in which I'm actually a regular participant? The answer is simply, there is no snowshoeing or snowshoe racing competition at the winter Olympics. This, of course, seems so ludicrous given that snowshoeing is a classic
winter sport only growing in popularity. Snowshoes provide winter recreation opportunities to many more people than luge sleds. Think about it. How many people do you know go out for a luge run on a Saturday afternoon?
The reality is that snowshoe racing has not garnered worldwide attention. In his attempt to introduce snowshoe racing at the Olympics, Mark Elmore, sports director for the United States Snowshoe
Association (USSSA), was told that the Olympic governing body, referred to as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), require that citizens of at least 40 countries must participate in a sport for it to be eligible for inclusion as an Olympic event.
Each of those countries would have to be recognized by the IOC and have National Governing Bodies (NGB) with recognized snowshoe racing teams. So far, only a few countries have snowshoe organizations
that are recognized by their respective National Olympic Committees as NGBs.
According to Elmore, countries with formal snowshoe organizations include Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Russia, Spain/Andorra, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States. There may be others but far short of the needed 40 countries it would take to give snowshoeing Olympic status. Furthermore, only Canada, Finland and Japan have NGBs for the sport,
Elmore said.
Even if snowshoeing could reach the global critical mass required by the OIC, Olympic officials argue that a current sport at the games would have to be dropped before snowshoe racing could be added.
Undaunted, Elmore has, since 2001, actively promoted the inclusion of snowshoe racing in the Olympics. It was hoped that the Turin Olympic Regional Organizing Committee would include a demonstration
snowshoe race at the 2006 Winter Olympics. But Elmore said the committee proved unwilling to take on additional event responsibilities. The advantage of a demonstration event – while not on the official program or necessarily held during the actual games – would have drawn worldwide press attention to the sport.
Elmore pointed out that a snowshoe race called the Racchetteinvalle takes place annually in Pragelato, Italy
– the location of the 2006 Olympic Nordic skiing events. The European Snowshoe Committee had hoped that race would materialize as a demonstration event at the winter Olympics in Turin. Unfortunately, it did not.
Until the sport is on the Olympic program, the U.S. Olympic Committee will not recognize it. "It seems to be a bit of a Catch 22," Elmore said. "And the U.S. Olympic Program won't recognize an organization
(such as Elmore's USSSA) as a NGB unless the sport is already in the Olympic program."
So it appears to be a no-win situation at this juncture.
"What is needed," Elmore said, "would be for countries to organize NGBs for the sport of snowshoe racing." To that end, Elmore works with organizations and event directors in many countries to promote snowshoe racing.
He and his peers in Canada want a snowshoe demonstration race to take place in Vancouver, British
Columbia, where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held.
The Yeti Snowshoe Series of western Canada and the Mad Trapper Snowshoe Series of eastern Canada have joined together to form the first Canadian National Snowshoe Championships featuring 5K and 10K snowshoe races. The pair of events will take place in eastern Canada in 2007. By 2010, the nationals will be held in western Canada to be in sync with the winter games.
Yeti series coordinator Marc Campbell, is not optimistic, however, because the OIC may discontinue demonstration sports. Campbell is nevertheless optimistic that the Yeti could host an international race in Whistler – not far from Vancouver – around the same time as the winter Olympics.
While Elmore is supportive of this idea and the efforts of snowshoeing proponents in other countries, his
Olympic dreams are distinctly American. Even more specifically, Elmore dreams of one day seeing someone from his area in upstate New York walk into an opening ceremony as an Olympic snowshoe racing athlete.
Even though there won't be Olympic medals for them to pursue in the foreseeable future, American snowshoers still have national titles to chase down. And they'll do so here in the Midwest this winter.
The seventh annual U.S. National Snowshoe Championships are slated for March 10 at the Elm Creek Park Preserve Nordic Center in Maple Grove, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. Regional qualifying races will take place in 16 states throughout the snowshoe racing season. (For more information, go to www.snowshoeracing.com for USSSA racing and application information.) Winners of the U.S. nationals will be named as members of the 2007 U.S. National Snowshoe Team.
There's no telling if or when the winter Olympics will ever welcome national snowshoeing champions.
At least the Special Olympics World Winter Games will again include snowshoe races, as has happened since 1997. In Boise, Idaho, in 2009, more than 2,000 Special Olympians of varying abilities from over 100 nations will compete in seven winter sports.
As for the winter Olympics, I may have to set aside any dreams of being an Olympic snowshoer or luger.
But come to think of it, I am not inclined to race. I'll have to be content to watch the winter Olympics on television while holding out hope that some day snowshoe racing will be part of the event coverage.
Jim Joque is coordinator of disability services for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is also an adventure education instructor teaching courses in camping, backpacking and snowshoeing, and a trip
leader for the university's wilderness orientation program. Joque currently serves as education director for the United States Snowshoe Association and is a Leave No Trace master educator.
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