November 26, 2005 – Sovereign Lake Nordic, host club to the 2005 FIS World Cup in December, will perform a systems run through on November 26 & 27, as they host the first races of the 2005 Haywood NorAm Canada Cup program. The high level domestic race series will run from November through March 21 when the finals will be held by the Whitehorse Ski Club. In between, the Haywood Series will visit Canmore, Val Cartier (Quebec City) and Cantley, Quebec.

“It is great to see all the skiers on the trails again this year,” commented Rob Bernhardt, Chief of Competition at Sovereign Lake. “We have been planning for the start of this special season for over 2 years now,” continued Bernhardt on the eve of the Haywood Series. Sovereign Lake and the Canmore Nordic Centre will be the sites for the first World Cup action on Canadian soil since 1994 during December.

Over 140 men are scheduled to start on Saturday, November 26 in mass start competitions at Sovereign Lake. The starting field is expected to include skiers from the USA, Australia, Japan, Republic of South Africa and members of the Canadian National Ski Team. The men’s event is scheduled for 9:30 am local time while the women will get underway at 11:30 am. Sovereign Lake also hosted a Selection event to decide skiers to join the Canadian Disabled team in Europe for World Cups in December. The 2.5 km course for sit skiers ran today on the Sovereign Lake trails.

The Sovereign Lake Nordic Club received added good news earlier in the week when it was announced that Haywood Securities would be the Pinnacle sponsor for the World Cup event. Haywood Securities has supported the National Ski Team program since 2001 and have been the title sponsor for the Haywood NorAm Canada Cup program since 2004. “The World Cup sponsorship was a natural extension to our event and team sponsorship with Cross Country Canada,” commented Rob Blanchard, President of Haywood Securities. “When we heard how passionate the senior team members were about the impact of hosting World Cups in Canada, the company jumped at the opportunity of supporting the World Cup. It is important that the Canadian business community reaches beyond traditional sponsorship programs to support pure amateur sport and the efforts of our cross-country ski community,” continued Blanchard from Vancouver, home of Haywood Securities.

The Haywood NorAm Series will also be used to fill future Canadian World Cup skiing quotas. The top two men and women in Canadian domestic competition will gain entry into the Spring World Cup tour and World Cup events next December. Quota spots are also available through the Series for the middle part of the season.

The next Haywood NorAm event will be hosted over the December 3 & 4 weekend at the Canmore Nordic Centre.