May 13, 2015 (Calgary, AB) – Canada may host the 2023 FIS Nordic World Championships in the Calgary-Canmore area according to veteran organizer, Bjorger Pettersen, who heads a committee that has been working on this project for some time behind the scenes. While many hurdles remain, this would be the second time that Canada would host the event as the championships were first held here in 1995 at Thunder Bay, ON.

This exciting news follows on the heels of recent announcements that the FIS WCup Ski Tour Canada 2016 will soon be here with stages in Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, Canmore and Lake Louise as host venues for the culminating events of the 2015-2016 FIS World Cup Cross Country season.

“The World Championships are the largest international cross-country event after the Olympic Games,” explains Pettersen, who is one of only only a few lifetime honorary members of the FIS (International Ski Federation) cross-country committee. He and his committee do not have an official role with Cross Country Canada (CCC), the governing sport association in Canada.

“As we envision things, this could incorporate indoor ski jumping,” says Pettersen. Yes, that’s indoor ski jumping, which has already been proposed in places such as Mt. Aavasaksa (Ylitornio), Finland. See video here.

The Aavasaksa project, proposed back in 2007, consists of three linked hills (a K185 ski flying hill for jumps up to 250m, a K120 large hill for jumps of about 140m, and a K90 normal hill) for a budget of 30 million euros (about CDN $40 million today). The “K” numbers indicate what distance in meters an athlete would normally jump, somewhat like the “par” of a golf course. SkiTrax understands that this hill has not yet opened; it is unclear if construction has even started.

Pettersen agrees that we need to be careful and avoid a tendency that he describes as creating “white elephant” ski facilities for international events around the world. He points to Sochi, Russia which hosted the 2014 Winter Games but looks like a ghost town today. Pettersen therefore suggests that it probably makes more sense to return to established winter sports centres for international events rather than create new ones.

“The 1988 Calgary Winter Games were a model for how the Olympics should be run; legacy infrastructure remains from that event,” Pettersen notes. But if something marred Calgary’s 1988 record, it was the wind and weather. One way to control such otherwise uncontrollable variables is by building an indoor jumping facility. “We could have a budget of up to $40-50 million to build the structure, but the design is still preliminary at this point.”

Calgary already has an outdoor ski jump at Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill. Constructed for the 1988 Games, COP was the primary venue for ski jumping, bobsleigh, and luge. It was the most expensive facility built for the Games, costing $200 million at that time according to Wikipedia. Cross-country skiing, biathlon and Nordic combined events were hosted at the Canmore Nordic Centre, about one hour west of Calgary.

Pettersen compares the proposed 2023 Calgary-Canmore bid to the 1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Thunder Bay, ON, but suggests that Canadian organizers have learned and improved from hosting major events. “We will have dynamite marketing and will bring in a winter festival to run concurrently with the sporting events. This could involve world-renowned music groups and entertainment as part of the television production, a contract broadcaster, daily coverage on TV and more.”

The first FIS Nordic World Ski Championships date back to 1925 in the former Czechoslovakia. Initially held every year the Championships changed to being staged every four years and since 1985 they are held in odd-numbered years. Thunder Bay in 1995 was only the second time that the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships were held outside of Europe. The 1950 Worlds were held in the USA (Lake Placid, NY and Rumford ME) while the 2007 Worlds were held in Sapporo, Japan; all other Nordic World Championships have been held in Europe.

“We are still working on plans which will be followed by fund raising. After that, we’ll look at issuing press releases, etc.” added Pettersen, who pioneered the growth of sport in Canada during the 1960s with the TEST program, as national team coach, designing and managing the facilities for the 1988 Calgary Games and more. The proposed 2023 bid will, of course, also have to be officially endorsed by CCC before it can be considered by FIS. “The Alberta government has already given us provisional approval, but this all up in air now with the new (NDP) government.”

“And yes, there could be additional use for the facilities,” adds Pettersen. “After all, Calgary is hoping to host another Olympic Games in near future perhaps in 2026,” he concluded.

SkiTrax profile of Bjorger Pettersen here.