Whistler open to helping Calgary with potential 2026 Olympic bid
Reusing the ski-jumps built for the 2010 Olympics in Whistler in Calgary’s potential bid for the 2026 Games makes a lot of sense and the facility’s operator has indicated it is open to the idea, according to its CEO.
Making use of Whistler’s facility to offset the estimated $100 million cost to build new ski jumps near Calgary is one of the ideas contemplated by the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee in a report it tabled with Calgary city council Monday.
It is too early for Whistler to say much, according to Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, but the municipality is aware of the idea and “would need to review any opportunity like this more closely to determine whether and how it would potentially work.”
The Calgary committee hasn’t spoken to provincial officials, but Tourism Arts and Culture Minister Lisa Beare called it a “very interesting idea.”
“We’ll be happy to have that conversation if it does come forward to us,” she said.
In initial discussions with Whistler Sport Legacies, the society in charge of operating the ski jump facility at Whistler, its CEO said they are supportive of a Calgary bid.
“We’ve said that obviously, as a legacy, we fully support the reusing of our facilities,” said Roger Soane, CEO of Whistler Sport Legacies, “and I think part of the Olympic movement’s goal to move forward is to reuse some of these assets.”
Calgary’s Bid Exploration Committee will consider reusing the ski jumps built at Canada Olympic Park, now known as WinSport, in Calgary, but that facility doesn’t meet Olympic standards now and would require expensive upgrades, according to a committee report.
Building a new jumping facility at Canmore west of Calgary is another option, but would cost $100 million, “which may be problematic from a sustainability perspective, due to the sport’s athlete population in Canada.”
Borrowing Whistler’s ski jumps “are estimated to cost less to upgrade and enable the use of existing infrastructure,” the report states, though will come with the challenge of transportation, athlete accommodation and security costs, and lost legacy revenue opportunities to Calgary.
“For budget purposes, (the committee) has chosen to include the WinSport option as it reuses existing infrastructure and fits within the existing cluster concept,” the report states “However, all three options will be included in the CEBC’s final report for consideration.”
Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee spent $119 million to build all the nordic ski facilities at Callaghan Valley, including the ski jumps. Soane said it is difficult to calculate how much of that went specifically into the ski jumps, but they are recorded as a $60 million asset in the legacy society’s books.
“They’re very expensive to build, very expensive to operate and it seems silly to build for just one event and leave them to be mothballed or become obsolete,” Soane said.
Mothballing the jumps at Callaghan Valley was a distinct possibility after the 2010 games, if they didn’t get enough post-games support, but Soane said the non-profit legacy society has held, on average, three competitions per year at the provincial, national and international level.