Whistler ski-jumping plan faces resistance in Alberta

An International Olympic Committee official once said the commute from Vancouver to Whistler for the 2010 Winter Games was “too far.”

Now, the IOC says it’s OK for Calgary to hold ski jumping outside the province of Alberta, should the city decide to bid on the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The bid corporation Calgary 2026 proposes reusing the 2010 ski jumping venue at Whistler for that sport and nordic combined, which is a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

But there’s resistance in Calgary to giving Olympic events to another province.

Calgary city Coun. Joe Magliocca invoked oil pipeline politics recently, saying at a council meeting the handover of Olympic ski jumping to B.C. would be “a slap in the face to the energy sector.” He was referring to Alberta’s desire to build a pipeline to the West Coast and B.C.’s opposition to it.

Ski jumping should stay in the host city, he said.

“If we’re going to host it, let’s host it here in Alberta,” Magliocca said. “We’re paying for it and our citizens are going to be paying for it.”

Debate about ski jumping ’s location in 2026 invariably sparks another debate about the sport’s survival in Canada.

“Without renovating or building new jumps in Calgary, the sport will pretty much die off,” said 17-year-old Calgary jumper Abigail Strate.

“It will be very hard to keep the sport going with only the Whistler jump.”

In an effort to make hosting games cheaper and more sustainable, and thus attract more bid cities, the IOC now considers it a positive in a bid when a city makes “the maximum use of existing facilities and the use of temporary and demountable venues where no long-term venue legacy need exists or can be justified.”

Calgary 2026 chief executive

Mary Moran told The Canadian Press the cost of renovating the ski jumps from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary would be five times higher than holding the event in Whistler.

“If we have a ski jump that is going to drive five times the cost, then we’ve got to back away from it,” she said. “We really need to be responsible in creating our plan.

“If we have concerned citizens and athletes, we’re happy to sit down and walk them through our decision making.”

Using Whistler’s relatively new competition jumps would save $40 million, Moran said.

The ski jumping community disagrees with how much money it would take to bring the 1988 ski jumps at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park up to Olympic standards.

“We believe that the existing facilities at WinSport can be refurbished up to international standards for marginally more than what it costs to (hold) it at Whistler,” Alberta Ski Jumping chairman Mike Bodnarchuk said.

A 2017 report by the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee offered three options with different price tags: construct a new ski jump near Canmore, Alta., ($100 million); renovate Calgary’s jumps, slopes and landing bowl from the 1988 Games ($70 million); hold ski jumping and nordic combined in the 2010 venue near Whistler ($35 million).

Ski Jumping Canada chairman Todd Stretch says CBEC’s estimate to overhaul the 1988 site was inflated.

“Right from the get-go, we said those numbers were wrong,” Stretch said.

No one has launched from the tallest tower — the 120-metre hill — in about 15 years.

The 90-metre and three developmental jumps are used by approximately 85 club, provincial and Canadian-team athletes, Bodnarchuk said.

Citing a cost of $500,000 annually to keep development ramps operating, WinSport plans to decommission them unless the ski jumping community raises enough money to keep them going.

Getting the competition jumps up to international standards again would be akin to building a new facility, according to WinSport’s chief executive.

“The complex would have to be completely rebuilt,” Barry Heck said.