Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
UPDATE: The Jasper NordicFest has been cancelled this year due to low attendance and poor conditions impacting the race.
The Jasper NordicFest is just around the corner and is looking for more participants to ensure the multi-day sport festival can go forward.
While the festival did not happen last year due to the pandemic, this year鈥檚 iteration is tentatively scheduled for the end of the month on Feb. 26 and 27.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still undetermined as to whether the event will actually go, just because our registrations are very limited at this point,鈥� said Trevor Soll, owner and director of Multisportscanada.
鈥淲e鈥檒l make a decision here in the next week if we get enough entries to make it viable.鈥�
This two-day festival will be the third annual event after a one-year hiatus.
Soll said the Jasper NordicFest was originally conceived in light of newly developed trails opening to the public at Athabasca Falls and Whirlpool Hub.
鈥淚t was a good way to sort of help promote the cross-country ski trails and the snowshoe trails and tying into the trail run as well,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e decided to give it a go, and the first year was quite successful and (had a) decent turnout, and then the following year we had a bit of a bigger turnout, so decent growth year over year, and then obviously COVID sort of shut everything down.鈥�
The festival features cross-country ski races on the trails at Athabasca Falls and Whirlpool Hub, including a 35-kilometre loppet along with some shorter-distance races.
There will also be eight kilometres of snow-packed trails for the snowshoe and foot races around the Athabasca River Loop.
The festival also functions as a fundraiser for the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum, which brings out the volunteer base in exchange for a portion of the proceeds.
People of all ages and fitness levels are welcome to participate, whether they are from outside of Jasper or live in town but want to try out some new trails that they haven鈥檛 before.
Soll added how it was for 鈥渂asically anybody who wants to ski and come out and have a good time and experience the mountains.鈥�
To register and for more information, visit
