Lake Louise prepares - Lyndsay Webb, Lake Louise
Thursday November 26, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

The World Cup swings into town this weekend and a PlanetSKI reporter is there helping with race preparations as a volunteer.

It is fair to say that Lake Louise is buzzing right now with the preparations well under way for the World Cup event this weekend.

Running a Super G and Downhill event is no easy task, there is much work to be done.

Training runs started earlier in the week and the lift was running for us, the volunteers at 7am.

Many of the volunteers have been here for over a week, some as many as 3 weeks.

So what does a volunteer do?

This is my third year as a volunteer at the Lake Louise World cup. I am an ex-racer as well as a coach and I have found it interesting to see just how much work goes on, behind the scenes, for an event such as this.

Preparations under way at Lake LouiseThe energy and enthusiasm that people bring to the event is fantastic. People come from all over the World to be a part of it.

We have spend days moving snow, erecting fences and attaching safety nets. This event has been held here for a number of years but each year has it's own challenges.

We are having a fantastic snow year that makes life easier for the workers, much less shovelling to be done. We have however had some water issues, split pipes etc, which adds new challenges. Every one is working hard to ensure that we run a great event this year.

This year is of course a special one here in Canada, most of the volunteers as well as the racers are looking forward to the 2010 Olympics in Whistler.

This has added to the excitement here at Lake Louise. Everyone is keen to make this year the very best in Lake Louise history.

So why do I do it?

As a volunteer I get to feel part of the event, meet some great people and of course I get a pretty good view of the racing when it gets underway. Hopefully I will be back next year too.

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