Do you think OC can use and/or learn anything from this or is the difference betwern the sports too big? I.e. much more $ available for xc.
I think the difference is that XC skiers are more willing to relocate to improve. But the reward is higher. We offered to develop a centre but there wasn't a critical mass or will to make it work. yet.
I remain optimistic but perhaps it would be easier to make the centre in Edinburgh instead of a Cdn city
I'll have to go through it again, but for sure think there will be something that could be used. It's interesting that Sudden mentioned the much more $ available for skiing, because when I first read it I noticed how often they mention the limited funds available.
I think a bigger difference is how hard it is to make the Olympic/World Champs XC team compared to Orienteering.
10,000+ kids in jackrabbits across Canada is a great way to develop depth in the early rungs of the LTAD.
Well 10,000 is also many parents who'll get into skiing at the same time.
Check out the numbers from Nordic Easterns in Ottawa last weekend:
http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=6421&cat=all
And this field is missing many from the National Teams (Olympic, U23, World Jrs)
Yeah super impressive. Milla raced to a mid teens result despite a fall in the sprint.
When I used to race skiing there were more kids in O than XC skiing