In a year that has been so difficult for weather and snow conditions, it makes sense that our trip to Whitehorse, Yukon for the Canada Winter Games would be no less difficult. To make a long story short, we managed to get most of the team to Whitehorse on the scheduled flight (at 5:00am Whitehorse time) with the remainder of the team coming in a day later. Our luggage was a little bit of a different story. To give you a better understanding of what was happening during 'turnaround day' picture over 1,500 athletes trying to depart and another 1,500 athletes trying to arrive, all with more equipment and luggage than could possibly be considered necessary. All of this was happening on a day that ended up having one of the largest winter storms of the year, just to make things more complicated. In the end almost everything has arrived and the Host Committee, volunteers and the friendly Westjet folks have managed to handle all of the problems with ease. Many of the teams are still without equipment, but fortunately everything for our team has arrived safely.

The ski facility is one of the best we've ever seen. The comments from the athletes and coaches have been overwhelmingly positive with everyone commenting on great skiing and beauty of the trails. The organizing committee is also very well prepared for the races and everything looks great leading into the first race of the week. The only thing on our minds is what will happen with the weather; so far we haven't had a single day in the last week that is above the -20 degree limit for racing. With a little luck and some help from Mother Nature, we'll have a race Monday afternoon and the Games will finally be underway for the Cross Country skiers. Our team is looking focused and eager to race. The team is very experienced this year and we are aiming for the top spots on the podium in every race. The coaches will bring you a daily update from the Games with more stories from the races and the overall experience of being at the games.