A GREEN JUNIOR OLYMPICS 2009 – RAISING THE BAR
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The spotlight of U.S. Cross Country skiing was on the Auburn Ski Club Training Center and the Far West in March of 2009. The U.S. Cross Country Ski Junior Olympics (a.k.a Junior National XC Championships), an annual celebration and focal event for aspiring cross country athletes ages 13 – 19, came to Truckee, California. More than 400 of the country’s best skiers, chosen through their divisional qualifying process, came together for a week of hard-fought competition. JO’s brought some of the athletes national honors and began for them a journey that will lead them to International and Olympic competition. For all the skiers coming to the start line, JO’s was the pinnacle of success won through plain old hard work and dedication to the sport.
The Sierra Nevada is projected to lose 36% of its snowpack in the next fifty years and 70% in the next hundred as a result of human induced climate change, according to the Sierra Nevada Conservation Alliance. In order to protect the long-term viability of our sport, we as a ski community, need to lead the way in helping to protect our winter resources by reducing our environmental impacts in innovative and cost effective ways.
As organizers of the event we had a huge, but rewarding task on the horizon. Our challenge was to produce an event worthy of the athletes and coaches who have worked so hard to be here. The success of our 2005 event is still a fresh memory and gives us a leg up on the process. We learned a lot from 2005, but even with a head start on the process we can’t rest on the success of 2005.
The 2009 Organizing Committee believes as skiers we have a responsibility to protect our most important winter resource -- snow. The goal for the 2009 JN’s was to improve the event’s environmental impact through the application of energy conservation, waste management, socially responsible purchasing, community involvement, and alternative energy generation. The Organizing Committee spearheaded the effort along with the help from many dedicated and passionate volunteers from the local community and abroad. The 2009 JO’s showcased how ski events can minimize environmental impacts, reduce costs, and enhance event success. It is our hope, that the 2009 JO’s act as a catalyst to create a larger shift in the U.S. ski community towards more efficient and effective winter events.
Our hope is to start a larger discussion within the ski community, and to set a new standard for future Junior Olympics to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The bottom line is simple: our current path is unsustainable and is impacting our snow, our sport and our lives. We can be the next drivers for change, but it will take hard work and patience. The 2009 JO’s is a starting point for the Nordic community in the US from which we can continue to build and improve, because simply, we can and we must do better!
It’s not any easy task to go green and already we’ve discovered areas that we cannot easily change. Whatever the results, we have tried to quantify the positive impact (and negative impacts we could not change) of all the initiatives and we have put out an Environmental Report after the event, publicizing these aspects of the JO’s 2009. We strongly measure our success by how well we are able to engage and communicate with the participants of JO’s, including the athletes, coaches, parents and sponsors. If we have succeeded with the above, then hopefully next year’s JO’s will continue the work we have started, and we will know we have done our job well and the next JO hosts can take it a step further.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR GREEN SUSTAINABILITY REPORT!