Vernon’s Wylie family, pioneers of cross-country skiing in the North Okanagan, will be well represented as the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup starts at Sovereign Lake.
Don Wylie is the chief of stadium, volunteering long hours at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club, in preparation for the much-anticipated event which will attract 1,134 athletes from 22 countries starting Thursday.
“Most people feel these masters courses are some of the best they have skied because of the rolling terrain and variety without big climbs and drops. It’s very challenging but skis smoothly,” said Don, whose father mapped out one of the race courses – the Carl Wylie Trail.
“The start and finish lines, and the exchange zone in the relay race, will have most of the action for spectators. If you want to get out on to the course, a good viewing point would be about 250 metres beyond the event centre, just north of the parking lot.”
The opening ceremonies get underway Friday at 5 p.m. at Silver Star Mountain Resort.
Racing kicks off each morning at 9 a.m. from Saturday to Monday and March 9 to 12.
Racers will take a break from the action on Tuesday. Spectators of the race may leave their vehicles at Silver Star Mountain Resort’s parking lot E and use a free shuttle service to the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.
Don’s mom, Flora, meanwhile, won’t be adding to her collection at the 2011 Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup.
But Flora, 92, already has an impressive trophy collection in her home.
Flora is a seven-time World Masters medalist, whose living room is full of medals and trophies she won in local, national and international competitions.
In 1983, Flora swept the 60-64 age category, winning three gold medals in the 10-, 20- and 50-km events at the World Masters in Telemark, Wis.
Staying in the state, Flora was fourth in the over-55 category at the gruelling 50-km American Birkebeiner race.
Two years later, in Hirschau, Germany, at World Masters ‘85, Flora won gold in the 65-69 relay, silver in the 30-km, and bronze in both the 15- and 20-km events, all of which used the classic technique.
Flora first started skiing in the late 1930s shortly after she met her future husband, Carl Wylie, and Flora was soon a key member of the close-knit group that climbed a 3.5-mile trail on homemade skis to reach the slopes at Silver Star.
They often stayed in an old cabin near the present-day Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, and helped pack in all of the boards, shakes, windows and stove up the rugged trail to renovate the cabin.
The Wylies also skied in the Lavington and Birnie Range areas prior to the road being built, and delighted at introducing others to skiing. They especially enjoyed seeing the popularity or cross-country skiing grow.
Carl Wylie was instrumental in designing and building the first 40-kilometres of ski trails at Sovereign, and Flora was a long-time volunteer with the club.
The Wylies’ love of skiing has been passed down through the generations.
Two of the Wylies’ grandchildren, Alysson Marshall and Matt Wylie, represented B.C. at the Canada Winter Games last month in Halifax. Marshall, a multiple medallist, was chosen to carry the B.C. flag at the closing ceremonies.
Even though Flora can no longer compete or volunteer, she is thrilled to see the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup at Sovereign.
She said her World Master competing years were some of the best times of her life.
Flora and Carl Wylie were immortalized in August 2005 when a 1938 photo of them was used in a downtown mural honouring Vernon’s cross-country skiing history.
Carl died in 2008 at the age of 91.