Special Olympics Ski Racing, BC Provincial Games, February 2007

The Special Olympics BC Winter Games are held every four years and are a qualifier for athletes to progress to the National Winter Games, also held every four years. So Cory is about to participate in his most important races yet.



They were held on Crystal Mountain in Westbank near Kelowna, BC in February 2007. When attending Provincial Games, athletes do not travel with parents or family, they travel together on a bus, and stay together throughout the weekend, sleeping on a school gym floor and eating in the school cafeteria. Parents do not get much time with the athletes at all. So we're not with him to make sure things go ok.



Cory is sometimes a perfectionist - and he can take a lot of time getting ready to go out. He sometimes misplaces things and gets a bit panicky when he can't find it. We were concerned that he would forget an important piece of clothing or equipment that he would need to ski with or he would take a lot of time and perhaps miss the bus from the school to the ski hill. Or something would happen that would bother him, and he wouldn't be focused on his racing.



So not being able to be in touch with him for most of the weekend made us a bit anxious.



We met all the athletes at a rendezvous and they boarded a bus for the 5 hour trip from Vancouver to Kelowna.







Later on, while driving to Kelowna in our car, we caught up to the bus and had a lot of fun honking and waving our purple pom-poms out of our sunroof. (Purple is the colour of the region that Cory represented at the games). We'd pass the bus, stop, pull over and let the bus pass, and do it all over again. We heard later that the athletes laughed and cheered like crazy as we drove by, though Cory thought it was a "little embarrassing".

That night the opening ceremonies were held, with the athletes parading in, and cheering, and generally making a lot of noise and having a lot of fun.






Next, the races begin, a lesson learned, and what a fantastic weekend to be Cory's dad!