Alberta Destinations

Grande Prairie hosting 2010 Arctic Winter Games

The best northern athletes and cultural performers will gather in Grande Prairie, Alberta March 6 to 13, 2010 to compete in the Arctic Winter Games.

The games will feature 21 winter events ranging from figure skating and hockey to dog mushing and traditional Dene games!

More than 2,000 youth from regions north of the 55th parallel are expected for the biennial competition, with contingents from Northern Alberta, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in addition to competitors from Alaska, Greenland, the Russian region of Yamalo-Nenets and the Sami (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia).

Grande Prairie, a community of about 50,000 people, is the southern-most city ever to host the games, whose theme is “Dream. Achieve. Aspire.”

One of the top ski aerialists in the world, 29-year-old Ryan Blais has accepted the title of 2010 Arctic Winter Games Ambassador.

A Grande Prairie native himself, Blais first donned a set of skis in grade 6, started freestyle at 16 years of age and joined the freestyle skiing club when he was 18.

He is a current member of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team (Aerials), has seven World Cup Podiums with two World Cup wins and is in training for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Blais looks forward to seeing the Arctic Winter Games bring together northern athletes to showcase their talents and compete for gold.

The complete list of sports is: Alpine Skiing, Arctic Sports, Badminton, Basketball, Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Dene Games, Dog Mushing, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Gymnastics, Hockey, Indoor Soccer, Snowboarding, Snowshoe Biathlon, Snowshoeing, Speed Skating, Table Tennis, Volleyball.

For further information go to 2010 Arctic Winter Games.