BC Ski Team in Sweden - 2026 B-Tour
Thursday March 19th
We arrived at the race site in Lycksele in the early afternoon and quickly waxed our classic skis with klister. We split into small groups to ski the sprint course and take note of important sections. The sunny conditions paired with the numerous skiers out on course meant the sprint loop was very chopped up. Nonetheless, we dropped our warm-up gear and began some pre race-day intervals. Once finished, we returned to our wax area to pack up and head into town. In Lycksele, we were treated to a delicious buffet by the Gallivare skidgymnasium team. After the buffet, we briefly explored the town before returning to the recreation centre where we would spend the night. At the recreation centre, we relaxed over a few rounds of pool and a movie before heading to bed for some much needed rest before our sprint day
Friday March 20th - Sprint Day
We left our accommodation bright and early Friday morning to head to the race site. Once we arrived, we dropped off our race skis to be waxed and headed out for a quick refresher of the course. The girls raced their qualifier first, meaning the boys had some more time to warm up and get some information about how the conditions were running. After a proper warm-up the BC Team boys headed to the start line for our qualifier. Despite the nerves and built-up fatigue from days of travel, everyone gave all they could in the qualifier, pushing to the very end. With the qualifier out of the way, everyone seemed to be a little less nervous and a lot more ready to race. Since the boys had almost five hours between qualifiers and heats, we took to a hotel room to rest our legs.
After a couple hours the boys returned to the race site to watch the girls race their heats. We cheered the girls on as they fought through fast 12-person quarterfinals and got fired up ourselves to race in a few hours. After spending some time warming up, the boys all headed to their heats and raced. Once finished, the team packed up the skis and headed back to the recreation centre where we were sleeping. At the accommodation, the boys tried out a real Swedish sauna including an arousing swim competition to see who had the fastest lap time. After this we got the chance to recover our muscles for the two days of racing ahead.
By Andreas Inkster (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Saturday March 21
The Relay day. We all woke up on our comfy air mattresses, quickly made breakfast, packed a lunch, and hit the road, making our way to Lycksele for the big Relay day. The sky was bright blue with not a single cloud in sight, and it was crazy hot out. Looking at all the other relay teams warming up, we were all getting hyped and ready to race. The snow was straight slush, and it looked like it was going to be a pretty hard race, but we were ready. My relay team decided to put Canadian flag tattoos on our cheeks so we were all matching. Since we don’t live in Sweden, all of our relay teams are considered unofficial, which means we can compete but not win any prizes or count for anything, and we are seeded at the very back, so we would be starting last.
The first leg went out, doing 5 km and trying to make up as much ground as possible. They tagged off to the second leg, which is what I did, skiing 2.5 km. The 2.5 km was an all-out sprint, trying to keep up with the Swedes. We tagged off to the anchor, who also did 5 km, and they just brought it home. We were all very happy with our results. We cooled down, packed our skis, and went to the ICA to get some snacks for the ride home. Once home, we played some pool, ate dinner, and then finished the night off with a game of sardines in the pitch-black rec centre upstairs before hitting the hay.
March 22 Sunday
The next day, we woke up a bit earlier because we had to pack our things and clean the room before heading to the venue for the final race. The final race was a 5 km Interval Start with the same conditions as the day before, but maybe even hotter. We all warmed up, tested our skis, and headed to the start line. Our skis were running fast. The girls went first, going super fast and getting one top 10 and one top 5. Next was us boys, and we had some good races as well—not quite top 10s, but really good results. After racing, we all cleaned off the klister on our skis and prepared them for the car ride home. As we got to the van, we realized we had locked the key in the vehicle and had to call a tow truck driver to open it. The tow truck driver was unable to open the car, so he got prepared to tow it. While he was preparing it, we all gave it a shot at opening the van door, and with barely any effort, we did it. On the road, we stopped in a little town to get some Swedish pizza and Trocadaros before hitting the road again. As we were pulling into Gällivare, we could see the northern lights. Once in Gällivare, we unloaded the vans and got settled in before hitting the hay.
Magnus Sandell (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Previous reports from the 2026 CCBC B-Tour:
https://www.crosscountrybc.ca/bc-ski-team-sweden-2026-b-tour-update-1
https://crosscountrybc.ca/bc-ski-team-sweden-2026-b-tour-update-2
Race results:
Girls Interval Start, CL: Resultat_D17-18 Girls Int Start CL.pdf
Boys Interval Start, CL: Resultat_H17-18 Boys Int Start CL.pdf
Girls Sprint: Resultat_D17-18 Girls Sp.pdf
Boys Sprint: Resultat_H17-18 Boys Sp.pdf
Athletes:
Aleah Smith (Nelson Nordic Ski Club)
Alex Heale (Telemark Nordic Club)
Andreas Inkster (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Anton Malin (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Dawson Abraham (Nelson Nordic Ski Club)
Ella Fuller (Fernie Nordic Society)
Ember Smith (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club)
Lex Hostyn (Black Jack Ski Club)
Magnus Sandell (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Nadia Wallin (Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club)
Coaches
Maria Lundgren (Assistant Provincial Coach)
Chris Manhard (Head Provincial Coach)
