Sea2summit at Fire Risk

Rob / 01.09.2003

The Whistler Sea2summit race, one of Canada’s most popular events, could be postponed at the last minute due to a lack of rain! Planned to run over the weekend of Sept. 5/6th the race has teams from 4 countries and 14 Canadian states already entered, but on August 28th a ban on all access to Crown Land in southern British Columbia was imposed due to severe drought and fire risk. Race organisers Coast Mountain Sports have appealed to have the ban lifted in their case but at this late date the outcome is uncertain.

The dry spell has caused the worst forest fires in 50 years, with 800 fires burning and some homes lost to the flames. The ban which has been imposed affects business operations on all Crown land, and this means the race can’t go ahead as things stand. The ban is in effect until at least Sept. 14th, but could be extended and anyone caught breaking it is liable to a $10,000 fine and 6 months in prison.

Not all land is affected however, and most forest roads are still open, while supervised campsites and day visitors are allowed even in the restricted areas. It’s a nightmare situation for the race organisers and they put in an immediate appeal which has the attention of key officials, so at the moment it’s a ‘tentative postponement’ that has been announced.

The challenge they face is to convince the authorities that the race does not pose a threat of fire starting. In their statement they explained, “We at Sea2summit Adventure Racing fully understand and are sensitive to the bigger picture of why this fire ban is imposed. However, we have made application for this exemption based on the fact that we truly believe that we are low risk users of Crown Land as we are not camping, smoking, driving motorized vehicles (except for the safety personnel) or operating equipment that could cause a spark. We are simply passing through on bike and on foot.”

At present the situation does not sound encouraging though. They go on to explain; “The Provincial Government is not exactly sure how to process these applications as they have to be fair and consistent with all the operators as this affects many industries. The department of Forestry is already stretched to process applications as most of the man power and resources are put into the current disaster and devastation to put out the fires. Further, as September is statistically one of the driest months of the year and with no rain in the forecast, this ban will be imposed well into September and it could take 3-5 days of rain consistent to make a difference.”

So the race is in limbo and the organisers may not know the official response until Friday, a day before the start. They’ve promised a decision by Wednesday at 6pm and have suggested Oct. 25th as a possible date for rescheduling. Any news will go on the Sea2summit web site.

Update: The race was subsequently postponed until Oct. 25th