Triathlon approved

By Rob Alexander - Rocky Mountain Outlook

Published: February 24, 2010 3:00 PM

Registration for the Banff International Triathlon opened today (Feb. 25) following word Parks Canada had given the event a green light.

Banff National Park superintendent Kevin Van Tighem said he conditionally approved the event earlier this week following review of the environmental screening report for the Banff triathlon.

The results of the screening report, along with conclusions made by the Special Events Public Advisory Committee (SEPAC), led Van Tighem to make a decision in favour of the Banff triathlon, which is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Van Tighem had turned down the triathlon in November of last year citing concerns with the proposal to locate the swim portion of the race in a wilderness zone at Johnson Lake and the high number of competitors at 1,500.

Parks Canada had a change of heart after organizers reworked the event, changing the location for the swim to Two Jack Lake, which is a less sensitive area, reducing the number of competitors and moving the date of the event from August to September - along with a number of other mitigations.

Overall, the screening report, prepared by IRIS Environmental Systems of Calgary, found the Banff triathlon is expected to have a negligible to minor effect on the environment.

"The whole purpose of doing both the review with the Special Events Public Advisory Committee (SEPAC) and then legally required review and environmental assessment is to make sure that all the necessary thinking has gone into the planning of it. You don't do it expecting there will be problems, you go into it to make sure there won't be," Van Tighem said.

"The challenge we have here in Banff is an extremely popular national park and the seaso's are short, so it is not really a question of these things can or should not happen in a national park. Of course they can happen here, they are happening in other places; it's about getting it right so that you are not compromising somebody else's experience, so you not overcrowding a facility or disturbing wildlife during a sensitive period."

Representatives for event partners Banff Lake Louise Tourism and LifeSport Coaching and Events of Victoria, B.C. welcomed the approval and the conditions that have come as part of the process.

"Like good triathletes, we've persevered in the process over the course of a year now. We are very, very happy with the final result," said Paul Regensburg, LifeSport coach and event organizer, adding the work they were required to undertake can only create a better event - one that is already highly anticipated.

Regensburg said the U.S.-published Triathlete Magazine listed the Banff race as one of the top 10 most anticipated triathlons in the world.

Stuart Black, director of in-resort services for BLLT, said that designation indicates the sheer level of interest in the event and, as a result, the benefit the triathlon will bring Banff.

Black said the triathlon would ensure Banff sees an enormous amount of attention.

"And I think the other key is the immediate and overwhelming interest from the triathlon community is really a testament to the event of the nature," Black said.

The conditional approval status will be lifted once organizers file the further information and studies, such as a traffic management plan, which, according to Black, are all part of organizing an event of this nature.

Both Regensburg and Black said the SEPAC and environmental assessment process have both served to protect national park values and ensure the triathlon is a better event that fits better with Parks Canada mandate.

The event was also moved from August to September and the number of competitors in the Olympic distance category was capped at 500 competitors.

"I think in the end we worked with Parks and not against them and listened to their needs and concerns and were able to come to mutual terms and make for a good event that respected the park," Regensburg said.

He added the SEPAC and environmental screening process forced organizers to consider other procedures, such as moving athletes and spectators and setting up infrastructure.

Overall, Regensberg said, organizers have kept the majority of the event in the Banff townsite and the amount that occurs in the park itself to a minimum.

The race begins with the swim at the Two Jack Lake day use area. Following the swim, competitors will leave the lakeside day-use area and ride counter-clockwise around Lake Minnewanka Road. Sprint racers will complete a half of the loop before riding to the townsite for the transition to the turn, which will also occur in town.

Olympic distance racers will ride 2.5 laps of the Minnewanka Road.

Regensburg said any race-related infrastructure would be removed the same day of the event.

Even with the favourable environmental screening report, Jim Pissott, Canada field representative of Defenders of Wildlife, said Tuesday the event approval, even if it is still conditional at this time, is an indicator that Banff National Park is open for business.

"I have yet to attend a meeting of the special events group, but I do intend to participate in the next one to get a better understanding of what kind of atrocities might be off the table, since almost anything that commercial interest dreams up is obviously on the table," he said.

Van Tighem said the next step would be to monitor and evaluate the biathlon event and how well the SEPAC and environmental screening recommendations.

"And if there are lessons to be learned, we'll do that in future years.

"If you look at the BLTT dragon boat festival, the first year there was some real problems with parking and congestion and we learned and they learned from those problems and the second year was very well executed. It is now a very strong event.

There always has to be a certain amount of adapative learning associated with any activity or event," he said.

Van Tighem said the review process is still a work in progress that Parks Canada is working to refine.

"Hopefully we'll be much more able to help people with their planning and then move things through a decision process in a much more timely way," he said.