Roughly 70 figure skaters from around the Northwest descended on Smithers over the weekend for the first ever jamboree the local skating club has hosted.
Skaters from the Terrace, Hazelton, Prince Rupert, Vanderhoof and Houston figure skating clubs, among others, hit the ice for the third annual Northwest Jamboree at the Smithers Civic Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
“It was a huge success. The northwest area basically goes from Vanderhoof through to Prince Rupert. We had skaters from just about every community along the way,” said Tyler Dykens, head coach of the Smithers Figure Skating Club.
During the fun competition, skaters from all clubs were grouped into four teams: white, teal, purple and green.
They performed a variety of events including solo, creative and interpretive skates, as well as spins and field movements.
In the end, the purple team glided into first, with the green team in second and the white and teal teams in third and fourth.
Smithers club skaters in the winning group included Adison Labonte and Kiara Elson.
According to Dykens, this was the first jamboree the club has hosted in its history and the first competition they’ve held in a number of years.
“To be honest, it’s due to a lack of ice availability,” she said.
“But we’re fortunate that it worked out this year. It’s a big undertaking. Lots of commitments by parents and club executives.”
Even though it was a fun competition, Dykens said it gave roughly 16 girls from the club an opportunity to get back onto the ice.
“It was the first competition of our skating season. Everybody did really well,” she said.
Skaters also received report cards evaluating their performance, which allowed them to see what they did well and what needs improvement.
“They get feedback from that and just kind of taking a look at the feedback and building on that,” said Dykens, adding they would consider hosting similar competitions in the future.
Last year, the competition was held in Prince Rupert.
The club’s first competition of the year is the first week of December.