"I don't think Mother Nature is a race fan," said Ken Staples, the organizer of the recent Lac La Biche Winter Festival of Speed. Even though the end of February festival was a go ahead, frigid temperatures sidelined much of the racing and made spectator enjoyment a little challenging.
There were a number of other factors that didn't go in the festival's favour this year, but the weather was definitely a major one, says Staples.
"It was so cold, it was -34 in the morning and when the cars were on the track, the ice at that temperature just shatters and hangs like an ice fog. The visibility was so bad that you couldn't see more than a hundred yards, so it just wasn't safe to race... there was no wind to blow it away and as a general rule of thumb we don't race if it is colder than -20," he said.
Another reason that resulted a lesser crowd seen on the ice was the fact that there were no motorcycle races at the festival this year, despite the addition of some alternatives by the organizers.
"Not as well in the past, we didn't have any motorcycle races as there were many events going on but, we did add other things that people seemed to enjoy — but by large, the weather just didn't cooperate," said Staples.
Counting on the second day of the event to re-schedule races that would determine the Western Canadian racing champions for the season, because of an absent ambulance crew on day one, the frigid Sunday temperatures finished off a one-two punch that cancelled the races.
"I am not going to name the company, but the company that was supposed to provide the ambulances for us dispatched ambulances to a festival in Fort McMurray. The dispatcher assumed that it was the same festival so, they didn't send one to Lac La Biche. We were not able to get local service because they had some regulations about hours of work. We had attempted to get the local ambulances to come and be there and they weren't able to," Staples said.
Despite the fact that this year's festival may have attracted a smaller crowd, those who did attend, enjoyed some of the new additions to the festival, says Staples. With Alberta Trappers Association making a second appearance with their fur displays and axe throwing contest at the event, the Lac La Biche Flying Club also welcomed airplanes from across the province to land on their icy runway on the frozen lake, and the helicopter tours by Synergy Aviation made the festival's new addition list.
"The turnout was a little down, primarily because of the weather — but the people who came enjoyed. We had the helicopter rides, the trappers display and the axe throwing was very popular and well supported. On Saturday with he snowmobile races, there was a good count for that. Our number of competitors was down, we had 65 sled racing this year in comparison to last year's 110," Staples continued, "The organizers had told me that it is consistent with what they have seen in every place that race this winter. The numbers are down everywhere and that's in effect to the downturn in the economy. People don't have as much money to spend on things that aren't as essential."
When asked about next year's festival and what the organizers have planned, considering how this year's event go, Staples remains positive and will focus on a better event for next year. He also talked about bringing back motorcycle and quad racing and mentioned how the support in any form by the community and local businesses is appreciated by everyone that helped bring the festival to the locality.
"I am always an optimist. It's going to be better next year. We can't have bad weather two years in a row. We will have some form of motorcycle, quad or side by side racing next year which will be that additional attraction... We are talking to a couple other organizations and there's some interest. I always appreciate the support of the community, both in attendance and with the goods and services that are donated to the event. We can put benefit back to the community through the groups that provide the volunteers," said Staples.
Each year, the festival generates funds that go back to community groups. Staples did not yet have a tally on this year's funds to be dispersed.
