Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 11

Festival of Soon, tulips will burst from the earth, putting. on the season's most Fond Arctic memories keep Nick Lees warm A12 welcome display of colour But why wait for that" show when you can enjoy a i-esuvai or Tulips right now? $45 We Deliver I A11 EDITOR: PETER MASER, 429-5399; citythejournal.canwest.com EDMONTON JOURNAL SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2004 20TH ANNUAL CANADIAN BIRKEBEIHER TV 1 DM For more selections, visfta VT ftOfGSonline.coni or Call 419-6800 V'vJ NO SLOWING DOWN For most skiers, just competing of fan loads is I 1 'I i. Amateur athletes train for the long 55-km race, but regular folks tackle the shorter loops JEFF HOLUBITSKY Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON He may have only covered five kilometres of carefully tailored trails, but at least one cross-country skier followed a centuries-old Nordic legend, carrying a child through the wilderness. Jay Hoffas toted his 35-pound son, River, on his back the entire distance. The track was great and the weather was perfect," he said Saturday after completing the Snow Shuffle, one of about a dozen different races at the 20th annual Canadian Birkebeiner held in rolling woodlands south of Elk Island Nation-alPark.

"We had a little fusspot for a couple of kilometres but then he fell asleep." Hoffas, of nearby Sherwood Park, was just one of 1,730 skiers and 400 volunteers taking part in this year's day-long event, including some from as far away as Germany, the U.S. and the Northwest Territories. I included elite athletes, weekend war-' riors, families, school classes, the rnili-l tary and even a troupe of silent clowns called Cirque du Nez. While Hoffas participated in a family event, more serious racers wore 5.5-kilo-i gram backpacks in a 55-km contest, Birkie spokesman Bob Coe said the packissymbolicofthe rescue ofayoung crown prince, but was integrated into cross-country ski races more than 70 years ago in Norway because racers had to carry their own food and water. "There were no food stations as we have, and we have four or five of them," he said.

Saturday's temperatures hovering near -11C, with a windchill making it feel like -18C left many hardy skiers with long icicles hanging from their beards, but it didn't appear cold enough to slow them down. Will Critchley, wearing a thin-looking racing suit, certainly wasn't complaining. He was one of the day's first big winners, finishing first in the 31-km Edmonton Journal Tour. Tm actually a sprinter. I like the one-kilometre and the two-kilometre Stu Lindop isn't the kind of man to sit around whining that he lost a leg to cancer.

Instead, he attached a cross- -country ski to his prosthetic leg and skied 2.5 kilometres in Saturday's Birkebiener. What's even more remarkable, he's 85 years old, likely the event's oldest participant "I'm limited in what I can do, but I'm certainly not handicapped," lindop, of Sherwood Park, said after competing. He didn't keep track of his time "I'm not racing," he said. Lindop, a father of six, was 70 when doctors told him he would lose a leg to cancer. They said, 'Happy Birthday, we're going to cut off your he said.

As a man who had spent his life skiing, running and volunteering with several community organizations such as Uncles at Large and a Strathcona County seniors board, he wasn't about to slow down. He also organized the Terry Fox run for five years. "I wasn't going to sit on my bum and say 'poor he said. So that same year, 1989, he registered in university, graduating four years later with a bachelor's degree, with a sociology major and an English minor. A ski race is a small adversity for a man who was a tank commander with the South Alberta Regiment, the only armoured regiment to earn the Victoria Cross in the Second World War.

"I was a lieutenant troop commander and I would have gone further except I got wounded," he said, remembering a morning in Holland when his group lost 1 3 tanks and many friends. This is the second time Lindop has entered the Birkie. The first time he was 80. "I eat well, sleep well and work out three times a week," he said. "And I walk at least three to five kilometres two or three times a week." Jeff Holubitsky IAN JACKSON.

THE JOURNAL Dave before the five kilometre Birkie loop. take a severance package, union leaders said. About 35 members of the bargaining unit crossed the picket line during the strike. Saturday's vote ratified a tentative deal reached late Monday between leaders for both sides. The union would not divulge the exact results of the vote, saying only that the agreement was "over-whelmingly" accepted.

The pay increase is close to what union members demanded when they walked out on Sept 17. Atthetime, the average annual salary at the station was $28,000, they said. Haskins, however, disputed that figure and said the strikers actually wound up getting less of a pay increase than he initially offered in September. kgereinthejournal.canwest.com I said. The 31-kilometre race is not usually my thing, but I guess it is now." He completed the race in one hour and 34 minutes, compared to less-conditioned athletes who continued to cross the finish line for several hours.

Critchley trains with the Edmonton Nordic Ski Club, but still, the challenge wasn't easy. "We were really suffering for a little while." I'm actually a sprinter. I like the one-kilometre and the two-kilometre sprints The 31-kilometre race is not usually my thing, but I guess it is now. 9 skier Will Critchley And while he may not have been carrying a prince to safety, 20-year-old Joel Jacques of Canmore finished first in a 55-km race. Someday he'd like to be in the Olympics.

"I train fulltime for racing," he said. While winners collected kudos and handshakes, most people appeared happy to participate. Rcorie and Ward Neale drove up from Calgary to ski in separate events. At 80, Ward is nine months younger than his bride, so he entered a 31-km event. Rox-ie had to wait into the afternoon for her 13-km race to begin.

"Last year, it took me two hours and two minutes," she said. "I come from Norwegian ancestry I guess it's in my genes." The snowy trail also appeared to stoke appetites. Michel Lamontagne, a NAJT foods and nutrition student, was in charge of about 30 volunteers keeping me skiers fed And that was no small feat "We made 200 portions of homemade soup beef barley and tomato maca-roni for the vegetarians," he said. There are 2,538 hotdogs, 2,400 cups of coffee, 1,500 cups of hot chocolate, 800 bananas, 1,000 oranges and about 300 Animosity on both sides much to overcome. Td be lying to you if I said I wasn't concerned," bargaining rornmittee member Darren Scott said, as fellow strikers clinked beer bottles and munched pizza following the ratification vote.

"I have a feeling that a few people there, in management, are not too happy with a few of us leaders and are not going to make it a walk in the park for us." In discussing the strike's end, both were careful not to further fuel a dispute that has seen several lawsuits, targeting of advertisers and reports of harassment and mtimidation. "If they come back and are bitter over One-legged skier Stu Lindop finishes Top finishers C9 bags of The snacks worked wonders for young Nicole and Warren Plunkie, who eagerly wolfed down doughnuts and hotdogs in the heated food tent They've been skiing since they were three years old," said their dad, Brian. "And they were on the back since they were three weeks." If food didn't provide enough comfort to the post-race skiers, a massage trailer had asteady stream of customers most of the day. HelmiMcHenryarKlEgaPfaefffilayface down on massage tables as masseuses worked their tired muscles. "Our husbands are still out there.

I don't know," McHenrysaid. "I think we did well" They helped each other complete their 31-km race in about two hours and 50 minutes, rooming friends on the trail. "She's Dutch and Tm Finnish," Pfaef-fli said. There's a bond there, too." jholubitskythejournal.canwest.com IF-, IAN JACKSON, THE JOURNAL the 2.5-kilometre loop on Saturday. Zoe Burgess, 6, stretches with her father ratings turned around ed well," he said.

He said that while there will be tension, the retrjming workers' focus will be on rebuilding the station's ratings, which plummeted during the strike from 22,600 viewers to 8,300 for its supper-hour newscasts. "WeVe got a lot of work to do to repair the damage that's been done. We want to make it good television again," Peterson said. More than 60 members of Local 1900 of the Communications, Energy and Pa-perworkers Union will return to work on March 1. Not joining them will be eight to 10 strikers, who have instead opted to A.

A-Channel strikers accept deal, but worry about tensions at station must be overcome, sinking thestrike I can't really talk about what goes through their minds said the station's general manager, Jim Haskins. Tm going to run the shop the way IVe always run the shop, and it's a great environment I will be making sure no one is in a position of feeling intimidated or harassed." Chris Peterson, a cameraman who served as one of the union local's leaders, said he lost his best friend over the dispute and doesn't feel the relationship can be repaired. "I wouldn't wish this experience on anybody, but I'd do it again because I be-Uevethafshow important it is to be treat KEITH GEREIN Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON Relief and jubilation filled the headquarters of A-Channel's striking employees on Saturday afternoon after union members voted "ovemhelming-fy" to accept a three-year contract The deal includes an immediate five-per-cent pay increase and 3.5-per-cent hikes in each of the next two years. But the celebration isn't likely to last long as employees on both sides of the picket line prepare foranother period of turmoil: findLingaway to work alongside each other again after a bitter five-month dispute. Some admit they are worried the animosity that has built up will be too '(( if Mi i -WJ I.