Arctic Winter Games

The Arctic Winter Games were held in Grande Prairie, Alberta last week, with one Joseph Simpson in attendance as an athlete for Team Alberta North in Snow shoe Biathlon, Junior Division. All the athletes from Fort McMurray that qualified in the various winter sports traveled by bus to GP for the week long games. Other teams included the northern provinces and territories of Canada, Greenland, Russia, all the Scandinavian Countries, and a team from the State of Alaska. There were over 2000 athletes.

One section of the games, the Dene Games, were reserved for native athletes. sports included various types of wrestling, jumping, kicking, and a tug of war type games where each team pushes on a large pole instead of pulling on a rope. There were also all the classic winter sports: skiing (alpine and nordic or cross country), snow boarding, hockey, etc. There were also a few indoor games like volleyball, badminton, table tennis, and others.

Joseph and his friends Graeme, Daniel, and Victoria all qualified for snow shoe biathlon. The races varied in distance between a sprint of 2 kilometers (about 1.3 miles), and the longest race of 5 km (about 3.5 miles). In between laps, the athletes had to shoot .22 calibre rifles at targets about 50 meters away in prone and standing positions. Penalties are assessed for shots missed in the form of added time, or in some cases, making the athletes run a penalty loop of about 100 meters. Scores are based on overall time.

The following pictures were taken by the Edmonton Journal, and published on the front page and page A5 of the Friday, 12 March 2010 edition. There are many more pictures of the games, including some of the Dene Games which are really impressive on the website www.edmontonjournal.com/pictures. Joe Bob says, "Check it out."


Joseph is in position 18, in the bee striped tuque (hat). This is one of the practice sessions before the races started. The rifles are almost all Anschutz models. These are the same rifles used in the Olympics by biathletes and in the winter games by the target shooters. They are very smooth rifles.

More Target Practice.

And they're off!. Here are the front runners at the start of the 5 km race. Joseph, in Bib 155, placed 5th in this race.

He came home from the games with a few souvenirs from some of the friends he made at the games. Here is his Team Alaska hoodie.

The members of Team Alberta North all had shirts made. Here is the back of his long sleeve tee with his nick name.

Some of the other swag he brought home. The flags are of Alaska and Nunavut. The Alberta flag is covered by his long sleeve tee. You can also see some of the pins he brought home. My favorite are the two "Fair Play" pins. He was awarded those for his good sportsmanship during the races and for cheering on slower competitors after he finished his races. He also was awarded a President's Pin from the President of the Games for his sportsmanship and example. We are very pleased with him for his efforts.

His best finish was 4th with his teammates in the 3 by 2 km relay. They were less than 30 seconds away from winning medals. He was very excited at the opportunity to go and compete in the games, and Plans are being made to hold an invitational event in White Horse, Yukon next winter with Team Alaska and some of the northern Canada teams. We are looking forward to that.

Congratulations Joseph.