The Rickbeil family, with brothers Ian (left, sunglasses), Ken (centre, suit), Doug (right, also with shades) and Jim (right, wearing vest). Photo 250News

Prince George, B.C. – There is a bright, new addition to the Otway Nordic Ski Centre thanks to the generous contribution of a former resident and cross country skiing champion.

An extremely well-attended ceremony was held Saturday afternoon to unveil the new Nordic Light Park which now lights up 4.5 kilometres of trails at Otway.  The lighting system is courtesy of Ken Rickbeil, formerly of Prince George and now a resident of Calgary, who donated $143,000 for the project.  The lights were installed through the generosity of the folks at Westcana Electric.  The new light system branches out from the top of Caretaker’s Hill.

Caledonia President Kevin Pettersen says there are 29 poles which hold a total of 69 LED fixtures.  Those lights, at 150 watts each, mean a substantial reduction in power usage.  Pettersen says the normal fixtures run anywhere from 400 to 1,000 watts.

The entire Rickbeil family joined dignitaries, members of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club and others to witness the official donation of the lighting system which will mean the Otway trails can be used for longer periods each day through the dark of winter.  And in a move that was a surprise to many, not the least of which was Ken himself, Pettersen produced the ski jumping skis Ken used in competing locally, regionally, provincially and nationally in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Rickbeil says he hadn’t been at Otway for perhaps 25 years when friend Cal Benson took him out to have a look a couple of years ago.  “I was totally impressed with it, and our family, for a number of years, has been looking at wanting to do something to give back to the community of Prince George, where my mom and dad settled in the 60s and my brothers grew up.”

“Mom was a huge ball fan and so we were looking at maybe a ball park or this.  We  really were having a tough time till I came here to Otway in the fall and saw the young people training, and that brought back a lot of memories.  We produced some pretty decent athletes back then.”

“But the facility now (provides) the opportunity to produce some world-class athletes that we should be producing in our country.  We get lots of snow here and the cold, but the training facilities are lacking one thing, hours on skis.”

“I think this will help considerably and provide the opportunity for not only the high-class athletes but for the families, the people of Prince George and the university to use it.  They’ll be able to come out here now and ski till 5 o’clock or 6 o’clock or 7 where they couldn’t do that before.”

“So that’s why the Light Park kind of got me and then I ran it by the family and they all agreed, hey this would be great.”

Rickbeil isn’t about to sit there and take a bunch of credit for the lights.  “Westcana and Stella Jones, thank you for the donations of the parts and pieces.  Scott Sherba I know how much money these projects cost, I’m in the same business.  The value we got for our dollars here is amazing and I think there’s a little more to it than the bid price, there’s a little bit of heart in that so thank you.”

Rickbeil says it’s amazing what the volunteers of the Caledonia club have done with the Otway facility.  But he notes “to keep something like this going is going to take volunteers, but it’s also going to take support from the government, good planning and management, maintaining, paying the electric bills, so it’s big, you’ve created a big machine here.  I think hard work, perseverance and the young people coming up hopefully will delve in and do their part as they get a little older and find time to give back also.”

Some of the long-time residents of the area may recall that the Rickbeil family were some of the early skiers in Prince George back in the 1960s.  But they took part in many other sports as well including golf, curling and hockey.

Ken and his brothers Jim, Doug and Ian, competed in a wide variety of sports including lacrosse, basketball, ski jumping and Nordic skiing.  Jim excelled at basketball and played pro lacrosse.  Ian competed in ski jumping.  Doug has supported local sports for many years.

As close friend Cal Benson relates, Ken’s thing was Nordic skiing.  He represented Prince George’s Hickory Wing Ski Club, the Nordic division of which formed the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club in 1987.  He has a long list of achievements, including:

1968 – National Champion at the Canadian Junior Nordic Combined Ski events in Port Arthur, Ontario.

1969 – placed 7^th, Canadian Junior Nordic Ski Jumping Championships at Tabor Mountain.

1970 – One of seven ski jumpers on the Canadian National Team.

1971 – represented BC in ski jumping at Canada Winter Games in Saskatoon.

1971 – Member of Canada’s “A” Nordic Ski Jumping team.

1971 – Western Canadian Champion in ski jumping.

1970s – Coached ski jumping in Prince George.

As well, Ken, Ian and their dad, Mel Rickbeil, helped construct the ski jump behind Okanagan Helicopter on Otway Road that was used in the late 60s and early 70s.

Ken returned to Prince George this weekend to give back to the community and leave a legacy at the Otway Nordic Centre in the form of the Nordic Light Park.