It was a picturesque morning at the Otway Nordic Centre. Photos 250News

Prince George, B.C. – The volunteers and visitors were up and at it early Sunday morning as the Otway Nordic Centre hosted their Nordic Winter Festival.

It was an opportunity to introduce people to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing as well as providing a fun day out for those who enjoy what the centre has to offer.  The hundreds of participants who turned out during what became a snowy winter day had several activities available to them.  As Mr. PG welcomed the public to the Otway Centre the flapjacks were flying during the Pancake Breakfast which gave everyone a chance to fuel up inside before heading outdoors.

The festival offered a family snowshoe, nature scavenger hunt and games in the morning and a 90-minute afternoon snowshoe tour which meandered through the evergreen woods over the single-track snowshoe trails.  Beginners got a “basics of snowshoeing” introduction prior to setting out.

There were also classic ski lessons offered, along with waxing demonstrations, opportunities to give biathlon a try and hot dogs and hot chocolate.

And the Chocolate Race, simply a fun competition, kicked off with the little guys to show that you can’t be too young to take up cross-country skiing.

The races went up by the various age groups to the men’s and women’s events, with everyone receiving a chocolate bar after crossing the finish line.