The Meet that Never Was, Or How Vancouver's Snow Went South for the Winter

American Cup III, being hosted in Dale City VA, Feb 6-7, 2010. The snow had started falling in abundance around mid-day on Friday; my son texted from DC "good call" in midafternoon about our decision not to travel. Warmups were underway on Feb 6th at the Prince William Ice Center when things went amiss. Liz and her SLC team mates had warmed up, and she says there were odd, strange noises in the locker room, where Coach Jun was sharpening skates. Skaters and others on ice heard the noise too. The officials came in and said the rink was being evacuated. Mitch Connelly had just arrived after an all night white knuckle ride from Rochester NY (lots of similar stories being reported from NY, WIS, etc).Heidi Kreuger (Pittsburgh SSC) posted on Facebook around noon that with a bang one of the main support beams broke and shifted under snow weight and that metal rivets popped out. The skaters were sent back to hotels, but ultimately the meet had to be canceled. Happily the harm is snow damage to a building, not harm to people. The skaters have tee shirts now to remember AmCup III, the Meet That Never Was. Meanwhile, back at the hotel....power out at Liz' hotel; power/no power is hit and miss at other hotels. They used the hot tub until the water got cold! Two and a half feet or so in 24 hours is an awful lot in the DC area....that will take a while to move. Petra Acker's (Saratoga Winter Club) Facebook comment: "Virginia: 1, Speedskaters: 0." In the meantime, a real memory for those who made it in! Now, how to make it OUT??? I keep reading of the stories of plans to import snow to the outdoor venues for the Vancouver Olympics. It appears that the Middle Atlantic states hijacked British Columbia's snow!!! Is that "Dixie" I hear playing in the distance? And, I think that perhaps Steven Colbert has the basis for another great speedskating story to share with his Nation????

Update, 3:47 Eastern. President Obama told the Democratic National Committee that the snow storm in the DC area is "Snowmageddon." About 200000 people without power in the greater DC area, including some of the speedskaters. I've gotten three reports that local media down there says the ice rink roof did collapse (a warehouse or hangar at Dulles, a Church in DC and some other buildings have suffered similar fates). See http://www2.insidenova.com Upside: There are also stories of community snowball fights! Annette Pumphrey (SoCal Speedskating) reported that skaters ran out in the blizzard in swim trunks and found a place to order 17 pizzas! And Liz Looby has her knitting with her! My son, Liam, who had been working on assignment this week in DC reports "I'm fine. Playing in the snow and stranded at the Monaco :=)." Nice place to be stranded!

Update:7:37pm Wild day for ice sports. Collapse of the Prince William rink is confirmed, but the owner pledges to rebuild as quickly as possible. In Fairport, NY (near Rochester) a Zamboni clearing ice for an outdoor hockey tournament went through the ice and into the Erie Canal (yes, the 'I've got a mule and her name is Sal, 15 miles on the Erie Canal..." one). See http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1403253.shmtl

Update from a powerless hotel. The hotel got pizza for the skaters. Then, according to Liz, "we played the scariest game of hide n seek ever...Dark in a hotel, it felt like in those movies where you're in the hotel and the power and tele lines go down and everyone's in a room together but then people start to disappear...."

Two of the Photos above were posted by Ben Gertner of Bay State Speed Skating Club and sent to the Rocker U page on Facebook for short track speedskating. I'm including them with Ben's permission (thank you!!). The third is from Michigan's Kelsey Schiel, who has a number of great photos on her Facebook not only of the Prince William rink but of her trip through snowcovered DC on Sunday!