This post is a contribution by Elliot Savin
I am in my first year T1 with Foothills Nordic and I was paired with a girl from the Nakkertok Ski Club in Ottawa.
The exchange was amazing! We met our exchange athletes at the airport and headed out to the mountains. The exchange lasted for 6 days. We toured around Banff, hit the candy store! and spent time at the Hot Springs. Next, we went to the Hostel at Lake Louise where we spent 2 nights sharing rooms with Foothills and Nakkertok athletes. We skied several times, met a rescue dog named Kaz and hiked around the Chateau. The food was great!!! Although I had done many of these things before, it was a new experience sharing it with the Nakkertok athletes. After Lake Louise, we headed to Canmore to prepare for the AB Cup races. Although there was very little snow, we still had a ton of fun. One evening we swam at Elevation Place and sampled some Grizzly Paw soda. We returned home to Calgary where the last day was spent doing a scavenger hunt around downtown Calgary.
The highlights of the exchange for me were racing in the AB Cup, sampling the ginger beef and going to the top of the Calgary Tower. Some of us even got stuck in the elevator – which was a new (and kind of fun) adventure as well. Every aspect of the exchange was perfectly thought through and everything worked like clockwork! The volunteers, parents and chaperones did an amazing job pulling it all together. I also liked the fact that the Foothills athletes were involved in the exchange by doing various fundraising activities. It was so cool meeting people from different parts of Canada! I think we showed the Nakkertok athletes a great time. Can’t wait till February when I go to Ottawa!