Well who really knew what was going to be in store for the first timers in Oberstdorf? After slightly eventful travel (getting on the wrong car of a train that split, with us going in one direction and the rest of the train going on to Oberstdorf, then having to run for the next two trains to get going in the right direction again) we arrived in the small village of Oberstdorf at about 11:30 p.m. Upon our arrival we still had the task ahead of us of finding the room booking agent’s office, finding the key in the lock box after putting in a code, and walking the streets, suitcases in tow, to find the building and then the apartment number, all in the dark. By the time that we arrived it was very late but we were glad to finally be at our destination.

 

Practices started for us the next day. I cannot describe the feeling that we had walking into the facility and taking in all that there was to see. First of all, we weren’t in a hockey arena!!! The ice was grey in color rather than the usual white because there was no paint underneath the ice and there were no lines or circles. Horrors, how will we know where to start our programs without those landmarks? Luckily this did not turn out to be much of a problem and the ice was fantastic. It was fast and felt like butter under our blades. Good thing as the rink was Olympic size so there was much more ice to cover than we had experienced back home. The next days involved meeting up with old friends from across the country and meeting new friends from other countries all the while practicing on that fantastic ice.

 

Another new experience happened on the Wednesday before the competition, the on-ice draw and reception. As Adult skaters like to socialize this was a great opportunity for everyone to get together and sip some champagne and to take photos with their teammates. The officials for the event were all there and draws for skating start order took place by event, alphabetically by country. When your name was called you skated to a table and picked one of the foil wrapped ladybug chocolates that were laid out and underneath was a number which denoted your start order number. What a great idea and unique for those of us who have not competed at a high enough level that draws are a regular routine. Okay, so the nerves are starting to settle in a little bit now that it is becoming a bit more real.

 

By now the arena has started to take on a competition look. Real spider plants and flowering plants in pots are brought in and placed around both ends of the arena and the kiss and cry area was set up. 

 

Competition days arrived and the skaters slipped into their pre-competition routines. The Canadian team is one of the loudest and closest knit teams attending and the amount of support that was given was absolutely phenomenal to watch. An experience that has stuck with me from the competition was seeing one of the skaters from Calgary come out of the dressing room with her competition ready in french braids. I commented that it looked very nice and asked her if she had had it done at a local hairdressing salon and she said “no, Helene did it”. It turns out that Helene is a newly minted Adult skater from Quebec who happens to love to do hair and whom this skater had only just met in Oberstdorf. After that there were a few more “Helene” hairstyles. This is just one example of the camaraderie that I witnessed in Germany and it still makes me smile to think that we are so lucky to be blessed with competing in a sport that gives us so many things – friendship, camaraderie, fitness and artistry to name a few.

 

The BC/YT Section team had a very good showing in Germany and the following is a detailed list of the results. The complete results can be found at www.deu-event.de/results/adult2009/index.html

 

1.            Alison Parker (Bronze Ladies I Free Skate (7) and Silver/Bronze Artistic Free Skate I (7)).

2.            Noreen Ulinder (Bronze Ladies IV Free Skate) (1) and Silver/Bronze Ladies Artistic IV (1)).

3.            Axelle Gunsett (Silver Ladies I Free Skate (10) and Silver/Bronze Artistic Free Skate I (2)).

4.            Michelle Lamothe (Silver Ladies IV Free Skate (3) and Silver/Bronze Ladies IV Artistic Free Skate (6)).

5.            Cheyenne Irvine (Gold Ladies III Free Skate (1) and Silver/Bronze Ladies III Artistic Free Skate (2).

6.            Gloria Purvey (Gold Ladies III Free Skate (2) and Master & Gold Ladies III Artistic Free Skate (3)).

7.            Lynette Hughes (Master Ladies II Free Skate (2) and Master & Gold Ladies II Artistic Free Skate (1)).

8.            Janet Dabner (Master Ladies III Free Skate (2) and Master & Gold Ladies III Artistic Free Skate (2)).

9.            Linda Maundrell (Silver/Bronze Ladies IV Artistic Free Skate (6)).

10.         Diana Barkley and Geoff Squires (Gold Compulsory Dance (5), Original Dance (1) and Gold Free Dance (1)).

 

Yours in skating

 

Cheyenne Irvine

Adult Representative BC/YT Section