2010 Winter Olympic torch relay route skips Jasper

Canada’s torch relay for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver won’t be coming to Jasper.  

Traveling more than 45,000 km over 100 days and linking more than 1,000 communities, culminating in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron at BC Place on Feb. 12, 2010, the torch will be carried by approximately 12,000 Canadians.  

Taking a somewhat holistic approach to devising a route for the relay, Jim Richards, director of Torch Relays, said organizers “met with a number of our stakeholders initially to determine what the priorities for the relay were.  We really heard that we had to reach as many Canadians as we possibly could through the period of the relay.”

Though the torch will reach other mountain communities such as Banff and Canmore, Richards said he was “sorry” that Jasper will not be included due to logistics. The “primary focus” for the relay, given a limited amount of time, “came down to a selection of communities that could help us reach our population numbers,” said Richards, “and that would also allow us to share some of the geographic and cultural diversity across Canada.”

However, Richards said, “the route is only one aspect of the relay. Beyond that, we’ve got celebrations that are being planned that are very much regional celebrations that we hope... that Canadians from neighbouring communities will be able to make their way to these activities.”  

Both Banff and Canmore will host celebrations, so Jasperites will have to head down the Icefields Parkway if they want to participate. Although some communities lobbied for the opportunity to participate in the relay and celebrations, Jasper did not.  

However, Richards cautioned that lobbying did not affect their decisions and being part of the relay route was simply a matter of logistics.

“Lobby decisions would not have changed our route plan,” he said. “The reality is we have an obligation to put together a relay that makes sense from a logistics standpoint, that has the services we require in the various communities that allows us to gain a regional celebration every time we stop.”  

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said that there have not yet been discussions with Banff regarding participation in their celebrations, but that it’s still early. 

Even though Jasper is not on the route map, Richards hopes that “any community that is not on the route would still get behind the idea of participating in the opportunity to carry the torch... and still be excited about what this all means to Canada and have a feeling that they can have a sense of ownership as well.”  

To be an Olympic torch bearer, fill out the application at www.carrythetorch.com and www.icoke.ca, sponsored by RBC and Coca-Cola respectively.