Big White Winter Rally - East Of Kelowna, BC

My name is Geoff Hill; I am the volunteer coordinator for the 2017 Big White Winter Rally, the 7th and final round of the 2017 Canadian National Rally Championship, which is being held on December 8-10, 2017. I would like to tell you more about this event, in the hopes that you or some members of your club would be interested in volunteering as Radio Operators.

Big White Winter Rally is a sanctioned performance driving competition taking place on temporarily closed forestry roads surrounding Big White Winter Resort, 45 minutes East of Kelowna, BC. The event needs amateur radio operators such as yourselves, who are crucial to the safety and success of the weekend. This is also an amazing opportunity to put your amateur radio skills & equipment in action, and see real cars, on real roads, driving real fast!

What you would be doing:

As radio operators, you would be stationed at the start and finish line of each closed road, or at blocker positions along the route itself, monitoring and controlling access at intersecting roads or high-risk areas. The primary roles of the radio operator are to help the event organizers track the progress of rally cars on the roads, to keep any civilians from entering the road during competition, and to pass along relevant information in the event of a crash or safety incident.

There will be a training and Q&A session for operators just before the event.

 What we provide:

To reduce costs to our volunteers as much as possible, we try to provide free shared accommodation in a condo right at the Big White Ski Resort itself (this year we must ask that you register to volunteer before November 22nd if you wish to be accommodated). We also provide bag lunches during the event, and free admittance to the awards banquet and post event celebrations. When the budget allows, we do our best to provide shirts, toques, or other free swag to volunteers to show our appreciation.

 What you need to bring:

Because this event takes place in winter conditions on freshly plowed Forest Service roads, we strongly advise proper winter tires in good condition, a reliable vehicle with reasonable ground clearance, and reliable radio equipment that can run for multiple hours at a time on the power provided by your vehicle. It is good practice to also bring food, fluids, and anything else you might need for an extended stay outside. The event does run after dark, so headlamps and flashlights will come in handy. Finally, warm winter clothing and wilderness common sense are also important to bring along!

Where to sign up:

The Volunteer registration page for the event can be found here:

http://bigwhiterally.com/volunteers/sign-form/

For more information:

Introduction to Rally Volunteering (description of the radio operator role in particular can be found on page 6)

Big White Winter Rally website

Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) website

Canadian Association of Rallysport Youtube channel with lots of videos showing rally cars in action

I humbly request your assistance to inform members of your amateur radio club of this opportunity. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly. Thank you for your time, I look forward to seeing you out on the stages!

Geoff Hill

geoff@rallybc.com

volunteers@bigwhiterally.com

Volunteer Coordinator, Big White Winter Rally 2017

Director at Large, RPM

Secretary, WCRA