Masses of school children in t-shirts and light jackets created bundles of energy as they waited for their turn to jump into the starting gate and slough off some of their excess energy under dull grey skies.
The masses of children were courtesy of ten schools who took part in the elementary school races at Hallis Lake, with two of the ten making their way from out of town — Williams Lake and Prince George.
"The races were a fantastic treat for both experienced skiers and some budding athletes who tried skiing for the very first time on Saturday," Sunshine Borsato, director of Jackrabbits, said.
Half-sized athletes took part in an array of races, including: individual classic, mad dash, double cross, relay, and freestyle race.
The freestyle seemed to be one of the most popular with the children.
Three or four children would start at the top of the Adventure Park, zipping down the rolling humps, then over a tight bridge before heading through a tight corner and down through hoops to the finish.
The event was one of the more viewer-friendly and the fastest of the day, while also featuring the most tumbles.
Carson school took first as a school, and first in the team spirit competition, to take a total of 127 points. École Baker took second with a combined 99 points, followed by Red Bluff at 85 points. Lakeview took fourth with 71 points and Parkland rounded out the top five with 45. St. Ann's was next at 34 points. Dragon Lake took seventh with two points and Voyageur pulled up the rear for the local schools with one point.
In the two-way struggle for first for the out of town schools, Williams Lake found stunning success, with 160 points, over a hundred more than Prince George, which collected a total of 54.