If you haven’t noticed yet, there are a number of free pavilions and hospitality houses set-up around Vancouver during the Winter Olympics. It’s pretty cool since you get to enjoy live performances, sample regional cuisine and much more all for free! Canada’s Northern House is just one of those many exciting venues.The Gastown Blog caught up with the people from Canada’s Northern House as they were showing off their Arctic Sports in front of Hill’s Native Art.

“The game that we are playing right now is one where you have to keep a target in the air and land on the same foot,” explains Thomas Johnson, one of the athletes that performed for Canada’s Northern House. One of the member of the group also adds, “There are many ways you can do these jumps, you can either do one-legged kick, two-legged kick, or even the harder ones like the one-foot high kick”.

The Gastown Blog team were fortunate enough to see some of the athletes from Northern territories and passerbys to demonstrate this traditional sporting events. Checkout the photos below!

One of the athletes explains how to do one-legged kick

Passerbys tried to do one-legged kick

and he got it!

Cheering for the passerbys!

Canada's Northern House

To learn more about the Arctic Sports, read the details below:

Traditional Games originated from the time when northern aboriginal people were semi-nomadic. Played for both fun and survival, these games developed strength, endurance, and resistance to pain. The people were tested and prepared for the hard life on the land. Today they are played in competition and to celebrate culture between different regions of the North.

Athletes from all three territories will demonstrate traditional sporting events including the one‐foot high kick, the two‐foot high kick, the airplane, the knuckle hop, the Alaskan high kick, the one‐hand reach, the head pull, the arm pull, the sledge jump, the triple jump, the finger pull, the snow snake, the stick pull, hand games (a team game) and the pole push (another team game). – All of these activities involve great skill, strength, and concentration.