The Olympic flame may be in Canada but the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games appear to have doused one of Silver Star's longest running events.

Scheduling conflicts for the 30th edition of the Over The Hill Downhill race set for Jan. 18 to 24 mean this year's event is being put on ice.

Norman Kreutz, director of Snowsports at Silver Star, said a number of road blocks due to the Olympics have forced the cancellation of the event. The Over The Hill, which normally run during the first week of February and Vernon's Winter Carnival was moved to its date in January because of the winter games. However, the date change didn't relieve other obstacles facing the event.

Kreutz said a large number of annual participants stated they couldn't make this year's race because of volunteer commitments to the Vancouver Games. In addition Silver Star couldn't find any affordable safety netting for this year's event. Kreutz said there are a large number of ski clubs and official events/races scheduled throughout the provinces of B.C. and Alberta, as well as North Western USA.

"Everyone is trying to run their events in January," noted Kreutz. "It's pretty much a write-off for many clubs as their members will be at the Olympics volunteering their services. Silver Star is no different."

He said while everyone involved with the race wanted to celebrate its 30th birthday, they are going to have to put the festivities on hold.

"We're going to have to pretend this is a leap year for the Over The Hill. Next season we can celebrate 30 years, but we're going to miss its party this year."

Kreutz said an announcement about the 30th Over The Hill should be made early in 2010.