March 2008 — VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3
Ready, set, race!
With spring come longer days, warmer temperatures, and exciting competitions at Sun Peaks.
Throughout March and into April some of the most exciting competitions of the year are held on the hill, including the super-fast 2008 Subaru Velocity Challenge, the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing (CADS) festival, the You Look Good Rider's Cup and the Canadian Master's Alpine Championships.
Early in March, two events get the season off to a great start: the Pontiac GMC Cup-where Canada's top young ski racers vie for spots on the national team-and the 12th Annual TELUS Nancy Greene Corporate Challenge. The Corporate Challenge is a charity event with proceeds going towards the Sun Peaks Health Association, the Royal Inland Hospital Emergency department and Sun Peaks Junior Racers.
Melanie Smith, the events co-ordinator and assistant of Olympic gold-medalist Nancy Greene and her husband Al Raine, says the Corporate Challenge, which welcomes about 150 athletes to the slopes of Sun Peaks, has raised almost $240,000 for charity. The event is strictly a fun race for skiers and boarders of all abilities to participate in, she says.
"While there are some really keen racers, the majority of our participants are just in it to have an experience and to get tips from Olympians like Nancy Greene, Kathy Kreiner and Steve Podborski," Smith says.
Next up is the ever-anticipated 2008 Subaru Velocity Challenge from Mar. 5-8. The event, which is North America's only one on the FIS World Cup speed ski circuit, features thrill-seekers speeding down the Headwalls, accessed from the Crystal chairlift, at speeds of up to 180 km/h. And if you don't ski but still want to get in on the action, foot passenger tickets can also be purchased-you can view the race from the Sunburst Restaurant.
Following Velocity is the CADS SKIRD family festival and Telus Canadian Para-Alpine Championships from Mar. 10-14, showcasing Canada's best adaptive skiers racing for fun and then for spots on the national team. Also during this time, there will be clinics, lessons for coaches and skiers, and demonstrations of adaptive sports equipment, such as mono skis, by equipment suppliers.
In snowboarding, Sun Peaks welcomes back the 2008 You Look Good Rider's Cup on Mar. 15, with a collection of talented snowboarders of all ages shredding the slopes and showing of their "steez" for huge prizes. The fun slopestyle competition provides riders with an opportunity to ride with, not against their peers, and an "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting" theme party will follow at Club Mackdaddy's. The Garden, presented by Oronge Board Shop, will be repeated again in the Blue Park area on Mar. 23 where teams of riders will be formed and the event proceeds will benefit the local Bluebird Day Fund. Don't miss the barbecue!
Mar. 21-22, the Alcan/Nancy Greene League Festival welcomes B.C.'s finest young skiers to enjoy a weekend of events-ski racing, jumps, moguls and speed skiing-just for them!
Then the Canadian Master's Alpine Championships hit the slopes from Apr. 3-6. According to Al Raine, one of the founders of the event, skiers from all over the country, ages 25 all the way to 80, tear up the snow in Slalom, Super G and Giant Slalom.
This event, which will be held on the OSV run (accessed by the Sunburst chairlift), is important for several reasons according to Raine. It's held at the end of the season "when things are starting to slow down," he says, and it "really motivates a bunch of people from eastern Canada, about 60 per cent of the total competitors, to come," which exposes Sun Peaks to new visitors.
As the ski season comes to an end, we have the fun-packed
Sun Peaks Spring Festival, held Apr. 11-13. Locals and visitors alike
come out for amusing events such as the slush cup and dummy downhill,
celebrating the end of another excellent season in true Sun Peaks style.
For more information visit www.sunpeaksresort.com
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