A permanent ski and snowboard cross course will be coming to Sun Peaks after beginning construction earlier this week, which the resort says will allow it to bid on and host high level competitions.
The resort said the new course will be built on Sundance Mountain and is valued at $100,000. It said the course will be one of a few in Canada to be built of dirt, while most at Sun Peaks are built out of snow each winter season.
“A permanent course will significantly reduce our reliance on early season snow, snow making resources, snow cat operating time and allow us to open the course earlier in the season,” Sun Peaks Resort chief marketing and communications officer Aaron Macdonald said in a press release.
Titled the Powder Ventures Ski and Snowboard Cross Course, the new course will be a “reliable and high calibre” training facility for local alpine and freestyle athletes to develop ski and boarder cross skills.
“Sun Peaks Resort can begin bidding to host high level competitions, such as national, NorAm and World Cup events,” the resort said.
“A component of this project also includes a refinement of some existing features in the Terrain Park, to bring them up to a higher competition level.”
Construction began on July 15 and is anticipated to take two to three weeks, after which a grand opening will be held in the winter when the course is ready for the public.
The resort said the projects has come out of a three-year partnership with long-time Sun Peaks company Powder Ventures Excavations, who are contributing machine and manpower resources to build the course.
The resort said Powder Ventures Excavations will haul upwards of 1,000 cubic metres of dirt for the project from an existing site in Sun Peaks.
A heavy-duty D8 bulldozer will be join gin a project crew of Sun Peaks Resort employees, Power Ventures machine operators and contractor Jeff Ihaksi, who has designed and built Olympic ski and snowboard cross courses across the globe, according to Sun Peaks.
“A permanent course that is ready to go as soon as the snow flies and can be enjoyed by the whole family, lap after lap, all season long," said Canadian freestyle skier and 2010 ski cross Olympic Champion Ashleigh McIvor.
