The family of Squamish's Mikayla Martin, who died in a mountain-biking accident on Oct. 1, has launched a memorial fund to help other young aspiring athletes.
Residents of Squamish and the Sea to Sky ski community have been in mourning since hearing of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club alumnus’ death.
Alpine Canada and the Squamish RCMP confirmed that the 22-year-old ski-cross racer died after an accident near her home in Squamish.
"We wish to express our most sincere condolences to Christine and James, Mikayla's parents, as well as her entire family and circle of friends," Alpine Canada president and CEO Vania Grandi said in a release. "Mikayla embodied a love of skiing and passion for ski cross that were boundless and words can't express how sorely she'll be missed."
Martin grew up racing alpine, but switched to ski-cross after the 2016-17 season. She immediately cracked the national team and won the FIS Junior World Championship in Cardrona, New Zealand the following summer.
Martin also achieved a pair of top-10 results on the FIS World Cup circuit in 2018-19, including a sixth-place finish in Innichen, Switzerland. She qualified for the FIS World Ski Championships in Utah, where she sustained a season-ending injury in the small final.
“In a town that celebrates mountain adventure, we are heartbroken to hear of the loss of this young life, so filled with talent and promise. On behalf of the District of Squamish, I wish to extend our sincere condolences to Mikayla’s family and friends, and to all Squamish locals who will mourn for her in the wake of this tragic outcome,” said Mayor, Karen Elliott in an emailed statement to The Chief.
Martin’s aunt, Julie Martin started the "Mikayla Martin Memorial Fund" on GoFundMe.
The goal of the online campaign is to "fund a scholarship to give to another promising young athlete who displays those same qualities of passion and exuberance and dedication and friendship and camaraderie. To help ease the financial burden that goes along with being an elite athlete in Canadian sport. Equipment, coaching, training and traveling along with other associated costs can be a tremendous strain on the family of athletes rising to the highest level in Canadian sport," reads the campaign page.
Squamish Search and Rescue tells The Chief the accident happened in the late afternoon Monday in a remote area on an extremely challenging mountain bike trail. RCMP said it was on the Slhanay Trail system behind Stawamus Chief Provincial Park.
Access to the accident site was challenging for rescuers due to its remoteness. Search and rescue teams were sent in by ground and air.
"The death of Mikayla is a huge loss for the community of Squamish and an immense loss for her family and friends and our thoughts are with them," said Squamish RCMP Sgt. Sascha Banks in a joint statement with Squamish Search and Rescue and the BC Coroners Service. "It can't be stressed more that adventuring in Squamish comes with inherent risks. We can only ask that you take that one more risk assessment, one more second to check the geographics, one more look at your equipment, and one more conversation about what the plan is. We all want people to live doing what they love."
The Squamish RCMP say officers, along with the BC Coroners Service, will continue to gather information about the accident in order to determine what happened.
Please note, this story has been updated since it was first posted, as new information became available. For the original story go here.
~With files from Jennifer Thuncher/The Squamish Chief
