YOURS FREE TO TAKE HOME
VOLUME 17 ISSUE 02
FEBRUARY 22, 2018 — MARCH 22, 2019
SUNPEAKSNEWS.COM // @SUNPEAKSNEWS
SKIJORING IS A THING IN CLEARWATER
PAC LOBBIES FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PAGE 4
PAGES 12
THE SOULINES TEAM CREATE A BASE CAMP IN WHICH RIDERS HAVE ALL THE AMENITIES TO SURVIVE 3 DAYS AT 1800 METERS. Photo Nick Khatter
Building the community of backcountry Sun Peaks represented at Soulines
2018 SOULINES BIG LINE CHAMP SAM KUCH BOOSTING A NATURAL LIP DURING THE SPACE BIG AIR VIDEO CHALLENGE. Photo Oliver Hogan
NIKKI FREDRIKSON
AFTER SURVIVING AN AVALANCHE IN THE BACKCOUNTRY, JASON GRETZINGER REALIZED HE AND HIS FRIENDS WEREN’T DOING THEIR DUE DILIGENCE FOR AVALANCHE SAFETY. LOOKING BACK, HE RECOGNIZED HE MISSED FOUR IMPORTANT INDICATIONS OF A POTENTIAL SLIDE THE DAY HE WAS BURIED. THAT EXPERIENCE, COMBINED WITH THE FACT THERE WEREN’T MANY FREERIDE COMPETITIONS AVAILABLE IN CANADA, INSPIRED HIM TO CREATE SOULINES BACKCOUNTRY, WHERE ATHLETES COULD COMPETE IN BIG TERRAIN IN A MORE CONTROLLED WAY. The three day event from March 1 to 3 at White Lady Lake in Nelson, B.C., is centred around a large winter camp. “I wanted to do something
local and do something organic and do the camping thing, so it’s really people who appreciate the backcountry, want to be a part of it and get to learn from each other and build a community that way,” he said. Entering its third year, the event has grown from 27 participants to 130 attendees. Forty skiers and snowboarders will compete in a Big Mountain Line contest, Space Bear Big Air and the Souline Photo contest, with the remaining people participating as crew and base camp attendees. Sun Peaks will be represented at the event by first-time competitors Marlie Marchewka and Bryann Palmer and returning competitors, Jan Glowczynski, who placed third in last year’s Big Mountain line contest and former local Kieran Nikula. Andrew Heltron, who previously competed at the event, is working on the safety crew this year. “In my opinion, it’s the pinnacle of backcountry skiing,” he said. “It sums up everything we love to
do in terms of that fringe or niche part of skiing, where guys like to drive their sleds into the forest, set up camp and hang out around a
READ MORE ON NEXT PAGE
SCOTT LARLEE CHARGING THROUGH THE TERRAIN WITH MANDATORY AIR DURING THE BIG LINE CONTEST. Photo Jeremy Van Walsh
VOL 17 ISSUE 02 FEBRUARY 22 — MARCH 22
1