Conquering 122 ski runs in 3 1/2 days

After living or working on the mountain for a few years, how do you make skiing more exciting?

Skiing all 122 runs in three and a half days is one way to do it.

Four local guys, Trevor Wilkinson, Dana Hoppenreys, Greg Sampat and Chris Seeley, decided that it was about time for a challenge and did what many people have never thought to accomplish.

Wilkinson got the idea after overhearing some kids discussing it at Bella Italia where he works. “I thought, ‘Wow, I never even thought to do that and I’ve been living here for six seasons,” he said.

“I started talking to Dana and then Greg got on board. Then before I knew it, Chris was there too and we all said, ‘Let’s just do it’ and we did.”

Initially, they tried for three days but unexpected adventures slowed them down, like trying to retrieve a lost wallet in heavy fog. Seeley had left his pocket open and realized at the bottom of the black run that his wallet, which had $250 inside, was missing.

“We made the joint decision to go back up and look for it in the fog on the Nose of the Chief, which is a massive undertaking itself because it’s such a wide run. For some reason, Dana just happened to fall upon it. It worked out well,” recalled Wilkinson. “Someone was smiling down on Chris that day.”

Undeterred by fog on the first three days, the guys did all the runs together with an average of 35 runs per day. In the evenings, they examined the runs they finished and planned what runs to cover next over a jug of beer at Masa’s Bar and Grill. From that point on, it was one run after another for three and a half consecutive days.

“All it takes is morning coffee, lunch to go and a flask of Fireball a day!” said Hoppenreys.

As for what they got out of the whole experiment, “There were lots of wipeouts, hiking, a couple reruns, even a nap on the chair ride up. We had a great time going on runs we’ve never been on, and we know why some we shouldn’t go down–High Voltage for example,” Hoppenreys said.

For Wilkinson, it was a fresh perspective of the options available. “You kind of get a better appreciation of how diverse (Sun Peaks is) to the people who are learning and how much (Sun Peaks has) to offer to the people that really can ski.”

They also would love to see this mini experiment become a full-fledged Sun Peaks Resort event.

After conquering Challenger as their last run, all four have decided that next year will be the year they do all 122 in three days . . . and they can’t wait.