Rising riders race down Sun Peaks in third annual Junior Downhill competition

Sun Peaks held the third annual Junior Downhill races on Aug. 28 and 29, with just shy of 130 riders, the highest number of participants registered.

Athletes from B.C., Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Washington, Kansas and North Carolina were all in attendance.

“It was absolutely amazing. The number of people that we had were up on the previous year and we’ve had some amazing feedback from participants and their parents,” Liz Wilkinson, director of events and partnerships at Sun Peaks Resort said. 

In the U10 category, Elliot Crawford had the quickest run of the entire day with a time of four minutes and 43 seconds. Also in the U10 category, Ruby Howar had the quickest run of all the girls in the day finishing time of five minutes and seven seconds. 

In the U12 category, Evan Nykoluk finished with the quickest time of four minutes and 36 seconds for the boys and Amelie Mckay Huck finished with a time of five minutes for the girls. 

Moving up to the U14 category, Parker Simpson won the boys category with a finishing time of four minutes and 24 seconds with Isla Spedding winning for the girls at four minutes and 48 seconds. 

Lastly, in the U17 boys category, Kylan Fletcher finished with a winning time of four minutes and 23 seconds beside Kaitlyn Teasdale who had a winning time of four minutes and 48 seconds. 

“From what I experienced it was a very positive atmosphere and a good mixture of excitement and nerves. It’s the process of learning the emotions that come along with competing which is a very valuable skill,” event volunteer Tony Rinaldi said. 

This year, the age limit was increased from 13 to 16 to accommodate athletes who are not ready to move into bigger competitions like the Canada Cup, but still want to continue racing.

“It allows them to continue to race and have fun,” Wilkinson said.

Rinaldi volunteered for the races with the whole family involved in the event. Rinaldi’s son, Parker was competing in the U14 boys category whilst his daughter was working at the top of the run as part of the “hype squad” assisting athletes at the beginning of their runs, Rinaldi said.

“It was great, I got to help support kids that don’t normally have access to DH races at their age or are not ready to step up to the next level of BC Cup,” he said. “I was lucky enough to check in with the other volunteers, families and my daughter at the top of the course on each lap around.” 

The purpose of the race is to allow eight to 13 year olds to experience what it’s like to go into a proper professional race to expose these younger riders to all the different aspects that come with competitive downhill mountain biking. 

“It’s run exactly the same way as we would run the likes of the national championships,” Wilkinson said. 

Positive feedback was displayed throughout the weekend from parents, participants and volunteers, Wilkinson said. 

“We had comments regarding just how safe the participants felt and how they felt that they were all learning something and that they went away with a new skill set,” she said.

Going forward, the Junior Downhill Championships are hoping to open up to more people and open registration earlier.

“It’s a great event with the whole team at Sun Peaks. Whether it’s from the bike park crew, the patrol, everyone like that, even the tickets, lift operators, everyone contributed to making this such a great Sun Peaks event,” Wilkinson said.