Peaks Pedal Fest is celebrating biking in Sun Peaks with a roster of brand new events and some old favourites over Labour Day long weekend.
Each year, the event has grown , said events and partnerships manager for Sun Peaks Resort LLP (SPR) Liz Wilkinson, and this year the excitement is doubled with the bike park’s 25th anniversary’s official celebration.
This is the festival’s second year back after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down events for a period, though the event had been going on since 2015 prior.
Event run down
Peaks Pedal Fest gets underway Friday, Aug. 30.
Kicking off the inaugural Junior DH Champions, for bikers ages eight to 12 getting their feet wet into racing, there will be a practise session on Friday, followed by another Saturday along with the official race at 2 p.m.
Saturday’s race will be similar to the DH National Championships held in Sun Peaks Aug. 9- 11, helping to give younger bikers racing experience for the future.
Another new addition,session two of the Summer Stoke Series is bringing more attention to the bike park with its pump track race on Friday, supporting Sun Peaks Recreational Trail Association (SPRTA) and the Sun Peaks Skate Park Foundation (SPSP). Last month’s first session was hugely successful, according to Wilkinson.
An XC scavenger hunt will begin Saturday, running through Sunday, while DJs will keep the mood lively in the village.
In return for a donation to SPRTA and SPSP, Heidi from Style for Everyone will be cutting people’s hair into some lovely mullets.
As the DH junior challenge concludes, a dual grass slalom event and a foot-down derby challenge, both long-time staples of Peaks Pedal Fest, will keep spirits high all afternoon.
Last year, Wilkinson said the foot-down derby was a kids-only event, but adults requested one as well.
“It’s a bit like playing musical chairs,” she explained. In this case, the winner is the last to put their feet down while riding their bike in a big space all together.
Introducing: 25th anniversary celebrations and a Toyota sponsorship
Sun Peaks Grand Hotel is hosting a private Legends of Sun Peaks event Saturday night.
“Everyone who’s been involved with the bike park over the past 25 years have been invited to come along to that and that’s sponsored by Toyota,” Wilkinson said.
The village will be hosting instrumental people who were at the bike park’s creation, some of whom haven’t been in the resort for many years.
“Toyota are also here for the whole weekend, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and they’re offering the Toyota Pacific downhill thrill,” she said, explaining that a fleet of Toyota trucks will be shuttling people to the top of Morissey so they can experience the network of trails SPRTA has created without having to bike up.
This sponsorship by Toyota will continue for the next three years, she said, and they’ll be bringing something new to the table each year of their involvement.
Community involvement
Apart from Toyota coming in, Wilkinson said, “it’s a Sun Peaks event, it’s very much led by Sun Peaks.”
Prizes for competitions are all donated by many partnered Sun Peaks businesses.
“We get a lot of sponsorships from them,” she said. “So it really is a huge, big community event.”
On patios and around the village, she said the festival vibe will really be amped up, with Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) working to create an event atmosphere.
Three bike shops in town, Elevation Bike, Ski and board, McSporties and District Bicycle Company are bringing this year’s energy to another level at the base of the lifts with an on-mountain demo.
“We’re going to have tents set up at the base,” she said. “So people can come along and demo all the bikes.”
Though it was unable to line up for this year, there are different bike companies looking to get involved next year.
“I see this event, building and building and getting bigger,” she said.
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