The 2025/2026 winter season marked a year of growth and momentum-building for the Sun Peaks Freestyle Club, which saw a number of local athletes advance and make podiums.
Trevor Lott, president of the club, shared a recap of the season, as well as a look ahead into an anniversary year coming up in 2027.
“We had over 100 athletes this year, with 20 coaches and they participated in a variety of events, from provincial to national and international,” he said.
Along with snowboard and ski athletes showing their skills on the slopes, the club hosted a national level event, the Canada Cup, which offered an opportunity to show off Sun Peaks’ volunteer energy and infrastructure, Lott said.
“It’s been a great year that reflects both on the competitive momentum that we have in our club, and also the depth of programming that we’ve been building,” Lott added.
The club’s growth is indicative of the investment and interest gone into freestyle sports in the past few years, according to club director at large Jason White.
“Freestyle skiing is healthy,” he said. “I’ve been on the board at Sun Peaks freestyle now for five years, and it’s gone from 30 to 40 athletes to over 100.”
This is a trend he’s seeing widely, noting the talent coming up across the country.
“There’s a lot of really, really good athletes in Canada, more than there’s ever been before.”
Canada Cup and other competitions
Bringing more than 80 athletes, the Canada Cup featured several local participants and offered a chance to show Sun Peaks as a good freestyle event location, according to Lott.
One former club athlete now competing on the provincial team, Ryder Mackenzie-White, stood out for his performance during the Canada Cup where he won gold for slopestyle in front of his hometown crowd the second year in a row.
“It was nice to kick off the season with a win and get that energy coming into the season,” Mackenzie-White said. “It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Additionally more than 30 freestyle athletes won medals this season, signalling the club’s ability to “develop athletes properly,” Lott said.
“[Whether you’re mastering] your first trick when you’re seven or eight years old, or you’re mastering a really complex trick when you’re 16 or 17, we try and celebrate those equally,” he added.
Notably, seven-year-old Arlo Rose took home gold in Panorama and other club achievements include Lott’s own daughter Soneva, who won five medals at the BC games that were held in Rossland.
Nayte Brown placed well in slopestyle for the BC Provincial Series session, Lott said. Jack Mallinson won a bronze medal at the provincial Whistler Timber Tour, and a number of athletes earned invitations to junior and senior national events at the end of March.
Snow was one of the main challenges facing the club this year, as B.C. saw low snowfall province-wide.
“That caused a delay in getting a lot of the training courses set up,” Lott explained, adding Sun Peaks Resort did “an exceptional job.”
Looking ahead to celebrating 10 years in 2027
For the club’s 10th anniversary next winter, Lott said building on this year’s foundation in event hosting will be the priority.
The club will also look to host a provincial level event, which it hasn’t done in a few years according to Lott.
“That’s a big one that brings in 200 kids and their families.”
More information on the outcomes of bids for events will be available in the fall, when the club will learn if Sun Peaks will host any of these competitions.
The next and final events this season for Sun Peaks Freestyle Club athletes include the junior and senior nationals later this month.
Soneva Lott, Logan Bown and Quinn Basko will attend the Junior Nationals and Jackson Adkinson, Frank Dusik and Wren Grunling will compete in the Senior Nationals.
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