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A summer ski race in the backyard of Bill and Laurel Parry's home was featured on CBC's The National last night.

The second annual JP Grand Prix was held under sunny skies in Granger last Thursday, and was filmed as an episode of 鈥極nly in Canada,' a portion of the national television newscast.

Despite temperatures in the 20s, the race featured snow, Olympic-level athletes and a festival atmosphere as three bands and about 130 skiers and viewers packed the backyard for the event.

Organizer John Parry said the race is all about having fun and having a chance to strap on the skis at least once during the summer months.

"I just think it's cool to have a ski race in the middle of summer,鈥� he told the Star this morning. "It's more spectator friendly. There's a better mood and a better party atmosphere in the summer, so I wanted to have the best of both worlds ... have some snow and some 25-degree weather.鈥�

Parry was able to retain two large snow piles in his backyard by covering them in wood shavings.

"A lot of it melts, but we just pile up as much as we can,鈥� he explained.

They were able to keep enough to create a 75-metre trail of snow, and held two competitions, which saw male and female skiers slip and slide around the track two times each.

Eventual winners were locals Knute Johnsgaard and Janelle Greer.

The winning time was around 40 seconds, said Parry.

The event featured some ski 麻豆社区power, including Canadian Olympic skier Devon Kershaw, and his gold medal-winning girlfriend, Kristin St酶rmer Steira of Norway.

The two were in Whitehorse for the wedding of Yukon ski 麻豆社区Graham Nishikawa to Madeleine Williams.

"It was a lot of fun,鈥� said Parry. "We were joking around that we were getting more spectators there than we normally get at a Canada Cup race. I was almost a little bit nervous to start because there was so many people watching you from so close. If you take a spill or something, everybody's going to see it.

"It's kind of a race that takes itself too seriously, which is most of the humour in it.鈥�

Last night's episode was introduced by longtime National anchor Peter Mansbridge, who seemed lost for words following its airing.

"I was pretty pumped that we really perplexed Mansbridge,鈥� Parry said.

To see the video for yourself, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKUITAkfYY4.

Parry, a member of the Yukon Elite Squad last year, recently followed teammate David Greer's lead by announcing his retirement from competitive skiing.

He wasn't ready to commit to a third year of the JP Grand Prix just yet.

"I don't know how I'm going to top this one,鈥� he chuckled.