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A FIS Para Snowboard World Cup event is coming to Mt. Sima.

It will be the first Para Snowboard World Cup ever held in the Yukon and the second World Cup event overall.

The only other World Cup event that took place in the Yukon was a cross country event in the 1980鈥檚.

The event is one of many that will be held on the ski hill March 25-31.

The main event, the 鈥淟ost in Paradise鈥� Banked Slalom, consisting of two races, will take place March 28 and 29.

The banked slalom will consist of wide, U-shaped turns, and various dips, rollers and bumps where athletes will be timed as they race around gates through the course.

Lost in Paradise is a component of the Shred the North 2023-24 World Cup Series.

It will feature 60 athletes from 20 countries competing on the slopes of Mt. Sima. They will be supported by 20 team staff. 15 event staff and officials will also be on hand. Participating countries include France, Germany, Australia and Japan.

Canadian national team members Tyler Turner, Alex Masie and Sandrine Hamel will be competing.

鈥淚 am super stoked to finish our World Cup season on home soil this season. To have World Cup finals hosted in the Yukon at Mount Sima is going to be such a cool experience at an amazing venue,鈥� said Turner.

Festival activities include a public bib toss, learn to snowboard activities, and a sliding hill. Event organizers will also connect with local schools and programs.

Canada Snowboard, Mt. Sima, Snowboard Yukon and Sport Yukon are staging the event.

They held a joint press conference at Mount Sima Wednesday morning.

Maggie Dekking, event pathway and stakeholder manager at Canada Snowboard, spoke at the press conference.

She said the event was 鈥渁 long time coming.鈥�

鈥淥ur para-national team has called this their training home for a long, long time. They started to develop the dirt work on the hill and then their vision kept growing. 鈥榃hat if we start hosting an event? What if we bring the Para World Cup to the Yukon?鈥� And then the rest of our team got involved and here we are. We鈥檙e making it happen.鈥�

Dekking said it 鈥渕eans a lot鈥� to Snowboard Canada to hold the Para World Cup at Sima, since it follows another World Cup event at Big White in Kelowna.

鈥淚t strengthens our offer, which will result in more athletes, which makes the competition better for our athletes.鈥�

Dekking said that increases their potential for medals as they prepare for the Paralympic Games.

She added because of the collaboration with Canada Snowboard鈥檚 partners, the Yukon feels 鈥渟pecial鈥� compared to other places that have hosted World Cup events.

Yukon Tourism and Culture Minister John Streicker also put in an appearance and spoke at the press conference. He said he was 鈥渟uper-proud鈥� to be involved in hosting the event.

Mount Sima General Manager Sam Oettli spoke at the press conference as well.

The president of the Mount Sima board of directors, Tom Luxemburger, joined Oettli at the podium and said he was 鈥減retty stoked鈥� about Lost in Paradise. He also spoke about making Sima a 鈥済lobal destination鈥� through events like the Para World Cup races.

Snowboard Yukon鈥檚 Sarah Marsh listed events happening during the festival, including a 鈥渂ig top鈥� at which the public can meet the para-athletes, the bib toss, a mini-shred park for young riders, and the banquet dinner following the banked slalom on March 29.

Marsh also mentioned there will be a viewing party at the bottom of the hill for those not wanting to venture onto the slopes during the races.

Snowboard Yukon will also host the Yukon Champs which take place on the back end of the events on March 29-31.

The Champs will include a race through the Para World Cup course, as well as snowboard cross and a style jam in Pokey Park and Coyote Park.

In addition, Snowboard Yukon is offering an officials鈥� training course in partnership with Canada Snowboard.

Marsh said they have been working closely with Mt. Sima over the years to enhance terrain, to train riders, to work with officials and host events at the venue.

鈥淎ll of these years, we鈥檝e been building all of these foundational pieces 鈥� now they鈥檙e bringing a World Cup event here. I think this is a great opportunity to showcase the Yukon, showcase our winter sport facilities, and to celebrate para-athletes from around the world.鈥�

Marsh added, 鈥淲e are hoping to offer a week long series of events to showcase the sport, to bring the sport to people who may not have seen it before and to celebrate our existing athletes in our sport community.鈥�

Sport Yukon Executive Director Tracey Bilsky said the Para World Cup is 鈥渞eally big for us. Sport tourism is an initiative that we鈥檙e really hanging our hat on these days. We鈥檙e trying to expand. We know that it has such a large community effect and such a monetary benefit to the territory, so we鈥檙e concentrating on things that benefit more than just sport, more than just Sport Yukon, so we know it benefits lots of different organizations, businesses, government. So having an event as big as this one 鈥� we鈥檙e very proud.鈥�

Bilsky explained Sport Yukon鈥檚 role in the upcoming event.

鈥淎manda Deuling is our manager of sport tourism and she connects with all sorts of national sport bodies and when this idea came that this event could come to the Yukon, we did what we call a 鈥楩am (familiarization) tour鈥�, where the group comes up, takes a look, sees whether the hill will be suitable, whether the community鈥檚 suitable, whether our amenities will work, and they were excited to state that they wanted to make this their last stop on their tour.

鈥淪o now what Amanda does then is she manages the relationships between governments, between sport groups. She鈥檚 basically the conduit to make sure that the event goes off seamlessly.鈥�

Bilsky added she鈥檚 looking forward to the athletes experiencing the Yukon.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more so our local kids, our skiers, our snowboarders, people that frequent Mount Sima that call this their home, to see an event this large, and to see athletes that skilled, and see what para-athletes can do, is, I think, really important for people鈥檚 perspective. And that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 most excited about.鈥�

Deuling said that Sport Yukon鈥檚 role is a supportive role for the Yukon鈥檚 sport organizations.

鈥淢ount Sima and Snowboard Yukon are doing a phenomenal job of visioning this event and we鈥檙e here to support their vision.鈥�

Deuling said the event came about through relationships with Mt. Sima and Canada Snowboard, who, according to Deuling, have had a great relationship over the years.

鈥淏ringing Maggie (Dekking) on board, they presented this idea last spring, saying, 鈥榃hat would the Yukon think about this?鈥� and now we鈥檙e at the point where it鈥檚 moved quickly and we鈥檙e on the map.鈥�

Deuling added, 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about this whole thing. It鈥檚 been a long time since we鈥檝e had a World Cup here in the Yukon.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to showing the world the amazing place that the Yukon is.鈥�

Oettli ended his speech by saying, 鈥淟et鈥檚 get Lost in Paradise.鈥�

He said it鈥檚 鈥減retty amazing鈥� to be hosting the Para World Cup.

鈥渋t鈥檚 cool to see us at this point after multiple years of talking about it and preparing. There was a three-year window where things kind of stopped happening, so it鈥檚 nice that we鈥檝e been able to pick up the pieces from before and move forward together. It鈥檚 gonna be great.鈥�

Oettli explained how the seeds for the event were planted.

鈥淵ears ago, I met Mark Fawcett, who鈥檚 a big name in the world of para-snowboard for the Canadian team and him and I started the idea of having pre-season up here and the para team was one of the first ones to come. Ever since then, we鈥檝e been working together on different ways to bring more folks up. The climate is changing, there鈥檚 a lot less places for early season training, so more eyes are on the North and looking at what we can offer as we grow and have amazing facilities that people can go to.

鈥淏eing in the Yukon helps a lot. Folks are like, 鈥業鈥檝e always wanted to go there. I may as well come up and check it out.鈥� So I think there鈥檚 a very high level of stoke about what鈥檚 going to happen here. The athletes are gonna have a great time.鈥�

The athletes will fly up from Big White on Air North.

Since it鈥檚 the last stop on the Para World Cup tour, an awards ceremony will take place after the races.

Oettli said many of the para-athletes will stick around for the Yukon Champs as well.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e gonna be there with the kids and other athletes and locals to ride with them. Having it all mix together is just awesome. I鈥檓 really excited about it.鈥�