Photo by Vince Fedoroff
ANNUAL TRADITION 鈥 Sam Reimer prepares for a cold plunge during Sunday鈥檚 Slush Cup.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
ANNUAL TRADITION 鈥 Sam Reimer prepares for a cold plunge during Sunday鈥檚 Slush Cup.
Photo by Photo Submitted
SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE 鈥 Finley Sparling celebrates making it across the 45-foot Slush Cup pond. Photo by KRISTINA YOUNG
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
ANOTHER SEASON WINDS DOWN 鈥 Skiers and snowboarders flocked to Mt. Sima on the weekend for Simapalooza.
The Yukon downhill ski and snowboard season went out with a bang over the weekend.
The Yukon downhill ski and snowboard season went out with a bang over the weekend.
The annual season-ending event dubbed Simapalooza featured a snow prom theme, and saw many Mount Sima enthusiasts don tuxedos and dresses under sunny skies.
Saturday and Sunday featured everything from live music to fat bikes and was capped with the fan-favourite Slush Cup event, which saw participants attempt to glide across a 45-foot span of water at the base of the hill.
The weekend was an exclamation point to a strong year for Mount Sima, said general manager Cindy Chandler.
鈥淎s a whole, I would definitely say the hill was well-used this year,鈥 Chandler told the Star today. 鈥淲e had great snow and good attendance.鈥
The introduction of a new menu in the chalet kitchen received rave reviews, as did new programming in the facility鈥檚 snow school.
鈥淲e have new features on the hill that people were saying was great. I鈥坱hink what they see is just a lot of good effort being put into the hill.鈥
Mt. Sima was able to open every weekend this season except once in February, when temperatures dipped well below -30 C.
鈥淲e were very lucky that way,鈥 said Chandler.
Contrary to two years ago when the hill was on the brink of closure, Chandler said things have stabilized.
鈥淚 see a lot of growth happening with the hill as we look at possible activities for summer, and as we head into the shoulder season, some opportunities we have there. ... I think it鈥檚 very sustainable.鈥
Competitive teams from other provinces have shown interest in using the hill to train in November for early-season training, she said.
A visit from former Olympic alpine skier Julien Cousineau this season had local media abuzz with the possibility of Alpine Canada coming North to train at Mt. Sima.
鈥淭hat was not accurate,鈥 said Chandler. 鈥淗e was just looking at the hill and offering up advice for us.鈥
Last season, the Whitehorse ski hill welcomed 21,000 visitors. This year, Chandler said it was much of the same.
鈥淲e鈥檙e running fairly similar in visitations to what we had last year,鈥 she said. 鈥淪imapalooza did surpass last year in terms of revenue and visitors.鈥
Meanwhile, the WildPlay adventure course on Sima鈥檚 grounds will not open for summer operation.
鈥淚t did not make money last year, and therefore is not a good business decision to operate,鈥 said Chandler.
See tomorrow鈥檚 paper for coverage of the 2015 Snowboard Yukon championships, also held over the weekend.
鈥 鈥 鈥
The Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club announced today that its ski season is officially over as well.
While skiing is still possible, the club鈥檚 management deemed it necessary to declare an official end date to the season.
More details are available on the club鈥檚 Facebook page.
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