Sun Peaks Independent News Vol 20 I11

in early November. Photo by Laboreale Photography.

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For comments, questions and concerns contact us at: brandi@sunpeaksnews.com Visit us: sunpeaksnews.com 250 578 0276 editor@sunpeaksnews.com 213 - 1130 Sun Peaks Rd. Sun Peaks, B.C.

BRANDI SCHIER

Publisher & Managing Editor brandi@sunpeaksnews.com

TEGWYN HUGHES

Community Editor tegwyn@sunpeaksnews.com

SAM EGAN

Freelance writer

KAYLA EMPEY

Community Journalist kayla@sunpeaksnews.com

SONIA GARCÍA

Layout & Graphic Designer sonia@sunpeaksnews.com

B.C. GOVERNMENT DENIES SUPPORT FOR OLYMPIC BID

By Kayla Empey

The provincial government has announced it will not support a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Indigenous-led bid would have included Sun Peaks as a venue alongside Whistler and Vancouver. However, it required approval from the provincial and federal governments to move forward.

Lisa Beare, the minister of tourism, arts, culture and sport, released a statement on Oct. 27 that said after weighing the benefits, costs and risks, the province is declining to support a bid.

“There are billions of dollars in direct costs, and potential guarantee and indemnity liability risks on this project that could jeopardize our government’s ability to address pressures facing British Columbians right now,” the statement reads.

“Our government is focused on expanding the services British Columbians need, while building a more secure future.”

The bid was being led by Lilwat7úl (Lílwat), xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. It would have been the first Indigenous-led Olympic bid in history.

Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality’s council passed a motion to support the bid in September, with the hope it could help contribute to reconciliation with local Indigenous communities.

The province said it remains committed to reconciliation and commends the leadership of the Four Host First Nations.

VERTICAL CAFE WINS BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD

By Kayla Empey

Vertical Cafe has been awarded a Business Excellence Award, presented by the Kamloops and District Chamber of Commerce, in recognition of the valuable service it provides the community.

The Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards are presented to local businesses each year, with 15 award categories. Vertical Cafe won the People in Motion Service Provider Staff Award, intended for a business with one to 10 staff members that demonstrates commitment to customers, brings unique value to the community and has comprehensive employee training.

Rob O’Toole, who owns the cafe with his wife Tania, said it’s been nice for staff to be recognized.

“When you’re working hard and you’re busy, you don’t necessarily always see the fruits of your labour,” O’Toole said. “It was a bit of a nice validation that the guest experience we try to create is obviously striking a chord with people.”

O’Toole said they learned someone anonymously nominated them for the award in late spring. The Excellence Awards received a total of 177 nominations amongst the 15 categories.

A 30-person committee then reviewed all the submissions and selected finalists in each category. Vertical Cafe was a finalist in its category alongside Blackwell Dairy Farm Inc., FIT Financial and Interior Naturopathic & Wellness.

“Then we had to go in and meet with some of the committee members,” O’Toole said. “They did a full interview and wanted to know a lot more details about our business philosophy and guest culture.”

On Oct. 27, the Chamber held a gala where the winners, including Vertical Cafe, were announced. Sun Peaks Grand Hotel & Conference Centre was also a finalist for the Kamloops This Week Service Provider Award for businesses with over 11 staff members, although it did not win.

O’Toole said once all of Vertical Cafe’s employees arrive for the winter, they plan to have a potluck as a team celebration for winning.

He added he was surprised to see a business on the mountain win even though the Chamber changed its name to ‘Kamloops and District’ to reflect its updated regional focus earlier this year.

“We never envisioned that being from Sun Peaks, our little shop would be recognized like that,” O’Toole said.

“Coming out the other side of the pandemic, it’s been a nice icing on top of the cake here as we move into what we think’s going to be, hopefully, the busiest year yet.”

Bid included Sun Peaks as a venue, required provincial support to move forward

Accolade honours innovative business that’s committed to providing strong service

Photo by Zuzy Rocka.

By Kayla Empey

LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS AWARDED FOR SERVICE

A number of volunteer firefighters were recognized at the recent Sun Peaks Gala for their dedication and hard work.

The gala, which took place on Nov. 12, is an annual event presented by Sun Peaks Volunteer Fire Department Society. This year the gala raised money for their society and the Sun Peaks Freestyle Club.

In addition to fundraising, the event serves as an opportunity to honour local firefighters. This year, Chief Dean Schiavon called up volunteers to the stage to accept certificates and awards.

The first group recognized were those who completed the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 certification, which included Jacob Brock, Robin Kierstead, Charlie Kinloch, Tyne Roberts and James Griffiths.

There were also seven firefighters who completed a week-long technical rope rescue course — Robin Kierstead, Korbin Kjolby, Emily Kozlik, Pat Nasilowski, Tyne Roberts, Griffiths and Campbell Bryk. Griffiths also completed a NFPA 1031 fire inspector level one course.

A few long-time members of Sun Peaks Fire Rescue were recognized as well. Deputy Chief Colin Cannon, who is the longest current serving member, was awarded for 25 years of service. Meanwhile, Schiavon was recognized for 15 years of service and Neil Otsig retired after volunteering for 23 years.

There were also a number of new awards Schiavon introduced at the gala.

“I thought it was important to start some new awards to recognize how much the volunteers contribute to the community,” Schiavon said in an email to SPIN.

Korbin Kjolby was awarded for attending the most fire practices, having only missed one practice over the past year. Mike Billheimer was recognized for attending the most calls.

There were two awards voted on by the volunteer membership. Casey Lambert was voted rookie of the year and Robin Kierstead was voted for the citizenship award.

Lastly, Schiavon selected Billheimer for the fire chief’s award to recognize his overall dedication.

Chief Dean Schiavon and Mike Billheimer recognize Neil Otsig for retiring after 23 years of service.

Chief Dean Schiavon and Mike Billheimer recognize Colin Cannon for 25 years of service.

Firefighters recognized for completing a technical rope rescue course. From left to right: Robin Kierstead, Korbin Kjolby, Pat Nasilowski, Tyne Roberts, Campbell Bryk, James Griffiths and Dean Schiavon. Missing from the photo is Emily Kozlik.

Chief Dean Schiavon and Mike Billheimer present Robin Kierstead with the citizenship award.

MUNICIPALITY LOOKS TO TRANSFER HEALTH CENTRE OPERATIONS

Regional non-profit could help recruit doctors, expand services

By Kayla Empey

Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) is taking steps towards transferring operations of the Sun Peaks Community Health Centre to a regional non-profit operator.

During a council meeting on Oct. 12, council endorsed transferring operations to Supporting Team Excellence with Patients Society (STEPS) and directed administration to finalize the terms of an agreement.

STEPS is based in Kamloops and is the largest non-profit operator in the region. Shane Bourke, SPMRM’s chief administrative officer, said STEPS could help ensure the health centre is sustainable and expand services with the hopes of eventually offering urgent care seven days a week.

“Those are things that STEPS already do in Kamloops,” Bourke said. “They already run family practice, but they also run an urgent care facility. So that would be the long term goal.”

The health centre opened in 2017 after years of community fundraising and private donations. The first priority was initially residents on the mountain, but it began accepting Kamloops residents if they were

unable to find a family doctor in the city. Now, the health centre is at capacity for new patients moving to Sun Peaks and is asking existing patients to book routine appointments and refill prescriptions at least three weeks in advance.

The clinic is in the process of trying to recruit physicians, but has faced challenges due to the shortage of healthcare providers across the province. Bourke said STEPS would be able to assist with recruiting.

“Just due to our small scale, we don't have the resources to be a full-time recruiter for doctors,” Bourke said. “STEPS has the capacity and the scale to work on recruitment much more extensively than we can.”

Under this model, STEPS would be responsible for delivering primary health services and supporting staff. The non-profit would need to provide an annual update to the municipality.

SPMRM would maintain ownership of the building and equipment, which would be leased to STEPS and would allow the municipality to take back operations if the collaboration is unsuccessful.

Sun Peaks Health Association would still be responsible for fundraising for specific initiatives, such as future equipment. A representative from the association would also be nominated to sit on the STEPS board as an ex-officio member.

Previously, there had been discussions about eventually transferring operations to Interior Health, but Bourke said moving forward with STEPS makes the most sense right now.

“Who runs it I'm not sure is as important as looking to who best could provide those services,” he said. “Right now, we believe STEPS is the best alternative.”

Bourke said the contracts are now being finalized and should be brought to council in a few months for approval, with a target date for the full transition of April 2023.

“There will be more information for patients as we go forward, but the plan is that this is a seamless transition,” Bourke said. “STEPS will take over our operations and patients won't notice a difference. And hopefully in the long run we'll be able to provide additional services.”

The health centre lit up in the evening. File photo.

The non-profit aims to provide funding and volunteer support to other community groups

By Kayla Empey

ROTARY CLUB LOOKS FOR VOLUNTEERS

Sun Peaks Rotary Club is looking for new members who are interested in getting involved in the community.

Co-presidents Julie Kimmel and Linda Hollyer explained Rotary is a non-profit service club with groups all over the world. There are five main categories of service the club focuses on.

“There is club service, community service, international service, vocational service and youth service,” Kimmel said. “Members are encouraged to participate in at least one of the avenues of service by fulfilling the Rotary motto, which is ‘service above self.’”

When Rotary first began internationally, it was mostly centred around businesses and networking opportunities. Over the years the goal of Rotary has expanded, and Hollyer said the Sun Peaks club is more about bringing community members together.

“If you have a heart for this community, Rotary is a great thing to join because it's a way to get things done,” Hollyer said.

Kimmel added that their goal is to help the community in whatever ways are needed.

“It's sometimes about providing some funding. Sometimes it's about providing some volunteers. Sometimes it's about collective IQ,” she said.

The biggest initiative the club runs is the bottle depot, which is a fundraiser for a few local non-profit organizations. Hollyer said initially Adaptive Sports Sun Peaks was responsible for the depot, but they didn’t have enough volunteers to run it efficiently, so Rotary took over.

Hollyer said some of the money from the bottle depot also goes to Rotary, which means they can put more back into the community. For example, they recently made a donation to the municipality to build an inclusive playground in the new community plaza.

Kimmel said volunteers from Rotary have also helped with recent events like the Sun Peaks Gala, Fall Ball and Remembrance Day ceremony.

“I think if we had more members, we could do more,” Kimmel said. “But it's difficult with a small membership to create a lot of events.”

The club currently has around 14 members. Kimmel said there is a mix of retired people, business owners and employees.

Prior to the pandemic the organization had more members, but the switch to online meetings had a negative impact. Now that the group is back to in-person gatherings,

Rotary members and municipal representatives met in October. Photo from Rotary Club of Sun Peaks on Facebook.

the co-presidents said they hope to see their membership numbers grow again.

“We're happy to take people who are here only part of the year and still really believe in what Rotary is all about,” Kimmel said.

The club meets for breakfast the first and third Thursday of the month and residents who are interested in learning more about Rotary are welcome to sit in. The location of the meeting will be posted on the Rotary website ahead of time.

Anyone interested in joining can also fill out a form on the website at rotaryclubofsunpeaks.com.

Businesses required to manage attractants and train employees

By Kayla Empey

LOCAL RESTAURANTS PLEDGE TO PROTECT WILDLIFE

Eight local restaurants have received certification for participating in WildSafeBC’s business pledge to reduce wildlife conflict.

Montana Clarke, WildSafeBC’s Kamloops community coordinator, said the pledge is a free program businesses can take part in to learn how to better co-exist with wildlife. This fall, a number of Sun Peaks restaurants have taken part.

“The key aspects of the pledge involve keeping garbage, recycling and organics secure at all times,” Clarke said. “Locking garbage in grease bins, either in a secure parkade … or another method of securing garbage so that it would be bear resistant.”

Participating businesses are responsible for reporting any instances where wildlife gets into garbage or food waste so that a plan can be put in place on how to prevent it in the future.

Clarke said since many restaurants on the mountain share facilities, it’s important they work on an agreement with neighbouring businesses to prevent easy mistakes, like a door

being left open. The pledge also requires all employees be trained on WildSafe practices.

“I'm sure all restaurants have their own training with regard to waste management, but sometimes it may not always include the aspect about wildlife such as rats or chipmunks or bears,” Clarke said.

“Many of the staff members at Sun Peaks recreate, so we have provided a short free training module for all the businesses [about] recreating safely in wildlife country. In the future, we're hoping to adapt it to be more specific to food and beverage.”

Clarke added that in such a tourist-based village, it’s important for employees to be able to answer customer questions about wildlife interactions.

The business pledge is an annual program renewed each year. To begin the process, WildSafeBC does an inspection to get a sense of the business’ setup and how it can incorporate practices to protect wildlife. When the business completes all that is required, it receives a certificate to display.

Clarke said there was a lot of interest from Sun Peaks businesses to participate, but she was only able to move forward with eight restaurants due to funding. Bottoms Bar & Grill, Chez Joe Poutine, Cahilty Creek Kitchen & Taproom, Tod Mountain Cafe, Vertical Cafe, Powder Hounds Restaurant, Mountain High Pizza and 5 Forty Café and Cantina received certification.

She said the only funding that was available was what was leftover from the ThompsonNicola Regional District last year.

“Ideally, this would have been started in the spring at the end of winter operations when new staff just came for summer,” she said. “Next year we would probably come in a little bit earlier, if there was funding to do this again, because that hits the target point rather than being off season.”

Earlier this year, Sun Peaks Resort LLP hired Clarke to train employees and inspect operations at the resort to ensure it was wildlife friendly. When the Sun Peaks Bear Aware community group heard this was happening, members volunteered their time to get non-resort owned restaurants on board.

“It's good to have the passion and engagement at a community level,” Clarke said. “That's incredibly effective in terms of engaging with the community. Having these resources that we have and working collaboratively together extends everything further.”

Additionally, Clarke wants to remind residents that managing attractants on an individual level is just as important. Attractants can include garbage, recycling, fruit trees, gardens, pet food and dirty barbeques.

For more information, visit wildsafebc.com

Participating businesses must report any instances where wildlife gets into garbage. Photo from WildSafeBC Kamloops on Facebook.

LOCAL RESIDENT OPENS UP ABOUT LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Ryan Oevermann still committed to teaching taekwon-do, completed fifth degree black belt

By Kayla Empey

A local resident and internationally certified taekwon-do instructor is sharing his experiences with Parkinson’s Disease in hopes of inspiring others and raising awareness.

Ryan Oevermann is the chief instructor of Sun Peaks’ Northern Taekwon-Do Academy. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2019 at the early age of 43.

“I probably had it for many years before that, but I'm so active that it was kept in check,” he said. “Diagnosis was hard to take at first. It takes a while to adjust.”

Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disorder in which the brain cells that make dopamine stop working or die. Dopamine coordinates movement of the body, meaning the disease causes uncontrollable movements such as shaking, stiffness and lack of balance. It’s most common in older people, with only around 10 per cent of cases diagnosed under the age of 50.

It was originally Oevermann’s physiotherapist who realized he might be exhibiting symptoms of Parkinson’s. After doing tests to rule out other serious diseases, a specialist recognized his symptoms and prescribed Parkinson's medication to confirm the diagnosis.

“If you respond well to the Parkinson’s medication, congratulations, you have it. That's basically the way they diagnose it,” Oevermann said.

Oevermann didn’t tell the public about his diagnosis right away because he was waiting for the right time to tell his children. But last year, he began to open up about it.

“It was stressing me out to not let people know because I live very transparently,” he said. “If people see me stumbling or losing balance they may think, ‘Is he teaching my kids Taekwondo while he’s intoxicated?’ … So I really wanted to get the word out to people so they knew and understood what was going on.”

Since then, Oevermann has been candid about his Parkinson’s and is writing a book about his experiences in hopes of encouraging and supporting others with the disease.

There is no cure for Parkinson’s Disease, although there is medication that helps ease the symptoms and comes with side effects. Oevermann said it took him over a year to find the right medication combination that works for him and it continuously changes.

He said the symptoms come and go throughout the day, but the biggest challenge is finding a balance between the waves.

“It's basically a battle between your muscles modulating the strength you have,” Oevermann said. “So it's either a shake and being weak, or a shake and having energy. It's a constant neuromuscular battle that starts the moment you wake up.”

The importance of early detection

Oevermann said he urges those who might have symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease to get checked out. The earlier someone is diagnosed, the better chance they have of delaying the symptoms.

Common symptoms are tremors, weakness and instability, but they could be subtle and occur gradually. Someone with early Parkinson’s might find difficulty in getting out of a chair, brushing their teeth, articulating speech or writing their name.

Overmann said it was frustrating when he was going through initial symptoms and didn’t know what the cause was.

“[Diagnosis] is hard to take, but in one sense it's kind of relieving because you know what it is and you know how to address it,” Oevermann said. “If it is going to happen, it's going to happen regardless, so it's better when you see the symptoms happening to get checked out. Denying it won't prevent it.”

Oevermann continues taekwon-do

Oevermann has figured out a schedule for taking his medication that allows him to do his work, regular activities and teach taekwon-do.

“I have to make sure the waves that I go through and the side effects from the medications coincide with my schedule so I can function properly,” he said.

Oevermann said the exercise from taekwondo training was likely what helped him keep the symptoms at bay for so many years, so he plans to continue being active as much as he can. He said his schedule hasn’t changed much because his muscle memory kicks in when he’s training.

“It seems when I’m put into stress mode or adrenaline mode, my body reaction is fine,” he

Ryan Oevermann was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at the age of 43. Photo provided.

said. “If someone throws a frisbee at me, I can catch it. But to move smoothly and in control is a different story sometimes.”

Oevermann completed his fifth degree black belt in the spring and plans to continue on for his Masters certification in the coming years.

Oevermann said he’s also still fully committed to teaching his students taewkon-do and helping them develop. He added that he’s thankful to the community for being so supportive and encouraging.

“My attendance hasn’t dropped at all. People have been confident in my teaching ability and trusting with their children,” he said. “It's a huge honour, benefit and commitment, so I appreciate that from them.”

This season is the Northern Taekwon-Do Academy’s 11th year in Sun Peaks. All Oevermann’s classes are full and waitlisted, and students are looking forward to three major competitions this year, with a few pre-teens on track to test for their black belts.

Overall, Oevermann said he still wants to be as social and active as possible moving forward. He encourages friends in Sun Peaks to say hello when they see him in the village, and said he’s happy to talk even if his face isn’t as animated as he used to be.

“I’m still the same person inside, just the body doesn't respond as well as I would like sometimes.”

ADAPTIVE SPORTS WELCOMES YEAR-ROUND PROGRAM MANAGER

Adaptive Sports Sun Peaks (ASSP) has hired its first full-time program manager in the hopes of expanding to year-round programming.

Katherine Campbell stepped into the role this summer, having moved to Sun Peaks two years ago from the Lower Mainland where she ran adaptive gymnastics programs. This is her first time working with ASSP.

“I started talking to one of their longtime volunteers last February [saying] that I was really interested in getting involved,” Campbell said. “I've kind of hit the ground running, and once I'm up to speed and I get myself through this first winter season … I'm hoping that we can offer some kind of programming this summer.”

Campbell said it has always been ASSP’s goal to offer a range of disciplines year-round. She said summer programming can start small with options like hiking, stand up paddleboarding or campfires, before eventually moving to larger goals like mountain biking and golfing.

“We don’t have to make this something that is really costly,” she said. “It could just be almost an outdoors group to get started, and then kind of go from there.”

Two winters ago, ASSP was unable to run any programming due to the pandemic. Last year lessons could resume, but the non-profit was operating with no program manager. This resulted in volunteers putting in over 7,000 hours of work throughout the season.

These circumstances allowed ASSP to save more money than regular seasons, which means it can now afford to hire Campbell as a year-round staff member.

Campbell said so far she’s been working to plan training for volunteers for the winter, and added ASSP is always looking for more volunteers to sign up.

“Any instructors that can commit to teaching with us 100 hours or more on snow are eligible to be part of our 100 hours club and will get a season's pass,” Campbell said. “Not everybody that volunteers with us can commit that kind of time. We love any volunteers who can commit a few weekends or whatever time they have.”

She added ASSP is also looking to have more certified volunteers to teach Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance or Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors courses. Campbell said a strength of ASSP compared to other adaptive snow programs is having these certified instructors as part of the organization.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved can reach out to ASSP to attend training on Dec. 4 and from Dec. 9 to 11.

“Those are all mandatory training events for anybody wishing to be a volunteer instructor with us,” Campbell said. “They can attend those training sessions free of charge. And by attending those, if they didn't end up volunteering with us, they will learn so much and improve their skiing just from doing that.”

Campbell also encourages those with a disability who are interested in skiing or snowboarding to get involved. Drop-in lessons for both residents and visitors will begin on Dec. 19. ASSP also offers fiveweek-long locals programs from January to March.

By Kayla Empey

“I'm super excited to meet the people that take lessons from us because just hearing from all the different volunteers that I've talked to and the testimonials, the impact that it has on people's lives is just amazing,” Campbell said.

Anyone with questions can contact Campbell at adaptivesportsatsunpeaks@gmail.com

Photo provided.

Just Sound It Ou(gh)t

Barbara

One way to prepare an egg

___ Flon, Manitoba

Prescription place: Abbr.

Heart's "Crazy ___"

Former politician Ambrose

Movie composer Schifrin

Transparent, as a blouse

Surfer's landing spots?

Carnival ring fling

Summer setting in T.O.

"... sitting in ___, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

Prefix with corn or form

Comment from a nonperfectionist

Danger

Second bananas: Abbr.

Scan that requires the patient to lie still

Pedro's pre-euro pocket change

Slangy "each"

Modern ice cream flavour

Miss Muffet morsel

Understanding between nations

Genetic messenger, for short

"Caddyshack" prop

Make room?

Roof gutter

Notable time period

"So you're ___ guy, eh?"

Italian diminutive suffix

Cop, in Cannes

Without: Fr.

Christmas greenery

Cogito-sum connector

"A certain je ne sais ___"

AM/FM unit

Therapy appt.

Prepare flour for pastry

Worshippers' words

Hang with a thumb tack, say

Early tie score, maybe

"Sure thing, captain"

Beds for pooped troops

"Whadja say?"

Tolkien ring bearer

Lowdown loudmouths

Present verb ending

"I aint into it"

Orbiter ousted from the planet group

Gruff, huffy outburst

Chop chop, to Chopin

Floral fruit used in a tea

Hinduism or Islam: Abbr.

Articles before vowels

Egyptian role for Liz, 1963

Sidestep, as a thorny issue

Printer rival of Canon

Music player with earbuds

Clay pigeon shooting

A German article the view

New Year's Day, in Hanoi

Had a birthday, say

Desires in detox, maybe

Salt Lake City's state

Pressing concerns?

In the dark

" The Waste Land" poet's inits.

Fool others, or oneself

Country of ___ (birthplace)

Salsa scoopers

PetroCan competitors

___ Olay

In the dark

Canadian funny lady Luba

Head of a brewery?

Military command ctrs.

Québec Séparatiste vote

Burnt underwear in the '60s

LOCAL FREESTYLE

SNOWBOARDER WINS GOLD IN NEW ZEALAND NATIONALS

Sun Peaks resident Nayte Brown is back on his home turf after spending the summer training and competing abroad, with his first national-level snowboard victory to show for his efforts.

The 16 year old won slopestyle gold and scored the most points overall in his U18 category in October at the 2022 Freestyle Nationals in Cardrona, New Zealand.

“Before this, all of my medals had been in provincial events, so it was really cool to be on the podium for a national competition on the other side of the world,” he said.

Brown has been competing since age 12, when he started entering local rail jam events. He bagged his first provincial slopestyle competition medal when he was 13, and by winter 2021 Brown was competing in national events like the Air Nation Freestyle Tour.

He’s made steady progress ever since, leading up to his biggest win yet in New Zealand.

This was Brown’s first year training and competing in the southern hemisphere, where he lived in Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island and rode at nearby Cardrona Alpine Resort — a famous hotspot for professional snow-sport athletes.

Brown shows off his tricks in New Zealand. Photo provided.

Photo provided.

Teenage resident spends summer abroad honing snowboarding skills, sets goals for this winter

By Sam Egan

“I had access to a proper trampoline park the whole time, so it really helped with my air awareness, and it was just so fun to practice and hang out there during my free time. The jumps at Cardrona are way bigger as well, so being able to get familiar with them is a huge benefit that I can’t quite get up here [in Sun Peaks],” Brown said.

“Being around that level of riding was super cool and made me push myself more, especially when [a professional snowboarder] like Mark McMorris or Dusty Henricksen was riding right behind me!”

Brown credits the Sun Peaks community for getting him this far and said he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. His family moved up the mountain from Kamloops when he was 10, lured to the resort community by the small-town feel and unique opportunities for Nayte and his brother. He was a regular at the resort most weekends before that too, learning to snowboard at age four.

Brown joined the Sun Peaks Freestyle Club when it first started and said he still loves riding with the team. He found shop sponsorship to help with gear, including The Truth Skate & Snow in Kamloops and most recently Salomon, 686 and SPY.

He said the sponsorships are helpful because he usually breaks a couple boards each year, likely because of his go-to trick, tamedog (a front flip sprung off the nose of his board).

South of the equator, Brown found the competitive environment largely the same as in B.C.

“Everyone is always super chill and nice at [competitions] and it didn’t change over there,” he said. “The only real difference was that the skiers competed on the same course at the same time as the snowboarders. Up here, skiers and boarders have separate event schedules.”

In addition to catching up on fresh tracks, Brown’s got his sights set on both the B.C. and Canada Winter Games this winter. His goal is to place in the top 15 for slopestyle in the events, as well as nailing down his backside 1080’s.

Next summer, he’s planning to go back to New Zealand for another year of back-to-back winters.

“My happy place is in the mountains on my snowboard, so I want to spend as much of my time as possible doing what I love,” Brown said. “I’ll take cold weather over hot weather any day.”

Brown at the top of the podium. Photo provided.

LOCAL ARTIST PAINTS SHIPPING CONTAINER MURAL FOR FREESTYLE CLUB

Club plans

on

events this winter

By Kayla Empey

A local artist has painted a shipping container mural for Sun Peaks Freestyle Club (SPFC) as the non-profit prepares for the winter season ahead.

After receiving a grant from the Kamloops Blazers Legacy Fund, SPFC purchased a sea can to use for storage. Since the container was bright red and rusty, the club commissioned Sun Peaks artist Ben Morris to jazz it up.

Morris, the owner of Red Tree Design, said he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“Originally I had done the logo for the freestyle club when they first got together as an organization so I guess they kept me in mind,” he said. “I took it as a project where if anybody was to look at [the sea can] that didn’t know what the freestyle club is … they would still kind of get a sense of what it’s about.”

Morris said when planning a design, he likes to think of key words that describe what he wants to portray. For this project, he thought of terms like playful, youth, active, joyful, colourful and bright.

“All those kinds of words help point the project in a direction. And then once I have those words, it becomes a lot easier to come up with a design,” Morris said.

He added the process was fun, but a lot of work. Before he could even start painting, Morris had to peel stickers off the container, brush off rust, power wash it and put a coat of primer on.

Morris has now completed the mural, but the shipping container still requires stickers of SPFC’s logo to be placed on before being moved up Mt. Tod to its final location.

“We were going to paint the logos originally for the freestyle club on there,” he said. “But because it's corrugated and the kind of paint I have to use — it’s like a very thick oil based paint — it’s tricky to do a lot of fine details. So I sort of convinced them to go with a large decal.”

The sea can mural isn’t the only exciting update for SPFC this winter. The non-profit will be introducing a new year-round high performance program for skiers looking to compete at the Canada Cup level and beyond. Chris Mavin has been hired as head coach to lead athletes through the intensive training.

SPFC will also host the Canada Cup and Timber Tour again this season. The Canada Cup is a national level competition that will take place Jan. 12 to 15, while the Timber Tour is a provincial level competition with three events across B.C., including one at Sun Peaks from Jan. 19 to 22.

“We appreciate all the local volunteers and businesses that supported us in these events last year and are hopeful we can count on them again this upcoming season,” said Brennan Thompson, president of SPFC, in an email to SPIN.

Thompson added SPFC was honoured to be co-beneficiaries of the Sun Peaks Gala this month.

For more information on programs and events, visit sunpeaksfreestyleclub.ca

to place painted sea can

Mt. Tod, looks forward to hosting national and provincial ski

The completed mural. Photo provided.

The sea can before it was painted. Photo provided.

SOLD

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