TELUS NANCY GREENE ALPINE CLASSIC RAISES RECORD AMOUNT

Donations will support the Sun Peaks Education Society and Royal Inland Hospital

By Liz McDonald

This year's TELUS Nancy Greene Alpine Classic raised a record-breaking $70,000 for two local charity organizations.

The Alpine Classic has been running at Sun Peaks Resort for 26 years, with funds raised going to multiple causes. This year's event ran from Friday, Jan. 27 to Saturday, Jan. 28, with the Sun Peaks Education Society (SPES) and the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation benefiting from skiers' support.

The donations for SPES are earmarked for creating a permanent school in Sun Peaks, staff told SPIN. The school will include publicly accessible facilities, including a gym and a library.

“[The $70,000 raised was] significantly more than we’ve ever raised before,” Nancy Greene said.

According to Greene, the funds came from a combination of sponsors and auctions held at the event, with registration fees predominantly funding the event's operations.

The auction raised $20,000, and Greene said five businesses donated an additional $5,000 each at the gala celebration after the race on Saturday.

Big White Resort in Kelowna donated $5,000, noting how vital a school was for their population. That inspired Sun Peaks Resort Corporation to match Big White’s donation. Then, Bear Country Lodging also donated $5,000.

Greene and Mayor Al Raine decided they wanted to match others' donations through NGR Resort Consultants, the company they own.

“We said, ‘well, if they're doing it, we'll do it.’ And then TELUS came forward with an extra $5,000 as well,” said Greene.

Weather leading up to the event was frigid but warmed up for the optional training day on Friday. The race saw blue skies on Saturday.

The event ran differently in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. Greene said returning to the traditional event was a challenge.

“Sun Peaks Resort is rebuilding its events department, and they don't have a dedicated race crew, which they always had in the past,” Greene said.

The rebuilding of events meant the Alpine Classic didn’t have a chance to test the race timing system before the race.

Another factor complicating this year’s event was the ski cross course being built later than in previous years, according to Greene.

For future events, the committee that runs the Classic is looking to replace auction coordinator Janice Hoppenreys, who is stepping back from the committee.

Other changes include bringing on a communications volunteer, Cora Tataru, who built a website and a Facebook page for the event. The organization will be looking to create a permanent communications role moving forward, Greene said. Progress towards a school with community amenities will require a hefty amount of long-term fundraising, Greene told SPIN.

“We know we have to raise probably millions of dollars to put in the extra facilities … those kinds of things we’re going to have to pay for as a community.”