The Yukon’s younger generation of freestyle snowboarders strapped in and booted up for a weekend of competition at the Mount Sima alpine hill during the annual Yukon Championships, held April 5-6.
The Yukon's snowboarding community wrapped up the competitive season, showcasing club members' skills across two freestyle snowboarding disciplines.
Approximately 30 Yukoners gathered at Pokey Park and on Mount Sima’s Lower Coyote trails on Saturday to tackle a course with competitors as young as seven hopping onto rails and clearing large gaps over jumps.
Zoé Champeval, 7, Poppy Spiers Leung, 11, Eva Benkert, 13 and Ginger MacDonald, 16, achieved the best combined scores of runs on the course's rails and jump sections, placing first in their respective age categories.
Henry Parker, 10, Léon TM Borlase, 12 and Luke Grantham, 13, also earned the highest scores with successful runs on the Pokey Park and Lower Coyote trails and jump sections.
During Sunday’s freestyle snowboarding events, 32 athletes competed on a fast-paced banked slalom track featuring winding turns. Each participant completed three runs down the course, with rankings determined by their fastest times.
Nellie TM Borlase, 8, Poppy Spiers Leung, 11, Eva Benkert, 13 and Aven Sutton, 16, led the female athletes, with Sutton achieving the fastest overall time of 26.044 seconds, narrowly beating Benkert by just half a second.
Henry Parker, 10, Léon Borlase, 12 and Oliver Cann, 14, claimed victories in their age groups, with Borlase recording the fastest time of 25.497 seconds, edging out Cann by an astonishing one-millisecond margin.
The Yukon Snowboard Championships were hosted by Snowboard Yukon, the territory’s governing body for freestyle snowboarding.
The championships mark the conclusion of the snowboarding season, giving athletes the opportunity to rank their performances and refine skills for future competitions.
The event also unites the Snowboard Yukon community, club head coach Esa Suominen said. Younger athletes are introduced to competition, while older participants offer guidance and inspiration. The supportive environment fosters camaraderie and builds lasting connections.
“All the younger kids look up to the older kids and all the older kids are super stoked to be showing off to the younger ones and supporting them,” Suominen said.
Described as a low-pressure event with "good vibes," by Suominen, the championships celebrate the season's end. Snowboard Yukon transforms this nationally mandated event into a meaningful gathering, blending skill-building, confidence-boosting and community spirit in an unforgettable experience, Suominen highlighted
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
