With so much fun being had, it’s easy to forget the Yukon Snowboard Championships is a competition.
“It was just a good time at Sima,” said Tim Schirmer, describing the championships held over the weekend at Whitehorse’s Mount Sima.
“It was super fun. It was the usually Simapalooza and Yukon championship: always a good atmosphere hanging around with your best friends just having a fun time.”
If Schirmer was having more fun than others, it was for good reason. The 17-year-old won his second straight open male slopestyle title at the event, hosted by Snowboard Yukon amidst the resort’s season-closing celebration, Simapalooza.
Schirmer, who two years ago lost by a point, won by a point on Saturday. He beat past champ Adam Waddington by just one point at 248.5 to 247.5.
“I just had a lot of fun, kept everything going smooth. My friend Adam Waddington came up from Whistler - he’s training down there for a bit - and we were battling out a bit,” said Schirmer.
“It was a really long course with a lot of tricks going on ... The course was longer than usual, so you’re out of breath halfway through.
“I was doing a couple of 540s and some creative rail tricks, just playing around.”
It was definitely a showdown between two of Yukon’s best. Schirmer won three medals for Yukon at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games last month in Greenland, around the same time Waddington placed 20th at the Air Nation Freestyle Nationals in Ontario.
Boarders competed in slopestyle Saturday and snowboardcross Sunday. Only one boarder managed to pull off a win both days.
Twelve-year-old Ben Machtans won the males under-15 category in slopestyle and the males 11-12 division in the snowboardcross.
“He was part of our Arctic Games process, but didn’t make it onto the team,” said Snowboard Yukon head coach Mary Binsted. “He was part of our competitive team and training.
“New for Ben this year was stepping up to the big jumps at the bottom ... He definitely wasn’t doing that last season, so he grew into it this season.”
Machtans wasn’t the only up-and-comer to shine at the championships. Sammy Mather, 12, competed up an age group and won the males 15-16 division in Saturday’s slopestyle.
“He could have competed down an age group, but he decide to move up and compete against his teammates from the Arctic Games,” said Binsted.
Mather, who claimed two medals at the Arctic Games, also placed fourth in the open male division of the snowboardcross, taking on some boarders in their 30s. No stranger to Yukon titles, he won the under-12 division the last two years at the championships.
Schirmer and Mather weren’t the only to repeat. Mackenzie Davy sped to her second open female snowboardcross title in a row on Sunday.
This year’s Yukon championship included first-time-event “junior jam” rail comp at the base of the hill, as part of the Canada Snowboard Riders program.
“The participants were more our Sandor’s Shredders (development program) age group than our competitive team athletes,” said Binsted. “It was meant to be a fun introductory freestyle event.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Results:
Slopestyle
Males under-15
1st Ben Machtans
2nd Syth Charchun
3rd Sebastian Insley
Males 15-16
1st Sammy Mather
2nd Asher Brault
3rd Ethan Davy
Open male
1st Tim Schirmer
2nd Adam Waddington
3rd David Emann
4th Dan Boyle
5th Tyler Nichol
6th Tyler Koenen
Junior jam
Males under-13
1st Jacob Nickel
2nd Lewis Bunce
Males under-10
1st Sebastian Insley
2nd Connor Boland
3rd Eli Marsh
Snowboardcross
Males under-10
1st Eli Marsh
2nd Connor Boland
Males 11-12
1st Ben Machtans
2nd Syth Charchun
3rd Lewis Bunce
Open male
1st Matthew Johnson
2nd Ethan Davy
3rd Terry Morrison
4th Sammy Mather
5th Asher Brault
Open female
1st Mackenzie Davy
2nd Antje Schibel