Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Sports Briefs

Gearjammer Squamish’s other mountain bike epic For the second year in a row the Aug. 20 Squamish GearJammer will serve as the 2005 B.C. Provincial Championships mountain bike race. It’s also the fourth of five B.C.
Gearjammer Squamish’s other mountain bike epic

For the second year in a row the Aug. 20 Squamish GearJammer will serve as the 2005 B.C. Provincial Championships mountain bike race. It’s also the fourth of five B.C. Cup Marathon series races on the calendar.

In a nod to history, Gearjammer organizers at the Test of Metal and Squamish Off Road Cycling Association are using the original course from the 1995 Brodie Test of Metal, which weighs in at 47 km. That’s about 5 km longer than last year’s course.

The race starts at Alice Lake Provincial Park and includes sections of Ed’s Bypass, Rock ’n’ Roll, Dead End Loop, Made in the Shade, Bob McIntosh trail, Mike’s Loop, Mice and Men, Tracks from Hell, Mashiter, Ray’s Café, Cliff’s Corners, Skookum, Middle Power Smart, IMBA Smart, George’s Cross, Pseudo Tsuga, Snakes and Ladders, The Hell With Darwin, Ring Creek Rip, and Powerhouse Plunge – an interesting mix of technical singletrack.

So far registration has been strong with 250 riders signed up for 500 spots.

The race is an all-volunteer effort with the proceeds split between SORCA and Squamish Search and Rescue.

The Gearjammer course is already flagged for pre-riding. For more information, registration or a look at the map, visit www.gearjammer.ca .

Wheelup coming Sept. 10

The 12 th annual Westside Wheelup is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Whistler.

Registration for the mountain bike race, which follows a variety of trails on Whistler’s west side, takes place in Function Junction between 10:30 a.m. and noon on race day and costs $25.

The top draw prize is a dual-mountain season pass from Whistler-Blackcomb, but there are approximately 50 prizes in total to be drawn at the post-race party.

Proceeds from the race go toward the B.C. Disabled Ski Team.

GK Ripper returns to Squamish

Squamish will be hosting the fifth annual GK Ripper "Puke or Bleed" fundraiser race on Sept. 18. The GK Ripper is an up and down relay mountain bike race – cross-country riders climb Diamond Head Road and pass the baton off to their teammates, who will ride down 19 th Hole and Peanuts Wild Ride to the valley. Last year the Ripper raised over $15,000 for the GK Ripper Foundation, bringing the total since 2000 to $60,000.

Organizers are looking for event sponsors as well as participants for this year’s event. Visit www.gkripper.com for more details.

The GK Ripper Foundation provides financial assistance to members of the community who have been seriously injured in sports or in motor vehicles.

River festival returns to the Ashlu

After the success of last summer’s Ashlu River Festival, which is now being called one of the largest whitewater events ever held in Canada, there was no question as to whether there should be a second annual event in 2005. This year’s festival, hosted once again by the Whitewater Kayakers Association of B.C., will take place from Aug. 18 to 21 with three days of guided trips (beginner to expert), introductory kayak lessons, playboating and creek boating clinics, rafting float trips, open kayak trips, canoe lessons, guided herb walks and more.

Registration includes camping, shuttles to the festival site, a barbecue and all meals included, as well as boating demos, a gear swap, and a presentation on the impacts of development on rivers and access. There is also a whitewater competition – the Northwater Shootout Showdown.

Registration starts at $45 for event participants, but is just $20 for non-paddling families. The lessons, clinics and trips are priced between $10 and $20. For more information, visit www.whitewater.org.

Free water ramp camps offered

The H20 Water Ramp Training Facility at Blackcomb’s Base II is offering free introductory camps for the next two weekends.

The camps take place Aug. 12-15 and Aug. 19-22, with use of the in-ground trampolines and water ramps and sessions with coach Katherina Kubenk, a nine-year veteran of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team in aerials, as well as an Olympian and world champion. She is also the head coach of the B.C. Aerial Team, as well as team leader of the Jump to 2010 program.

Accommodation is available for as little as $15 a night, and the only other cost is $10 for a B.C. Freestyle Ski Association introductory membership. Some equipment can be provided, but interested jumpers should bring wetsuits and skis and boots they can spare.

Participants will be taught to use the jumps, as well as the basics of aerial jumping.

For more information or registration – spaces are limited – contact katgirl1@myway.com.