The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) has entered the Mackenzie Top Peak contest, a competition that allows ski athletes and aficionados from across the country to nominate their community as Canada's Top Peak. At stake is a $100 000 grand prize, which Mackenzie doles out to help worthy ski communities upgrade their facilities or add new programming.
The Top Peak contest began on Jan. 28 but WMSC's registration package was not approved until Feb. 13, putting the club behind the eight-ball in terms of gaining enough points to qualify for the next round of selection. Voting closes on Mar. 8, with the top 10 finalists announced via CBC Sports on March 11 at 3 p.m.
Club members and their families are doing all they can to spread the word for a worthy cause.
"Should the WMSC win, the money is earmarked towards building a surface lift at our training centre on Ptarmigan," explained Sharmain Spires, whose daughter Gwendolyn is a U12 skier with the club. "Having a dedicated Poma lift would allow the athletes to cycle through the run more quickly, increasing the number of training runs they can make in a day. The public can also benefit with shorter lift lines when they do not have to share Garbo Chair with the athletes. A win-win!"
WMSC athletes have truly put their club on the map this season. Jack Crawford is the incumbent super-G world champion, and Cameron Alexander won downhill bronze at the World Championships just over a week ago. The organization has built plenty of momentum already, and an extra $100 000 would go a long way towards developing the alpine world champs and Olympians of the future.
Even if WMSC falls short of the six-figure grand prize, it could still win $20 000 as a runner-up, $10 000 for third place, or $2500 by finishing anywhere from fourth to tenth.
Supporters can vote once every 24 hours on the contest website by searching up "Whistler Blackcomb" as their peak of choice.
