Sima Slamfest ends downhill season on a high note

Riders agree that Mount Sima has the potential to be a major mountain biking destination.

Riders agree that Mount Sima has the potential to be a major mountain biking destination.

Think of the labyrinth of trails offered in British Columbia attracting riders worldwide.

The opened chairlift and three courses offered to competitors of the 2010 Sima Slamfest over the weekend were proof that the mountain bike scene is growing and growing.

Australia native Adam Seeley said mountain biking in Whitehorse is bigger than he expected to find when he arrived three months ago.

“There are a lot of places in B.C. people come over from Australia to ride,” said Seeley, who finished fifth in the expert male category. “It’s obviously something that could be a good motivator for people to get over here, to have a summer with lift-access riding. It’s just another bonus for everything else this place offers.”

Coming from Melbourne, a city of some four million people, Seeley said he would have to drive three hours to find a mountain with lift-access. Mount Sima’s courses are longer and wetter than what he’s used to Down Under, he added.

“Not the beautiful views and the vistas and the scenery you’ve got here. There are a lot of courses to ride in Australia, different trails, some lift access, but it’s just not close to the city,” he said.

Some 50 riders competed on Monday for the top spot in seven categories, with the courses expanding from one over the past two years to three this year: expert, intermediate and youth.

Sunday featured a chainless race on what director Justin Mullan called the practice day.

“The whole idea behind a chainless race is you can’t peddle, so it works on honing your skills, cornering, breaking, things like that, because you don’t have the ability to get back up to speed if you lose all your speed in a corner,” said Mullan, who is a board member with event sponsors the Contagious Mountain Bike Club.

He added that the Slamfest is about promoting the local ski hill and the sport, which has always been big in Whitehorse – and can only get bigger.

“An event like this definitely brings everybody out, the people you wouldn’t see everyday riding up and down the mountain, the younger riders and people coming in from out of town,” said Mullan, who finished fourth in the expert male category and third in the intermediate.

“It’s a good way to close off the season for downhill, which is such a huge part of mountain biking right now, especially with kids; we’ve had a great turnout of kids this weekend. We don’t see that turnout at other events, like cross-country events.”

Nic Garwin, who won the intermediate male category and finished second in the expert, is another one of those riders from out of town.

The B.C. native heads up to Mount Sima just about every day it’s opened during the summer, usually Wednesday evenings and Sundays.

“They had a bit of trouble starting it in the beginning but they got all the kinks worked out and now it’s working really nicely,” Garwin said, adding that he’s used to riding mountains like Silver Star in Vernon, B.C. “It’s a bigger riding scene there, there’s tons of trails and a long chair lift. I’m used to that, and to see that they’re starting to do it up here, it’s just awesome.”

Mount Sima is on the right track, he added.

“Personally, I think they have potential for Sima to be more popular in the summer than the winter…when it’s light out in the summer you could stay open until 12 at night if you really wanted,” he said.

“There’s a really good, strong biking community in Whitehorse, and as a rider I really appreciate it when people have the drive to put on events like this, just because it gets everyone out together and riding and it gets the kids involved, everyone has a good time. If they could keep this up it’d be awesome.”

Expert male

Julien Revel 2:49.37

Nic Garwin 2:50.13

Ben Gilbert 2:56.55
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Expert female

Martina Knopp 3:57.59

Kaitlyn MacDonald 6:14.62
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Intermediate male

Nic Garwin 7:15.00

David Pharand 7:15.28

Justin Mullan 7:28.95
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Intermediate female

Danielle Hodgson 8:56.94

Catherine O’Donovan 9:41.31

Kate White 10:24.45
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Youth male

Kevin Salesse 4:34.50

Brody Ryckman 4:44.26

Adam Waddington 4:47.23
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Kid male

Tim Schirmer 4:33.27

Christopher Ritchie 5:15.83

Ethan Davy 6:35.77
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Kid female

Mack2 Davy 6:09.83

Fayne O’Donovan 8:20.87