This British Columbia ski resort is teaming up to create a snowboard cross course

A permanent ski and snowboard cross course is coming to Sun Peaks after construction began earlier this week, with the resort saying it will allow it to host and run high-level competitions.

The resort said the new course will be built on Sundance Mountain and is valued at $100,000. It said the course will be one of the few in Canada built of sand, while most courses at Sun Peaks are built of snow each winter season.

“A permanent course will significantly reduce our dependence on early season snow, snowmaking and snowplow operational time and allow us to open the course earlier in the season,” said Aaron Macdonald, Sun Peaks Resort’s chief marketing and communications officer, in a press release.

The new course, to be called the Powder Ventures Ski and Snowboard Cross Course, will provide a “reliable and high-quality” training facility for local alpine and freestyle athletes to develop their skiing and boardercross skills.

“Sun Peaks Resort can begin bidding to host high-level competitions such as National, NorAm and World Cup events,” the resort said.

“Part of this project also includes refining some existing features in the terrain park, to take them to a higher level of competition.”

Construction began on July 15 and is expected to last two to three weeks, after which the track will be officially opened in the winter and ready for the public.

The resort said the projects stem from a three-year partnership with Powder Ventures Excavations, a company that has operated at Sun Peaks for years, which is providing machinery and labor to build the course.

The resort said Powder Ventures Excavations will remove more than 1,000 cubic yards of soil for the project from an existing site at Sun Peaks.

A D8 heavy-duty bulldozer will join the project team, which includes Sun Peaks Resort employees, Power Ventures operators and contractor Jeff Ihaksi, who has designed and built Olympic ski and snowboard cross courses around the world, according to Sun Peaks.

“A permanent track that is ready to go as soon as the snow falls and that the whole family can enjoy, track after track, all season long,” said Ashleigh McIvor, Canadian freestyle skier and 2010 Olympic ski cross champion.