One Two Ski: Resorts Rise to the Top Peaks Challenge Across Canada

Photo by Reuben Krabbe: Marlie Marchewka skiing Gil’s at Sun Peaks Resort

Despite a size advantage and huge social media following, Sun Peaks Resort was lagging behind the top 3 in this year’s Mackenzie Top Peaks Challenge at the beginning of the week. At 6th place as the contest went into the Canada Votes segment, an urgent committee was assembled in Sun Peaks to design an appeal to fans all over Canada to start voting daily.

Headed up by Olympian, Canadian female athlete of the 20th Century, and most decorated female Canadian alpine skier, Nancy Greene Raine, the committee brought together influencers and key resort personnel. Just three days later, their first efforts led to Sun Peaks nabbing 2nd spot, inching ahead of Stoneham, but with Mont Adstock way out front in first place. Every day counts, though, and the Leaderboard changes minute-by-minute vote-by-vote.

Photo by Reuben Krabbe: Marlie Marchewka at Sun Peaks Resort

You can vote directly at:

https://mackenzietoppeak.ca/vote/7532f387afdf777f0e95f63de4241eca

And you can keep track of how Sun Peaks is doing on the Leaderboard at:

https://mackenzietoppeak.ca/leaderboard

Use this new quick link to Vote for Sun Peaks:

Vote Now

And in a tech savvy move, Sun Peaks has come up with a speedy QR code to streamline the voting process. From the first time of voting, it’s just a question of remembering each day to click on it with 24 hour intervals and before 9pm BC time.

For Sun Peaks, the initial application submission and subsequent community effort to get through the first round was highly successful. A spot in the top ten was secured by significant numbers of locals nominating their favourite resort. The beautiful BC resort got into Round Two along with nine other Canadian ski resorts, all in the running for the podium.

This current round is the ‘Canada Votes’ section, when all adult residents of Canada can vote for any of the 10 resorts daily up to March 3rd 9pm PST. When voting closes on March 3rd, the vote count will determine who is in the final three and those resorts will be judged by a panel for podium positions and coveted cash prizes to fund sustainable projects. Results will be announced on Friday, March 9 during CBC Sports Presents in the Top Peak Report. Bronze gets $10,000, Silver gets $20,000 and Gold will be awarded $100,000.

The Nancy Greene TELUS Alpine Classic Ski Cross Course at Sun Peaks Resort

The Sun Peaks project is to create a permanent Ski Cross Course made mainly from dirt which will save millions of gallons of water. It will effectively future-proof the course for generations to come. A leader in sustainability, Sun Peaks was the very first mountain resort in North America to be certified in April 2004 under ISO 14001, one of the world's most recognized EMS standards.

On the surface, Sun Peaks looks well placed to make the podium and even win the $100,000 first prize. There are 73k Facebook, 65k Instagram and 4k TikTok followers for the central British Columbia ski resort which has the second largest biggest ski area in Canada at 4,270 acres (1,730 hectares). To put that in perspective, the current leading resort - Mont Adstock in Québec has around 14k Facebook followers and roughly 3.6k on Instagram (I couldn’t find an official TikTok page) and only about 120 acres (48.5 hectares) of skiable terrain. Close contender Stoneham has 39k Facebook fans, 1.3k on TikTok and 11.1k on Instagram plus 335.5 acres (135.8 hectares). And Mt Washington, the only other Western Canada ski area in the Top Ten, has around 44.7k on Facebook 41k on Instagram and 1600 acres (648 hectares) of skiable terrain.

Sun Peaks Ambassador Marlie Marchewka at Sun Peaks Resort - photo by Reuben Krabbe

One of the volunteers spearheading the Sun Peaks voting campaign is Gabrielle Fox, who is the Nancy Greene Parent Rep on the Board of Directors with SPAC (Sun Peaks Alpine Club). ‘We live in the community on Burfield, my children also go to the school in Sun Peaks and I feel very passionate about how fantastic our community here is,’ says Fox. ‘Winning this award would benefit the whole community. We would be able to use snow making resources at other locations, be able to host more ski/snowboard cross trainings and events that would bring more visitors to our cherished home and allow our athletes to continue to train on world class terrain.’

Simon Hudson at Sun Peaks

When the winner is announced on March 9th, it will be dubbed the ‘Top Peak’ with the most ‘invested’ community by competition organizers, Mackenzie Investments who have been running the contest for four years. The community at Sun Peaks has always demonstrated strong collaboration, volunteerism and fundraising enthusiasm. ‘The support we have received so far has been extremely humbling,’ says Fox. ‘It is truly an honour to live somewhere where all the residents take such pride in our community and show their love and support for worthy causes. All the kids at the school are rallying to spread the word, business are showing their support by displaying the flyers and our amazing community members are voting. I can't wait to see the effort pay off!’

Mont Adstock

With Mont Adstock notching up around 1000 votes per day, how is it steaming ahead? Is it an early spurt which will lose speed by the finish line? Or is it part of a pre-planned concerted effort to get gold? Is it people power, loyalty, marketing, media coverage, or canny targeting of the right demographics?

I asked volunteer, Brian Gignac about the keys to their success. Advance preparation was vital: ‘Our planning began immediately after the holiday season to ensure that we would be ready to submit our application as soon as possible. Given that phase 1 voting was accessible for less than a month, having a well-structured plan was essential.’ A committee was formed of volunteers, led by parents of the local ski team. Although only five parents at the outset, others joined the campaign as word got out. ‘We established smaller sub-committees to handle specific tasks, including the management of the application, the development of the environmental project, compliance with the various challenges that needed to be accomplished, social media and a dedicated group to keep the team motivated,’ says Gignac. ‘The active participation of both the parents and athletes has significantly contributed to our success in this first phase.’

Photo courtesy of Mont Adstock

Mont Adstock’s three-pronged environmental project consists of a multifunctional timing cabin made from secondhand materials to LEED standards, ski gates and reduction in snow canon usage. The ski gates are particularly innovative, with tentative plans for wider scale manufacture in the future. ‘We plan to continue the development of ski gates manufactured by recycling water bottles,’ Gignac elaborates. ‘Our collaboration with the Cégep de Thetford’s plastic department has already led to prototyping and testing. If the results continue to be successful, we seek approval and market these innovative ski gates.’

Through Facebook and Instagram, Mont Adstock has leveraged social media to generate engagement. ‘Our athletes who are quite familiar with social media actively spread the word and rallied support from friends and family to vote,’ says Gignac. ‘Our community shares a deep bond with the Mont Adstock ski resort for several reasons. Proximity: Being the only ski resort within an hour’s drive from larger urban centres. Family atmosphere: Our resort resonates with a strong family vibe and the love of skiing has been passed down through generations. Tourism hub: Over the past few years, our resort has transformed into a year-round playground for diverse activities – golfing, hiking, snowshoeing, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and alpine skiing. More recently, we inaugurated a new ski chalet, and the development of a residential development has taken form.’

The network of supporters is posting daily reminders to urge repeat voting. As Gignac says ‘for many, it has been part of their daily routine’. The local newspaper took up the story, he adds, and there is some municipal, provincial and federal support from elected officials.

Background logo provided by Mackenzie for resorts to use to help spread the word about the contest

For Mackenzie Investments, the buzz created by around two months of participation on social media is key to their brand building goals. The concept was born out of the pandemic when the investment company spotted a way to connect nationwide skiing communities via social media through this collaborative contest. With over 30 years supporting the national ski industry, Mackenzie aims with this challenge to celebrate Canada's most invested ski community - one that embodies the Top Peak mantra: ‘Be Invested - On and Off the Hill’.

Melanie Smith, Mackenzie’s Brand and Sponsorship Lead says the challenge is different this year as it includes bonus points for sustainable initiatives. Recognising the importance of wintersports to Canadians, the Toronto-based company has supported racing, Alpine Canada and grassroots skiing over the past three decades. The Mackenzie Top Peak Challenge has grown significantly since it began in 2021. ‘What has grown has been the engagement, doing the challenges, and voting,’ says Smith. Partnering with CBC last year helped amplify awareness, shifting participation in the challenge from local communities to coast-to-coast engagement.

Me at Sun Peaks, sporting my latest Alchemy of Ride jacket

So how will Sun Peaks keep the social media momentum going over the next few weeks? ‘It takes a village,’ says application designer, Colleen Hannigan. ‘We are competing against some large population centres like Québec City, Ottawa, and the entirety of Vancouver Island for votes. But our village is full of creative minds who love Sun Peaks and we already have other alpine peaks, not in the top ten. that are coming on board to help us. If we can get everyone to vote every day until March 3rd we can show the country how invested everyone is in our tiny village.’