Hudson Bay Mountain Resort is partnering with the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity & Recreation Council (ISPARC) to bring children from first nation communities to the hill for a couple of days this season.
ISPARC was founded in 2009 to promote healthy Indigenous communities by expanding access to sport and recreational activities.
Hudson Bay Mountain will provide accommodations, ski or snowboarding lessons, ski or snowboarding rentals and lift tickets for the participants in the program.
“Hudson Bay Mountain is always looking for ways to connect people to the mountain,” said Hudson Bay Mountain Resort communications manager Catherine Matheson. “We’re really honoured to be part of this project with ISPARC and we’re really excited to see where it goes.”
Children from six to 18 years old can take part in this program. ISPARC alerts Indigenous communities about the program and helps them to coordinate the trip.
The mountain has run this initiative four times this season with its first day being Dec. 6. So far groups from the Hazeltons and Fort Babine have been to the hill.
The kids’ day starts at 8:35 a.m. where they take a shuttle bus from Aspen Inn. After arriving at 9 a.m. kids are served breakfast where a blessing takes place and an acknowledgement that they are in Wet’suwet’en territory and this is the Gidimt’en Bear and Wolf Clan land.
After a safety briefing they go out for an hour-long lesson with instructors in the sport of their choosing. Kids are given a chance to review what they learned before going back to the lodge for lunch. They then head back out for a final one-hour lesson.
At around 3:30 the youth have a snack and discuss what they learned that day as well as provide feedback on what worked and what can be improved. They then leave the mountain by 4:30 and will either return to the Aspen or go home.
“One of the things that’s really exciting for Hudson Bay Mountain is not just getting these Indigenous populations to come through but also to understand we’re helping ISPARC to develop a model that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the province right now,” Matheson said.
ISPARC typically prioritizes summer sports like track and field or lacrosse. Matheson said this is the first time they’ve focused on a winter mountain sport.
The goal of the program is to not only introduce Indigenous youth to skiing and snowboarding but to also eventually have them compete at elite levels. This starts by having them attend “try camps” Matheson said.
The mountain began discussing the program with ISPARC in May and started working on it in September.
Since then they’ve had weekly teleconference calls to update each other on how things on progressing as well as several in-person meetings.
“It’s been a really positive partnership,” said Matheson. “We’re really proud of what we’re doing with the shared vision of building this pathway for winter sports for youth.”
The next try camps are scheduled for Jan. 10-11. Matheson said they hope to have 300 youth participate in the program by the end of the season and to continue the program next year.
