ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - A recent trip to a mountain resort is all part of the Hamlet of Fort Liard's plan to promote snowboarding.

Dominique Tremblay of Fort Liard uses a rope tow to get up a hill at Powder King Mountain Resort in British Columbia during a snowboarding trip organized by the Hamlet of Fort Liard. - photo courtesy of Roslyn Gardner Firth

From March 16 to 20, 15 students from Fort Liard along with two from Wrigley and two from Fort Simpson strapped their feet to snowboards and tried out the runs at Powder King Mountain Resort in British Columbia. This is the second year the hamlet has organized a trip to Powder King.

The excursion, which is aimed at 12 to 17-year-olds, was initiated to increase usage of the Fort Liard sliding hill by community youth, said Roslyn Gardner Firth, the hamlet's manager of wellness and recreation.

Snowboarding was chosen as the target sport because it captures the interest of the younger age groups particularly teenagers, Gardner Firth said.

One of the benefits of the trip to Powder King is the youths' skills increase dramatically while they're there, she said. The runs are longer at the resort and the students don't have to walk to the top of every hill.

Terrence Kotchea's progress is an example of what the trip can do, said Gardner Firth. Kotchea started on the beginner hill and had difficulty even using the rope tow but set a goal to use the chair lift.

At the end of his first lesson at Powder King Kotchea used the chair lift to get to the more advanced runs and never came back to the beginner hill. At the end of the trip Kotchea was awarded a Powder King hoodie for being the most improved snowboarder.

Fellow student Dominique Tremblay said her snowboarding skills improved a lot during the trip. Tremblay participated in the snowboarding clinic held in the hamlet earlier in March but she said it wasn't until she got to Powder King that she really learned to snowboard.

"It was awesome," she said about the trip.

The Powder King trip is one of the stepping stones towards preparing aspiring boarders for the Arctic Winter Games snowboarding trials later this year or early next year, said Gardner Firth.

During the trip, Gardner Firth liaised with the coach of the snowboarding team from Mackenzie, B.C. Interested Fort Liard youths will be following the Mackenzie team's dry-land training program during the summer. They have also been invited to attend the snowboarding camps in Mackenzie next season.

As for the Powder King trip, Gardner Firth expects it to continue to grow in popularity. Approximately 12 students participated last year compared to this year's 19. Next year she expects to have at least 30 snowboard enthusiasts wanting to participate as youth from the other Deh Cho communities spread the word about the excursion.

"Everybody had such a good time," she said.

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