Big Mountain Challenge Brings out big Winners at Lake Louise

The fourth annual Smith Optics Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge, held February 22-25, brought together top freeskiers from across Canada and the United States on the Ultimate Steeps of Lake Louise’s Powder Bowls.

The competition was an action-packed four days of extreme skiing and mental endurance. Contestants rode their chosen line and were judged in five categories, including line, control, fluidity, technique, and aggressiveness.

The men’s winner was Joel Jacques of Whistler, BC, who earned 28.6 points. Second and third place titles ended in a tie, with Mike Hopkins of Rossland, BC, and Robert Meaney of Calgary, AB, earning 26.2 points each. Winner Jacques took home a check for $1,200.
There was tough competition in the women’s category, with Karolina Ekman of Fernie, BC, taking the women’s title and a cash prize of $600, followed by Langely McNeal of Sun Valley, ID, with 21.25 points and in third, Janina Kuzma, also of Fernie, BC, with 21.15 points.

The competition finals took place in the sun on Saturday, February 25th on ER 5, one of the Ultimate Steeps in the Powder Bowls of Lake Louise Mountain Resort. Recent heavy snowfalls made for some great skiing for the competition, impressing the judges and many spectators on hand for the event.

Many of the Big Mountain Challenge competitors will likely face each other again at an upcoming Fernie event, as they will also compete for a new award. A champion with the highest cumulative score from the Big Mountain Challenge and Fernie Freeski will be named in Fernie.

Article provided by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.

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