Colleagues, when you think about snowboarding, you think about mountain, ski resorts, but it is a sport that has taking hold in the Northwest Territories. It is a great opportunity to observe youth being youth vulnerable, risky, daring, adventurous, and being silly. It is amazing watching youth making memories and, more importantly, with friends. Beyond the warm clothes and wintery ambience lies a culture that you need to see to appreciate.
In the North, you must find a creative way to get the participants on top of the hill. Sometimes it takes hiking up the hill to go down. Other times, it's jumping into a sled and pulled up by a snowmobile.
After a gap in programming of some years, the community of Fort Liard saw snowboarding being restarted on January 18th, 2024. This was after the community and local businesses fixed up their sliding hill. As in the past their program was strong. It attracted up to 30 young people ranging in ages 12 to 18, and four Fort Liard youth attended two separate Arctic Winter Games as members of the snowboarding team. With financial support from municipal and community affairs' Local Sport Leaders and Sport and Recreation Program and the Mackenzie Recreation Association, they hosted a fourday coaching and skills development event facilitated by Arctic Winter Games coach Scott Stirling and certified coach Liam Upton. Attendance was excellent, especially by females who made up twothirds of the participants. The hamlet is planning to rebuild the program to the point where their youth will be selected and qualified to participate in Arctic Winter Games trials and eventually outside the community.
The youth are excited about the upcoming events being held in Fort Simpson this March, sponsored by NWT Snowboard. The youth are very excited to be attending.
In closing, I have been told you can never get bored snowboarding. Once you've learnt a trick, you can learn it with style. It's a social sport; you kind of play together. There is always more to learn, different places to try things, different features to experience with and different people to snowboard with. I wish the Fort Liard snowboarding group all the best in future adventures. Thank you.
Members' statements. Member from Nunakput.
