Fly By
Fun Freaks at Sun Peaks
I’ve been snowboarding since the dead sea was just sick,” Brett Tippie says.
He’s on the chair at Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, BC. He’s laughing again at one of his own dad jokes. Dude’s constantly chuckling. He’ll hold court on the chair, then chirp his way downslope all day long. He loves it.
And why wouldn’t he love it? Tippie’s 55, a legend of mountain biking and a former World Cup racer on a snowboard. Despite some rough patches along the way, Tippie’s still living that adolescent dream of a professional athlete. “In my heart of hearts, I’m a snowboarder who gets paid to mountain bike,” he says. Nowadays he lives in North Vancouver, but for Tippie, it all started here, at Sun Peaks.
On the chairs ahead of us are Washingtonians Zoë Vernon and Matt Wainhouse, local slopestyle hopefuls Katie Brayer and Nayte Brown, as well as Tippie’s younger brother, Jake. Katie’s 20 years old and has had recent success on a national level. Nayte’s about to graduate high school, has podiumed in multiple regional events, and is ready to start traveling with purpose. Today, he’s got an excused absence from class. There’s powder to ride, and there aren’t many other folks around to ride it.
