Indigenous Life Sport Academy
Cypress Mountain is happy to announce all proceeds from the Sky Chair auction totaling $40,730.85, have been donated to the Indigenous Life Sport Academy.
We have been proud sponsors of the First Nations Snowboard Team, now part of the ILSA, since 2003! The Indigenous Life Sport Academy provides Indigenous youth with unstructured and semi-structured sports alike, creating social change and development within Indigenous communities.
ILSA provides Indigenous youth with opportunities to play, express themselves, improve both their mental and physical health, as well as learn skills such as snowboarding, skateboarding, biking, climbing, hiking, and golf that can benefit them long into their adult years. These healthy sport-based outlets assist in the relief of conscious and subconscious stresses induced by intergenerational trauma within indigenous communities.
How was the money raised?
In August 2022, we auctioned off 60 chairs from our iconic Sky Chair. Sky Chair - now known as Sky Quad - has been the gateway to our unparalleled mountain top viewpoint since it was first installed thirty six years ago. The 1968 vintage Mueller chairlift, was removed from Apex Alpine Resort near Penticton in early September 1987, and transported to Cypress Mountain where it was completely rebuilt and re-designed for placement on the upper slopes of Mt. Strachan. The Team at Cypress Mountain completed the entire project in just three months, and the chairlift opened December 10, 1987, powered by an old diesel engine attached to the drive station.