The Elevator Race goes Saturday from Sicamous to Apex

Competitors will race from the valley floor to the top of the mountain in the annual Hoodoo Adventures Elevator Race on Saturday.

Solo athletes to seven-person relay teams will paddle, road bike, run/snowshoe, mountain bike, Nordic ski, hike and downhill ski/board from Okanagan Lake to the top of Apex Mountain.

The race gets going at 8:30 a.m. with an 8 km boat paddling course on Okanagan Lake, starting and finishing near the SS Sicamous.

Next up is 25 km of road cycling starting on Lakeshore Drive and finishing part way up Green Mountain Road.

Then it’s the mountain run/snowshoe segment, considered the hardest leg of the race. The 9 km course follows Keremeos Creek road and finishes at Apex Mountain Resort parking lot next to Apex Accommodations.

That is followed by a 6 km mountain bike segment from the Apex parking lot to the Nickel Plate Nordic Ski Centre.

The Nordic leg starts at Nickel Plate and features a 7 km course that finishes at the Apex upper parking lot.

The alpine skiing leg – a distance of about 4 km including a climbing section - concludes the race. Athletes will follow Apex’s Okanagan Run through a gated course that ends in front of the Gunbarrel Saloon,

Once at the bottom of the gates, athletes must take off their skis and carry them to run across the finish line. The cut-off time to complete the final leg of the race is 5:30 p.m.

All net proceed from the Elevator Race are donated to a not for profit society that supports local youth – The Youth Outdoor Recreation Society. YORS provides affordable programs for mainstream and atrisk youth in the Okanagan to participate in outdoor recreation, education and leadership activities.