The Westcoast Triple Plank turned ten years old last weekend. I’m not sure that was ever Marie-France Roy and Alicia Gilmour’s goal when they started it. I’m not sure they ever had a plan for the future of the event. They just saw a space to do something positive for the community and the natural world and did it.
That’s the beauty of things that come from the heart. People see it. They feel it. And they want to be a part of it.
Case in point: the number of applicants for the competitor’s lottery more than doubled the available space. And when the inevitable requests for a contest spot started to land in Event Producer Natalie Langmann’s inbox, she suggested those aspirant competitors should do something about it. Faye Northrup organized a beach cleanup at her school. That started a snowball effect, with numerous other folks doing good for nature to find their way into the contest.
It’s exemplary of the whole purpose of the event. Communal camaraderie with respect and appreciation for the natural world as its guiding light.
This was the first year in many that I couldn’t make it to this gathering on Vancouver Island, BC. So, a few days after WCTP 10, I caught up with Marie-France Roy to talk about the milestone trifecta of environmental stewardship.
Dig day, from top to bottom: The boss on the bamboo and Ben Bilocq on the tools at the QP with a whole village to back him on. Photos: Duncan Sadava. Austen Sweetin up there. Photo: Cory Grandfield. Corrugation station feat. Robin Van Gyn. Party train with Cannon Cummins, Mitch Davern and Duke DePasquale. Photos: Aga Iwanicka. Lot life is a good life. Photo: Duncan Sadava.
The Snowboarder’s Journal: Watching from the outside, this looked like the best Triple Plank ever.
Marie-France Roy: It went well. Nobody got seriously injured. We raised over $30,000 [for Reddfish Restoration Society]. Obviously we all always have unforeseen things to deal with but it was a really good time and good weather, except for the fog on the surf day—some people might have not gotten as fair of a score because there was fog during their heat.
It seems like the people that we probably would have expected to win still won.
Somehow the strongest heat got good visibility, luckily. But it's the nature of things and Mother Nature is boss again. We can't complain. It was such a good mix of different skill levels, multi-generational. We had a lot more 20-year-olds this year, really good shredders came out, the Lib guys and the Pelchat girls and a bunch of new faces, which was really rad.
Race day, top to bottom. Maria Thomsen all smiles. Bowie Bertrand enjoying clean berms. Ben Bilocq puts the QP he built to good use. Triple Plank is for the children. Photos: Aga Iwanicka
Can you tell me about what it took to make it happen at Mount Washington?
I was getting all these messages beforehand—will there be enough snow? I was like, I'm not giving up. I showed up there on the Tuesday and they had an event the week before, and they pushed a bunch of snow so there was a run almost all the way down the mountain. Freaking thanks to Mount Washington. They donated an extra day of the chair running for free and like really affordable cat time so we could hold the event at the top of the mountain where there was enough snow. It may have been our best set up yet.
The banked slalom was a bit shorter than normal, right?
Yeah, it was shorter, but because Garant gave us a hundred shovels, the people got up there and the banks went up fast and they were so proper. Ben Bilocq and JF Pelchat and Dane Menzies setup the lines with a few others then Ben had a perfect QP in a matter of hours. There was even a rail garden.
Surf day, top to bottom. Several kids from the local Indigenous community participated via the mułaa, Rising Tide Surf Society. Photo: Mirae Campbell. Lauren Taaffe cross stepping to first place in Women's Surf and Neve Campbell chucking buckets. Photos: Cory Grandfield. Canadian beach party with Duke DePasquale, Estelle Pensiero, Billy Pelchat and Leighli Porcheron. Photo: Aga Iwanicka.
What did you learn this year?
I learned again like every year that I need to delegate more and that people want to help and you just have to say yes. And yeah, people are kind and it's a community effort and it always is.
Diversity is what makes everything so great, whether it's in nature or, you know, in a community. It’s so rad to have a diverse group of people come in together to participate and to also help with the event. I just love the crowd that it brings together.
Did you ever think you were going to make it 10 years? Did you ever plan to make it 10 years?
Hell no.
It doesn't take much to make a difference. Clearing insvasive species during restoration day. Photo: Aga Iwanicka.
Skate day, top to bottom. The younger women always impress, with Mavi Terhune, Girls Skate winner, pictured here. Photo: Aga Iwanicka. Yeah that's clean, Kyten Traviss. Oli Ward punting a massive frontside air. Sarka Pancochova and Maria Thomsen, stoked. Photos: Duncan Sadava.
You're stuck now, it has to keep going.
Every year there's moments of greatness, but there's moments of things falling apart. And I always crumble when I see friends of mine or people who are helping under stress. I'm like, “This is it. This is not worth it.”
Natalie [Langmann] needs a huge shout out for how much effort she puts into making it happen and dealing with any issues. She’s the rock, she really cares. She makes sure that people who might not expect it get seen, that everything happens as they should when they begin to fall apart.
But then at the end of the day, when you take a big breath and look at the big picture, none of the breakdowns really matter. What matters is those moments that we have together. And those memories that we get to make this weekend are just, they're so precious. It is absolutely worth it just because of that—people connecting with each other and taking the time to hang out in person, it's the best part.
Good music by Buoy Razz (featuring Mark Wlodarczyk, Sharon WuTang and Austen Sweetin), good food, good people. Cannon Cummins and Billy Pelchat took the Men's and Women's trifecta, respectively. Photos: Mirae Campbell (top) and Aga Iwanicka.