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A Sensational Ski Week
While winter sports aficionados around the world were focused on the ice and snow of northern Italy last week, Shawnigan students and staff took to the mountains of southern BC for Ski Week 2026.
Like the Olympics, the week at Manning Park, between Princeton and Hope, featured alpine and Nordic skiing, and snowboarding, but there were also events, such as karaoke, and Reach for the Top, that may not be specific to the season but are Shawnigan Ski Week staples nonetheless.
Just as the student body as a whole gets away from campus, the individual students have the opportunity to get out of their comfort zones, and many of them take advantage.
“It’s nice to see teens show courage and try different things on the mountain,” says Student Life Coordinator Ms. Katrina Cholack, who has been organizing Ski Week since 2011.
While some students were persuaded to get on the hill for the first time this year because Manning Park has replaced its rope tow ski lift with a “magic carpet” that is easier to use, the chairlifts are really part of the magic of Ski Week, Ms. Cholack says. They help build community as students ride up in groups of three, often sitting with peers they don’t know well and striking up conversations.
“It’s incredible to watch generations of students here become confident and better connected,” Ms. Cholack comments. “It’s transformative for the entire community – staff and students.”
Around 500 students travelled to Ski Week with the support of a small army of 80 staff members, including the dedicated kitchen team (“They feed our souls,” says Ms. Cholack), the compassionate health care team that treats injuries and illnesses, and drivers who get the entire contingent to Manning Park, then up and down the mountain from the accommodations to the ski hill.
“The staff work tirelessly to make students feel safe and included,” Ms. Cholack notes. “They work hard behind the scenes to make sure everything runs seamlessly, but ultimately the goal is the students’ happiness.”
Shawnigan is also grateful to the staff at Manning Park – in particular, general manager Vern Schram – who have been so accommodating to the School over a decades-long relationship.
“We have such a good relationship with Manning,” says Ms. Cholack. “We have to make one or two phone calls and then we just arrive. It’s like being at Shawnigan: we wake up in the morning and everyone just does what they need to do.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
