Race Report: 2022 Fire in the Mountains Enduro

Sunday May 15th marked the inaugural Fire in the Mountains enduro race held by the West Kelowna Fire Department Charitable society. This race was established with the goal of raising money for three incredible local charities. Firstly, the BC Burn Fund is a Vancouver-based charity that supports burn victims from throughout the province and provides education on preventing burn injuries. Secondly, CRIS Adaptive Adventures, from Kelowna BC, is a charity which provides outdoor access for individuals with physical, cognitive or sensory challenges through activities such as hiking, biking and kayaking. Lastly, the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club provides a safe place for youth to attend aside from school which provides positive role models and promotes healthy living. 100% of the proceeds generated from this race were given to these three outstanding organizations.

With a 28km and 1250m of climbing, the course offered four stages in the Smith Creek trail network. We are incredibly thankful for West Kelowna Trail Crew society for supporting these incredible trails and this event. Without their recent efforts to push for sanctioning of the Smith Creek trails, this race literally would not have been possible. We urge all riders in the region to purchase an annual membership to the club - think of it like your season's pass to the trails.





Unseasonably wet weather kept the Smith Creek trails in West Kelowna in great shape for race day making for a wet, albeit dust-free race day! After climbing to the very top of the network, stage one took riders down Motobomba, a steep and loamy DH trail.


In contrast to stage one, stage two took riders down More Cowbell with its loose, rocky ridgeline - one place nobody would want to crash. Riders were then faced with a mid-stage sprint to Santa's Revenge, which was followed by lower Dear Santa. This culminated with around 7 minutes of racing by the time riders reached the parking lot!





Stage 3 was arguably the most demanding stage of the day. It included Dear Santa and Lower Travelling man - a local favorite?? With over 500m of vertical drop and several notoriously janky sections, it was an easy stage to throw the entire race away. Not to mention, as the pro categories approached stage 3 start the rain picked up drastically.





Stage 4 took FOMO all the way down to the bottom making for a short and sweet end to the race. However, the open categories were faced with torrential downpour by the time they reached the top of the stage. The slip-and-slide of stage four made it challenging just to stay upright!








Despite the rain, racers, volunteers and spectators stuck around to enjoy beer from Red Bird brewing and food from Bunny Hugs Food truck.