Olympian Mark McMorris returning home to promote snowboarding in Saskatchewan

A province as flat as Saskatchewan seems an unlikely place to produce one of the world's best snowboarders— but Regina-born Mark McMorris has proved the doubters wrong.

The three-time Olympic medallist and record holder for the most Winter X Games medals (21) returns home this weekend, but not to compete. Instead, he's helping promote the sport in the province where his snowboarding roots lie.

McMorris will be at Optimist Hill in Saskatoon on Saturday for the first North American stop of the Burton Mysteries Series worldwide tour. The event will feature a banked slalom race for snowboarders of all abilities, demonstrations by professional athletes, product giveaways and a medal awards party afterward.

"I just want more people to realize how fun this sport is and make it more accessible to people, because it's truly an amazing thing I get to do," McMorris told Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski on Friday. "It's nice to show up and give back."

Burton officials asked Saskatchewan's snowboarding star for potential locations for the event, and McMorris named Optimist Hill, which is close to the city and a site the McMorris Foundation has supported with fundraising. 

"You can go after school or if you only have an hour you can get some runs in," McMorris said. "It's a nice excuse to come and share the sport with the province I love the most."

Officials from Arena Snowparks, located in Pemberton. B.C., will be on hand to show Optimist staff how to build and maintain a terrain park.  

Growing number of snowboarders in Saskatoon

There are more kids snowboarding than skiing and tubing, according to Optimist Hill's general manager Maxine Tebbe, and having McMorris show off his talent at the hill will continue to boost the sport's popularity in Saskatoon.

"It shows kids that even though you are from Saskatchewan you can make it to the Olympics in a snowboarding event," Tebbe said. "It's giving a lot of kids the opportunity to say, like, 'Yeah I can maybe do this, too.'"

Optimist Hill is a great place for people to be introduced to the sport, Tebbe says. In recent years, the hill's elevation has been increased, and an equipment rental shop and a second lift added.

"We're a starter hill," Tebbe said. "This is somewhere where people can learn how to snowboard before taking it big time. This is a place where people can just come out for a couple hours without having to drive five to six hours to have fun on the hill."

Tebbe says the Optimist Hill hopes to create a freestyle snowboarding club— the discipline in which McMorris excels.

The event kicks off at 8:30 a.m., with awards handed out at the party afterward.

— With files from Saskatoon Morning.