Westcoast Triple Plank | Full Recap

Living Da Good Life

Westcoast Triple Plank Recap

Words + Photos Aga Iwanicka

Watch the 2026 video recap. Film + Edit Mitch Smith

One way of looking at the Westcoast Triple Plank (WCTP), a Vancouver Island based 4-day long celebration of board sports, is through the lens of a wide spectrum of awards presented throughout the weekend. The closing award ceremony lasted over two hours and brought together all participants, exhausted after a 3-plank rally from one coast of Vancouver Island to the other, but with their cups full to the brim.

Waves of loud laughter and screams of joy resonated through the evening, often times overpowering the megaphone-muffled voice of the MC Colin D Watt. A few moments of silent reflection, remembering good friends who left us too early, wove through the lightheartedness. With eyes still shimmering with tears, the crowd immediately picked up the energy, and the ramble continued. Rad Mom and Dad awards were handed out, and organizers gave away numerous snow, surf and skateboards, many were iced on stage. The cherry on top was Austen Sweetin’s band Buoy Razz playing afterwards, warming up the stage for a punk rock band Grown Ugly. It was a celebration of community, and at the same time, a moment of recognition for the individuals who make this community so precious—like extra-strength glue, keeping us all close together.

That's one way to open a Smirnoff Ice. And, King Snow approves.

Patagonia has presented WCTP since its first year in 2016, and the event is the fruit of a decade of hard work by two dedicated community-builders, Marie-France Roy and Natalie Langmann-Towers, backed by their team of friends and volunteers. The primary goal is to raise funds for the Redd Fish Restoration Society, which specializes in environmental management and helps restore ecosystems on Vancouver Island, such as wild salmon habitats. Through registration fees, silent auctions, and beverage and merch sales, the organizers have raised over $185,000 to date.

Community is built, not earned or bought. WCTP participants gather on Thursday for day one, dubbed Dig Day. But even before everyone arrived at Mount Washington, JF Pelchat laid down the round, course-defining track on a slope of farmed snow gathered from all over the Mount Washington Ski Resort by none other than Dave Thomas, legendary groomer with many talents up his rugged sleeves, including serving as a maintenance supervisor and photographer at Baldface Lodge. Armed with shiny, new Garant shovels were JF’s young helpers—his two daughters, Juliette and Billy, Dane Menzies and Estelle Pensiero—and the rest of the WCTP riders joined them on Thursday.

Dig Day.

Garant stepped in this year as the Dig Day sponsor and delivered 100 red-handled shovels for all the volunteers. They also brought Craig McMorris and East Coast based photographer Joseph Roby to Vancouver Island to report from the field. Garant ambassador and master builder Ben Bilocq led the rest of the building crew as they divided their time between the course, a small rail garden and a meticulously built quarter pipe, rising 12’ tall.

JF and Ben.

That evening QP session was a show of skills. We saw super-high front threes over the flags by Cannon Cummins, a McTwist by Dane Menzies, and a double back flip over to the back side of the QP by Duke DePasquale, whose name quickly spread through the crowd. Many trains were had, including the mentioned riders, as well as Truth Smith and Kevin Sansalone, who marked the coping with his signature handplants. Some took a creative angle on the QP and made it work as a hip, like Truth Smith, who chucked a double Michalchuk to the bush ride, all while riding in jorts.

Cannon Cummins. Frontside 360.

Kevin Sansalone. Handplant.

Banked Slalom day started early for all of us, but especially for Austen Sweetin, who together with Matt Bruhns, made coffees for the long line of participants fired up to race. Gradient Coffee out of Pemberton served them the Triple Plank roast, prepared especially for the event and featuring a graphic Austen designed himself. Before heading up the mountain anyone could get their clothes repaired at the Patagonia tent, and Julien Gagnon, one of the only two snow-skaters completing the course, took advantage of it.

Austen and Matt serving it up right.

Swiftly carving from bank to bank, with barely any snow spraying from under her board, compressing the rollers under a Burton inflatable gate, this year’s Banked Slalom presenting sponsor, Billy Pelchat secured herself the top spot on the women’s podium, passing her older sister and Olympian Juliette and this year’s NST winner, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. On the men’s top three steps we saw Duke dePasquale, the proverbial black horse of the race and an incredibly talented boarder from Hawaii, followed by Washington-based Cannon Cummins and Tofino-local, Keaton McCallum. Burton had a strong athlete presence, including Triple Plank veteran Maria Thomsen and first-timers Mark Sollors and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. Teenager Devun Goodwin, finishing third in girl’s banked slalom, hand-crafted all the awards organizers handed out through the events out of recycled skateboards together with her dad Matthew. She later told Natalie Langmann that the best and most surreal part of the event for her was the fact that Zoi, her idol and favourite snowboarder, now owns one of the pieces she made herself.

Billy Pelchat on her way to the podium.

Mark Sollors and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.

There isn’t another snowboarding event where one can receive an Oyster King Award, like Nick Felice did, for shacking fresh Island oysters every year on the side of the banked slalom. The most recent addition to the final evening was the Slash Award, honouring the legacy of Martin Gallant. As Lenny Rubenovitch, the artist behind the carved piece he created from wood from Martin’s house, said: “When considering the award we wanted it go to someone who embodied "Da Good Life”. Martin was someone who lead by example and carved his own path in a world full of systems and challenges that can pull people away from a fulfilled life. He lived with so much energy, flair, style and a special way of being. One of his qualities we all loved most was his ability to tell stories." The judges awarded the piece to JF Pelchat, celebrating his untamed French-Canadian spirit, his involvement in the community and the mentorship he provides to the next generation of riders, going far beyond his talented daughters. It was one of those moments when heartfelt cheering mixed with tears, when shirtless JF on the top step of the podium gave a lively tribute to his old friend through the megaphone, followed by a short, wild dance—in true Martin fashion.

JF Pelchat as seen living Da Good Life.

The seemingly most random of them all, the DFM Award, which stands for Dead F***king Middle, has always been the most generous prize of the weekend, rewarding the riders scoring exactly in the middle of the Trifecta ranks, and in fact captures what the Westcoast Triple Plank stands for. It is a true celebration of having fun over competition, the participation award for a lucky couple of riders who dare to show up and put in the effort simply for the joy of being part of this unique boarding community and doing so for a good cause. It’s the simple act of participation for no apparent gain or reward that keeps the community strong and alive, whether by showing up early to help, cleaning up afterwards, or cheering on and mentoring the next generation. The truth is, we can only thrive when we work together, selflessly, without the need for recognition.