Anderson Creek Campground in Boston Bar was host to 145 gold panners from around the world last weekend.
The annual Fraser River Gold Panning Championships sees children, teens and adults compete in several different events to see who can recover a predetermined amount of gold flakes from a bucket of pay dirt the fastest.
“Everyone enjoyed it so much that 80 per cent of the campground is booked for next year,” said organizer Dan Moore, who is better known as Yukon Dan. “The competition was a huge success. We hope to see everybody again next year. Everybody went home with ‘Gold Fever.’”
The Fraser River Gold Panning Championships kicked off with two days of workshops and demonstrations in Yale. The competition began on Saturday, with the top third in each category moving on to the Sunday finals. Numerous prizes were handed out, including chainsaw carvings of gold miners and pieces of amethyst from Brazil with mining scenes depicted on them.
Children Final:
1st - Bryan Anca, 5 flakes 8:40
2nd - Emily Cadieux, 5 flakes 9:04
3rd - Josh Dean, 5 flakes 9:06
Teen Final:
1st - Vanya Plotnikoff, 4 flakes 3:34
2nd - Levi Cowan, 4 flakes 5:15
3rd - Samantha Grison, 4 flakes 8:17
Child Plus Teen Final:
1st - Alina Stooshnoff & Vanya Plotnikoff, 9 flakes 6:39
2nd - Tynan Dea & Samantha Traer, 7 flakes 12:51
3rd - Bryan Anca & Peter Anca, 6 flakes 14:59
Adult Final:
1st - Dave Carlson, 6 flakes 2:40
2nd - Dale Scott, 6 flakes 4:41
3rd - Bob Sabat, 6 flakes 5:26
Professional Final:
1st - Sherie Lavalley, 17 flakes 13:47
2nd - Carole Borthwick, 17 flakes 14:39
3rd - Willie Sherstobitoff, 17 flakes 15:04
Open Final:
1st - Vanya Plotnikoff, 10 flakes 2:34
2nd - Carole Borthwick, 10 flakes 3:20
3rd - Sam Tomelin, 9 flakes 4:57
Hand in Hand:
1st - Dave Carlson/Donna Carlson, 3 flakes 5:07
2nd - Aaron Brown/Kassan Borthwick, 3 flakes 6:13
3rd - Lisa Scott/Rod Scott, 3 flakes 6:39
Flat Pan:
1st - Robin Rosborough, 9 flakes 3:47
2nd - Ken Montie, 9 flakes 4:39
3rd - Willie Sherstobitoff, 9 flakes 5:15
Blind Fold:
1st - Wendy Eastman/Stuart Small, 5 flakes 11:05
2nd - Larry Matthews/Carole Borthwick, 5 flakes 13:04
3rd - Sherie Lavalley/Karen Thayer, 6 flakes 15:49
Three Person Fun Event:
1st - Sam Tomelin/Emily Hanson/Trenton Vegara, 9 flakes 19:27
Anything but a Gold Pan:
1st - Robin Rosborough, 4 flakes 1:59
Grudge:
1st - Vanya Plotnikoff, 8 flakes 5:41
Iron Person:
1st - Sherie Lavalley, 8 flakes 9:09