UBC Okanagan’s Great Northern Concrete Toboggan team on the course with their winning sled.
A team of 23 engineering students from UBC Okanagan has earned national recognition at the 2026 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race. Facing competition from approximately 20 universities across Canada, the student-led team earned second-place finishes in Technical Report, Braking, Steering and Frame Design, won the head-to-head King of the Hill event, and placed second overall.
The Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race is the longest-running national university engineering design competition in Canada, assembling more than 400 engineering students from approximately 20 universities each year. Hosted in London, Ontario, with Race Day taking place at Boler Mountain, the competition challenges teams to design, build and race toboggans featuring concrete sliding surfaces. Students are evaluated on design excellence, project management, safety criteria, team spirit and overall performance.
Often referred to as “T-Bog,” the UBC Okanagan team delivered a standout performance across both technical and race categories. Their King of the Hill victory marked the culmination of nearly a year of design development, structural testing and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Owen Kirk, a fifth-year Civil Engineering student and team captain, says the King of the Hill title was a moment the team had worked toward all year.
“Winning King of the Hill for UBCO for the first time in 12 years was an amazing experience,” explains Kirk. “Seeing the toboggan go down the hill for the first time after 10 or 11 long months of hard work and dedication just can’t be described. To then see it go down against other teams really makes you proud of what you and your teammates have accomplished.”
“Our frame, steering and brakes all won Best Design awards this year at the competition. Our concrete team also made big strides in testing new additives in our mixes and utilizing carbon fibre in our ski reinforcement for the first time. Overall, we put together a reliable, innovative and sustainable toboggan that performed on the hill against some of the most amazing toboggans I’ve seen.”
“This experience has taught me so much about time and people management. Bringing together a large group of engineering students and asking them to take time out of their busy schedules to design and build a toboggan is not the most straightforward task, but it has been equally the most stressful and rewarding experience I could have had.”
Kirk plans to graduate this spring. This was his fourth GNCTR competition and his first as team captain.
UBC Okanagan engineering students pose with the trophy after winning the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Competition.
Dr. Ahmad Rteil, Assistant Professor with the School of Engineering, served as faculty advisor to the team.
“The achievement is a result of the students’ work for countless hours, from early design iterations to final race day performance, with high dedication and creativity,” said Rteil. “They applied their engineering knowledge with rigor and demonstrated their exceptional resilience, team spirit and work ethic. I couldn’t be prouder of what they accomplished.”
UBC Okanagan’s Concrete Toboggan team included:
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With another podium finish and a King of the Hill title, UBC Okanagan engineering students continue a strong tradition of excellence at the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race.
Full competition results and details can be found at https://www.gnctr2026.ca.