Media Releases

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Tough Mudder Whistler crowned ‘Sport Event of the Year’ at PRESTIGE Awards

Suggested tweet: Tough Mudder Whistler crowned ‘Sport Event of the Year’ at 10th annual #PRESTIGE Awards. http://bit.ly/1QHhoBo @ToughMudder

The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA) has awarded Tough Mudder Whistler the title of Canadian Sport Event of the Year (Group B) at the 10th annual PRESTIGE Awards. The Awards were held March 7th, 2016 during the CSTA’s annual Sport Events Congress at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. Tough Mudder Whistler was a finalist alongside the BC Athletics Track and Field Championship Jamboree 2015 (Nanaimo, B.C.) and the World Sledge Hockey Challenge 2015 (Leduc, Alta).

Tough Mudder Whistler comprises of 16 – 20 kilometres of mountainous terrain, featuring stunning views and a sprawling course with more than 20 obstacles designed to test teamwork and grit. The 2015 event saw 12,457 participants get muddy in the mountains. Nicholas Cogger, Director of Business Development, Canada at Tough Mudder Events Ltd is ecstatic about the big win, saying “We are thrilled to be recognized by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance with a PRESTIGE award,” said Nicholas Cogger, Director of Business Development, Canada at Tough Mudder Events Ltd. “We’ve worked closely with our partners in Whistler to build the family of Tough Mudder events over the years, and we couldn’t be happier to have been honoured by the industry for our achievements in sports tourism,” he said.

New for 2016, Whistler welcomes the Tough Mudder Half, featuring all the mud in half the distance. Read more about Tough Mudder Whistler here.

“Whistler hosts an incredible calibre of events and festivals such as the annual Tough Mudder event,” said Louise Walker, Tourism Whistler’s Vice President of Marketing. “It is quite an honour for the resort to attract such exceptional and sought-after events, helping to build Whistler’s reputation as a world-class year-round resort,” she said.

And the commendations don’t end here, with Whistler’s businesses community continually being recognized for their commitment to providing outstanding service.

Whistler as a destination, alongside several of Whistler’s businesses have been recognized with a variety of awards, including:

World's Best Family Travel, Canada Resorts – Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler (#2), Fairmont Chateau Whistler (#2) – Travel + Leisure's 2015 World's Best Awards
Best Resorts in Canada – Nita Lake Lodge (#1) – Readers’ Choice Awards 2015, Condé Nast Traveler
Top Family-Friendly Ski Resorts in Canada – Whistler (#3) – Yahoo! Travel Australia
Top 10 Destinations in Canada – Whistler (#7) – Trip Advisor 2016 Travellers' Choice Awards
Top 10 Best Fine Dining Restaurants in Canada – Rim Rock Café (#7) – Trip Advisor 2016 Travellers' Choice Awards
100 Best Restaurants in Canada – Araxi – OpenTable

“Tourism Whistler would like to extend our gratitude to our member businesses who continue to strive for the very best in customer service, continuing to raise the overall guest experience and produce world-class results” added Walker.

Some additional Whistler awards and accolades include:

Best Ski Resort in North America – Whistler, BC (#1) – SKI Magazine

The Best Spas in the World – The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge (#4) – Readers’ Choice Awards 2015, Condé Nast Traveler

The World’s Top 10 Ski-In/Ski-Out Resorts – Four Seasons Resort Whistler – Robb Report

10 Best Ski Resort Restaurants in Canada – Araxi and The Brewhouse – Foodnetwork.ca

Best Après Ski Bar – Garibaldi Lift Co. (#6) – USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2016

Best Ski Resort – Whistler Blackcomb (#6) – USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2016

Best Ski Town – Whistler (#8) – USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2016

Top 25 Hotels in Canada – Nita Lake Lodge (#16), First Tracks Lodge (#24) – Trip Advisor 2016 Travellers' Choice Awards

Top 100 Hotels & Resorts in the World – Nita Lake Lodge (#22) – Readers’ Choice Awards 2015, Condé Nast Traveler

Canada's 100 Best Restaurants – Araxi (#58) – Canada's 100 Best

5 Stars - Four Seasons Resorts and Residences Whistler - Forbes Travel Guide 2016 Star Award Winners

4 Stars - The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Whistler - Forbes Travel Guide 2016 Star Award Winners

A more complete list of Whistler’s recent awards is available here.

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Whistler is Canada's premier year-round leisure and meeting destination located in the Coast Mountains 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Consistently rated the top ski resort in North America, Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The resort offers an extensive range of accommodations totaling 10,000 bedrooms among 24 hotels as well as townhomes, condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler also boasts more than 100 restaurants and bars, 200 retail shops, 25 spas and countless activity options from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 10,000 permanent residents.

Tourism Whistler is the member-based marketing and sales organization representing Whistler, operating the Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler Golf Club, Whistler Visitor Centre, as well as 1.800.944.7853 and whistler.com - Whistler's official source for visitor bookings and information. As the convention and visitors bureau for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler represents more than 7,000 members who own, manage and operate properties or businesses on resort lands including hotels, restaurants, activity operators and retail shops.

Media can visit whistler.com/media for Whistler facts, media releases, story starters, local personality profiles and access to images and B-roll.

Broadcasters: Whistler now has the capability to take you live with our enhanced fibre network. The significantly expanded network of more than 200 kilometres of fibre optic cabling throughout the resort allows instant transmission of HD signals to any location at any time. Details on how to access, and book the fibre are available on our media site.

Media Contacts

Katie Brockett
Coordinator, Communications
T: 604.938.2726
E: kbrockett@tourismwhistler.com

Tania Sear
Coordinator, Travel Media
T: 604.938.2734
E: tsear@tourismwhistler.com

W: www.whistler.com/media
T: www.twitter.com/mediaTWhistler
F: www.facebook.com/GoWhistler