Events

• Whistler's TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival set to hit the heights

When you have a winter setting that ranks in the wonderland category, there's really only one thing to do: throw a really big party sure to have the joint jumpin'.  Such is the case with the annual TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival, a 10-day, 10-night fiesta like no other; this festival,  held each year in April, lays claim as the biggest annual gathering of winter sports, music, arts and culture in North America.  And they've got the goods to back it up.  Competitions are out of the box: the Orage Masters, features eight teams of four skiers mixing it up during a competition that is one part slopestyle, one part free-for-all, and one part masquerade party (think: skiing heavyweights barrelling down the slopes in pirate costumes, for example). Its snowboarding counterpart, the Grenade Games, brings the legends of shred culture to compete with current pros and upcoming amateurs in a series of events including a superpipe, a slopestyle competition, skateboard sessions, a poker run and the first-of-its-kind dual slalom moguls event (pro skiers compete in the World Skiing Invitationals Superpipe for a $10,000 first place standing).  The annual World Skiing Invitational Big Air event sees pro skiers light up the night, with live music backed by a 15,000-strong crowd...oh, and another cool $10,000 for the champ. Off slope, there are free daily performances throughout the village during the Zune Concert Series, plus a few other gatherings to get the blood pumping.  Park n' Fly Skate Jam, brings skate back to the streets of Whistler with an epic day devoted to the sport and art of skateboarding.  For the artistically-inclined, the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown asks if would-be Spielbergs have what it takes - stamina, endurance, vision...coffee.  (Competitors shoot, edit and produce a three to five-minute video in the Whistler area and present their Oscar contender in just under 72 hours.)  And let's not forget the fashion shows, photography and art exhibits, film screenings, theatre and all-night parties complete with beats from international DJs.  Sure to take this party off the charts.

View footage from TWSSF 2009 here.

• Pemberton's annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday

The Pemberton Valley's Slow Food Cycle Sunday is a unique back-to-the-land bike ride through the beautiful Pemberton Meadows farmland. Riders meet local growers and sample fresh produce with the successful formula of pedaling, snacking, socializing and slowing down. Maps collected at the Pemberton Community Centre will guide cyclists to prime locations along a 26-kilometre (16-mile) stretch (one-way): bite into juicy beef burgers at Pemberton Natural Beef, marvel at the potato creations at Helmer's Organic farm, nibble ice cream sandwiches at Shaw Creek farms and sip award-winning organic Pemberton potato Schramm vodka at Across the Creek Organic Farm (tip: bring your bike or rent your ride in town).

The Worldwatch Institute reports that the average food item eaten in North America has traveled 2500-4000km from farm to table, but this 50 km bike ride will take riders straight to the farm-gate. Whichever path you choose, you're bound to fill your boots...along with your panniers, bike baskets and milk crates.

Over 2300 riders and more than 25 local producers took part in the second Slow Food Cycle in the summer of 2008. Unfortunately summer forest fires cancelled the 2009 event, though the popular event is set to return Sunday, August 15, 2010. www.slowfoodcyclesunday.com

 

• Crankworx - North America's premier mountain biking festival

Every summer, the biggest names in mountain biking descend upon Whistler to hit the Whistler Mountain Bike Park during one of the world's premier mountain bike festivals, Kokanee Crankworx. Athletes from all over the globe flock to the festival to try their hand at some of the most innovative and challenging courses in the industry, while fans rush to watch the dirt and mud fly as heroes are crowned. In 2010, the nine-day event will take place from August 7-15, and features ground breaking events, such as the women's only freeride competition and giant slalom, as well as its marquee event, the Slopestyle and Air DH competition. The long daylight hours and hot summer weather mean more time to take in the live music, riding demonstrations and smokin' competition, not to mention a few rip roarin' parties. 
www.crankworx.com/

• Whistler Film Festival

No one's vision for Whistler's film scene is more grandiose than the founder and executive director of the Whistler Film Festival Society, Shauna Hardy Mishaw. The outreach of the four-day December film festival now keeps this fiery red head working behind her desk year-round. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2011, the Whistler Film Festival has grown from a grassroots effort to an internationally recognized celebration of film - with more than 90 films screened and over $40,000 awarded in prizes and film commissions. Drawing over 7,500 attendees, this Sundance Festival of the North has attracted red carpet royalty Katie Holmes, Debra Kara Unger and Molly Parker, internationally acclaimed directors Norman Jewison and Atom Egoyan, and honored film legend Donald Sutherland. The festival has acted as an industry catalyst as well - generating more than $50 million dollars in film deals to date. In addition to producing the festival, the society now facilitates monthly independent film screenings, local film commissioning programs, educational film workshops for youth and professional development intensives for western-Canadian filmmakers aiming to transform scripts to screen.

View teaser clips from a selection of 'Whistler Stories' films here Contact us to view the full five minute length films, or to request access rights for broadcast.

• Cornucopia: Whistler's Celebration of Wine & Food

Recognized by Forbes Traveler as one of the Top 10 International Food and Wine Festivals, Cornucopia is the resort's legendary four-day festival of gourmet pleasures featuring gala tasting events, seminars, decadent after-parties and much more. Highlights include accompanying an acclaimed Whistler chef to a Pemberton farm to sample locally grown food and sumptuous winemaker dinners hosted by top wineries from around the world. www.whistlercornucopia.com

• 5 Peaks Trail Running Series

In a province with such incredible backcountry, it's not surprising that many runners have taken to the trails. There are excellent trail runs all across the province, but the highest-profile competitive circuit is the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series, with events slated in various Canadian destinations. In British Columbia, the Whistler event is probably the most alluring; here you'll find the best excuse for a trip into the mountains - not to mention a chance to indulge in sushi dinners and treatments at the spa. The Enduro Race is the most demanding of the categories, with a technical 11-kilometre route on Whistler Mountain that leads past landmarks like Harmony Lake and Symphony Bowl. It's a great race for the fleet of foot and the strong of lung. The 2010 race takes place August 21.