News

World Ski and Snowboard Festival In Whistler

2011-05-08T22:57:24Z

TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival is off and running

Monster Energy’s The Show kicks of 16^th annual party and shred-fest

Whistler, B.C.– And it’s all begun! The teams have rolled into town, the sponsor tents are set up and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, Frank’s Red Hot, Icebreaker chewing gum and Durex Condoms are now staple items in festival go-ers pockets. Let the games begin.

The Festival began on Friday and to kick it all offFort Knox Five lit up the AXE Canada Mainstage and rocked the party at the iconic Garibaldi Lift Company bar. The State of the Art presented by Bench urban art show was the talk of the town with a mind-blowing array of artistic talents showcased in the Grand Foyer of the Whistler Conference Centre. Today marks the beginning of The Show, Monster Energy’s line-up of anti-comp snowboarding events and night time parties.

The Grand Opening, an intricately designed world-class Slopestyle competition, was be the first major event on the schedule for the snowboarders and was held at the base of Whistler Mountain on Saturday evening.

Featuring music by “Whistler’s favourite DJ”, Mat the Alien, followed by Trouble Andrew, this was an assault on the senses, in the best possible way. Whistler’s Craig Beaulieu took first place for the third time at the TWSSF main event in the village. 2^nd went to Matts Kulisek and 3^rd to Mikey Pederson and giant cheques sealed the deal for these Monster Energy Grand Opening winners.

The Mogul Mash, Monster’s hardcore version of a downhill moguls competition, features a full set of moguls on the dauntingly steep Davies Dervish run on Blackcomb, with a couple of jumps interspersed for good measure. Both time and tricks factor into the end result, creating an event that demands more than just pure luck to succeed. The qualifiers were held yesterday and the finals attracted a wide range of snowboarders and interested spectators. Travis Williams from Vancouver took first place. For the full line up of The Show athletes visit

Iconic Canadian band Spirit of the West played on the AXE Mainstage after Delhi 2 Dublin and local band Brother Twang. Multimedia extravaganza 3PO presented by Pique Newsmagazine, celebrated all things digital, and was an incredible showcase of music, film and digital imagery at the Whistler Conference Centre at 8pm. The night showcased short films (3-5 minutes) from Brazil, Russia and Canada and the Grand Prize of $3500, along with the People’s Choice Award, and a swag of prizing, went to Nathan Gilles from Vancouver, and his incredible film entitled Man & the Mammoth. Chronicling the cave-man’s discovery of the ski, the clay-mation based tale was humorous, emotive and intricately produced. A true gem to watch and perfect example of what 3PO aims to showcase; mixing multi-media’s for an impressive and astounding result.

Kokanee Crankworx Announces 2011 Schedule

2011-05-08T22:53:48Z

KOKANEE CRANKWORX ROLLS OUT 2011 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

World’s Largest Freeride Mountain Bike Festival Returns For Eighth Year July 15-24, 2011

WHISTLER, BC May 3, 2011 – Kokanee Crankworx, the biggest and most prestigious freeride mountain bike festival on the planet is back for 2011. This year’s competition promises to continue the festival’s reputation for hosting the most progressive events on two wheels.

2011 Kokanee Crankworx Event Schedule:

Friday, July 15 Fat Tire Crit – details TBA

Saturday, July 16 Dual Slalom

Sunday, July 17 Garbanzo Downhill

Tuesday, July 19 Canadian Open DH

Wednesday, July 20 Jeep Air Downhill

Wednesday, July 20 Deep Summer Photo Challenge

Thursday, July 21 Teva Best Trick Showdown

Thursday, July 21 Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge presented by Rock Shox

Thursday, July 21 Red Bull Joyride qualifying

Friday, July 22 GIANT Slalom

Saturday, July 23 Red Bull Joyride Finals

Sunday, July 24 Canadian Open Enduro Challenge presented by Kona

While all of the events on the calendar are returning from last year, there have been a couple of significant changes. First the Canadian Open DH has been moved from its closing position on the final Sunday to Tuesday July 19.

“Moving the Canadian Open DH to Tuesday will make for an action-packed start to the festival with three very different downhill events over four days. There is nowhere else in the world where downhill competitors have this kind of variety and quality of racing,” says Darren Kinnaird, Kokanee Crankworx General Manager. “Shifting the Canadian Open DH will allow our national team competitors the opportunity to compete in the Kokanee Crankworx downhills and still participate in the Canadian Nationals. Further it allows us to feature the new format of the Canadian Open Enduro Challenge on the final weekend of the festival. A new format and course is being developed with the assistance of Richie Schley, and the event will be apart of the newly formed North American Enduro Tour.”

2011 TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival

2011-02-23T08:23:22Z

The TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival, April 15-24 2011, is the last stop on the Association of Freeskiing Professional World Tour. The WSI is one of only two world-wide events, out of 21 that host the AFP, to offer all three components of the AFP’s mission “to improve and progress competitive slopestyle, halfpipe and big air skiing.” The revival of the Big Air competition, along with the Slopestyle being integrated back into the WSI line-up, has meant that the WSI is now at the forefront of the commitment to support and evolve the aforementioned three major elements of freestyle skiing. Slopestyle and Big Air are both invitational events, with Superpipe lending its qualities to open entry. The invited athletes will be announced as the AFP World Tour progresses, and the rankings are released. Chief Marketing Officer for the AFP, Chris Jerard emphasizes that “the WSI at Whistler really is the culmination of the entire season for these athletes. We’re very excited about it all coming down to ground zero at Whistler and we couldn’t imagine a more appropriate place to be crowning the World Champion in all three disciplines. The WSI this year really is an incredibly motivating and important final stop on the AFP World Tour.”

This move towards quality events and progressing with the sport, and the times, has flowed over into other aspects of the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival. The most highly anticipated new event for 2011’s Festival is the incredible amalgamation of some of TWSSF’s most popular elements, skiing, snowboarding and filmmaking. With the 72hr Filmmaker Showdown now dominating in the entertainment world, there was a niche in the Festival that had arisen. Those action sports filmmakers, hardcore skiers and boarders who want to tell their story. Enter, Intersection. Teams are required to have a filmer, a skier and a snowboarder, and are given 7 days to produce a 5-7 minute short. Challenges include; an obligatory 30 seconds of Whistler Blackcomb in-bound footage, 30 seconds in the terrain park, the film must be shot within 100km of Whistler, the entirety of the film must be shot within that 7 day period, and 75% of the film must be on snow footage.

Judged for the ‘action-sports’ component, along with filming techniques and further criteria, Intersection lends itself to established filmmaking companies, and to dedicated action sports industry professionals. Entrants are by invitation only, of which expressions of interest are being accepted currently. The top contenders will all receive a $1000 entry prize, and the Grand Prize Winner, earning the Best in Show title, will walk away with the biggest cheque TWSSF has given out, a generous and highly-motivating $15,000

Huge Snowfall Covers Whistler Blackcomb Resort

2011-02-23T08:06:11Z

The snow is falling everyday on Whistler resort during February and the snow base is excellent. All mountain runs are open will all lifts fully operational. Blue bird skies and Winter conditions are creating very memorable experiences for visitors to the resort. Get your skis and snowboards ready and come to Whistler to hit the slopes of Whistler Blackcomb mountains during this epic snow year!