What do a bunch of techy, blogger type guys do on a Friday night in one of the best nightlife infused ski and snowboard resorts in Canada? If you answered go out and get hammered and party the night away, you are incorrect! Try more along the lines of staying home until the wee hours of the night trying to get on the internet to blog about our day in Whistler. Sounds fun eh?
That is exactly what we pretty much did on Friday evening. After the Seasons movie premier, we hit the grocery store to get some food and five guys with five separate laptops sat around a kitchen table, reviewing our 1000’s of photos taken that day, talking guy smack, and of course having a contest on who could emitting the worst smelling air and make the most interesting animal grunts till the wee hours.
Saturday was super fun and interesting day for me. I went to check out the Orage Masters Event on Blackcomb Mountain in the afternoon. What is the Orage event? It is an event of 8 teams of four skiers that are competing for the ultimate big air bragging rights.
This event is not like your usual traditional ski event; far from it for that matter. Dubbed the “Anti-Comp”, the Orage Masters is one part slope-style, one part free for all, and one part masquerade party. There were teams dressed up as Vikings, Pirates, Bikers and all sorts of other interesting costumes throwing down some serious tricks and serious air on a custom built slope course; Definitely a super fun event for spectators to watch and better yet a great event for a photographer to shoot.
My press pass pretty much enabled me to get right onto the course to take photos. I would have to say the jumps here where massive and the athletes that were literally launching themselves into the atmosphere and pulling some crazy tricks in the air frigging crazy. Here are just a few shots of the course and the big big air.
Top of the Course
Picture of the Course from the top
Picture 1/2 way down course
Biggest Jump on the Course
Tricks and Big Air Photos!
Want to see more? More photos soon when I figure out the link.
Still don’t believe the photos? Check out the video:
Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival - Seasons World Film Premier
Yesterday evening we managed to purchase some tickets to go and check out the world premiere of Seasons; the new mountain bike video from The Collective. The video was being shown inside the Telus Conference center in Whistler. The conference room was set up with about 5 big screens and lots of stadium seating. Tickets were $15, a bit steep for a movie these days, but the event was a good one. To start, there was a really good trailer for a a snowboard movie coming out in September 2008. After the snowboard trailer, in the middle of all the screens a singer came out (I can’t remember his name) and was singing and playing the guitar. This guy was awesome! He did a couple songs and then the Seasons video started.
Seasons what can I say? After watching the movie, it inspired me to want to go and ride my bike and ride it fast! Asides from wanting to ride my bike, I would have to say the cinematography, scenery and action sequences in this movie were awesome. If you like mountain biking and the evolution of the sport and can respect the different disciplines of riding, you should definitely go and see this film.
The film is basically about seven world class riders from around the world that all have different riding styles: Andrew Shandro, Cam McCaul, Steve Smith, Matt Hunter, Darren Berrecloth, Thomas Vanderham and Steve Peat. The film goes one to show what each of these pro riders, does in each season of the year ; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter to stay ontop of their game. One message that is pretty evident in this movie is each of these riders has a huge level of determination and dedication for their sport to stay and be the best at what they do. I won’t give away too many details as I will let you find out for yourself. Go and check it out. Ride on! Spring is here!
I arrived to Whistler this afternoon to a city buzzing with a great vibe. After picking up my press pass at the Telus Conference Center, I quickly found out the vast quantity of Music, Arts and Sports events this festival offers over the 10 days. The brochure and schedule of events that was handed to me was impressive. There is definitely a lot of stuff going on this week!
After I got all my crap to our condo and got my bearings, I headed into the village to catch the last half of the Big Air training run. These competitors pretty much huck themselves off this massive jump that is constructed near the bottom of the mountain. Check out the picture of the jump from a distance. There are hundreds of people standing at the bottom watching in amazement as the competitors launch themselves way high in the air.
These photos here show the main square where all the action takes place. There is the main stage for the free outdoor concerts and tents for the corporate sponsors.
My press pass enabled me to “get on the other side of the fence” very close to the actual jump to get a better perspective of these guys hucking big. It was amazing to see how big some of these guys were going! The finals for this event take place tomorrow evening with competitors jumping through rings of fire. That should be interesting to check out!
Here are some pictures from the jump. More to follow later.
The snow gods have been really good to us this year in British Columbia, and what a better way to end an epic season than to have a 10 day long party!
The world famous Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival kicks off this weekend in beautiful Whistler British Columbia and I will be there with a press pass to cover it for Futurelooks.com ! Skiers, snowboarders and fellow party goers unite from around the globe to have one last kick off before summer rolls in.
The festival features, over 50 live concerts, endless parties and nightclubbing, big air, superpipe, Demo Park competitions, art and theater events, and countless other events. Check out the official Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival website for more information. www.whistler2008.com .
I’m really looking forward to checking out this event as I missed it last year due to some day job commitments. Stay tuned on Futurelooks.com and my blog for pictures and updates this weekend.
Although Whistler is North America’s #1 ski and snowboard destination, it also turns into the world’s best mountain bike park in the summer. What does this have to do with this festival? Well, this is the venue for the world premier of a mountain bike film called “Seasons” filmed by The Collective. These guys make awesome mountain bike videos, and if “Seasons” is going to be anything like their last movie “Roam” this is something not to be missed. I am really hoping I have the opportunity to get a ticket to check out the film. See the flyer below or check out the website at www.thecollectivefilm.com .
Tis the season for the warehouse sales! ROI does a number of outdoor ski lines. Here is the info that came in:
Warehouse Sale Up to 80% off!
Outdoor and Snow Sport Product and Organic Apparel
-Movement Skis
-Snowshoes
-Deuter Packs
-Hestra Gloves
-Komperdell Poles
-Limited number of Diamir Bindings and Colltex Skins
-Mens and Ladies Organic “OTE” Apparel
Thur April 3 - 5pm - 9pm
Fri April 4 - 5pm - 9pm
Sat April 5 - 9am - 6pm
