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TWSSF Weekend Update #1
In a town equally known for it’s skiing as it’s parties somedays the choice between skiing and partying can be a tough one. This wasn’t the case on the opening weekend of Whistler’s World Ski and Snowboard Festival. With 32cm of fresh on the ground Saturday morning this journalist’s choice was made as soon as the snow report was read.
The beauty of new snow is how it absolves all care of anything else in the world. As numerous competitions and events played out across the mountain and the village, this skier was shredding deep turns down Sapphire, the Bite and Ruby’s. As professional skiers slid p-tex on rail in the midst of an April snowstorm, this skier climbed Chimney in search of knee-deep tree skiing and found it without trouble. As people organized fashion shows and concerts with top-40 artists, thousands of people crawled over Whistler and Blackcomb mountains putting their own ragged mark on a mountain that never fails to impress.
Sushi rolls on my plate, warm Sake in my cup and a Canuck-won playoff game on the plasma screen; this is where the weekend ended. But as the drinks flow and the parties rage in the background, it’s refreshing to know that somewhere behind all the glitz, the glamour and the garish celebration of a ski festival as large as this one, the real reason for all of it still lies somewhere in the trees and the alpine slopes of the massive hill that stands above the teeming village of Whistler. – Mike Berard
