Skipress - Index

Skipress - TWSSF Special Edition 2008 - Index

COMPETITION
Lest we forget, the Telus World Ski and Snowboard
Festival started life as the World Technical Skiing
Championships, lo those many years ago. And
while you’re unlikely to see any Bigfoot competitions
during the 13 th edition of Whistler’s unique
Mountain Kulture extravaganza, if you pay close
attention, you just might notice a fl urry of new
excitement in this year’s athletic competitions.
“We’ve got a renewed commitment to the athletic
events this year,” said Sue Eckersley, Festival
organizer and Whistler’s favourite party-thrower.
“While we’ve become A-Club for film, music,
photography and the arts, we want to make sure
the alpine events retain their prominence.”
And with the Olympics looming two years hence,
certain events have taken on a new importance
as preview tests for gold-tinged hopes.
In fact, some countries — notably Japan and
Australia — have been holding competitions to
24 THE TWSSF ISSUE 2008
Photos: David McColm
LET THE GAMES
BEGIN
CAN SPORT AND CULTURE THRIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE? MAX FIGURES
THEY DO EVERY APRIL IN WHISTLER, BUT WHAT’S HE KNOW?
— BY G.D. MAXWELL
select athletes to sponsor as Festival competitors.
Aussie surfer-turned-snowboarder phenom,
17-year-old Nathan Johnstone, earned the right to
represent the blokes from Down Unda at this year’s
Superpipe competition when he took top prize at
the Australian Snowboard Open at Perisher Blue
earlier this year. He’ll be leading a contingent of
hyped-up countrymen to Whistler.
Japan has been holding a series of qualifiers
around the country and in Korea, with winners
meeting for a head-to-head competition — the
Canada Cup Big Air — in late March. The biggest
airhead from that competition will carry
the honour of Japan to Whistler for the Big Air
competition scheduled to kickoff the Festival on
April 12.
The biggest news on the competition front,
though, is the Whistler debut of the Orage
Masters. Having earned the rebellious label ‘anticomp,’
the Masters pits eight teams of four skiers
against each other in a bizarre marriage of slopestyle
jibfest and Mardi Gras costume party.
The teams, sponsored by the biggest names in
skiing, will duke it out head-to-head in one of the
most spectator-friendly, on-hill competitions in
all skidom — see Eve Boissonnault’s piece on
page 26 for lurid detail.
If it seems like the high-profi le comps are frontloaded
— the Orage Masters takes place April 12,
same day as the crowd-pleasing Big Air finals
later in the evening — the entire following week
will showcase training, qualifi ers and semi-fi nals
leading up to the high-fl ying Superpipe Finals
and Superhit Big Air on April 19 th .
“Our roots are in competition,” Sue Eckersley
assures. “You will be impressed with what you
see this year.”
Photo: Courtesy of TWSSF