A skier in a neon pink one piece airs off a massive booter in the Blackcomb XL terrain park. Next, a guy carrying lit sparklers does a rail slide, followed by a few Boy Scouts who decide to build a fire out of p-tex and old skis at the bottom of the course. And so begins my third day at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
The Orage Masters is unofficially known as the Anti-Comp of skiing – in fact, there isn’t really anything official about the comp at all. It’s not so much about pulling out the biggest baddest tricks, but more about entertaining the judges with wacky costumes and a little creativity. The event features teams of four hitting as many laps of the slopestyle course as they can in 20 minutes. Points are given by the judges and the team with the most points wins. This year’s course was designed by pro skier TJ Schiller and featured a couple big ass rails, a few booters, and a crazy tree jib.
A fair number of brave souls put on their GORE-TEX, braved the spring weather and headed up to the Nintendo Terrain Park on Blackcomb Mountain for some ski-tertainment. In between heats, popular sideline activity included sliding headfirst down the hill on your belly (“sealing it”) and chasing runaway boards.
Team Volkl with their Boy Scout costume theme won first prize this year for their aggressive tree jibs, creative front flips and determination to build a fire in between runs.
After the Orage Masters, I rushed down the mountain at mock speed to hit Zune’s free outdoor concert series.
Mamma’s Cookin’ warmed up the crowd with a little roots and blues, before Ozomatli took the stage. Maybe it was the energy drinks pumping through my veins, maybe it was the uplifting carnival vibe, but Ozomatli is one of the most entertaining bands I’ve ever seen. Their music is infused with Latin, reggae, jump-up, rock and world music influences and quite simply makes you want to shake your booty. Every song was a new adventure and a new percussion instrument and the Whistler crowd loved it.
At the end of the show, the band came down into Skiers’ Plaza and paraded through the crowd, pausing for a drum circle dance party in the centre. It was like carnival – without the sequin bikinis. Ozomatli plays again tonight at the GLC at 9pm.
Well, I’m taking tonight off from the bar scene, but tomorrow’s festival adventure includes checking out Led Zepplin cover band, Whole Lotta Led and hitting the Three Point Oh multimedia show.
Finally, check out the pimped out Pontiac Vibe, designed by sharpie artist, Tim Barnard.
Hot Tip of the Day: If you need a little freshening up between events, pop by the Black XS tent to grab a perfume sample or a quick spray of this new Paco Rabanne scent.
