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The electricity in Whistler reached a fever pitch this weekend as thousands flocked to the hippest little ski town on the planet. I’m charging through the last mile of this marathon of good times and my brain seems to have flown the coop. It’s been a whirlwind of parties, concerts, evening functions and friends.

A quick review of the Grenade Games: Myrosha Daley won the Dual Slalom moguls, TJ Schneider took home the bacon at the superpipe competition. It’s also worth mentioning that Sarah Conrad from Halifax, Nova Scotia was the only girl who made it through to the pipe competition. Meanwhile, Danny Kass won the Mini Ramp Jam on Friday, which consisted of pro skaters judging the pro snowboarders. Danny Kass won the competition.

Which brings me to the Grenade Games Grand Finale –a three hit jib jam format that started off with a mega step up, transitioned into a tree jib, a staircase rail and then hit at the bottom.

Unfortunately my photography skills deteriorated due to heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages at the GLC’s Grenade Games Monster party. Photographer and snowboard legend, Dano Pendygrasse got some killer shots of the event, which you can check out on the Monster page here.

I laughed, I cried – thankfully, I didn’t hurl – as we watched the athletes throw down in front of a crowd of more than 10,000. DJ Z-trip got everyone all worked up with his mash-up of metal, dance and rock. In the end, Craig Beaulieu of Pemberton, BC won the grand prize of $10, 001.

The village was rammed with parties as thousands spilled into the bars, pubs and nightclubs of Whistler, not to mention the biggest party of all at the Telus Conference Centre. It was one heck of a night no matter where you spent it. This is slightly random, but has anyone seen Toaster around at the Kokanee after parties? This man has spent the entire week hitting up every event in his crazy flashing disco suit and is fueled only by adrenaline and Kokanee. Check out these platforms:

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“Listen closely, you can hear the fat lady practicing her scales,” says Lisa Richardson of Watermark Inc, the folks who organize this epic event.

The 10th and final day of the festival is here. All athletic competitions are over and most athletes are probably still in bed, sleeping off last night. But, make sure you make it to the Zune Concert Series, featuring 54-40 and Jon and Roy from 2:30 to 5:30pm. Hello! It’s 54-40!

Tonight, check out the Best of the Fest fundraiser at the GLC, which raises money for the Playground Builders Association. Watch all the festival highlights, plus help them build playgrounds for underprivileged children around the world. If you’re feeling like a dose of culture, the Chairlift Revue theatre event is the perfect way to wind down after and intense week.

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Last night started off in the Happy Planet tent, where I sampled a few cocktails by Lumiere mixologist Cameron Brogue, who actually started his mixing career in Whistler. Each cocktail was specially designed to compliment the Detox, Immunity, and Glow shots, which contain all natural ingredients. The concept of an alcoholic drink that detoxes you while you get drunk is brilliant. Let’s just say I feel like a million bucks today!

The Olympus Pro Photographer showdown started on an “interesting note.” One-upping Filmmaker Showdown host Feet Banks – who came out in his underwear – MC, Mike D, sauntered on stage in a brown wig, white leather boots and his wife’s sexy little sequin dress. The freeskiing legend, Mike Douglas, leaves for a ski trip to Alaska, and somewhere along the way turns into a cross-dresser. Mike has amazing hips and great legs.”Sweet Lord,” I thought to myself, “this is going to be a good show.”

And it was. Much to everyone’s disappointment, Mike decided to put some clothes on, but not before putting on a little show as he bent over to pick something up from the floor.

The calibre of action sports photography shown last night was incredible. From Red Bull photographer Christian Pondella’s extreme locations and athleticsm to Daniel Blom’s creative and colourful snowboard shots, there was an amazing cross-section of talent on display.

During judge deliberation, we watched a tribute to Shane McConky, who recently died base jumping in Italy. This amazing professional freeskier/daredevil had a lot of close connections to Whistler, having pretty much grown up skiing the area. He also base jumped off Whistler Blackcomb’s PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola in December 2008 after convincing the higher ups that it was a great idea. The ski and snowboard world has truly lost one of their legends.

In the end, a humble Whistler-Vancouver local Jordan Manley won the $10,000 prize. This guy has entered five pro photographer competitions and has won them all. His photography skills include capturing a mountain biker in a drop of water, shooting a snowflake, and photographing countless incredible ski and mountian bike athletes in their aw-inspiring elements. This world-renowned competition is sure to shoot Jordan to an even greater level of notoriety in the action sports world.

After all the excitement of last night, Day 8 if the festival is now underway. This afternoon, it’s up to Whistler Blackcomb’s Superpipe to check out the Grenadians. Then, we’ll bomb it down the mountain to watch Bend Sinister and Metric. The Mini Ramp Jam in Village Square (6-8pm) revisits the skate world. A panel of Monster pro skaters , including legendary British skater, Geoff Rowley, will be judging the comp.

The Schick Fashion Exposed event is on tonight with a selection of great In celebration their 30th Anniversary, Westbeach is going to give us a little history lesson on 30 years of snowboard fashion, which is guaranteed to entertain the masses. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy antiques they have pulled from the vault.

Hot tip of the day: The Happy Planet Detox shots totally work. Go to the tent and get as many as you can immediately!

Excitement is building in Whistler Village as the weekend fast approaches. The sunshine was out, the Crocs were off (for one guy in particular) and the shades were on today. Skiers’ Plaza was reminiscent of an Italian piazza with skiers and riders, families, a couple dogs and a few barefoot spectators as the Zune Concert Series kicked off Day 7 of the Telus festival.

Ghost Brothers from Vancouver were first up. Their eclectic reggae, world music sound reminds me of mix between Ben Harper and Ozomatli, who played last weekend. These guys are new to the music scene in Whistler and I think they made quite an inpression on the crowd. I hope to see more of them down the road.

Next up was the Juno award-winning band, The Stills. I managed to head up to the Kokanee VIP area, where we got a great view of the band from the top of the stage. As usual, these guys totally killed it and their energy brought the audience to life.

Next up was the Juno award-winning band, The Stills. I managed to head up to the Kokanee VIP area, where we got a great view of the band from the top of the stage. As usual, these guys totally killed it and their energy brought the audience to life.

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