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Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival

Roberta Rodger hits Whistler for the final weekend of the festival

Photos by Roberta Rodger

I always look forward to coming up to Whistler for the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival; there’s usually good riding, huge parties, all my friends are in town, and of course, there’s some good snowboard contests.

This year I missed most of the event as I was in Kauai for SBC contributor Stacey Burke’s wedding but I made it up for the final two days. On Friday I met up with SBC editors Matt Houghton and Dean Seguin and we shredded Ridge Runner all morning before heading over to check out the men’s Superpipe qualifiers. Unfortunately we got there just as the qualifiers were ending but we managed to catch Ryo Aono’s run. The young Japanese kid was just killing it, going huge and spinning with sick style. Next up were the skiers so we bailed to do more runs.

Friday evening was the Fashion Expose show at the conference center. I wasn’t really sure what to expect with outerwear in a fashion show but it was actually pretty sweet. First off these guys walked out dressed all in black looking like they meant business. They proceeded to bust out crazy flips and kicks and then an intricate dance/fight sequence, which I think was capoeira, followed by a Bboy/girl crew that had a snake line going on. Definitely got the party going! Some standout companies were Lifetime, Roxy, and Burton although there were some cheesy model moments with guys wearing jackets with no shirts and carrying their snowboards incorrectly. Tsk Tsk! Helly Hansen brought the house down with a jump rope crew that was off the hook I can’t even describe what they were doing but one girl was sitting on her butt skipping rope—crazy!

Saturday morning I met up with Matt Houghton to do a couple runs on Ridge Runner before the Superpipe finals. In the finals the riders got to choose the best of four runs, alternating between men and women. The pipe was super icy and, from what I heard, over vert; you could see some of the girls struggling with the conditions. The Japanese were definitely killing it on both the male and female sides. They were fearless in their runs as the ice didn’t make a difference to them. Both Yuki Furihata and Soko Yamaoka laid down stylish McTwists on their first hits and 720s were standard but I was bummed not to see any 9s. Canadians Mercedes Nicoll and Dominique Vallee were both riding strong, and Sarah Conrad had one the most diverse runs starting off with a huge Melon-to-Fakie to a Cab 540, switch Alley Oop 5, BS 360 to a switch BS 360. Once she gets more amplitude she’ll definitely be a serious threat in the pipe. Sarah placed fifth in the end, with Mercedes Nicoll in fourth, Paullina Ligocka in third, Soko Yamaoka in second, and Yuki Furihata in first.

That evening was the final Big Air contest that unfortunately did not include female snowboarders but skier Sarah Burke was competing on the men’s side. Turns out all the male skiers vote her in every year, which I thought was pretty impressive. They support Sarah and think she’s sick enough to compete against the guys. It leads me to wonder if our male counterparts would ever vote a girl in? Sarah could definitely hold her own on the 60-foot jump, landing smooth backside 5s.

Between the qualifiers and the finals the Ullr contest winner was announced from a combination of web votes, a talent contest, pipe, rail, slopestyle and backcountry events combined to choose a winner. In the end Grete Eliassen came out the winner who said she’d donate all the money to children in Africa if she won. Ya Grete!

For the event’s finale, a party called Prom was hosted for the contestants. People really got into the spirit of things with bouffant taffeta dresses, fish net stockings, teased hair, zoot suits, and a couple Ferris Bueller rip offs. It definitely reminded me of my prom as I witnessed underage kids drinking vodka out of water bottles, ‘80s music blaring, and boys running around the dance floor. And what would a prom be without a queen? Winning the title was Molly Milligan who took it with her smooth moves not only on the dance floor but also in the Stompede and rail session. All in all, a sweet ending to an awesome weekend in Whistler.