Whistler, BC – Wrapping up its 15th year, Whistler, B.C., once again, played host to the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival (WSSF)—North America’s largest annual gathering of winter sports, music, arts and culture.
For ten days, April 16 – 25 this year, the WSSF offers the public a plethora of events and activities throughout the day, all week long. From the Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown and the 72hr. Filmmaker Showdown Second Cuts Screening to the World Skiing Invitational and the Schick Fashion Exposed fashion show, just to name a few.
George Saratlic, with Product Communications at GM Canada, mentioned this vague idea to me a few weeks, regarding the festival, the Chevy sponsorship and a way to expose it to various media; inviting some prominent Vancouver-based bloggers/social media folk along with some auto journalists to cover the event.
I was all over the idea, and a few weeks later, George made it happen, finding myself, along with fellow journalist Russell Purcell, tearing up the Sea To Sky Highway departing Vancouver enroute to Whistler in our 2010 Camaro SS:
Along the way, we stopped by this joint in Squamish called Grilled Fromage, owned by this crazy, ex-Calgarian dude named Colin Bush, who serves up 57 different types of grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course, the place is adorned with ‘cheesy’ fixtures throughout:
Colin takes these old Bob Ross type paintings and adds a little something extra to them. I tried to buy this ‘General Lee hurdling a mountain river’ painting from him, but he wouldn’t part with it:
Chevrolet Canada, one of six main sponsors at the WSSF, arguably had the strongest presence and visibility, securing a stellar cul-de-sac locale within Whistler Village, enjoying consistent traffic.
The setup included the Chevrolet Stage with live bands throughout the day, various Chevy vehicles on display with public access, Chevy tent offering promos and information, and a cool installment where local artists used the Camaro hood as their canvas. Chevrolet on Scene was also on deck, and a crew of social media insiders covered the event from all angles.
PHOTO BELOW: Russell snapping a shot of the Chevy Girls with GM sponsored John Kucera, member of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team:
Just outside the Village, Chevrolet allowed the public to test their products on the open road, including the 2010 CamaroSS and the 2010 Tahoe Hybrid:
PHOTO BELOW (from L to R): Fred Lantenschlager, GM Sponsorship & Auto Show Manager; Russell Purcell, auto journalist; Myself; and Janice Avon, with MacLaren Momentum agency in Vancouver handling GM Sponsorhips programs, including the Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey initiative and the GMC Cup, to name a couple:
PHOTO BELOW (L to R): A few bloggers also on the trip: John Bollwitt; Rebecca Bollwitt, aka Miss604, and John Biehler, all big in the social media/technology space:
Here, our blogger folks tweetin’ it up during lunch, relaying the Chevy Road Trip and WSSF experience out to the masses…myself, I’m debating the Twitter thing, still on the fence but we’ll see:
The Whistler Conference Centre was home to State of the Art, an exhibition of gritty, urban art…I caught the tail end as they were tearing down but managed to snap some cool pieces:
We missed the Schick Fashion Exposed fashion show, unfortunately, but blogger John Beilher was there and took a few shots:
Misc. photos around Whistler Village, capturing the vibe of the WSSF:
Overall, the entire WSSF event was fantastic, the CamaroSS was unreal (a full review in the coming months), my blind date for the weekend with Russell Purcell was delighful, and Chevrolet’s tie-in with the WSSF, replacing the outgoing Pontiac brand, is a brilliant one; and one that will certainly make a positive impact. Hopefully, I’ll make it out again for 2011…but this time, I’m bringing my snowboard!
