Guest Blogger: Barb Snelgrove
It’s hard to believe that twenty-three years ago Whistler hosted a small event called WinterPRIDE that saw a couple hundred LGBTQ individuals gather in the mountains and Village to enjoy some great ski runs and low key après. This year, the event takes place January 24 – 31, 2015 and has a fresh new name and rebrand but the Whistler Pride & Ski Festival will prove that a kick-ass good time is still a kick-ass good time whatever you call it. This year the festival is ramping up the agenda with a beefed-up, 65-event, week-long party celebrating gender diversity and fun in the mountains.
The key word for 2015’s Whistler Pride & Ski Festival is sociability, with an over-the-top aprés selection of high profile entertainment, brassier bar events and the prerequisite off-the-hook parties. Already one of the biggest Pride ski week events in the world, the 2015 line up will see exciting new additions such as the Night of Comedy at the Whistler Conference Centre, featuring renowned comics Margaret Cho and Kate Willett, the Better Together Pride Banquet fundraiser featuring 2-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee, Darcy Michael, a mini film-fest, and the closing headliners at SNOWBALL, Grammy nominated members of international “DJ royalty” – The Freemasons.
Comedian Margaret Cho performs at the Whistler Pride Night of Comedy January 28, 2015.
That welcoming Whistler vibe can be felt all over the Village as locals and over 3,000 “snowmosexuals” (arriving from 26 nations) dust off their finest toques to join in the fun together, both on and off the slopes. Of course all the festival favourites are back, like the famous (or should we say infamous) daily aprés parties, FURRocious Friday and the classic SPLASH Pool Party. Celebrated evening and late-night events like GenderBender, Snow Bunnies and Whiteout also return to make sure the good times keep going after the lifts shut down.
Of course, most of the real fun is found on the mountains and it wouldn’t be Whistler Pride without the awesome powder and related winter activities Whistler is famous for (after all it was named the #1 Ski Resort in North America for the 2nd year running by SKI Magazine). With new lift upgrades, new on-mountain dining options and new smiling faces everywhere you turn, Pride skiers and boarders can definitely expect to be wowed on the slopes this year.
The Whistler Pride & Ski Festival experience offers all sorts of adventures beyond the ski hill however. It’s also all about the tube park, the tours (snowmobile, zipline, snowshoe, etc) and of course the epic spa and wellness options, shopping, and plenty of culinary adventures in the Village.
The Whistler Pride & Ski Festival may have a new name but it’s the same fun, inclusive great time it has been for the past 23 years — only better. Get more details and accommodations at Whistler.com. Regular Whistler.com customers from BC and Washington State can access a complimentary ticket upgrade for the Margaret Cho: Night of Comedy through the new Whistler Rewards program. See you on the slopes at #WhistlerPride!
Barb Snelgrove is a media consultant, the host of QueerFM Radio in Vancouver, on-air reporter for OutlookTV/Outtv and a freelance writer and blogger. Better known as “megamouthmedia” you can follow her on twitter at @megamouthmedia.
