After abrupt ends to the last two ski seasons courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic, finally making it to closing day is something worth celebrating.
In Whistler, that celebration will come in the form of hurtling down a 45-degree slope between a few gates—at least for some—when the Saudan Couloir Ski Race Extreme returns to Blackcomb Mountain this month.
“The race is truly like nothing else in the world,” said Whistler Blackcomb events manager Steve Crowley.
“It's something that really kind of epitomizes Whistler Blackcomb’s culture, and I think it's a neat way to end the season and to honour our locals and honour mountain culture.”
The legendary race down Whistler Blackcomb’s steepest run is one of several celebrations taking place this April, courtesy of a partnership between the World Ski and Snowboard Festival (WSSF), Whistler Blackcomb and Corona.
Originally slated to return in 2023, WSSF announced in an Instagram post on Monday, April 4 that it's making its comeback in less than two weeks—albeit in a shortened format.
Without the months of lead-up necessary to produce a massive, multi-day event like the WSSF of years past, the festival—purchased by Gibbons Whistler in November 2019—is instead offering a "2022 WSSF Weekender Experience" from April 15 to 18. According to the festival's website, a "full WSSF experience" is still scheduled to come back next spring.
The 2022 event kicks off on Friday evening, April 15, with registration for the annual Saudan Couloir Ski Race Extreme taking place at Longhorn Saloon between 7 and 9 p.m. (Entry costs $100 and is available beforehand online at bit.ly/37n48GQ).
Billed for years as the world's steepest ski and snowboard race, competitors will get rolling down the "2,500 vertical feet of thigh-burning hell" that is Blackcomb Mountain's Saudan Couloir on Saturday morning. "The extreme race of legend and lore, it will bring out legends of ski and snowboard racing, big mountain pros, and a healthy dose of amateur skiers and snowboarders who aren’t afraid to charge," the event's description reads.
(April 17 will be reserved as a weather day, so competitors will need to be available throughout the weekend.)
“It's crazy how fast this race is selling out; the interest is just through the roof,” said Crowley. “It's hard to go for a walk on the stroll at the moment actually, without someone stopping me and asking me about this thing.”
The infamous race was a long-running staple on Blackcomb every spring beginning in the mid-1980s, until fizzling out in 2001. It was revived in 2018 after a 17-year hiatus.
It draws competitors ranging from veteran world cup racers and big mountain legends to weekend warriors with a penchant for adrenaline. Past recent winners include two-time Olympian Marie-Pier Préfontaine and pro freeskier Stan Rey.
“It is extreme—it's in the title of the race,” said Crowley. “The first section of the course, pretty much all the way down to Jersey Cream run, is going to be a wild ride. It's going to be, you know, shoulder-deep ruts at some point, and that's part of the challenge. It's what brings together a freeskier and ski racer into one kind of competition, which makes it really unique.”
The race will be followed up by a medal ceremony and after-party at Longhorn.
As for the rest of the WSSF calendar, Sunday's main event is a patio party with local DJ duo Double Parked, before festivities wrap up on Monday, April 18 with a retro-themed pond skim, or “slush cup” on Whistler Mountain to mark its last day of winter operations for the season. The pond will be set up by the helipad above Green Chair, with free registration available on the day of. “It should be a real show for sure,” said Crowley.
Whistler Blackcomb will also host a family scavenger hunt around the mountain for anyone who’s not willing to risk closing out their Easter weekend with an icy dip.
Capping off the "Weekender Experience" will be another afternoon patio party at Longhorn, followed by a Bangers & Mash after-party at Garfinkel's Monday night.
Traditionally, WSSF is a multi-day, end-of-season celebration of snow sports, music, arts and mountain culture, featuring locally-beloved events like the 72-Hour Filmmakers' Showdown, Intersection, Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown, Big Air and boardercross contests.
While the 2020 iteration (WSSF's 25th anniversary) was wiped from the calendar following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 saw WSSF return in a virtual format with a series of livestreamed photo and video competitions, DJ sets and a topsheet design contest.
“I think we want to bring [some of the old events] back … There’s a lot of passionate people behind the scenes who really care about [the festival],” said CEO Joey Gibbons in an interview with Pique last year, adding that both Whistler Blackcomb and the Resort Municipality of Whistler continued to be big supporters of the event (not to mention the dozens of other local sponsors and volunteers).
“That’s what’s so cool about it, I find, is that it doesn’t really matter who you ask,” he said.
“Everyone seems to be like, ‘Yeah, I’m in.’”
- With files from Braden Dupuis
