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New events, collective novel added to WSSF

The details of the 2005 Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival became a little clearer last week, with some new variations to old events, the resurrection of an old Whistler classic, and the addition of a new literary experiment.

The festival, which is celebrating its 10 th anniversary, runs from April 8 to 17, with the usual wide range of arts, entertainment and sports events.

The ski and snowboard big air competitions were dropped this year in favour of slopestyle events on Blackcomb, but the superpipe events will continue as in past years. The Urban Rail Jam, an invitational jibbing event that started last year, will also be back.

New this year – or should it be ‘old’ this year? – is the inaugural Red Bull Gelandesprung event. Described as a distance ski jumping event using conventional alpine equipment, the Gelandesprung was a popular attraction in Whistler in the 1970s.

Whistler’s literary community is also getting involved this year. On April 9-10, the Whistler Writers Group will be hosting the Collective Novel Experiment, where writers will collaborate on a novel over the course of 48 hours by adding one chapter at a time. The kicker is that the writing will take place inside a gondola in the middle of the village.

The organizers are hoping to enlist 24 different writers for the experiment, each contributing two hours of their creativity.

If you wish to take part, send your name, contact information, details about your writing experience and an explanation why you want to take part to lisarichardson@mycoast.net by March 21.