Water ramp riders splash down on Sunday Canada's best freestyle skiers will be squaring off at the second annual water ramp nationals at Blackcomb's ski training facility on Aug. 23, with action kicking off at 12:30 p.m. Olympic medalists and Canadian team members Andy Capicik and Veronica Brenner will be defending their titles against athletes including Darcy Downs, Pascale Gadbois and Nicolas Fontaine. All are preparing for this season's first World Cup event, held early next month at Australia's Mount Butler. Children's author visits Whistler Local kids are encouraged to dress up like their favourite "wild thing" to celebrate the last evening of the Summer Reading Club, held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at the Whistler Public Library. Kids' author Nancy Hartry, writer of Hold On McGinty, will be in attendance, reading from her own book about a Newfoundland fisherman who comes to live in B.C. Mountain World hosts the World Cup of video games Techno-freaks from across the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest will be gathering in Whistler on Aug. 22 for a virtual video game battle to the death. Mountain World will be hosting the Whistler Virtual World Invitation contest, with Battletech champions donning the virtual reality helmets and going head to head for prizes. A beginners' tournament is also being offered at 11 a.m. to give locals and visitors an chance to play. Whistler player Ryan Floro recently won a Virtual World tournament in Seattle, which prompted Saturday's grudge match. Whistler is the only location in Canada to feature the high-tech games. Cascade Lodge unit up for grabs in condo contest Residents — or would-be residents — who'd like a shot at winning a unit in one of the community's newest condominium developments may be interested in buying into this year's Win a Condo at Whistler contest, conducted by the Blackcomb Ski and Snowboard Club. This year's grand prize is a new condo unit at Whistler Cascade Lodge, with early bird prizes including a dual mountain ski pass and a Star Choice satellite TV system. Tickets are $100 apiece and only 3,999 will be sold. Tickets are available by calling TicketMaster at 604-280-4444.
