Good Bye Summer, It Was a Blast!
The Labour Day long weekend marks the unofficial ending of the summer season. However, here in Whistler we are enjoying the late summer surge we have been waiting for…all summer long. So, with temperatures flirting with the 30 degree Celsius (86 Farenheit) mark this past week, the Whistler lakes have seen a healthy number of visitors looking to squeeze in as much as summer as possible before the crisp fall weather sweeps into town.
Now that summer is unofficially over, I think it is a good time to give a quick review of some of the awesome events that we have enjoyed here in Whistler this season.
The summer event lineup kicked off with the first Whistler Half Marathon which went down in early June. The event was a huge success and sold out 9 weeks before race day! Athletes, volunteers, organizers and cheerful supporters (and even the weather) came together to bring in summer with a great event that I am sure will become a summer staple here in town (next year’s race will be on June 2, 2012). The course was grueling for even the seasoned athletes but there were no complaints as the runners crossed the finish line.
The 10-day Kokanee Crankworx Festival once again brought some of the world’s best mountain bike athletes to town. With gravity-defying stunts, break-necking downhill races and punishing cross-country rides this festival always bring lots of adrenaline, for both riders and spectators. In addition to the biking, there was also a demo zone, free concerts and the Deep Summer Photo Challenge. It is definitely the best mountain biking festival in the world (in my books at least) and I can’t wait for next year.
ArtWalk was another huge success as Whistler Real Estate played host as one of the ‘Hot Spots’ in the first round of opening receptions. For 2 months, July and August, visitors and locals were able to grab a map and see the work of some of Whistler’s amazing local artists as they toured the venues (everything from banks, hotels and offices to retail outlets, cafes and restaurants).
Finally, as if this wasn’t enough, the cherry on the cake came in the form of the free concert series organized by the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Celebrating the opening of Celebration Plaza (the same venue that hosted the Whistler medal ceremonies of 2010 Olympics and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Paralympics), the Muni put together an impressive lineup of artists who played open, free concerts throughout August. Among the performers, we had the opportunity to see the Barenaked Ladies, Tom Cochran, Jason Mraz, Bif Naked and Colin James.
The Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival was also back this year and proved to be a day of fun and good laughs. This summer also saw the return of the Whistler Farmer’s Market, the Comfortably Numb Trail Race, the Toonie Races (including Whistler Real Estate’s Retro Toonie), the Children’s Art Festival and the LunaFliks. Some of the new events included the BC Bike Race and the Whistler Warrior Dash. Wow! It is hard to believe that we were able to squeeze so many huge events into such a short period of time.
Although not officially summer events, I also just wrapped my Steve Legge Hockey Camp which took place last week and on this past Saturday, we had the 2nd Annual GranFondo where 7,000 cyclists rode from Downtown Vancouver to Whistler Village with the fastest finish time clocking in at just over 3 hours!
Looking back, it was an awesome summer in Whistler!
But now, we begin to turn the page as we welcome fall and begin think about winter. There are some awesome times to be had too, but that is material for another post. In the mean time, enjoy what is left of this late summer weather!
Steve
