Whistler’s new spring festival GO Fest, Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival has added more family-friendly outdoor adventure events to the calendar for the May 16-19 weekend including GO Enduro, a mountain bike race in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park; a disc golf tournament called DiscGO; the inclusion of the Whistler 5 On 5 Ultimate Frisbee tournament; The Great Slush Cup, the ultimate spring skiing/snowboarding experience on Whistler Blackcomb; and a rafting adventure for all levels of ability called the Great Green River Challenge. Registration for all announced events with GO Fest will open on Friday, April 4 at www.greatoutdoorsfest.com.
GO Enduro – Friday, May 16
This mountain bike race will take place in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park and will feature three timed downhill stages as well as two liaison stages featuring uphill or cross country sections. GO Enduro will challenge riders’ technical bike handling skills and test their endurance. Registration is $30, in advance online, and a full face helmet is required.
Whistler 5 on 5 Ultimate Frisbee Tournament – May 17-18
Whistler 5 on 5 is throwing their second annual Ultimate Frisbee tournament and has joined the line-up of action taking place at GO Fest on Saturday and Sunday of the Victoria Day May Long Weekend. This fast-paced and engaging tournament will take place on the grass fields of Myrtle Philip Community School. Tournament teams can be booked until April 15, fees are $660/team (up to 12 players) and includes field food and a disc for each player.
Great Green River Challenge – Saturday, May 17
The Great Green River Challenge will take place on Saturday, May 17 on Green River. Crews of six, including at least two men or two women, will run the river while completing a gauntlet of challenges including a flat water slalom sprint, Sumo wrestling atop a raft, a raft flip, mass start river race and river time trials. Registration is $300 per team in advance online, and each session will take around two hours, 45mins.
DiscGO Disc Golf Tournament – Saturday, May 17
The Whistler Disc Golf Course will play host to DiscGO, a two round disc golf tournament, drawing intermediate, advanced and pro level players to vie for cash prizes. The total number of competitors will be capped at 96. Registration fee includes lunch:
- · Intermediate Men/Women – $30
- · Advanced Men/Women – $45
- · Pro Men/Women – $60
Great Snow-Earth-Water Race – Sunday, May 18
The Great Snow-Earth-Water Race is a multisport, team relay with six timed stages starting with ski/snowboard touring and downhill skiing/snowboarding on Whistler Mountain, downhill mountain biking in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park from the snow line to the valley, running, canoeing through the River of Golden Dreams, and cross country biking. Registration per team is $300.
The Great Slush Cup – Monday, May 19
It wouldn’t be spring at Whistler Blackcomb without some slush pit action! The Great Slush Cup will challenge competitors to dress to impress and employ all the style and skill they can muster in their attempts to clear the massive slush pit located at Glacier Creek Lodge on Blackcomb Mountain. This fun event will be free for all participants skiing and riding that day and registration will take place on the mountain, at the event.
May is one of the best months of the year to participate in all the activities that make Whistler an amazing destination, and GO Fest’s four-day schedule of active, family-friendly programming celebrates Whistler’s great outdoors and the convergence of winter and summer recreation activities
GO Fest, Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival, an initiative of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and funded through the Province of British Columbia’s Resort Municipality Initiative, will present a four-day schedule of active programming celebrating the incredible range of activities that Whistler has to offer. GO Fest is part of the RMOW’s Festivals, Events and Animation program, and is one component of the larger May Long Weekend strategy.
More information about GO Fest, Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival, will be available as soon as the schedule of events is finalized. Check back at www.greatoutdoorsfest.com.
About GO Fest, Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival
The inaugural GO Fest, Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival, will take place May 16-19, 2014 in the Resort Municipality of Whistler, located in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia 125 kilometres (78 miles) from Vancouver, British Columbia. GO Fest celebrates the convergence of winter and summer in North America’s premier four season mountain resort. Whistler’s Great Outdoors Festival is an initiative of the RMOW and is funded through the Resort Municipality Initiative. The contract to produce the festival has been awarded to Crankworx Events Inc. For more information, visit www.greatoutdoorsfest.com.
Whistler’s Festival, Events and Animation Program
Celebration has always been an important aspect of Whistler culture as was highlighted during the 2010 Winter Games when the community presented the most outstanding display of sport, entertainment and culture the town had ever seen. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and resort partners have continued to build on this momentum by coming together to develop quality year-round, programming to help ensure Whistler offers a non-stop line-up of festivals, events and resort animation. Complementing the many great events the resort has become known for, the Festivals, Events and Animation (FE&A) programshowcases a variety of events, concerts and lively village entertainment for all ages. The FE&A program is financed by the funds it receives from the Province of British Columbia’s Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) designed to invest in programs and projects to build tourism in the province. The program is overseen by the FE&A Oversight Committee, which is comprised of staff members from the RMOW and Tourism Whistler, a community member at large and one member of Whistler Council.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler
The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is Whistler’s local government led by an elected council and administered by an executive team and staff on behalf of approximately 10,000 residents and 2.5 million annual visitors. The RMOW manages municipal planning and development, park and Village operations, sports facilities and recreation, public utilities and environmental services, bylaws and enforcement, fire rescue, fiscal planning and financial services, legislative services, human resources, communications and the administration of the Whistler2020 Comprehensive Sustainability Plan and Whistler’s Official Community Plan. The RMOW collaborates with in-resort and external partners to create visitor experiences and enrich community life.
Whistler’s vision is to be the premier mountain resort community as it moves toward sustainability. Whistler was the proud Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.