You! Tube!

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

There are certain activities that, when doing them, one can't help but feel like a kid again: Go-Karting, watching Looney Tunes, pouring milk in a bowl before cereal ("it tastes better...").

After my afternoon excursion, I feel the need to add tubing to that list.
Tubing is something that has no business being as fun as it is. I've done it a few times now, and I still get permagrin each time down the hill. A grown man shouldn't be this delighted to spin down a hill in a tube. It makes me laugh so hard – every run – that it's downright embarrassing.
After two hours, the park operators were starting to give me strange looks.
"I'll never tire of seeing the stupid faces you make, though," hollered one.
"You look like you're being tickled," said another.
That was an acute observation, I thought. It's a very similar feeling. The uncontrollable, childish laughter is much the same in both cases.
Although, tubing has yet to make me wet my pants.
Tubing is truly an activity for the entire family. There are very few activities that both five- and thirty-five year-olds can enjoy together, to pretty much the same degree.
Professional wrestling is one, Duck Hunt is two, and tubing is three.

It's very cool to see people from every age group enjoy something together. There were five year olds, 10 year olds, 20 year olds, and 40 year olds all tubing together, all having a great time.
Activities like this can't be emphasized enough. As marketing gets more and more targeted in pretty much every activity these days (thanks for that, Internet), it's nice to be able to find some harmless family fun.
Or not even family ... seriously, go by yourself and you'll be too excited to miss them.
If your children are less than 10 years old, I beg you to take them tubing. I can guarantee that they've rarely felt so empowered in their entire lives. The independence of zooming down a hill – alone – while parents watch from the sidelines, is a difficult feeling for a kid to achieve in a safe environment.
Tubing is as safe as they come. Take advantage of it – especially if you are at the Olympics and the kids are starting to get antsy. What a great way to burn off some energy ... and get a tonne of smiles and laugher.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Down the rabbit hole

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Whistler Village was ever-so-slightly brighter today, blissfully alive with dancing faeries and pretty pixies. Adorned in ruffling tutus, hats shaped like flowers, and flowers shaped like hats, the revelers displayed a sense of wild, unadulterated glee unlike anything I've seen.
Their goal has always been to make that glee tangible. Thus, Kelsey's Creations was born.
A Whistler original, Kelsey Faery has been crafting outrageous outfits for as long as she can remember. When she realized that the world just didn't have enough hot pink polka dots – especially hot pink polka dotted clothing – Kelsey set out to create a company dedicated to bringing "tangible glee" to the masses.
"It's all about expressing what's inside of you," said Matt Burt, a close friend of Kelsey's and one of her models for the day. "It's what a lot of people are feeling, but don't let out."
Kelsey, along with four other merrymakers, made Whistler Village their canvas. Dressed head to toe in Kelsey's own creations, they looked like a living, breathing extension of Alice's Wonderland.
Their "ruffled, sparkly confections of glee and mirth" spread through the crowd at Whistler Live!, brightening everyone's face. It's near impossible to feel apathetic in the face of such unrepentant gaiety.
"It's fun, dressing up and letting loose," Burt said.

"If more people were like Kelsey, this world would be a much happier place."
If only everyone was willing to open themselves up to such a zany, madcap world. I, for one, was envious of their bravado, their ability to ignore social norms and just ... be.
It was one of the strangest sights I've seen in a while, and certainly the strangest I've seen in Whistler, but there's a part of me that wishes I had what they had.
It was just another example in an already long list of culture clashes in Whistler Village. But, like the others, it's been embraced and celebrated wholeheartedly.
It's unfortunate that the sense of community created by the Olympics doesn't always exist out in the real world. It shows that such community is possible, though, if people would just shrug off their own prejudices and intolerance.
"You should try it out sometime," Burt said. "You'll be surprised at how free you feel."
Baby steps, Matt. Baby steps. I am tempted to try out that hat, though.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler is live!

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

Are you ready for a bash? The folks in Whistler are. Thirty-eight shows over six stages that run from 9 a.m. through 11 p.m. each day. They have brought in some hired guns including some of the Whistler’s finest to produce this experience that includes Shawn Pozer of Boombox, a Vancouver-based production company, who just got back after working with the Super Bowl.
Kristine Robinson is with Whistler Live!, managing the six stage sites that are sprinkled around the village. “This is a fusion of sport and entertainment,” explains Robinson.
And she’s right. Over the course of the games, the folks from the community are working to bring these stages to life.
“Damien Marley, Swollen Members, Bedouin Soundclash and several cultural events are just some of the performers who will be a part of the celebrations,” she explained.
Going off their experience and success of such event as Whistler’s World Ski and Snowboard Festival in April and events in the summer such as Crankworx, the team is working to bring the best of Whistler to the roughly 40,000 to 50,000 people who are expected in Whistler each day.

Having been to both events, I know what it feels like to be immersed in a crowd of soon to be 10,000 of your closest friends with an awesome band on stage. The vibe is like something you’ll ever experience anywhere else – this is Whistler at this best.
They’ve been waiting for the moment for over 50 years – they’ve bid for the game five times, first starting in 1964!   In this case, it’s ‘sixth time is the charm.’
For a full look at what is happening in and around Whistler through the games, you can check out www.whistler2010.com/whistlerlive

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.


For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.