Whistler Blackcomb has kicked off “If Ullr Was A Girl”, the first contest of its kind, offering a huge prize purse of $25,000 for a female skier or snowboarder who’s crowned Ullr Girl. The contest officially began September 1^st with Whistler Blackcomb’s launch of the contest’s voting microsite ifullrwasagirl.com.

In old Scandinavian myth, Ullr was the god of justice and dueling, but was most well known for his beauty and mastery of skiing. Every winter, Whistler invokes the favour of Ullr with a huge party involving the ritual of burning skis and boards in hopes of epic snowfall that winter. Legend has it that as the god of all things ridden on snow, Ullr was not only a kick-ass rider, but had the passion, confidence and attitude befitting a Norse god as well. Although Ullr is cast as a male in ancient myth, Whistler Blackcomb began wondering, what if Ullr was a girl? What would she be like? What would it take to find her? The “If Ullr Was A Girl” contest will provide those answers.

The search for Whistler Blackcomb’s Ullr Girl launches with a wide net being cast across North America in search of the ultimate mountain girl - someone with a passion for skiing and snowboarding that can rip it up on and off the slopes.

“This contest is designed to celebrate women whose lives and passions revolve around snowsports and who embody mountain culture, to provide them with a venue to showcase their talents to the world, and to reward them significantly for what they do and believe in every day,” says Christy Allan, Whistler Blackcomb’s General Manager of Marketing. “Whistler already enjoys the benefits of having some of the best skiers and riders in the world training and playing on our doorstep. This contest will help us to connect with even more female athletes, celebrate their love of snowsports, and discover that ultimate mountain girl.”

Women are invited to enter in two categories to win the Ullr Girl title – an Open category which includes all pro athletes, and an Amateur category. The contest will culminate at Whistler’s 2007 TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival (TWSSF), April 13-22, where the athlete in the Open category who best demonstrates her world class athleticism and embodiment of Whistler’s mountain culture is awarded a grand prize of $25,000. Amateurs will vie for their own Ullr Girl prize package which includes a professional photo shoot, inclusion in a Matchstick Productions’ or Misschief Films DVD, a new gear set up and a Whistler Blackcomb season pass. Whistler Blackcomb will award the grand prizes after the votes accumulated through ifullrwasagirl.com are in, and all finalists compete in a series of events at the TWSSF in Whistler.

Ifullrwasagirl.com will host the first portion of the contest where athletes are already posting their bios, photos and videos in order to vie for the votes of site visitors from around the world. Three Open athletes and three Amateur athletes with the most votes by February 19, 2007 will each win a 7-day, 6 night trip to Whistler during the TWSSF to compete in the finals. Site visitors voting on ifullrwasagirl.com can also enter to win a trip to Whistler to be one of the judges for the finals. In addition to the voted-in athletes in the Open category, additional pro skiers and snowboarders will be chosen by an athlete selection committee to compete in the finals. The additional athletes chosen will round out the Open category up to a maximum of 8 skiers and 8 snowboarders. All invited Open athletes will be chosen from the online profiles on ifullrwasagirl.com, making participation in the website a requirement for an invitation to the finals in Whistler.

The Ullr Girl finals for both Open and Amateur categories will consist of the following four event components:

1. A big mountain competition which will be held in-bounds on Whistler Blackcomb
2. A parks and pipe competition (exact format to be announced)
3. An arts component based on the TWSSF events. Each athlete will be asked to pick an art form – for example photography, film, art, or music – to present during a special evening event at the TWSSF.
4. Votes on ifullrwasagirl.com. Votes for the final selection will refresh on March 1st with skiers and snowboarders starting with a clean slate.