Livin' Large at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival

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Photos by Jordan Manley and Andre Charland.

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What do Justin Timberlake, Jon Olsson, Sarah Burke, and a guy juggling chainsaws all have in common?

a. They are all kinda girly

b. They travel alot

c. They all think Britney Spears is hot

d. You can't do what they can

e. They were all at the 2004 Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler

If you answered any of the above, you're probably right! Well, the chainsaw juggler may not be very girly, but he was wearing a flourescent orange jumpsuit.

Crowds flocked to Whistler for the third week of April to be part of a surreal blur of parties, sick skiing, and live music that hits Whistler this time every year. The annual Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival has earned a reputation as the biggest and best ski resort party, and it didn't dissapoint this year. Everyone who was or wanted to be someone was partying everynight, live bands took to the stage every day, and the skiers and boarders once again reminded spectators why they are someone.

On the snow, snowboarders kicked off the festival in the Ripzone Snowboard Invitational. Crispin Lipscomb won the superpipe, while Guy Deschenes went large for the Big Hit winning hit. Tricia Burns took first in womens superpipe, and Roger Hjelmstadstuen won the mens big air.

But the two-plankers once again scored the limelight with the Salomon World Skiing Invitational scheduled for the grand finale weekend of the festival. Big air, superpipe and the McDonalds Rail session were all sweet events, and 17-year-old Simon Dumont pretty much killed it the whole weekend.

The superpipe once again had a huge turnout of big names and unkown rippers ready to show their stuff, everyone threw down really strong runs. It almost seemed like a style contest because the technical tricks are getting so easy for some of these guys. Tanner Hall snagged first, with Simon Dumont hot on his tails for 2nd, and Charles Gagner scored third.

Then came the silly-big airs of the big hit contest. These guys were going HUGE! Like 22 feet out of a halfpipe! It was the kinda show that makes you wonder if you should get super-stoked and hit the park afterwards, or sell your skis and buy a Datsun. Scott Hibbert, Tanner Hall, and Simon Dumont stole the show by trying to up eachother on the same hit at the bottom, but Dumont ended up winning this rider-judged event.

As impressive though, was the women's superpipe contest. No offense to the ladies of yesterday, but women's super pipe used to be kinda dull, apart from Sarah Burke and Kristi Leskinen who would often join in on guy's contest just to hone their skills. This year's contest was unreal. These girls were going way higher than you or your mom will ever get out of the pipe, all the while throwing technical tricks too. Marie Martinod took first place, Burke snagged 2nd, and Jamie Sundberg earned 3rd. 16-year-old Jen Hudak was stealing the show by going way huger than the other girls, but couldn't link a solid enough run together to make podium. She finished 4th.

Action didn't stop at night either. After the Black Eyed Peas and guest-star-teeny-bop-idol Justin Timberlake finished performing for the crowd on Friday April 23rd, the McDonalds Rail Session was it's own sight to see. A big crowd gathered around to watch skiers and boarders sessioning a 27 foot doube-kinked rail set-up beside the GLC patio, while 2 people in flourescent orange jumpsuits blew fire and juggled chainsaws. Iannick B. ruled it, for more info check out our news story (coming soon!).

Saturday April 24th was the final night of the festival, capped with the Salomon Big Air Contest. The contest started as a style vs. technical airs contest, with skiers trying to out-do Jon Olsson's smooth-as-silk-boxers style with more difficult tricks. After the preliminary round, the top eight skiers moved on to the head-to-head final rounds. Top ranked against bottom ranked skiers battled it out in heats, eliminating skiers as they went. Jon Olsson, TJ Schiller, Simon Dumont, and Josh Bibby made it to the final four, and the grommets gave Olsson a run for his money, forcing him to step it up from his stylie but easy switch 3's and 7's to big, insanely clean switch 10's. WIth that switch 10 Olsson won the contest for his second consecutive year, but he better watch his back for those other guys.

On the loud speakers at the awards ceremony, Dumont made the grommets presence known, when he jokingly asked Olsson "How does it feel to beat a bunch of 17 year olds?". Indeed... overall Dumont scored 2nd in the pipe, 2nd in the big air, and 1st in the super hit. Watch out for this kid.

Overall the skiers and boarders were given'er all week, and put on a huge display of talent. And for those who could care less about either sport... the free outdoor concerts, industry parties, and free Yop and Mars Bar samples kept them going strong all week long. Good times were had by all.