What’s New Whistler: Triple Crowns, Tough Races & Smiling Faces
Posted by: Feet Banks
Summer in Whistler always includes a plethora of incredible events but there’s no such thing as too much fun and summer 2015 includes a few new bangers. The Insider dishes up the scoop.
Red Bull 400
Sunday July 19, 2015
This one is gonna be gnarly. Billed as the “steepest 400 metre race in the world” the Red Bull 400 makes its North American debut this Sunday (July 19, 2015) at Whistler Olympic Park. The good news is this will be an all-out dash of endurance, speed and excitement the likes of which Whistler has never seen. The bad news is someone at the office signed me up to race.
Four hundred metres is a quarter mile, once around the track at my old highschool, but the Red Bull 400 is not a distance race— it’s all about elevation. The course runs 400 vertical metres up the 37 degree incline of the ski jump venue from the 2010 Winter Games. “The 400” is already an established event in Europe and Turkish runner Ahmet Arslan holds the current record with a time of 4 minutes, 57 seconds.
With all the athletic mountain-y types here in the Sea to Sky Corridor it will be interesting to see how the local athletes stack up but I can guarantee that, for me at least, it will be a mad scramble of thigh-and-lung burning hell. Luckily there are options for a 4x100m relay or you can tackle the full course solo. In any case the scenery up in the Callaghan Valley will make the view from the finish line a sight for sore…everything. The Red Bull 400 is free to spectators and starts at 9:30 AM July 19, 2015. More info and registration details at Whistler.com or Redbull.com.
Crankworx Triple Crown
August 7-16, 2015
The biggest festival on the Whistler summer calendar,the ten days of mountain bike madness known as Crankworx always brings buckets of new energy and events to the table but the big news for 2015 is the Triple Crown of Slopestyle. “It’s not so much a new event as a new focus to everything,” explains Crankworx’s Jennifer Smith, just before jumping on an airplane after a successful Crankworx Les 2 Alpes festival in Europe. “With the introduction of the World Tour and our new events series we are really excited to see if Brett Rheeder can deliver three major slopestyle wins in a single year.”
Rheeder has already claimed slopestyle gold in both Crankworx Roatura and Les 2 Alpes so the final showdown, and possibility of seeing the first-ever triple crown, triple gold champion will be at the Red Bull Joyride Slopestyle in the legendary Boneyard at the bottom of Whistler Mountain on Saturday August 15th, 2015. It doesn’t get more high flying than this.
And that is just the main event. The Crankwors Kidsworx program grows every year (because that’s what kids do!) and Jennifer adds that Crankworx mastermind Darren Kinnaird, “has a few new ideas up his sleeve as well. I’ll get you a list once we all get back home to Whistler.” So stay tuned bike fans. And keep checking Whistler.com for more details as they emerge.
Mudderella
Saturday September 26, 2015
By women, for women, Mudderella takes the Tough Mudder concept with a bit more casual focus on comaraderie, having fun and finding your own inner strength. Participants work together to conquer an 8-11 KM (5-7 mile) obstacle course designed by women and then celebrate their accomplishments together at the end. Held right in Whistler on Blackcomb Mountain, Mudderella is all about an inclusive, fun, outdoor workout challenge with thousands of like-minded people with a common goal. And fear not dudes! Men are welcome to participate providing they have been invited by a registered female Mudderella competitor. (Bonus points if you rock a tutu though fellas). Check out Whistler.com for more details.
New events occur weekly in Whistler so the real best way to stay on top of things is to hit up the Whistler.com events page regularly and watch for updates on this blog (providing I survive the Red Bull 400).
Article source: http://www.whistler.com/blog/post/2015/07/15/summer-new-events.aspx
