Every winter Whistler Blackcomb hosts a Photographer photo challenge. The photo challenge has 6 photographers who have 72hrs to shoot photos on Whistler Blackcomb and put it together in a 3-5 minute slide show.

This year I was lucky enough to assist snowboard photographer Jussi Grznar who was competing in the challenge. It was an intense 72hrs morning day and night, setting up photo shoots. Little sleep was had by anyone in the crew. But Jussi was able to edit and deliver his slide show before the deadline.

The show is sold out every year and this year Jussi placed in 2nd along side with Reuben Krabbe 3rd place and Robin Oneill First place.

I have some photos online from the event over at push.ca in Natalie Langmann‘s article about the whole event.

Click here to read Natalie’s article at Push.ca

Whistler Blackcomb Deep Winter 2012 is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

The Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival is an event that happens every year here in Whistler in April. The festival is the last big event for the Ski & Snowboard season in Whistler and a big event it is.

Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival Big Air

The event boasts free music from huge musical acts from all over the world, along with other Ski & Snowboard Competitions. The last few seasons there is the main stage at the Whistler base where the huge acts play their sets while the skiers and snowboards finish their day skiing and snowboarding on Whistler Blackcomb.

Animal Nation performing on the main stage at Whistler base

Also at the base of Whistler there is a Big Air event and in the more recent years they have switched it into a snowboard slope style trick style competition.

Animal Nation performing at Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival

Here are a bunch of photos from the 2009 Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival

Whistler Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Big Air

Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Superpipe

Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Superpipe

Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Superpipe

Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Superpipe

Metric performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Metric performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Metric performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Warren Williams competiting Grednade Games Whistler Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Jesmond DuBeau competing in Grenade Games Slope style at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Jesmond DuBeau taking home a nice pay check

Craig Beaulieu taking home the win at the Grenade Games Slopestyle at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Part of the Grenade Games Slopestyle course

Grenade Games - Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Grenade Games - Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

Grenade Games - Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

54-40 performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

54-40 performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

54-40 performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

54-40 performing live on stage at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival

TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival 2009 is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

The past week here in Whistler has been very busy with the excitement of 2010 Kokanee Crankworx bike show. I finally had a chance to get out and shoot one of the events in between working.

Backflip Superman

Backflip no footed can can

I was able to get up into the Whistler Bike Park Bone yard and shoot the 2010 Crankworx VW Trick Showdown.

360 suicide no hander

Cliff Hanger

The riders where dropping in half way down the slope-style course, hitting a step up to flat box with a drop at the end, into a quarter pipe with 2 flat banks on each side. After the second feature they where back into another step up jump into a flat bridge with a pretty big drop off at the end.

360 Tabletop

Backflip double tail whip

All of this was a warm up for the trick jump at the end where everyone was throwing down all their best tricks to please the crowd and win cash.

Back flip

Back flip table top

The VW Trick showdown announcers had a wad  of cash ($1000 in 50 dollar bills) to hand to the riders who landed a trick that got the crowd excited.

Back flip tuck no hander

Bailing

Greg Watts won the first round with a Back flip double whip bringing home $3000 in cash and he probably won some cash from the announcers when he was pulling tricks throwout the half hour session on the first half of the course.

Flip whip

Clif Hanger

The second round was at the base of Whistler and it was a much larger jump compared to the first one that the riders where hitting. The gap was about 35 feet from lip to landing, but most riders would land about 5-10 feet down the transition. Making the gap even bigger.

Back flip no footed can can

Back flip down side

A lot of the riders didn’t seem to be riding on the second session (not as many as the first session) mostly due to the fact that most of them didn’t want to hurt themselves before the grand finale on Saturday.

The crowd watching the first session

Back flip no hander

The Monster Energy Slope Style is one of the bigger events at the Kokanee Crankworx event every year, so we only saw the top dogs it the jump once or twice.

Brandon Seminuk 360 table

Back flip no footed can can

On the other hand Darren Berrecloth was out there riding harder than most doing several different tricks on the jump. But his last trick was the game winning jump.

Bike flip

Bailing with bike colliding with chair lift

Berrecloth brought a new trick to the last jump, one that he doesn’t pull out of his bag of tricks too often. He his the jump doing a switch 360, and it got the crowd on their toes. Since he was spinning switch it wasn’t as easy as you would see him do it regular on the jump during the first session.

360 Can can

First trick showdown session is over, everyone is moving down to session number 2 spot

Hi first switch 360 was a big scary to watch and didn’t look like he was going to land it, but some how he stuck the landing and rode to the bottom with the crowd in applause. Once he landed the switch 360 he ran up to his photographer Sterling Lawrence and told him to get to the top of the jump cause he was going to do it again.

Brandon Seminuk and othe riders waiting for the session to start

Seminuk trainging with another rider before the comp starts

No one knew what he was going to do, but you could tell from Darren’s excitement when he was running back to the top of the jump that it was going to be a good jump.

Back flip

Tail whip

Once Darren got to the top of the slope, he took a quick minute to collect himself and then dropped into the jump. Darren hit the 35 foot jump doing a Switch 360 lookback which was amazing to watch and took home First place in the Feature 2 category.

Darrens Switch 360 look back

Off axis flip

The crowd was huge and the excitement was amazing. If you can ever make it to Whistler, make sure you check out the Crankworx event which happens every August on Whistler Mountain.

Back flip

Indian Air

Rider crashes hard on the Indian air

Whistler 2010 Crankworx VW Trick Showdown is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

I’ve been digging threw my archives a lot lately trying to find some old gems to post up. Photo’s are only good if you can share them with people and what greater way to do so than threw the inter web.

A few season ago during the Pontiac World Cup there was a big stage built in the Village Square were every day a few acts would put on a live show to get everyone excited for the World Cup. Two of the big acts that weekend where Hedley and K-os.

K-os Live in Whistler

At the time I had shot very little live music and never really seen big names like Hedley or K-os on stage before, let alone a free out door concert. So you can believe I was pretty excited.

Since K-os released his first album Exit in March 2002 I became a big fan. Everything from his first big chart topper “Heaven only knows” to “Superstarr, Pt. Zero” and “Neutroniks” where a few of my favorites from his first debut album Exit.

K-os Live in Whistler

K-os put on an excellent show with his own sort of unique energy. K-os doesn’t really have the same hip hop vibe that a lot of the other hip hop artists out there have. He creates his own style with the right amount of uniqueness that sets him apart from the crowd.

Not only was K-os singing rhymes from songs like “B-boy stance” to “Love Song” but he also pulled out the guitar and played some acoustic to go along with the melody.

K-os percussion Live in Whistler

Another big act playing during the weekend was Hedley. Hedley is a pop rock band that was started in Abbotsford B.C.

The band received well deserved attention when Jacob Hoggard (the lead vocalist) was in the top 3 of the popular Canadian reality TV show Canadian Idol.

Hedley Live in Whistler

Jacob apparently entered the contest as a bet from his band mates. During the competition he moved threw the rankings and became one of the finalists (top 3) which is when he decided he had enough and quit the contest. An interesting move which worked well in Hedley’s favor.

Hedley Live on Stage

Although the band members changed since Hedley was originally started back in Abbotsford they still kept the original name while adding some talented musicians including; Chris Crispin on Drums, Tommy Mac on bass and Dave Rosin on Guitar.

Hedley live on stage in Whistler

They put on a great high energy show with the lead singer Jacob Hoggard climbing up the scaffolding and jumping back on stage. I can see why he gains some aclaim in the 2004 Canadian Idol.

Hedley Live on Stage in Whistler

I can’t wait to see what acts come to Whistler during the Olympics.

If you enjoyed this blog post you might enjoy some more of my Live music posts; Animal Nation, Grand Analog + Buck65 Live on Stage – Animal Nation and DNA 6 Live on Stage – Wide Mouth Mason Live on Stage

K-os and Hedley Live on Stage is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

Every year during the winter season in Whistler there is a weekly free event on the base of Whistler. This is an event that I believe makes Whistler stand out. Every Sunday night Whistler builds a jump at the base of Whistler where local skiers and snowboarders jump threw a ring of fire while fire dancers are dancing around twirl flaming torches.

Skier flipping threw a ring of fire - Whistler Fire and Ice

Whistler Fire and Ice

On top of all the excitement from the Athletes jumping threw the ring of fire and the many fire dancers putting on a spectacle while spinning their flaming instruments there is also live music on the base of Whistler. You can check out a video of the fire dancers performing in Whistler.

All of these things always draw a big crowd of people to the base of Whistler and is a great way to top off an excellent weekend of enjoying the slopes of Whistler Blackcomb.

Fire Dancers - Whistler Fire and Ice

Snowboarding Fire works - Whistler Fire and Ice

Near the end off the night when the snowboarders and skiers are jumping threw the ring of fire Whistler Blackcomb adds the the experience with a large display of fire for the crowds enjoyment. Check out a video of Jesse Robson jumping the ring of fire.

Over the past few years I’ve attended a few of the fire and ice shows at the base of Whistler and one private fire and ice show on the top of Whistler at the Roundhouse. I had a good friend who is one of the local snowboarders who participates in many of the fire and ice shows and he always encouraged me to come watch and I would always tag along with my camera and shoot some photos.

Flipping a ring of fire - Whistler Fire and Ice

Nev Lapwood - Whistler Fire and Ice

If your in Whistler at all this season I would highly recommend grabbing a seat on the patio of GLC or get close to the gates and enjoy the hour long Fire and Ice show, it’s totally a fun experience and worth every minute. If your in Whistler this weekend you can enjoy the first Fire and Ice show of this season this coming Sunday December 20th 2009 at the base of Whistler Blackcomb. Hope to see you there!

Whistler Fire and Ice

Jumping a ring of fire - Whistler Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

As I’m sure all of you know the 2010 Winter Olympics are being hosted in Vancouver/Whistler which I’m proud I will be able to enjoy living here in Whistler British Columbia.

Just recently I was reading my friend Lenny Rubenovitch’s Blog and he was able to travel to Halifax to film the Olympic Torch relay. So I was pretty excited to watch it being from Halifax Nova Scotia and living on the other coast it’s nice to see whats happening out in Nova Scotia. Especially when it has to do with the upcoming Olympics in my back yard.

Halifax Olympic Torch Relay is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

So where now coming into the Holiday season here in Whistler, all the Christmas lights are being put up my the municipality all over the village and its starting too look beautiful.

During the holiday season where all in the spirit of giving and this season I’m excited to be apart of the Help Portrait of Whistler. Help Portrait is a world wide event where photographers will be able to spread smiles and laughs threw taking photos of people in need within the community. Help Portrait photographers will be taking photos of everyone from their neighbors, to single moms and their kids, the homeless or any one you can give joy to over the holidays by making them feel special by getting their photo taken and having a photo delivered to them over the holidays.

It is a joy to be apart of Help-Portrait over this holiday season. I will be joined by 3 other Whistler photographers including Rich Glass, Matt Walker and Mark Gribbon for the Help-Portrait event which is happening at the Fairmont Whistler Hotel on December 12th from 2pm-7pm.

I have to give a big thanks to Rich and the Fairmont for arranging and allowing us to host the Help Portrait event at the Fairmont. Also a big thanks to the Fotosource who will be printing all the photos for us and the families who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to have a photo taken of them together this holiday season.

So if you know anyone who might benefit from a few laughs and smiles while getting their portrait taken this holiday season please let them know about Help Portrait and we’ll do our best to make this Holiday season become extra special one for them.

Help Portrait in Whistler! is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

As we all know Vancouver/ Whistler are the hose of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. In preparation for the extreme amount of people visiting whistler in February during the Olympic the Whistler Council decided to shut down the Indoor Creekside Skate Park.

Now the Creekside skate park is really the only place in Whistler where it’s free to do any Physical Activity’s (sports) after 4pm in the winter.

To us the skate community this make no scents. Whistler funded the skate park build a few years ago, but are now throwing away that money to save an additional 10 parking spaces for the Olympics. No one was to pleased to hear the news.

One of my good friends Brian Hockenstein was one of the guys who was in charge of building the creekside skate park so many years ago along with Lenny, so of course they where in charge of tearing it down to save a few parking spots. So when Brian and Lenny where looking for some help tearing it down I volunteered my time to help them out.

The first day of tear down we had a pretty big crew of people helping out.

The ramps where well build so they where a chore to take apart and you could tell everyone wanted to get the last skate in before we started taking the screws out of the mini bowl that was built there so many years ago.

The first section we started taking apart was the mini ramp beside the bowl. We first had to drill out all the screws then pry off the skate lite. Eventually when we had the skate lite off we found out that the base of the ramps where glued to the concrete floors with screws. Also bolting them to the concrete. Now this make it even harder to clean the place up for Whistler Council so they wouldn’t be mad and possibly still help the Whistler Skate Association in the Future.

What we basically had to do was disassemble the ramps and store them in a storage walk way between two sections of the under ground parking lot. After we disassembled the mini pipe we put all the scrap pieces into one big pile and dragged the big pieces into the storage hallways to hopefully use them again in the future.

It took a few days of destruction to tear down the whole skate park but once it was finished Whistler Blackcomb was happy with the job we did and we hope to get support from them in the future to build a new indoor skate park to help support physical activity in the off season and epically in the winter to provide an alternative to going out on the town and drinking away the nights.

Creekside skate park tear down is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

So last month I had a few photo’s displaying at Gone Bakery which was a nice experience, I always enjoy hanging my work in different places for people too see. If you didn’t get a chance to stop by and take a look you can see a photo of them hanging on the way above.

I also have 3 photo’s showing at Art Rageous here in Whistler on November 12th at Dusty’s Restaurant. Art Rageous is an anual show part of Cornucopia from the 12th-15th so if your in the area you should stop by and check it out. This year Art Rageous has performances from Vinyl Ritchie and Big John Bates & The Voodoo Dollz along with work of many artist for your enjoyment.

For more details on Art Rageous click here

Gone Bakery to Art Rageous is a post from: Nick Vail Photography

I’m currently in the Vancouver airport waiting for my flight to Nova Scotia to visit my family for a week so I thought I would post up a small blog update.

For the month of October I was able to display a series of photo’s on the walls of a local cafe in Whistler called Moguls.

This was my first display of my photo’s at a cafe so I was pretty excited to show the works that I have created. I was able to print and stretch 5 canvas photo’s on 24 x 36″ canvas stretcher’s. I heard great feedback from a lot of locals in Whistler and was happy to be able to display my photo’s in a busy place like Mogul’s Cafe.

With such great response from the photo’s up at Mogul’s I was asked to display a few photo’s at Gone Bakery in Whistler for the month of October. So if you’d like to check out in print and you live in the area you can view them at Gone Bakery located in the village square right next door to the Grocery Store.

Gallery Showing at Moguls

Cafe Shows is a post from: Nick Vail Photography