Whistler's GO Fest A Step In The Right Direction

The notorious May long weekend has come and gone in Whistler.

Since as far back as most full-time residents can recall, the May long weekend has been one where underaged and over-testosteroned suburban hooligans have infiltrated Whistler, wreaking havoc for no apparent reason.

This year, the municipality collectively determined that enough is enough. GO Fest (the Great Outdoors festival) was created as a two-birds-one-stone solution for celebrating springtime in Whistler while simultaneously scaring away the troublesome youth (because, believe you me, nothing scares an 18 year old boy like a crying toddler).

Nobody expected it to work overnight: shockingly, adolescent delinquents don't spend much time poring The Pique to brush up on Whistler's upcoming community events. Indeed, police spent the bulk of the weekend breaking up fights and tossing kids into the drunk tank, while fear mongers took to the Whistler Summer 2014 Facebook group for a little racist banter (not cool, guys).

Meanwhile, some us took the opportunity to check out GO Fest. Guess what? It was awesome.

These courageous individuals dared to step foot into the Village and, miraculously, survived and scored a most impressive top-20 finish in the Great Snow-Earth-Water Race.

Those who 'braved' the Village Stroll were treated to free concerts by the Sheepdogs and the Boom Booms, among others. I ventured into town both Saturday and Sunday evenings, and believe it or not, I didn't get stabbed. Actually, the crowds at both the Dubh Linn and the GLC seemed relatively mellow. It appears that the May-long bad guys haven't discovered that the Village extends beyond Zog's. My friends were tickled by Citta's "locals only" policy– a great idea that I imagine a few other places will pick up next year.

Brodie Smith captured these eager skate skiers, ski tourers, and lone splitboarder (GO ADORABLE PUPPIES) as they kicked off the Great Snow-Earth-Water race.

People wise enough to partake in the GO Fest activities had nothing but wonderful things to say about the experience. I can tell you firsthand that the revival of the Great Snow-Earth-Water race was nothing short of fantastic. My ferocious team, The Adorable Puppies, joined 23 other teams to tackle Whistler's finest activities, from touring to snowboarding to running to DH and XC biking to an epic battle of the canoes down the River of Golden Dreams. I have a feeling that there will be double as many teams at next year's event.

The GoPro Go Show– Good Times Fo' Sho

The GoPro Go Show was another awesome event. Relatively laidback compared to the big creative competitions like Intersection or Deep Summer/Deep Winter, the GoPro Go Show rallied six filmmakers to create a short film celebrating Whistler's spring season. Parameters seemed to be lax: the only real criteria was that 25% of the film had to take place on Whistler Blackcomb. The result: six totally different shows, ranging from awe-inspiring to hilarious.

Zack Moxley for the win!

Did GO Fest drive the city kids away? Nope. But Rome wasn't built in a day. Next year, step away from your computer and sign up for a GO Fest event or two. Check out some of the shows and competitions, and realize that you can stay in Whistler on the May long weekend and actually have a pretty awesome time.