Whistler Pri and Ski Ftival 2022 - Gay Natn

Contents:

• THE ULTIMATE GUI TO GAY SKI WEEKS AROUND THE WORLD
• WHISTLER PRI AND GAY SKI WEEK
• JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY
• WHISTLER’S GAY SKI WEEK CELEBRAT 20 YEARS
• GAY SKI WEEK
• 10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS

THE ULTIMATE GUI TO GAY SKI WEEKS AROUND THE WORLD

How the Whistler Pri & Ski Ftival has celebrated gay pri for the last three s and bee the largt event of s kd.

We're proud to be nsired by many as the "the largt, gay-iendly mounta rort North Ameri" where diversy is celebrated as a way of life.

Vanuver is host to many summer events celebratn of Gay Pri. When Whistler’s first gay ski week was held Febary 1992, was a relatively small and discreet event; s lack of advertisg and visual prence ma easy to miss when gog through the lol newspapers and archival rerds om that time. In 1992, Brent Benaschak, who had recently opened a bed and breakfast Whistler, wanted to create a gay-iendly space both on the mounta and the valley while also attractg new visors.

WHISTLER PRI AND GAY SKI WEEK

His pany, Out on the Slop, produced Altu, the first rnatn of a gay ski week Whistler. In the mid-1990s, Altu anizers lnched a pk dot mpaign to show lol bs the enomic value of the gay ski week. Enomics were not enough to w over all of the crics, however, and Altu’s growth the early 1990s led to some homophobic reactns.

In 1994, homophobic flyers were distributed unr bs doors and on r wdows around Whistler durg the event. The flyers had the oppose effect than tend and rallied many rints and bs to publicly fend and monstrate their support for the ftival, cludg Mayor Ted Nebbelg, the first openly gay mayor Brish Columbia.

Openly gay, Mayor Ted Nebbelg pulls the sword om the stone as he opens the Exlibur Gondola 1994.

JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY

This amendment led to lls to boytt the state and many people who had planned to attend Aspen’s gay ski week chose to attend Altu stead. Amendment 2 was later clared unnstutnal by the Supreme Court of the Uned Stat 1996, by which time Whistler’s gay ski week was tablished.

Wh only twelve days to go before the ftival was set to beg, Sean Kearns (who owned the travel webse) reced Dean Nelson, Wayne Hartrick, Mark Clements-Kearns and Tatiana Kostiak to put together a stripped-down versn rebrand as GayWhistler Gay Ski Week. When I talk to iends about potentially attendg a Gay Ski Week this year, they still ask, “What is a Gay Ski Week? "Gay ski weeks” origated the 1970s, when queer ski clubs Chigo and var California ci started ngregatg annually Aspen.

WHISTLER’S GAY SKI WEEK CELEBRAT 20 YEARS

In those tim, the events were not much more than a sual get together over some après-ski beers, gay ski weeks over time veloped to more flhed-out happengs wh full-blown parti, drag shows, edy nights, live mic, and charable fundraisg ponents. If you’re terted learng a b more about diversy on the slop this season, here are a few gay ski weeks to check out. Miguel Mendoza/ElevatnElevatn Ski Week: MammothMammoth, California, USA“It’s a whole vibe, ” said Eric Bog, a skier om Los Angel who has attend Mammoth Gay Ski Week multiple tim.

” Put on by gay party productn pany Elevatn for over twenty years, Mammoth Gay Ski Week attracts a large Southern California ntgent ( part bee ’s pretty ted to get there om the East Coast). Karsten Wegeart/UnsplashAspen Gay Ski WeekAspen, Colorado, USAThe alpha and the omega of gay ski weeks, Aspen Gay Ski Week has been nng for over forty-five years, and grew out of those sual gathergs that began the 1970’s. Aspen Gay Ski Week is also the annual fundraisg event for AspenOUT, a non-prof muny anizatn that provis support and servic to LGBTQ+ people across the Aspen valley.

Telluri Gay Ski WeekTelluri, Colorado, USAIf Aspen is the OG of gay ski weeks, then Telluri is the up-and-er.

GAY SKI WEEK

And if you’re a fan of Olympic etyle skier and Telluri lol G Kenworthy, you may want to add this gay ski week to your erary—mor has he mak an unofficial appearance most years. Arosa Gay Ski WeekArosa, SwzerlandIf you aren’t faiar wh the idyllic Swiss village of Arosa, then get wh the program—while don’t offer the most thrillg terra relative to the rt of the Alps, ’s large enough to explore over multiple days, is easily nnected via tram to the neighborg village of Lenzerhei, and is easily accsed via a two-hour tra om the Zürich airport.

10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS

Pl, wh only about six hundred atten, has a much more timate atmosphere than some of the larger, longer-nng gay ski weeks.

Leo Mens/UnsplashGay Ski Week HakubaHakuba, JapanJapan’s legendary powr dumps and rich après-ski culture (onsen dip then steamg hot ramen, anyone?

This gay ski week also offers plenty of activi for non-skiers, as well, cludg yoga, snowmobilg, and, of urse, karaoke. Ntled high the French Alps and wh over 1, 000 participants each year, Europe’s largt gay ski week has bee somethg of an stutn—’s even sponsored by the gay datg app, Scff.

Après-ski ssns and eveng parti are a particular strength for this gay ski week, which attracts a roster of top ejays and drag queens to keep the party gog late to the Pri QueenstownQueenstown, New ZealandSki season only to an end if you let .

Out at Woody’s Toronto kickg off #IGLTA2018 #ilovegay.