Whistler celebrates the art of summer with this weekend's unofficial start to the season

Whistler, B.C. – British Columbia’s Victoria Day long weekend marks the unofficial start to the summer season in Whistler and the resort has an array of options to explore.

From themes of fairytales and May flowers to mountain biking, golf and all things in between – Whistler celebrates the art of summer.

Magical May
Beginning in May, on both the Victoria Day long weekend (May 17-21) and the U.S. Memorial Day long weekend (May 24-28), visitors to Whistler can revel in the energetic vibe throughout the resort. The Summer Street Entertainment program, featuring family-friendly interactive events and performers animating the promenades of Whistler’s pedestrian village, kicks off this weekend and continues in June, running five days a week (Thursday-Monday) from June 29 until September 3.

Over the May 17-21 long weekend, the Street Entertainment theme is Fairytales and Stories, with entertainment including theatre performances, puppetry, traditional Japanese travelling storytelling, and a roving fairytale quiz show. Stilted fairytale characters and Daisy – the world’s largest solar-powered tricycle – will roam the areas of Town Plaza and Village Square. A fairytale crafts tent in Village Square provides hours of hands-on artisan experiences, including colouring, puppets, crown, wand and sword making, between 1-5 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

For British car enthusiasts, May 20 also brings the Vancouver All British Car Run to Whistler, featuring classic British-built and designed vehicles at Whistler Olympic Plaza. Visit here for more information.

Street Entertainment over the U.S. Memorial Day long weekend (May 24-28) features the theme of May Flowers and includes a spring-themed craft tent (1-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, Village Square), roving spring characters, a quiz show, performances by Mike the Musician, Jon Shrier and Dana Marie Battaglia, a performance of Mortal Coil’s Raven, Frog and Eagle characters and local artists painting live, right before your eyes, in Village Square.

For a detailed schedule of events, please visit: www.whistler.com/entertainment

Celebrate the art of summer – Whistler-style
Summertime in Whistler offers a unique mountain escape with endless ways to play and celebrate – a day, a weekend, a week … is never enough. Whether your passion is the mountains, the forest or the water – hiking and sightseeing, glacier skiing or riding, cycling or golf – Whistler offers an astounding array of summertime options.

Glacier skiing and riding
Blackcomb Mountain is open for skiing and snowboarding until May 28 but travellers who aren’t able to get up here before then need not despair: Blackcomb Mountain's Horstman Glacier, with an elevation of 2,000 metres (7,000 feet), is open from June 23 to July 29 and offers the ideal location for intermediate to advanced skiers and riders to improve their park and bump skills while working on their tans at the same time.

Top of the World Trail
Guests to the resort will feel like they’re on top of the world this summer with the opening of the first lift-accessed alpine mountain bike trail from the very top of Whistler Mountain. The new mountain bike trail, named Top of the World, will descend from the mountain summit, leading riders down more than 1,000 feet to the Garbanzo Zone of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. This trail increases the park’s vertical to a total of 4,946 feet, the highest lift-serviced and patrolled mountain bike park in North America. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park also offers more terrain than any other bike park on the continent – with downhill thrills for riders of all ages and abilities. The park opens this Friday, May 18, and runs through October 8, weather permitting. The trail is limited to 100 riders per day and requires an additional $15 ticket. Check out a short video of the new trail here.

Mountain Golf
Whistler’s four signature courses offer fresh mountain air, stunning scenery and a variety of wildlife including black bears, deer, fox, coyotes, beavers and eagles. From the towering cedars and mountain views of the Arnold Palmer-designed Whistler Golf Club (boasting 18 brand-new Bent grass greens for the 2012 season); to the scenic mountainside slopes of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.; to the impeccably groomed Jack Nicklaus-designed Nicklaus North Golf Course alongside glacier-fed Green Lake; and the dramatic setting of Big Sky Golf and Country Club at the base of Mount Currie. And Big Sky offers the ultimate long ball experience. Travel 10 minutes by helicopter from the valley of Whistler, through the rugged Coast Mountain Range, and land atop Mount Currie Glacier in Pemberton to warm up your drive using eco-friendly biodegradable golf balls. Afterwards get transported down to the Robert Cupp-designed golf course nestled 8,500 feet below.