Apparently there is an event in Whistler this time of year called WSI or WTF or something. Also apparently it involves pro skiers, and competitions and points and music and stuff like that, I was told there might even be some skiing too. For some reason I decided to come up here and cover it with the NS Crew. For official, legit event coverage check this out: http://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/World-Ski-Invitational-WSI-Slopestyle-Qualifiers For random, incoherent, boots-on-the-ground coverage keep reading. I might even use the passive voice.

Photo: Matt Sklar

Thursday Morning:

-Apparently Troy is carpooling with me to this event, I'm not sure if he knows that he is about to drive 30 hours each way

-After sleeping on my floor for 4 hours Troy and I take off to Seattle to pick up Sklar

-I guess too much skiing is addling my brain because I totally blow the estimation on when we will pick up Sklar

-We pick up Sklar the car is all the way full and we still need to pick up EHeath, we decide to burn that bridge when we get to it.

-Evan has been waiting at the airport for hours, we are in no hurry and mosey our way to the border

-This is a ski trip, no parents, no rules. I buy both the smoothie and the frozen yogurt at Costco

-We finally pick up Evan, we thought the car was full before, somehow we fit all his gear and head out into the streets of Vancouver

-I thought Canadians were supposed to friendly, I wave at every Canadian I see between Vancouver and Whistler and most of them just give me frightened looks, it may have something to do with the beard

Thursday Night:

-We finally roll into Whistler, we decide to take all of our stuff up five stories from the parking lot to our room in one load. The elevator is broken.

-Once in the room we meet up with Jeff Schmuck and the AFP crew. Schmuck knows just about every person in this town.

-Tom P seems to be doing something right. This guy's dance moves are as sick as his reviews (oh, and he's a content machine:(http://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/WSSF-Day-1-Athlete-Set-s)

-Every hotel in Whistler looks exactly the same from the outside. I decide to stick close to people I know since everyone here seems to be wearing flannel and a beanie

Photos: Matt Sklar

Friday Morning:

-Apparently we get to ski at this event, first we need to get our media credentials though

-They let me into the media room, this is a mistake on their part

-The media room has free cliff bars and soda. I guess I won't be buying lunch on this trip

-As step one of my review of the Orage Sarge Coat I decide to determine how many cliff bars can fit in its pockets. It's a lot

-I thought Canada was the Great White North, there is no snow in sight, it looks like we're going to be downloading or mud skimming

-Park laps with NS. Doug likes to run over people's tails, rails still scare me.

-I tear the crotch out of my pants on my first Cossack of the day

-Evan tries to teach me how to call tricks. I can usually tell if it's switch and which way the spin was set. That's about it.

-When in doubt I'm calling every trick a dub 10

-It's puking, speed is rough and the knuckles are really getting some love

-Finals are postponed until tomorrow

-I take a whooping run down the slope course on Hellbents

-Fake face shots on every knuckle

-We write the official recap article in a foggy gondola as we download

-Hotel room council of war to figure out what and why we are supposed to be doing things here

-Is our ski gear still going to be moist in the morning?

We'll be back tomorrow with more official event coverage and unofficial recaps.