PR: Whistler's Biggest Party of the Year Gets Event Bigger!
(April 7, 1998)

Westbeach Classic and Kokanee Snowboard Canada Jam Tour, April 16 - 19! $60,000 in cash & prizes

Whistler's favourite spring event, the Westbeach Classic, has joined forces with the Kokanee Snowboard Canada Jam Tour to create the biggest snowboarding festival in North America! Four days of exciting snowboarding competition featuring top riders from around the world, combined with live bands, free demos of next year's boards from all of the leading manufacturers, and the infamous "Westbeach Hockey Night in Canada" game pitting Team Whistler vs Team Vancouver.

The Westbeach Classic will be the finale event of Canada's largest snowboard event tour, the Kokanee Snowboard Canada Jam Tour, as well as the final showcase event of the Whistler World Ski & Snowboard Festival Week. With over $155,000 in cash and prizes on the line, no other Event Tour in Canada comes as close to delivering as big a prize purse.

The Classic kicks off with two days of jam format pipe riding for pros and amateurs, with the finals going off Saturday, April 18th at 12:00pm in the Nintendo Halfpipe on Whistler Mountain. The jam format keeps the action fresh and fast, with as many as three or four riders in the Pipe at any one time vying for $10,000 pro cash and $15,000 in amateur prizes. With only the best runs counting, the "go-for-broke" format is a proven favourite with riders and spectators alike!

The action switches into high gear later on Saturday evening, with the Westbeach International Big Air Invitational under the lights at the base of Whistler. Featuring some of the biggest names in the sport, the $15,000 Big Air Finals will also decide the winners of the Kokanee Jam Tour's Canadian Big Air Championship Series. Adding to the extravaganza will be live bands on the mountain, including "Fu Manchu", cheerleaders, fireworks, and a few new surprises. Will there be a return of naked hot tubbers this year? You'll have to come to this year's event to find out! It's Whistler's wildest night of the year!

The evening will be topped off with a concert featuring one of snowboarding's favourite skate/snow punk bands, "Pennywise", as headliners, and all girl punk band "ten Days Late" as the opener! Stay tuned for the secret location announcement! Its guaranteed to be a sold out show!

Sunday offers a more mellow day with a dual option of events. The 7th annual Westbeach Skate Jam at the Whistler Skate Bowl at 10:00am, and the Pontiac Amateur Slopestyle Jam in the Nintendo Park on Blackcomb Mountain at 11:00am. The Slopestyle Jam offers $20,000 in prizes for all levels of riders. Whether you're first or last everyone has got a shot at winning swag!

Throughout the Westbeach - Jam Tour weekend, the snowboard industry will offer riders their first chance to see and demo next year's new boards, boots, and bindings at the Motorola Boarder's Village! Look for new gear from Burton, Sims, Ride, Solomon, Rossignol, Morrow, Option, K2, Airwalk, Liquid, Limited, Flow, Blax, Generics, 5150, 24/7, Random, Palmer, Kuu, Northwave, Drake, Switch, Vans, and Forum, among others.

Another highlight of the Westbeach and Jam Tour weekend will be the Nintendo 1080 Video Challenge, marking the worldwide release of Nintendo's new snowboarding video game at the world's premier snowboarding resort, Whistler-Blackcomb. Riders can take the Challenge all day long on Saturday April 18th to try and beat the pros at the Motorola Boarder's Village at Whistler base!

Speaking of pros, the Westbeach event will feature some of the world's best! Confirmed snow shredders include men's and women's Olympic silver medalists Daniel Franck and Stine Brun Kjeldas, snowboarding legend Todd Richards (fresh from a top finish at the 1998 US Open), ISF points leader Fabien Rohrer, the ever entertaining Peter Line, JP Walker, BJ Leines and of course top Canadian riders, like Kevin Young, Devun Walsh, Trevor Andrew, Brett Carpentier and Marc Morriset. With a line up like this, this year's Classic promises to be the most memorable to date.

Spectator Admission: Free

Schedule: April 16 Halfpipe Jam Practice
April 17 Halfpipe Jam Qualifications
April 18 Halfpipe Finals

Invitational Pro Big Air - Canadian Big Air Championship Final

April 19 Pontiac Amateur Slopestyle
Westbeach Skate Jam
Westbeach Hockey Night In Canada Challenge

The Kokanee Snowboard Canada Jam Tour kicked off March 7-8 with a record attendance of over 300 of the country's top snowboarders at Mt St Louis Moonstone Resort, Ontario. The Jam Tour moves to Mt Tremblant, Quebec April 11-12 for Eastern Canada's largest event of the year, then heads to Whistler/Blackcomb April 16-19 for the Westbeach Classic!

For more media and event information contact:

Westbeach & Jam Tour Hotline. In Canada 1-800-223-6197. Outside of Canada 416-406-2400. Fax 416-406-0656. Email [email protected].