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The Step it Up series brought to Whistler a new bread of event bringing guest speakers into a bar environment to educate the young hip and cool crowd of Whistler about different themes relating to the protection of our environment including the wellness of our own body, mind and spirit.

Like it’s previous events, Hilltrip’s goal with the Step it Up series was to fight global warming. With an event every month from November 2006 to April 2007, the series included six different educational sessions about sustainability with a global warming twist. Through the whole series, Hilltrip was able to raise $550 to benefit the Snowrider Project of Surfrider Vancouver and a lot of people learned about ways to become a better steward of the environment and themselves.

Starting with a Sustainable Mountains Session in November , Step it Up no1 sent a strong message to the snow sport industry by having Jonaven Moore, a renown professional snowboarder, do a presentation on global warming and how negative PR is affecting our understanding of the issue, well timed after Tyler Bradley, the environmental chemist behind the creation of the first environmentally friendly ski wax in the world; Hillbilly Wax-Works & Ethica Enviro-Wax who had a satirical look at the state of the snow sport industry itself.

Step it Up no2 being close to Christmas, Hilltrip thought educating people about how making informed choices during the holiday season would help them reduce their environmental footprint and be good for their own body environment and organized a Sustainable Food Session. The session covered the concepts of SLOW food with Diana Rochon, RAW food with Sarinda Hoilett, SUPER food with Randall Carpenter and there was a slide show to give ideas to people on how they can green their holidays.
If you are interested you learn about how you can GREEN Christmas Holiday click here >>

For the third Step it Up, we decided to do something a bit different than the usual sustainable environment type event by having an Awakening Session and introduce a spiritual approach to sustainability. We believe awareness and consciousness can play a big role in improving someone’s life and the world. For the occasion, we had Kelly Oswald of The Oracle, Tina James of World Yoga Within and Robbie Dagg & Friends with OM MANI PADME HUM.

The fourth session was done in conjunction with Surfrider Vancouver. The theme was Sustainable Watershed and Pina Belperio of Whistler Water Watch and June Van Der Star of Surfrider did great presentations followed by a Sea to Summit, a video where snowboarders, skateboarder, and surfers are talking about the entire hydrological cycle and how it relates to their day to day life. Following the session, we had the Enviro-Mental Showdown Party following the qualifier of the Showcase Showdown, an annual snowboard competition.

The fifth one was a Sustainable Energy Session and we had Sarah Valentine giving a few tips on how we can reduce our energy consumption easily and than Hilltrip went all out and presented 15 documentaries about energy and climate change over 2 days as part of the Sierra Club Energy Film Festival.
You can read more about the Energy Film Festive by clicking here >>

As a way to end the series, Hilltrip teamed up with a bunch of local artists to present an Expression Session on Earth Day, April 22nd, and the last day of the World Ski and Snowboard Festival (WSSF) this year. Kostaman & The Vibrations opened at 7pm with a few reggae songs, Angie Nolan and MollyFi followed with poems and spoken words, Daniel Poisson, Chris Dyer, Olivier Roy, Jon Parris and Stan Matwychcuk had art pieces on display, Chili Thom & Feet Banks came to show their short film “High in the Mountain”, Animal Nation did a few raps, and Rainbo performed a hula hoops go-go set to the sound of DJ Parris. During the evening we also had the OxyMoron Martini, a heathy martini containin FrequenSea.

This last Step it Up event was also the launch of Green.Colonies.com in Whistler! It is also during that event that the winner for the Surf trip, the Option Snowboard, the SPY goggle and the O’Neill goodies were draw. There was so much going on, it was a great way to close the festival and the series in beauty.

Thanks to Whistler Brewing Company, Clif Bar, O’Neill, Deep Snow and Surf Experience, Option Snowboards and Spy for sponsoring the Step it Up series, Maxx Fish Bar & Lounge for letting us host the series, Surfrider Vancouver for setting an information table at each event, the speakers and artists for their performances and inspiration as well as all the people that have helped make this series of event happen…Nadia Cote, Marie-Lou, Giselle, Haley, Elexa, Sarah, Andrew, Adrian and all of those who came.

For more information on Hilltrip, visit www.hilltrip.com

Check out my gallery to see pictures from each Step it Up event!


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Building on the momentum of Step it Up series, Hilltrip is happy to invite the community to come to the sixth and final Step it Up event at MAXX FISH, nicely coordinated to happen on Earth Day. Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. First launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement and is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities.

For Step it Up no6, Hilltrip is presenting an Expression Session including Kostaman & The Vibrations opening at 7pm sharp, followed by a slate of local artists including Angie Nolan with poems, MollyFi with spoken words, Daniel Poisson and Chris Dyer with visual art, Chili Thom & Feet Banks with “High in the Mountain”, Animal Nation with a few raps, John Parris with a few mixes and more.

At 10pm, the winners for the Earth Raffle will be draw. Everybody attending the Expression Session will have a chance to enter the raffle to win one of the grand prizes by writing their name at the back of a Step it Up flyer and dropping it off at the Surfrider table during the session. All the ballots collected trough the whole series will be included in the raffle, so people who entered at previous Step it Up sessions will have their chances to win. Prizes include a 3-day Surf Experience Expedition sponsored by Deep Snow & Surf Experience, an Option snowboard, a pair of SPY goggle, O’Neill goodies among other.

After 10pm, Rainbo and Lexi Moon will perform hula hoops go-go dances to the sound of DJ Jamie Vale.

Also on the sensory extravaganza menu is Martinis at Midnight offering the ‘Oxymoron’ martini, a martini with a healthy twist containing FrequenSea, a unique ‘Superfood’ discovery containing all of Mother Nature’s essential nutrients. This martini has so much good stuff in it that it will relieve all the guilt of consuming alcohol.

“There are so many good messages from artistic expressions; and art is also a powerful catalyst for change. This event is going to be Hilltrip’s 3rd Earth Day event in Whistler and I hope to inspire people to be part of the solutions and care for our planet thought different art forms” says Marie Fortin, event organizer. “April 22 is the last day of the TWSSF, so this last Step it Up event will be like a cleansing evening for the body and the soul and a great way to close the festival and the series in beauty.”

Admission is only $10 and includes a free Cool Tag from Clif Bar and a beer from Whistler Brewing Company. A Cool Tag™ is a renewable wind energy credit that will keep an estimated 300 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the main contributor to global warming — out of the air. That’s roughly the same as neutralizing the global warming emissions generated from traveling 300 miles (more than 480 kms) in the average car.

As with every Step it Up event, proceed will support the Snowrider Project, a campaign of the Surfrider Foundation, which aims to bring greater understanding of the hydrological cycle and foster a sense of stewardship towards alpine and valley watersheds. One major initiative for Snowrider is organizing local mountain clean-ups in spring after the snow melts to pick up garbage haphazardly littered during the season by skiers and boarders.

Thanks to Clif Bar, Whistler Brewing Company, O’Neill, Option Snowboards, Spy. Deep Snow & Surf Experience and Maxx Fish for their support on the Step it Up series.

For more info visit www.hilltrip.com




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