Get inspired by an artistic evening on Earth Day with Hilltrip

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 a $10 donation 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

Enviro Fest 2006 – A Sunny Day Full of Goodness

From June 4 to 10, it was Environment Week in Canada. This year's theme was "Celebrating and Protecting the Natural Environment". For the occasion, Hilltrip participated to Enviro Fest in Whistler. The day was sunny and many people came to the Mountain Square to visit the booths relating to the theme. Hilltrip and other organization such as AWARE, HillbillyWax, Surfrider Foundation, Slow Food, Whistler Hemp Company shared the square with bigger players like Whistler Blackcomb and VANOC.

During the day, many people came to Hilltrip’s booth witch educated about climate change and how it affects our region. At night, Hilltrip organized The Official Enviro Fest After Party at Savage Beagle, where money was raised towards Hilltrip’s Carbon Offset Program, which fights global warming trough a raffle including over $1,000 worth in prizes from Evolution, Ultimate Distribution, Whistler Bungee, Lush, The Clearance Center, Gauge Clothing, Willy’s Java Coffee, Solarice, Showcase, Cyber Web, The Grocery Store, Whistler Hemp Company and Amsterdam Coffee.

One of the projects that Hilltrip’s Carbon Offset Program will be funding is The Bio-Diesel Project. This project is helping Kate Marcotte to convert her car to bio-diesel and raise awareness about how it is to live and travel with a bio-diesel car by publishing her stories on TerraTrip.org, a new website launched by Hilltrip on June 10th, the same day as Enviro Fest. You will be able to read Katie's adventures from converting her car to cooking her low emission fuel here throughout the summer.

A big congratulation to Corinne Galarneau, Hilltrip’s new intern, for her great work in organizing the after party and the raffle.