Chill On The Hill
All of a sudden the gondola began to vibrate and the floor pounded. I wondered if this was proper practice for a gondola.
Snorri and I had arrived in Whistler the night before, at about 1:00am. We were there to check out NESTEA’s Chill On The Hill. It had been a long haul from Victoria, so we were ready to call it a night.
At 10:00am the next morning, after some breakfast and a quick walk around the village, we hopped on the gondola to the top of Whistler. The temperature began to rise and the gondola acted like a sauna, but the vast and amazing views were well worth the free spa treatment. The gondola pulled into the station at about 10:20am and we stepped on to the mountaintop. The event featured a snowboard/skier best trick competition, volleyball courts, a meet and greet with Olympic snowboarders and live bands featuring Protest The Hero and The Stills.
First, we decided to go get some shots of the snowboarders and skiers warming up. The run built for the riders gave them a choice of hitting a rail or two separate ledges before finishing at a box, which some riders used as a ledge and others made into a quarter pipe. After spending a half hour checking out the riders, we went over to The Chill On The Hill tent for a meet and greet with professional snowboarders, Canadian Justin Lamoureux and American Seth Wescott, who shook hands and posed for pictures with fans.
Protest The Hero was scheduled to take the stage at 12:00pm, which gave time to jump on the Peak 2 Peak gondola to Blackcomb. It’s only an eleven-minute ride, give or take a few moments, but the daunting thing for me was the height. At the halfway point we were suspended over 1400 feet above the ground. Sure the view was great, however the height still loomed in my mind. We stepped off the gondola and walked around the top of Blackcomb taking pictures of the surrounding mountains, before jumping on a chair lift to get some different views of the area. The clock struck noon and I really wanted to get back to check out Protest The Hero. As the gondola pulled into the station on top Whistler, it began to vibrate as it passed over the stage where Protest The Hero had started their set.
I used to work with a guy who loved this band, playing them non-stop, so I knew they were going to put on a good show. Between songs, lead singer Rody Walker lightened the mood with a bit of comedy, while during songs guitarist Tim Millar walked up and down the neck of his instrument with what looked like such ease. One thing I look for when I go check out a band is the hand of the guitar player. I love watching someone own the guitar and Tim Millar certainly did that. Once PTH shut it down, we headed into the Roundhouse Lodge for a couple of brown pops and some lunch.
While finishing up with lunch, I noticed a chairlift open going to the rocky peak of Whistler. Snorri and I agreed to check it out, but first it was time for the snowboard competition. Hundreds of people surrounded the make shift snowboard park to get a view of the event. One after another snowboarders and skiers took their turns on the obstacles. In my eyes, one man stood out above the rest and of course I don’t have his name, however his number was 29. He consistently rode the kinked ledge from top to bottom and threw in rodeos and stylish stalls on the bottom box. The clock was ticking on our opportunity to check out the peak of Whistler before The Stills took the stage, to close out NESTEA’s Chill On The Hill. We left the trick competition and headed up the chairlift.
Once on top, panoramic views greeted us reinforcing the decision to come to the peak. But like earlier, I felt pressed for time. I’ve been listening to The Stills for the past 4 years, so missing their set wasn’t an option. We jumped back on the chairlift and headed to show.
The Stills took the stage at about 3pm to a crowd sitting on hay bails atop Whistler, while the afternoon sun beat down. There is quiet a contrast between The Stills and P.T.H, but in my opinion, the people who put these bands together made a great choice. Once The Stills were finished, so were we. It had been a long day in the sun and we still had to get back to Victoria.
With Chill On The Hill in the rear view mirror, I would say, NESTEA combined great content with a great venue to put on a fun event. If you’re a fan of good music mixed with winter and summer sports, check out a Chill On The Hill event if you can.
Story Greg Miller
Photography Snorri Gunnarsson & Greg Miller
Authoritative point of view, it is tempting