Everything was in place this weekend for a huge success at the 6th annual 24 Hours of Tremblant -- all benefiting sick children.
The weather was great and over 1,000 skiers showed up to form 130 teams competing in six different classes.
The crowd was estimated at 25,000 people and everyone was rooting for their respective teams. The atmosphere was surreal. Just imagine: 24 hours of skiing, shows and animation on a huge exterior scene at the bottom of the slopes, performances by singer Eric Lapointe as well as DJ Champion and his G-Strings... Those guys really electrified the crowd.
Many other artists, including Martin Deschamps, Illscarlet and Steve Hill, took part in the festivities on Friday and Saturday night.
The 24 Hours of Tremblant is an event that started in 2001. Then F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve and his manager Craig Pollock came up with the idea after seeing the success of such events in Villars, Switzerland. Jacques and Craig participated in the first two editions of the Tremblant challenge.
For the first time, this year's main sponsor was Volkswagen. The marketing campaign resulted in a prize of $20,000 and a 24-month lease of a superb Passat Wagon. The winner was picked among all the people that had visited a VW dealership and paid $5 to enter the contest.
Telus was once again involved with a special promotion: the company gave 4$ for each descent. At the end of the event, a total of $50,000 had been amassed.
Benoit Gagnon, a real phenomenon
The popular host of TVA's Salut Bonjour and ambassador for the 24 Hours of Tremblant decided to compete solo this year and he brilliantly performed. Indeed, Gagnon completed almost 100 descents for a total of 254.4 kilometers of skiing in 24 hours.
Many believed it was impossible to do so. Still, if one person could accomplish the feat, it was a hyper-motivated guy like Gagnon. He finally amassed $75,000 all by himself.
Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to chat during two rides in the chairlifts and I can tell you that Benoit showed uncommon mental strength.
''My mind is OK. It's the body that's having a rough time, especially since the middle of the night,'' he said before taking a short nap. I didn't try to disturb him with other questions.
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| Over 1,000 skiers took part in the 24 Hours of Tremblant |
The crowd was estimated at 25,000 people and everyone was rooting for their respective teams. The atmosphere was surreal. Just imagine: 24 hours of skiing, shows and animation on a huge exterior scene at the bottom of the slopes, performances by singer Eric Lapointe as well as DJ Champion and his G-Strings... Those guys really electrified the crowd.
Many other artists, including Martin Deschamps, Illscarlet and Steve Hill, took part in the festivities on Friday and Saturday night.
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| Martin Deschamps during Eric Lapointe's concert. |
For the first time, this year's main sponsor was Volkswagen. The marketing campaign resulted in a prize of $20,000 and a 24-month lease of a superb Passat Wagon. The winner was picked among all the people that had visited a VW dealership and paid $5 to enter the contest.
Telus was once again involved with a special promotion: the company gave 4$ for each descent. At the end of the event, a total of $50,000 had been amassed.
Benoit Gagnon, a real phenomenon
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| Sonia Morency and Benoit Gagnon, just a few minutes prior to the start of the event. |
Many believed it was impossible to do so. Still, if one person could accomplish the feat, it was a hyper-motivated guy like Gagnon. He finally amassed $75,000 all by himself.
Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to chat during two rides in the chairlifts and I can tell you that Benoit showed uncommon mental strength.
''My mind is OK. It's the body that's having a rough time, especially since the middle of the night,'' he said before taking a short nap. I didn't try to disturb him with other questions.