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Hollywood celebrities who are accustomed to having the red carpet treatment this weekend had a different coloured carpet at their feet, one that was white and powdery.
The stars were out enjoying breathtaking conditions at Sunshine Village for the annual Banff Celebrity Sports Invitational that took place Friday (Jan. 19) and Saturday (Jan. 20).
Christie Brinkley, Alec Baldwin, Kelsey Grammer, Virginia Madsen, Marcia Gay Harden and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to name just a few, were all on hand to take part in several events held at the ski hill.
They were in Banff at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and at Sunshine Village to draw attention to the Waterkeeper Alliance, a grassroots environmental group headed by Kennedy. For the past six years, the Canadian Rockies has hosted the group in a gala weekend of fun and food that has helped raise the group’s profile and millions of dollars for its activities.
Canadian faces were far from the backseat during this year’s event, with Jason Priestley and Justin Trudeau taking part in all three events: a snowshoe and toboggan race, a cross-country ski race, and a dual giant slalom race.
“We’re here to win,” said Trudeau, standing beside his wife Sophie before the snowshoe/toboggan event.
He wasn’t exaggerating either. The Trudeaus not only took part in all three events, but put American celebrities to shame demonstrating their truly Canadian heritage with their winter sports skills.
Trudeau even took on Priestley for the giant slalom race. The two were neck and neck, practically in unison skiing down the track in and out of the markers. Soaring across the finish line for a photo-finish ending, the pair had to break their speeds abruptly and the crowd of onlookers was hit with a wave of powdery snow unrivalled for the rest of the day. Trudeau took the win by .04 of a second.
This year was the first time model Christie Brinkley attended the event, and she was certainly impressed with her surroundings.
“It is just spectacular, you couldn’t ask for better conditions,” she said. “You guys are really lucky because most places are not even getting snow like this.”
The dual giant slalom saw another big matchup between Brinkley and Waterkeeper president Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They both burst through the gates as their names were announced for the race. Brinkley soon took an imposing lead and her turns were so skilled she was whipping past and hitting each flag marker with her body.
At the bottom of the hill, when Kennedy finally caught up to her, it was unveiled that it was not the famous blonde model but in fact the two-time bronze medal-winning skier of the 1988 Olympics, Karen Percy-Lowe.
Percy-Lowe, a local who grew up in Banff, said the Waterkeeper Alliance is one that has captured her heart and that of her husband, NHL All-Star and general manager for the Edmonton Oilers Kevin Lowe.
“For me (the sports invitational) has become an important event because it is an easy and obvious way to relay a message, especially to Western Canadians, about water issues,” Percy-Lowe said.
But it is more than just attending the event once a year for the skier. She has become quite involved in the Canadian arm of the group and is a member of the board of trustees.
Percy-Lowe shares both her passion for the Waterkeepers’ cause and her most favourite place in the world, Banff, when she attends.
“I just think that everybody that comes here, they fall in love with this place,” she said about the town.
Certainly all the celebrities were on hand with the same purpose, to put the spotlight on water conservation.
Kennedy said two-thirds of the money raised this year is to go towards the Canadian side of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Canada is important, he said, because one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply is within its borders.
“For me this is fun, I get to bring my family for an event that is really magical,” Kennedy said, adding: “It’s not hard to convince people to go skiing for the weekend.”
There are only eight Canadian member groups so far, but Kennedy said that in 10 years he hopes that every major river and body of water in Canada will have a Waterkeeper on it.
“We want to keep growing in Canada because Canada has more fresh water than any where else in the world,” he said.
Waterkeepers monitor individual bodies of water and work to protect them from damage or pollution caused by private companies or municipalities.
As a lawyer for the group, Kennedy has helped win more than 400 lawsuits on the Hudson River alone.
Here the Bow River has a Riverkeeper and according to Matt Mattson, Canada’s representative to the Waterkeeper Alliance board and a Waterkeeper on Lake Ontario, it is one of the best in the country.
Mattson said the influx of funding from last week’s event is going to make a big difference to this country’s small groups and give them access to resources.
“The rules are the same across the county but in some places they are ignored,” he said.
Mattson acknowledged the incredible technology that sewage treatment plants in Calgary and Banff use. But in places like Halifax and Victoria, major urban Canadian centres, sewage is not treated at all and just dumped into waterways.
Band members of The Tragically Hip were on hand for the Thursday (Jan. 19) night reception, taking a brief detour from their touring schedule.
Lead singer Gord Downie is a trustee for Lake Ontario. Along with the rest of the band, Downie has helped Mattson raise money and awareness in Ontario for the group.
“Alberta is kicking Ontario’s ass,” Downie said about water and environmental conservation during the feasting and merriment in the Mt. Stephen Hall at the Banff Springs Hotel.
To make a difference in places that are not on the radar, Waterkeeper groups need resources, he said.
“If you are going to get access to democracy and access to justice, there is an entry fee for ordinary citizens.”
Events like the Sports Invitational are important because they not only raise awareness for Waterkeepers, in Downie’s opinion, but they also raise the money to help those fighting to save their rivers and lakes who lack resources.
“A Waterkeeper is there to seek environmental justice (and ensure) water laws are upheld with the same veracity as any other law,” Downie said. “They belong to us, these lakes, these bays, these rivers. They’re ours to enjoy.”
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