If anyone has ever worked an event with Ray before, they know he is a an early starter. He is the eager beaver, the early a half-an-hour before early begins. So you can imagine what the morning before The Great Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival! Well, it started the night before...
In case you don't know what The Great Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival is, it is a crowd of humans chasing after an 11 pound wheel of cheese, down the mountainside-all while tripping, falling and tumbling across the finish line.
Why are we there? We love it. The energy, the hilarity and bold bravery all for a seasons pass at Whistler! And Canadian cheese...Dairy Farmers of Canada sponsor this incredible event, that also allows consumers to savor cheeses from across Canada
Cue Artisan West. We have the wicked opportunity to represent Plaisirs Gourmets, which represents 11 artisan cheese makers from Quebec, on the West Coast. They partnered with us from the very beginning of this incredible journey and we are rocking the West with their cheeses. We were able to showcase their cheeses to the consumers and let them appreciate the integrity in the cheese, but lets be honest, the ridiculous taste!
We arrived mid day Friday to get our game on. We were staying at the amazing Four Seasons that literally blew our minds. They were the most lovely staff and hotel I think I have ever experienced. The planning of our cheese offering was Rays choosing as he is the Cheese man. He chose Bleu D'elizabeth, Le Pizy, 14 Arpents, Le Canotier, and Alfred Le Fermier.
Dawn broke and we were up! He had us in our uniforms and fed before 7 am.- the race officially starts at 11? We had to secure our spot early and we did, not sure if it was 9 am yet but we were ready!!
He set up tutorials on the cheeses to make sure all 5 of us knew the very best of these incredible cheeses. he had picture and notes for us to read and re read. And then the tastings began. Sure there were hungry, cheese loving eaters that just wanted to experience a variety of cheeses. There was also, the interested, cheese loving, I have to buy this cheese- eaters that made this event so much more fun than it already was. We were surrounded by awesome humans everywhere and intermittently we had the opportunity to glance up and watch the actual race. The cheeses were a hit. We went hard until 4:30 when the last of the hungry were trickling through and the event organizers had a chance to taste some cheese as well. We were, as usual ,almost the last to leave, and all of us had an incredible time. Bonus, we sold out of Alfred Le Fermier and Bleu D'elizabeth! These cheeses really do speak for themselves. They really are some of the best tasting and quality cheeses we have in Canada and The Great Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival proved how great they really are!
After, we went back to our amazing room at the Four Seasons, took off our shoes and just reveled at what a great time we all had. Then we cleaned up our dirty, cheese smelling t-shirts and went downstairs to Sidecut for a wonderful meal with live entertainment that lasted until 9, even though we didn't...
It really is the Best of times. See you next year Cheese Rolling 2017!