SEVENTH ANNUAL ELEVATION MAMMOTH GAY SKI WEEK
OIA Newswire

End Your Ski Season With A Bang; Five Days of Spring Skiing and Snowboarding Will Include Over 2,000 Willing and Able Participants and Plenty of Après-Ski Events

December 18, 2008, LOS ANGELES, CA-With a chill in the air and winter in full swing, LA Mega Promoter Tom Whitman, known for his sexy LA nights with hot young Hollywood, gears up for the great outdoors with ELEVATION 2009 at Mammoth Mountain.

ELEVATION 2009, the seventh annual Mammoth Gay Ski Week, being held in Mammoth Lakes, CA, from March 18-22, 2009 brings the gay community out in masses looking to hang out on the slopes to play hard both day and night. ELEVATION is the third largest gay ski event of its kind in the world. Headlining this year's events will be superstar DJ Roland Belmares, with DJ Josh Peace returning and more to be announced.

Over the past six annual events, attendance has increased tremendously. More than 2,000 are expected to descend on beautiful Mammoth Lakes California, to partake in the après-ski and specially organized night-time events, where you will meet guys from all over the country in an atmosphere that encourages having a good time in every sense of the word.

"We created ELEVATION to bring people together in a spirit of celebration and diversity and fun," says promoter Tom Whitman. "It is also about sharing that celebration with the town of Mammoth, which has always welcomed us wholeheartedly. Even with our tremendous growth, our core mission remains the same, 2,000 riders, seven major parties and zero attitude."

Clear Channel Radio is the presenting sponsor for this year's edition, with on-air spots promoting the event on local stations KIIS-FM, Star 98.7 and 104.3 MYfm.

ELEVATION 2009 will once again offer something for everyone, including the traditional Friday night Party @ 10,000 Feet, featuring a moonlit night ride on the gondola up the mountain. Cliffhanger is the main event for Saturday night, taking over the largest venue in Mammoth for the most spectacular dance event of the season.

The Mammoth Lakes area is one of the hottest resorts in the U.S., with the rebuilt town, featuring luxury condos and homes, as well as new resorts, making it a destination for skiers and those looking for winter recreation. Mammoth Mountain, an official partner of ELEVATION, has been called, "Laguna Beach on snow…offering size, terrain, and heaps of snow," by the 100 Best Ski Resorts of the World. Transworld Snowboarding Magazine ranked Mammoth the #1 Best Overall Resort in the US. Says Ski Magazine: "Mammoth has been swept up by a tornado of transformation that could soon make it the new plus ultra of the West Coast ski areas."

This year, ELEVATION is pleased to announce that commercial flights to Mammoth are now available on Horizon Air. Seats have been blocked off for ELEVATION travelers so please contact Jason Couvillion at jasonc@travelcts.com to make your flight arrangements.

ABOUT TOM WHITMAN PRESENTS

Tom Whitman Presents began ELEVATION seven years ago to provide an alternative to the gay party scene in the great outdoors, offering some of the best springtime skiing and snowboarding in North America. Tom Whitman is the premiere Los Angeles promoter in the gay community, producing more than 200 events a year, including Wonderland - the largest LA Gay Pride event held on the backlot of Paramount Studios, and ELEVATION, the Mammoth Gay Ski Week. He also produces weekly events ranging from the wildly popular celebrity hot spot Cherry Pop to upscale Smack at the Thomas Schoos designed O-Bar to the huge weekly Sunday nightclub event SIZE at Here lounge. He is on the Board of Directors of AIDS Project Los Angeles and has produced events for APLA as well as other local charities, including HRC, The Trevor Project, The LA Gay & Lesbian Center and more.

Elevation 2009 Calendar:

Wednesday 3/18 - Welcome Event (9PM-Midnight) @ Lakanuki; Welcome to Mammoth! This is our informal welcome to ELEVATION. Drive into town and get your ass over here. There's no cover for this event. Just show up and meet some of the hard-core skiers and boarders in the group before our first day on the hill.

Thursday 3/19- Apres-Ski (3pm-7pm) @ Lakanuki; First warm up après-ski. Skiers, Studs, One Night Stands & Ski bunnies. Après-ski events are the snowboarder's equivalent of a very 'happy hour'. Hang out and let loose with other ELEVATION attendees after a hard day of playing on the slopes.

Smack! NORTH (9PM-Midnight) @ Lulu; The infamous SMACK Thursday night at O-Bar in Los Angeles goes North. This will be our first big event, with the boys and girls getting together for cocktails, music and carousing. Last year's event brought more than 600 boys out. Music by DJ Josh Peace.

Friday 3/20 - Après- Ski w/ DJ Josh Peace (3PM-6PM) @ Lakanuki;

The Party @ 10,000 Feet (8PM-Midnight); Take a night-time ride in the gondola up the dark mountainside to our second annual mountain-top tea dance. Last year, this party was one of the highlights of the week, and will be a tradition every year. The entire mountain belongs to the boys. Yes, there is only the light of the moon for about eight minutes while going up the mountain, so if you're afraid of the dark... bring someone to cuddle with.

Saturday 3/21 – Après-Ski w/ DJ Josh Peace (3PM-7PM) @ Lulu; Beers, Boys, Boarders & Babes. The Saturday après-ski is ELEVATION's signature event and is one of the biggest (size always matters). All boarders and skiers come directly off the slopes in full ski gear.

CLIFFHANGER w/ DJ Roland Belmares presented by Tom Whitman & Clear Channel (9PM-1AM) @ Canyon Lodge; Two trucks filled with sound and lighting and hauled up the mountain to create the largest dance party Mammoth Mountain has ever seen. This main event features music from one of LA's hottest DJ's and masses of men sweating dancing until the wee hours of the night.

Sunday 3/22 – Après-Ski (3PM-7PM) @ Canyon Lodge; This final, informal event concludes the 5 day ELEVATION Event and swarms of gay men show up to bid each other farewell. What better way to say goodbye than to do so over great music and great drinks.

Party Pass $130*; Includes access to all ELEVATON 2009 Events

VIP Party Pass: $170*; Includes VIP Access to all ELEVATON 2009 Events and VIP Gift Bag

For Tickets, official lodging & reservations, along with other general information go to http://www.mammothgayski.com/

*Ticket pricing increases as ELEVATION gets closer. Please visit the above website for current ticket pricing and availability.

For more information on this and other Tom Whitman Presents events go to http://www.tomwhitmanpresents.com/ [12/18/08]