Celebrity Ski Invitational
Published in The Calgary Herald on January 14, 2006
LAKE LOUISE — Ultimately, it seemed, there were more stars that cancelled than
showed up for the 2006 Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Celebrity Sports
Invitational weekend.
Though the event has been on-and-off around the Canadian Rockies since the
‘70s, for the past four years it became a tradition in Banff, with movie stars
such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Robin Williams, Michael Douglas, Glenn Close,
Woody Harrelson and Meg Ryan lending their celebrity. Last year’s event raised
a record $600,000 for the The Waterkeeper Alliance, and that may have been
because it came so closely after 2004’s Boxing Day tsunami.
But with diminished star power this year (John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, William
Baldwin, Robin Williams, Juliana Margulies, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tom Arnold and
Jason Priestley were all no-shows), no water-related natural disaster in
months, and a location shift to Lake Louise, questions about the future of the
event abounded throughout the weekend.
Spokespeople at the Fairmont said it was a relationship determined by the
Waterkeeper Alliance, while spokespeople from the Alliance said it was up to
the Fairmont.
“I really hope there’s a strong partnership for the future,” said Steve
Fleischli, executive director of the Waterkeeper Alliance. “You know, it’s
really not our decision, we’re just tag-alongs with the Celebrity Sports
Invitational, and we’re just happy they’ve chosen us as their charity.”
The biggest name that made it up was Alec Baldwin, while Martin Sheen, Larry
David and Dan Aykroyd all appeared on the last day of the event.
“I’m not sure why a lot of people couldn’t make it up this year, but with
Martin Sheen and Larry David and Dan Aykroyd, it’s like the calvary arriving at
the last minute,” said Ed Begley Jr.
Depending on who you spoke to, the number of cancellations occurred either
because the event was too close to next week’s Golden Globes, because many
stars were turned off last year’s -35 degree weather, because this year’s event
fell on an American long weekend (Monday is Martin Luther King Day), or because
of the nine days of constant snow that had made the roads leading to the hotel
treacherous.
“We had also heard that some people had to cancel because of the flu,” said
Monica Andreef, spokesperson for the event. “But we don’t know full details
yet.”
Other reasons not given that I’d like to offer are, a) it’s the best weekend of
the year to watch playoff football, b) the new season of 24 starts tonight, and
c) if I leave my kitchen, Jonathan Taylor-Thomas will die.
It’s no secret that this fund-raising event relies on star power for success,
and a lack of them can really hurt. Guest lists for the Celebrity Sports
Invitational always fluctuate until the last minute, and very often early
announced stars such as Nicolette Sheridan don’t make it up.
But none of the 550 or so guests in attendance that I spoke with expressed any
regret or disappointment in not seeing some of the bigger stars.
“This is our second time up and we’re here to help the Waterkeeper Alliance,
not for the stars,” said Brian Eaves, who flew down from Oklahoma. “Besides, we
always get to see Alec Baldwin.”
“You know, people’s schedules change all the time, and there’s not much you can
do about it,” said Virginia Engel, who purchased her $450 ticket months in
advance.
But as for the cold mountain air being an excuse for staying home, she
said, “With the Internet, you can always check and see that it’s not freezing.”
