Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112497
THE LANTERN FESTIVAL VILLAGE LIGHTS WHISTLER���S FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS has brightened the resort town���s Millennium Place arts centre for two winters running, but this year it intends to grow the glow a few lumens. Translation: A series of professionally run lantern-making workshops for children and adults have been added to this year���s lineup, plus indoor and outdoor art installations created by Lower Mainland and Sea-to-Sky artists. The results will light up Scotia Creek Gallery���s Winter Wonderland exhibit, and participants have the option of taking their wood, recycled fabric and newspaper-and-wire creations home or adding them to the display at Millennium Place. December 2012 to January 2013. 604-9358410; artswhistler.com THE GIFT Pick up the perfect painting, holiday ornament, jewellery or piece of pottery by a Whistler-area artist ��� all with a winter theme. artswhistler.com THE FAT-WHEELER THE COMMUNITY FAVE X-Culinary Ski When the ���rst snows fall, Mike Seniuk puts away his mountain bike and pulls out his snow bike. Because with tires three to ���ve times wider, this new breed of two-wheeled steed makes cycling snow and ice not only possible, but fun. No wonder the bike���s experiencing ���exponential sales.��� >> ���They work everywhere a conventional mountain bike does and in a lot of places they don���t,��� says Seniuk of NRG Enterprises, a Nelson-based bike importer. Normal bikes bog down in snow or slide on ice, but the fatter tires��� surface area ���oats and grips. ���Ryan Stuart THE GIFT Surly Bikes��� top sellers: Pugsley, Moonlander, from $2,000. surlybikes.com TAKE THE ULTIMATE calorieburning exercise (cross-country skiing) and combine it with a trailside smorgasbord of international cuisine and, voila: a fun, non-competitive event with minimal weight gain. Or at least that���s the goal with the 2013 Wells Snowman International Gourmet Ski Tour. The artsy Cariboo community encourages participants to dress up in zany costumes, then Nordic-ski across Moose Island Meadow into the gently rolling hills of Cornish Mountain via an easy 6.5-km route or slightly more technical 8-km track. Food stations en route tempt with ethnic delicacies, from borscht to sushi. Dessert and hot chocolate await those who not only finish, but make it to the bonfire at downtown���s Bears Paw Caf��. February 16, 2013. THE GIFT Tickets for a family of four run $45 per adult (12 and over), $20 for kids (7 to 11); children six and under are free. wellsbc.com 16 W E S T W O R L D p14-17_Frshtrx.indd 16 >> WINTER 2012 (Wells��� Gourmet Ski Tour) Bill Horne, (lanterns) Alice Gao/Getty 12-10-26 8:27 AM (sn