Pique Newsmagazine 2712

MARCH 19, 2020 ISSUE 27.12

WWW.PIQUENEWSMAGAZINE.COM

FREE TO RESET

COVID-19:

WHISTLER STEPPING UP TO DEAL WITH PANDEMIC

16

COVID-19

Whistler left reeling as

COVID-19 virus spreads

18

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE Whistler Chamber announces best and brightest

45

AUDAIN ADDITION

Levi Nelson’s

art bought by Audain museum

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604 932 5538 WHISTLERREALESTATE.CA *Personal Real Estate Corporation

Starting THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH Nesters will open, one hour each day from 8 am to 9am for our elderly to shop in a safe non crowded environment.

Please give them the space and time to shop.

“SHOP & DROP” NESTERS WHISTLER // WE WANT TO HELP! If you are elderly or your loved ones are in self isolation, quarantine, or are concerned about being in public, The team at NESTERS MARKET can help.

// HOW IT WORKS

E-mail your grocery list with contact information through to orders@nestersmarket.com We will contact you by phone for payment details, shop and box your groceries and deliver them to: Your car in our parking lot, OR right to your door in Whistler only. A text will be sent to you to collect your order on drop off orders.

// WHO IT’S FOR This service for elderly people and for people who are quarantined or self-quarantined and unable to leave their homes at this time.There will be no guaranteed delivery times and we ask that you give us 24 hours’ notice. Orders will done on a first come first serve basis

// FOR EVERYONE ELSE Those able to move about freely, the regular shop and deliver rate of $20 plus GST will apply.

AVAILABLE MONDAY - FRIDAY We will do our best with all requests, but can never guarantee that an item will be in stock on your day of delivery. We

2019

will send the closest substitute if not available. ALL items sent are non-returnable and non-refundable unless defective.

Nesters Market Pharmacy

604.932.3545

604.905.0429

nestersmarket.com

7019 Nesters Road (Just 1 km north of Whistler Village)

MyNR account numbers will NOT apply to these orders. THIS WILL BE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Sale limited to stock on hand. Some items subject to Tax, plus deposit, recycling fee where applicable.

THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

38 44

30 Walk this way Going with the flow on the cutting edge of neuroscience at X Camp. - By Leslie Anthony

16

PANDEMIC PLIGHT

Resort reeling after

38

CUP CANCELLED

The Whistler Cup is cancelled

pandemic closes several businesses, including Whistler Blackcomb

due to COVID-19, halting the charge of contending local skiers and hitting

mountains, bars, clubs and more.

Whistler Mountain Ski Club in the pocketbook.

25

COVID CASES

Pemberton sees third confirmed

39

PRESS PAUSE

In the face of a global shutdown,

case of COVID-19, while Village and community adjust to new reality

the World Ski and Snowboard Festival is on pause, but looking for

through adaptations at the medical clinic and grocery store.

“creative” solutions to keep the event alive this year.

26

44

SAYING FAREWELL

Canada’s Mountain

ON HOLD

Local musicians and artists have been deeply

community bids adieu to skiing, guiding pioneer Eric Lomas, who was one

impacted by venue closures. Here’s how some of them are coping in this

of the small group of professional guides who founded the ACMG in 1963.

new COVID-19 world.

COVER It’s only been a week since our last issue, but life seemed to change dramatically in just seven days. Whether we are stuck at home for a few weeks, a few months or longer to stop COVID-19 in its tracks, its effects will be felt for much, much longer. - www.shutterstock.com 4 MARCH 19, 2020

SENIORS’

ShOPPInG hOuR EVERY WED & FRI 7 AM – 8 AM

2 $7

for

Every Wednesday and Friday morning, we will be holding an early morning shopping hour for SENIORS AND HIGH RISK INDIVIDUALS that are most vulnerable in our community. We will provide a clean and low stress environment to ensure we take care of our community in the best way possible.

Armstrong

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Excludes applicable taxes, bottle deposits, tobacco, eco-fees & gift cards. This voucher has no cash value so we cannot give cash back. One voucher per person, per household, per purchase, per day. promotional voucher valid for in-store purchases only. This voucher is only valid at Fresh St. Market in Whistler.

4330 Northlands Blvd Whistler, BC V8E 1C2 Expires march 26, 2020

PR ICES E FFECT I V E F R I DAY, MARCH 20 – T HUR SDAY, MARCH 26

LOCATED IN WHISTLER MARKETPLACE VILLAGE NORTH

THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

Opinion & Columns 08 OPENING REMARKS Whistler is facing an unprecedented challenge to its very business model

#103 -1390 ALPHA LAKE RD., FUNCTION JUNCTION, WHISTLER, B.C. V8E 0H9.

PH: (604) 938-0202 FAX: (604) 938-0201 www.piquenewsmagazine.com

and the community’s way of life. But we can get through this together.

10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letter writers this week discuss restricting American border

Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

crossings and suggest we use this opportunity to push the reset button on what we want Whistler to be.

Editor CLARE OGILVIE - edit@piquenewsmagazine.com Assistant Editor ALYSSA NOEL - arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

13 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST Writer Brandon Barrett discusses COVID-19 and the limits of

Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com Production Manager KARL PARTINGTON - kpartington@wplpmedia.com

media literacy, as people weigh in on truth, rumours and the virus.

Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com

58 MAXED OUT Max sums up the season that was, holding out little hope for a late spring reopening,

Advertising Representatives AMY ALLEN - aallen@wplpmedia.com TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com

and offers some advice on getting a good cinnamon bun.

Digital/Sales Coordinator AMELA DIZDARIC - traffic@wplpmedia.com

Environment & Adventure

Digital Sales Manager FIONA YU - fiona@glaciermedia.ca Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com LOU O’BRIEN - lstevens@wplpmedia.com WHITNEY SOBOOL - wsobool@wplpmedia.com Arts & Entertainment Editor ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com Sports Editor DAN FALLOON - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com

28 ECOLOGIC Writer Leslie Anthony discusses how the world needs to build in “disease resilience,” which we have failed to do despite recent epidemics like SARS, H1N1, Chikungunya, Ebola, and Zika.

29 RANGE ROVER Writer Vince Shuley offers up some tips on staying healthy while enjoying the

Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com Reporters BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com JOEL BARDE - jbarde@piquenewsmagazine.com MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@wplpmedia.com

outdoors in the time of COVID-19.

36 TRAVEL With the stress of a pandemic impacting us all, travel writer Teresa Bergen tells us about a

Classifieds and Reception mail@piquenewsmagazine.com Circulation and Accounts PAIGE BRUMMET - pbrummet@wplpmedia.com Office and Accounts Manager HEIDI RODE - hrode@wplpmedia.com

yoga and wellness retreat that could help us better cope with the current situation.

Lifestyle & Arts

I.T. and Webmaster KARL PARTINGTON Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, MICHAEL ALLEN, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ALLEN BEST, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON President, Whistler Publishing LP SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

40 VELOCITY PROJECT Writer Lisa Richardson investigates how we can make sense of the crazy way we can feel when we’re really upset—and how to let it go.

Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of Whistler Publishing Limited Partnership, a division of Glacier Media) distributed to over 130 locations in Whistler and to over 200 locations from Vancouver to D’arcy.

The entire contents of Pique Newsmagazine are copyright 2019 by Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of WPLP, a division of Glacier Media). No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the Publisher.

In no event shall unsolicited material subject this publication to any claim or fees. Copyright in letters and other (unsolicited) materials submitted and accepted for publication remains with the author but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms.

Letters to the Editor must contain the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 250 words. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer and not that of Pique Newsmagazine.

Pique Newsmagazine is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact (edit@ piquenewsmagazine.com). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil. ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

This organization replaces the BC Press council (and any mention of it).

42 EPICURIOUS How is COVID-19 going to affect our food-supply chain and should Canada being paying more attention to food security?

46 NOTES FROM THE BACK ROW Feet Banks’ advice this week: stay home and eat popcorn.

Find out what’s streaming on the small screen.

48 MUSEUM MUSINGS Everyone was looking forward to the new Keg restaurant opening in the early ‘80s after it had moved to the village. But a massive fire in 1982 changed everything.

ISSN #1206-2022 Subscriptions: $76.70/yr. within Canada, $136.60/yr. courier within Canada. $605.80/ yr. courier to USA. GST included. GST Reg. #R139517908.

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40016549.

Specializing in accounting and tax services for corporations and their shareholders.

Please contact me for an initial no-charge confidential consultation.

www.gskllp.ca

Tim Lischkoff, CPA, CA / tim@gskllp.ca / 604-892-9100

6 MARCH 19, 2020

OVER 1,400 COVERED, WARM, DRY DAY-USE

PARKING SPOTS AVAILABLE! EV CHARGING & OVER 90 SURFACE LEVEL SPOTS FOR UP TO 2 HOUR PARKING

Feeding the Spirit of Whistler Since 1988

COVID-19 ADVISORY PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT CREEKSIDE MARKET’S STORE HOURS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC EFFECTIVE TUESDAY,

MARCH 17, 2020 WILL BE

9 AM TO 9 PM THE ELDERLY AND HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS MAY COME IN FROM

8 AM TO 9 AM PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE OF THIS HOUR FOR THEM TO SAFELY SHOP IN OUR STORE. WE ARE DOING OUR BEST TO PROTECT OUR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS AND ARE DOING FREQUENT DISINFECTING AND SANITIZING OF HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS, HAND BASKETS, SHOPPING CARTS AND SURFACE AREAS TO HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.

WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS ARE DOING OUR BEST TO KEEP THE SHELVES STOCKED AND AT TIMES WE WILL BE LIMITING AMOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE OF CERTAIN ITEMS. PLEASE HELP US PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 BY PRACTICING GOOD HYGIENE AND PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SHOPPING FROM THE STORE IF YOU ARE NOT FEELING WELL. THE CREEKSIDE MARKET MANAGEMENT & STAFF APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING.

THANK YOU AND STAY SAFE! LOCATED IN

CREEKSIDE VILLAGE - 604.938.9301

OPENING REMARKS

There’s no playbook for this pandemic THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT that we are living in a new reality.

It feels like the very foundation of our community has been rocked and this has left us looking around for answers, guidance, and a path away from the abyss we’re facing.

It was shocking when Vail Resorts announced the closure of Whistler Blackcomb (WB). It wasn’t as if the community didn’t expect changes, such as reducing access to or closing restaurants,

BY CLARE OGILVIE edit@piquenewsmagazine.com

limiting access to gondolas, and perhaps just keeping Whistler Mountain open, but shutting down operations completely…well, that was unexpected.

After all, skiing and riding in the outdoors in freezing temperatures and practising social distancing seem compatible.

For Whistler Blackcomb, of course,

is no doubt that people in Whistler are ill from this already and in all likelihood have transmitted it unknowingly.

We also know that about 80 per cent of people who contract it suffer flu-like symptoms and come out the other side OK. But others are not so fortunate, and we as a community need to think about our vulnerable population. It was great to see our grocery stores introducing hours so that only seniors and others who are deemed “high risk” can shop safely, and even offering free delivery. And some doctor’s clinics are offering telemedicine consultations—not ideal, but under the circumstances, this could help many as we keep our distance from each other.

(And just a thought, but it might be a good idea to curtail high-risk adventures for a while. Our medical facilities need to focus on COVID-19 for now.)

Those of us who are able need to reach out to neighbours or to local support agencies and see where we can lend a hand. Can we deliver someone’s groceries? What about just a phone call

Those of us who can need to reach out to neighbours or to local support agencies and see where we can lend a hand. this is not just about offering an activity— operators had to think of workers, in other words, our community of neighbours.

Consider the close quarters of staff housing.

Consider the number of workers whose homes are far away who are leaving town.

Consider the exponential way this COVID-19 illness is spreading. By all accounts for every known case, there are 50 unknown cases. And let’s be clear, there

to check in on someone and touch base— isolation can be very depressing. If we are not working, how can we support those on the frontlines of this, our healthcare workers, those in social services and even government, so that they can work?

If we can give money to our communities’ food banks, that would help, as many families and workers will need support with groceries in the coming weeks

as paycheques dry up.

I couldn’t keep up with the number of emails I was getting announcing temporary business closures while writing this.

For years, we have been reporting on the lack of workers in our town. The last thing we need is for people to leave now because, hopefully, in a few months, we will be getting back on track and welcoming visitors to enjoy the splendour of our natural environment and all our amenities.

But we need more than this if we are going to weather this storm.

We need landlords to consider what kind of break they can give their tenants, both residential and commercial. We need government support to help small businesses and workers who are laid off. We need businesses to think about how they can support their employees. We need our local community leaders to get creative in supporting our town.

And what about shopping locally wherever we can? Let’s keep as much of our local money circulating here as possible.

Can the Whistler Housing Authority offer short-term rental and mortgage relief to people above and beyond what the federal government announced on March 18?

Can provincial funds given to Whistler to support tourism here be reimagined to support people rather than festivals—or can those be combined? Can Whistler create its own stimulus package to keep workers here and support them?

Perhaps these are unrealistic suggestions, but necessity can lead to invention, given the chance.

That $1.37 million a day Whistler generates in taxes to all levels of governments is gone for a while, but I’m sure the province, the feds and the municipality want it back, so maybe it’s time to think about how to use the money they give back to us in an out-of-thebox manner. n

LOOKING FOR VIEWS AND SUNSHINE?

Home and community are more important than ever at this time.

Hoping you and your family stay safe, healthy and compassionate.

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8 MARCH 19, 2020

Steve Shuster

t: 604.698.7347 | e: steve@steveshusterrealestate.com www.steveshusterrealestate.com

Dear Reader, Advertiser and Community Member: Like you, we are closely following the developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

We take seriously our responsibility to report the news and keep Whistler and Pemberton informed on the facts as they happen. We will continue to do our job and deliver the news in these challenging times.

Our newsroom is working around the clock to keep you updated on events as they happen at piquenewsmagazine.com. We are committed to providing all of the facts – and dispelling any rumours – as events unfold.

We will continue to print and deliver our newspaper every Thursday. We’ll include a comprehensive package of information surrounding COVID-19 as well as the contextual background and in-depth analysis you’ve always expected from us. And we’ll also have our usual columnists, Dispatches, full-length feature story and all of the other community news that will take your mind in a different direction and offer a welcome distraction.

Following the advice of health authorities and the measures that have been asked of all Canadians, we have WFH (work from home) solutions for all of our employees. This will affect our ability to provide personal service at our office, so we ask that you call us at 604-938-0202 to reach us.

Please take seriously the precautionary measures that we must take to wash our hands, practice safe social distancing and self-quarantine at the earliest sign of symptoms.

We hope that all of you remain safe and healthy. We’re in this together, and our strength and resiliency as a community will pull us through it.

Sarah Strother Publisher

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Border should be closed to U.S. tourists

benefits, scaled to existing income levels.

In this town, where contract work is king, that’s most of us. tobias c. van Veen // Visiting professor, Quest University

We will survive

This letter was addressed to MP Patrick Weiler and the Resort Municipality of Whistler and forwarded to Pique: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on March 18 that nonessential travel across the the Canada-U.S. border would be temporarily restricted.

I urge you to impress upon the Prime Minister to close the border to U.S. tourists in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to implement fiscal measures to support precarious workers and the tourism industry during this time.

Whistler is at risk of becoming an uncontrollable hotspot.

Washington state has become the centre of a major outbreak. Keep in mind that most U.S. tourists from Washington are travelling directly to Whistler. This is their No. 1 destination in the province. We love them. They are our extended family. But we need to make smart decisions so that the Canadian healthcare system, particularly in B.C. and the Sea to Sky, does not collapse under the weight of cases.

We have no hospital. All serious cases will have to be transported to Squamish and Vancouver. We are a small town. We often have fewer residents than tourists during busy season. We don’t have even close to the capacity to deal with our own citizens falling

ill, nevermind visiting tourists.

Further, most of our staff here are temporary workers, and many are closely packed into dorms, staff housing, and rentals with often two or three to a room. We also have a good number of workers living in vans and campers.

Note that I am not suggesting closing the borders to U.S. trade (of course not). But we in B.C. cannot afford to bear the brunt of the situation in the States as it becomes worse— and it is getting worse.

All told, this is the recipe for a healthcare

Geez, it has been a week. It kind of feels as though Whistler has collectively torn its ACL. It’s a serious one, a Grade 3 tear; or 300 even. It’s bad. We’re out for the season, down for the count.

The good news is, we can do this. We’ve done it before. A friend or coworker gets banged up doing any number of the activities that people do in our town and what do we do? We help them out—bake them cookies, pick up Samurai Sushi, give them access to our Netflix account, lend them our moonboot.

We support them when they’re in need because they support us when needed. So now here we are, in need en masse, and although the vast majority of things are currently out of our hands, there is one massive underlying thing that is not: the kind of town we want to live in.

We have the choice of how we’re going to support one another and define our town on our terms.

We’re all in the same mountain-surrounded boat now, and yes, things are going to be incredibly uncomfortable for a while; like sharing-a-bed-with-your-uncle uncomfortable.

Once all of the seasonal staff makes their exit from the valley, with more of a disheartened fizzle than a bang this year, here we will remain, because this is our home.

disaster.

We will need support. The global economic repercussions will be severe—unless we act quickly to support each other.

I encourage the Liberal government to immediately implement a 30-day moratorium on bill payments (as they’ve already done in France); provide debt and rent relief for those without sufficient income; and provide a permanent Universal Basic Income, with particular support for precarious workers who lack employment insurance or extended health

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We will stay and experience this awkward discomfort together and wonder what the future will hold for Whistler, a town that has put each and every single one of its eggs into one neatly organized, tourist-packed gondola.

But wait, there’s more good news! We are now presented with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of a mulligan. A do-over, but only if you act now.

Things were getting a bit too insane to carry on as they were anyway, no? During this time of discomfort, we have been gifted ample time to reflect on how we could perhaps revive the better parts of Whistler that have gone by the wayside with its tourists, tourists, tourists, now, now, now way of sustaining.

With tourists no longer skewing our vision, let us turn inwards to determine what kind of town we want to live in, because make no mistake, this choice is most certainly ours to make.

I’m excited and eager to see what we have in store for Whistler. Let’s all make the choice to, first and foremost, resurrect Whistler as the kind of town we want to live in and see to it that our “after” picture renders our “before” picture but a small image in our rearview mirror.

And when the days get real tough, which they undoubtedly will, always remember that things could be worse. We could be living in Toronto.

Stay well out there.

Kate Turner // Whistler

Pique can do better It was with anger, disbelief and shame that I read the recent “advertorial” segment (Pique, Feb. 27) about how amazing Concord Pacific is for our town and what great community members they hope to be...just as soon as they force out a few businesses owned by people who actually helped build Whistler into the incredible and successful place it is today.

Back in the 1980s, Whistler could have gone either way. Super-high interest rates stalled the construction of the village and locals actually had to volunteer to finish

building the Conference Centre. Everyone banded together because they believed in this town, this lifestyle, and this community.

And when they wanted to live it up, they went to Sushi Village, or Black’s, or one of the other few restaurants in the unfinished village. Those restaurants were not very busy, especially in slow season, but they toughed it out, propped up by local community support and by their own grit and belief that Whistler was worth a bit of sacrifice. And everyone was in it together.

To see, over 30 years later, a big company come in and attempt to use a legal loophole to force some of those community builders to sell their business for nickels on the dollar is not really surprising; the snakes and the eels will always slither to areas with the most food, but to see the community paper run their advertorial is depressing and infuriating.

I love Whistler and I love this newspaper; it’s literally built my career. And that is why I feel I have to write to say, we can do better, Pique.

We need to do better because I believe Concord Pacific is trying to railroad our friends and neighbours out of their livelihoods and legacies.

Feet Banks // Whistler

A big thank you I want to thank the very generous and helpful men at RDL Rentals at Blackcomb Day Lodge.

What amazing service!

[Recently], I was meeting a group of old friends for my first ski in years, putting on my 20-year-old ski boots, when a plastic boot popped!

I walked into RDL asking for some duct tape, but they made my day by lending me a whole new pair of ski boots (and adjusting my bindings and doing a wax!). Wow! They were incredibly knowledgeable, conscientious and courteous. I never would have made it without them.

You can be sure that I shall recommend them to others, and be returning there myself.

Jackie Smith // West Vancouver n

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Backcountry Advisory AS OF WEDNESDAY, MAR 18 As always, accurate avalanche forecasts remain our priority. However, the early closure of many ski resorts and backcountry operations in response to the covid-19 pandemic is already having an effect on our data stream and we expect data from professional sources to become increasingly scarce in the coming week. We commonly experience data scarcity in the early and late season and have strategies in place to deal with it, but this is the first time we’ve seen it happening so early in the winter.

As our professional sources close, and we have fewer data points on which to base our forecasts, our forecasters have to use their education and experience to increasingly extrapolate from the limited data available by combining it with their knowledge of how the snowpack generally evolves in response to weather conditions. As a result, the uncertainty

in our forecasts is expected to increase and accuracy may be reduced. In these situations, backcountry users can reduce risk by limiting exposure to avalanche terrain and planning more conservative trips.

There is a way you can help! Our Mountain Information Network (MIN) is going to become even more important than usual. We are actively encouraging all backcountry users to submit their observations. Even the most basic data will be helpful, so please consider posting to the MIN. We are also encouraging avalanche professionals to keep providing whatever data they have.

And please take extra care at this time. Our healthcare system is facing an unprecedented challenge with this pandemic. If you choose to head out, every effort should be made to avoid injuries. n

CONDITIONS MAY VARY AND CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY Check for the most current conditions before heading out into the backcountry. Daily updates for the areas adjacent to Whistler Blackcomb are available at 604-938-7676, or surf to www.whistlerblackcomb.com/mountaininfo/snow-report#backcountry or go to www.avalanche.ca.

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FIRST PIQUE Nick Davies, Whistler local and experienced family lawyer practising across BC and Yukon.

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This week, there was understandably only one topic dominating the minds of Whistlerites – and pretty much everyone else, for that matter. It felt as though the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic really hit home on Saturday afternoon, when Vail Resorts confirmed that all of its North American resorts—including Whistler Blackcomb— and retail stores would close the following day, until Sunday, March 22. On Tuesday, March 17, Vail updated that announcement and said their resorts are effectively closed for the season (with the caveat that Whistler Blackcomb may consider re-opening at the end of April or beginning of May, dependent on how the COVID-19 situation is progressing and weather conditions).

Among the ‘Wow’s and ‘Really?!?!’s, here are a few of our Facebook followers’ reactions to the initial announcement:

“

The updated recommendations are to keep a two-metre distance between you and other people (an increase from the previous one-metre recommendation).

Obviously, chairlifts and lineups cannot coexist with these measures. Time to wake up folks and take this seriously.

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It is Spring Break in B.C., they could have closed all the lodges, but not the chairlifts?

But wait, they are only concerned with the $ coming from USA! Screw all the B.C. people that have made this resort possible and profitable over the last 55 years.

”

“ ” “ ” Worst Spring Break ever.

270K

The cost of an electric school bus. A Whistler parent is leading an effort to get more electric buses into the Sea to Sky school district fleet.

DID YOU KNOW

The first Keg in the Whistler Valley opened at Adventures West on Alta Lake in 1974, but when construction of the Whistler Village began in 1979, plans were made to open a new Keg restaurant in the Whistler Village Inn. But the plan hit a major snag when a devastating fire broke out during construction of the new restaurant in 1982.

The Whistler Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD) worked well into the night pouring almost 400 litres of water on the building over seven hours.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Writer Alison Taylor takes us inside the Whistler Health Care Centre in this awardwinning feature, which reveals that in the previous year (2011), of the total 18,643 ER visits, a staggering 43 per cent (or 8,199) were orthopaedic injuries. In roughly the same timeframe, Lions Gate Hospital’s rate was roughly 18 per cent. We can only imagine how much those numbers have grown in the last eight years. Go online to piquenewsmagazine.com to read “Healing hands: The Whistler Health Care Centre is an island of calm efficiency and innovation in the centre of North America’s busiest ski resort.” n

Kudos for the responsible decision.

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Call at 604-602-9000 or visit www.macleanlaw.ca

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OUR ONLINE CONVERSATION

March 15, 2012

|

WHISTLER’S WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE

| www.piquenewsmagazine.com

PIQUE N’ YER INTEREST

COVID-19 and the limits of media literacy I PROBABLY DON’T need to tell you what an insane week this has been to be a journalist. Hell, it’s been an incredibly weird week to be a resident of Planet Earth, period, but watching it all unfold from the vantage point of a local reporter has only added an extra layer of surrealism.

Never in my career have I covered a

BY BRANDON BARRETT story with a wider reach than COVID-19, with as many minute-by-minute twists and turns, nor have I ever seen a story this side of 9-11 inspire more confusion, anxiety and conspiracy theories.

In this industry, it doesn’t take long before you become acutely aware of the limitations of some people’s understanding of not only how the news works, but, more broadly, the very structures that prop up our society.

Speaking with a 23-year-old Maple Ridge woman in town for a friend’s birthday party this weekend, my colleague and I were astounded to learn she thought the novel coronavirus was nothing but a massive global conspiracy to keep us all indoors.

(Admittedly, she could have been pulling our leg, but she remained committed to her

wackadoo theory throughout the interview.

When we asked her where she got her news, she quickly replied: “Facebook!”)

These kinds of responses are not unusual in the dreaded comment section of our stories (never read the comments), but I realize they represent a vocal but relatively small contingent of our readers.

From my experience, the average Whistler news reader is highly engaged, intelligent and fiercely passionate; it’s those same

If we posted one too many coronavirus stories, we got accused of fearmongering.

If we didn’t post enough, we were charged with covering it up to keep the tourism machine running ...

qualities that brought them here in the first place, typically. But COVID19 seemed to bring out the trolls like never before. If we posted one too many coronavirus stories, we got accused of fearmongering. If we didn’t post enough, we were charged with a covering it up to keep the tourism machine running, as if our small community paper was going to convince scores of visitors to pack our

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mere hours after their tests came back. At press time, I still hadn’t gotten any info from B.C.’s health authorities.)

I think a good first step would be to stop treating the media as some kind of monolith, like each and every one of us is committed to pulling the wool over your eyes. Nary a month goes by without us being accused of being in cahoots with the RMOW, Whistler Blackcomb, the Chamber of Commerce and/or Tourism Whistler, as if we all sit down in the War Room from Dr. Strangelove before every issue to plot how we’re going to dupe the public that week. All you have to do is have a candid conversation with a communications staffer from any one of those organizations to realize what a thorn in their side we can be, and often are.

The news ecosystem, like any other industry, is wildly diverse, representing a rainbow of perspectives, from the diligent, Pulitzer-worthy reporter on down to the sensationalist hack writing for FreedomEagle.com or some such. It’s up to you to decide what news sources are worth spending your precious time consuming.

Use your critical mind. Ask questions.

Educating yourself on the news of the day is in my biased opinion not luxury, but duty, something that has been put in stark relief throughout these past few strange, chaotic days. n

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can be for reporters trying to get timely information on the outbreak. Debate it if you will—and it’s certainly worth debating, in my opinion—but it means authorities do not reveal the exact location of confirmed cases unless they have been unable to track down anyone who may have been at risk of exposure. It’s telling that I got information about the two visitors to Whistler with COVID-19 from the Hong Kong government

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bars and restaurants at the height of a global pandemic.

We admittedly have a delicate balance to strike: we want our community to have all the information necessary to keep themselves safe, but we also don’t want to stoke panic, and that’s exactly what would happen if we had decided to report on every single rumour we heard—and boy, there were lots. (On that note, I should probably mention how limiting B.C.’s privacy policies

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MARCH 19, 2020

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Engel & Vรถlkers Whistler

Engel & Vรถlkers Whistler

NEWS WHISTLER

Whistler effectively closed for business as COVID-19 spreads B.C. DECLARES PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY; BARS AND CLUBS ORDERED CLOSED

BY BRADEN DUPUIS WHISTLER IS REELING after an unprecedented week of upheaval and change brought about by the ever-spreading novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

And with confirmed cases steadily rising—including 83 new and 286 total in B.C., as of Pique’s weekly deadline on March 17—local officials are preparing for the long haul.

“When this started, I had a real sense that endurance was going to be crucial to our success,” said Mayor Jack Crompton.

“I asked council to consider the fact that this was going to be very much a marathon and that we want to keep capacity to serve for a long time. I have put a lot of my focus on staying healthy and maintaining a clear mind, which I hope marks the way our organization and our council deal with this over the long term.”

How much can change in a week?

Everything, it turns out.

After Pique went to press on Wednesday, March 11, the National Basketball Association announced it would suspend its season due to the threat of COVID-19.

The National Hockey League followed suit the next day.

The following days were marked by event cancellations worldwide and rumours of local cases running rampant, and on Saturday, March 14, Vail Resorts announced

GHOST TOWN Whistler Village was eerily quiet on Tuesday, March 17, one day after nearly every business in town closed its doors.

PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS

16 MARCH 19, 2020

it would close all of its North American resorts, Whistler Blackcomb included, due to the virus.

In a phone call the night of the announcement, Crompton called the closure “devastating.”

The next morning, on Sunday, March 15, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) activated its emergency operations centre to help coordinate a response to the ongoing crisis.

Behind the scenes, RMOW officials were following the developments every step of the way, said chief administrative officer Mike Furey.

Cleaning procedures at municipal facilities were ramped up on Friday, March 14 while on Saturday the focus was on communicating info from public health authorities to frontline staff, he said.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadians should stay at home as much as possible on March 16, all nonessential municipal buildings and programs were closed.

Essential services including bylaw, RCMP and fire crews, as well as roads, water and sewer staff remain at work.

“We want to keep the community operational,” Furey said. “We are now building back up beyond our essential services to other services that we can start reintroducing through work-from-home arrangements and remote working.”

Meanwhile, the RMOW is also looking for other ways to “assist the community through this difficult time,” Furey said, whether that be support for the Whistler Community Services Society or helping connect businesses with federal and provincial relief programs.

While some have criticized the RMOW on social media for not acting sooner, officials were following the advice of the experts, Furey said.

“The municipality has no authority or expertise to make public-health decision closures, and that’s why from the beginning of where we find ourselves now, we have been following health authorities, both federal and provincial, as we move forward,” he said.

ON THE MOUNTAIN With Whistler Blackcomb’s closure, all scheduled employees are being paid through March 22 without needing to use vacation or sick time, said a Vail Resorts spokesperson in an email, while lodging employees will be paid through March 24.

“To ensure that our seasonal employees continue to have access to medical care during this transition, we will extend health benefits coverage through April at no cost to employees who are currently enrolled,” the email said.

“We understand that seasonal employees may have financial or other hardships during this transition, and our Epic Promise Employee Foundation will review those situations to help provide support.”

Further, all full-time, year-round salaried employees will continue to be actively employed and paid with benefits, regardless of the hours they work and without using vacation or sick time.

In the meantime, WB announced on March 18 that it will allow uphill skiing on designated routes. Go to whistlerblackcomb. com to find out more.

CLOSED FOR BUSINESS In a town built on global tourism and hosting massive, world-class events, the new pandemic reality of closed borders and social distancing protocols is nothing short of a disaster.

In a press release on March 16, the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) called on senior governments to establish a fund to help tourism operators across the province deal with the ongoing crisis.

“These are unprecedented times,” said Tourism Whistler president and CEO and TIABC board member Barrett Fisher.

“It is exceptionally challenging for our entire community, but it goes without saying that it’s exceptionally challenging for our province, our country, [and] the world. We truly do believe that safety and personal health and well-being must come first, and so our priority is to support our community, and our guests, to get through this.”

Short-term marketing efforts have been suspended, and Tourism Whistler’s marketing team is now considering what the resort’s recovery will look like on the other side of the pandemic.

“Our goal is to look at, what are some of the potential opportunities moving forward if the situation is contained and hopefully resolved?” Fisher said.

But the immediate problems come first.

“Because this isn’t a Whistler-specific problem, this is a global problem, I think first and foremost, we have to be in this together as far as the ultimate global community,” Fisher said.

“We have to support each other when we’re dealing with this kind of a health challenge … I think everybody recognizes

NEWS WHISTLER FLEXIBLE LOCK-OFF FLOORPLAN that these are very challenging times, but that, if we all do the right things, we’ll come out of this on the other side in a positive way.”

On March 16, the Summit Lodge Whistler was the first local hotel to close its doors due to the crisis, but discussions were still ongoing amongst other operators the following day, said Saad Hasan, chair of the Hotel Association of Whistler.

“All hotels are certainly looking at various options and going back to ownership boards,” Hasan said.

“If there are closures that will come, they will come more through the corporations, because big brands will look at their own processes and they will decide whether they want to continue or they want to shut down.”

Asked about potential layoffs (and subsequent compensation) for Whistler’s 2,800 hotel workers, Hasan said that, too, would be decided on a case-by-case basis by the hotels.

Given the current situation, is anyone booking at all right now?

Anecdotally, Hasan said he had heard of some hotels that had received recent bookings, “but then the moment they were asked to self-quarantine or whatever they decided to head back or cancel.”

Reached by phone on March 15, Whistler Chamber CEO Melissa Pace said business owners in the resort are “definitely concerned,” but it’s important that they stay calm.

“Small business is undoubtedly going to be affected, and has already been affected … It’s definitely time to pause and educate ourselves, and reassess the decisions that we make, and most importantly bring calmness and patience to your staff, and for yourself,” Pace said.

“What we focus on really does become our reality, and does expand … we’ll get through this, and it’s important that we don’t make knee-jerk reactions.”

The Chamber will be “repositioning” itself as a place where business owners will be able to get all the necessary tools and resources from the government, Pace said.

And while it’s still too early to talk about financial relief for business, Pace said the government could ease the pain by putting a pause on taxes like the Employer Health Tax. “Keeping money in the accounts of the businesses, so that the businesses don’t go further into debt—that’s what we want to look for,” she said.

Pace encouraged Whistler business owners to fill out the BC Chamber’s recently released survey related to the impacts of COVID-19 (find it at bcmindreader.com).

CHANGING REALITIES Day by day, and sometimes hour by hour, the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve.

On March 17, Premier John Horgan announced the government will fast-track emergency legislation to protect workers impacted by the crisis, and that all B.C. schools are suspended indefinitely.

In a release on March 17, Sea to Sky School District (SD48) superintendent Lisa McCullough said the Ministry of Education and the SD48 team would be “providing a

plan for online learning” for students.

The highest priority will be on Grade 12 students, followed by Grades 11 and 10.

“Over time, we will continue to take direction from the Ministry of Education and the Public Medical Health Officer as developments transpire and new information is made available,” McCullough wrote.

“Our plans for student learning will extend as we learn more.”

Though rumours about confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Whistler have swirled endlessly in recent days, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has yet to provide specifics.

In a release on March 15, VCH acknowledged that there are “cases of COVID-19 in coastal rural communities,” which includes Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton, Sechelt and Powell River.

“To protect patient confidentiality and because the situation is changing on a daily basis, we will not be sharing the number of people in the community who received a positive test result,” the release said.

Asked for more details about rumoured cases in Whistler, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said that specific locations of positive cases are not given out due to privacy concerns.

“Anyone who may be at risk of exposure to COVID-19 gets contacted by the public health officials who are supporting confirmed cases and their close contacts,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said in an emailed statement.

“We will not be identifying the specific location of confirmed cases unless public health providers cannot be certain they have reached all those who need to be contacted and who therefore might be a risk to the public.

“We want people who have symptoms to contact us, and to feel safe contacting us, knowing their privacy will be protected so the steps to protect the health and safety for all can be taken. This is why privacy is important to everyone. It allows public health providers to do the work they need to do to keep everybody safe.”

The province was already facing a shortage of family doctors before the COVID19 crisis hit, causing capacity concerns and anxiety in light of the new illness.

But B.C. physicians are now able to bill for phone consultations, which could “alleviate the burden on patients coming to the office,” said Dr. Janice Carr at Town Plaza Medical Clinic.

“There are certain things we can deal with by phone, and now doctors will be remunerated for that phone service,” Carr said.

That said, it is no doubt a difficult time for healthcare workers across the province.

“The phone lines are extremely busy,” Carr said. “It’s very hard on the frontline staff. People are very nervous, and recommendations are changing by the day on care and testing.”

Find more info here: www.vch.ca/ about-us/news/vancouver-coastal-healthstatement-on-coronavirus.

Find the latest from the RMOW at whistler.ca/covid19.

Check piquenewsmagazine.com for updates as this story continues to develop. n

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Land Act:

Notice of Intention to Apply for a Disposition of Crown Land Take notice that The Resort Municipality of Whistler has applied to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNROD), Surrey for a Search & Rescue Base Lease situated on Provincial Crown land located at District Lot 1689 on Cheakamus Lake Road.

The Lands File Number for this application is 271622.

Comments concerning this application should be directed to the Project Manager at 200-10428 153rd Street, Surrey, BC V3R 1E1. Comments will be received by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development until April 30, 2020. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development may not consider comments received after this date. Please visit the Applications, Comments & Reasons for Decision website at https://comment.nrs.gov.bc.ca/ for more information.

Be advised that any response to this advertisement will be considered part of the public record. For information, contact Information Access Operations at their Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizen’s Services in Victoria at: www.gov.bc.ca/citz/iao/.

Resort Municipality of Whistler whistler.ca MARCH 19, 2020

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JUST BECAUSE THE community has ground to a screeching halt and the Whistler Excellence Awards are postponed doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be celebrating the best and brightest the resort has to offer. In fact, it’s even more reason to do so.

Originally scheduled for April 27 at the Fairmont Chateau, the Whistler Excellence Awards are put on by the Chamber of Commerce and recognize the best in business, community and the arts.

Nominees for this year were unveiled earlier this month, and in a rarity for the black-tie event, will see a teenager, 17-yearold Whistler Secondary Student (WSS) Jade Quinn-McDonald, go up against Whistler Half Marathon founder and youth sports coach Dave Clark and former Whistler Youth Soccer Club president PJ O’Heany for Citizen of the Year, the resort’s longestrunning award.

“It’s kind of a thrill of a lifetime, honestly.

It was definitely unexpected,” said QuinnMcDonald of the nomination, which was put forward by Mayor Jack Crompton.

A Duke of Edinburgh Award winner, Quinn-McDonald is a tireless volunteer, lending her time to the Big Brother/Big Sister program, the WSS Leaders Club and Enviro Club, where she serves as president, as well as student council, as co-president. QuinnMcDonald was also instrumental in helping organize last year’s local climate march, which was attended by hundreds of residents.

“Honestly, at the beginning it was just to pass the time and then it became so much more,” she said of her volunteer work. “It’s the most fulfilling thing I can spend my time on. Sure, completing an assignment feels pretty good, but it’s not exactly like seeing a child open up to you after spending six weeks with you every Wednesday, and then telling you about their life.”

Even with all her time giving back, QuinnMcDonald will have some stiff competition at the Excellence Awards. Clark, who has helped raise more than two-thirds of a million dollars to fight Crohn’s and colitis and cancer through the Whistler Half Marathon, was also nominated last year. Clark also coaches youth baseball and biathlon.

“It’s so humbling, really. It’s such an honour and … it’s certainly not what you’re expecting when you get up in the morning,” he said of the nomination. “You just kind of go out and do what you do, as everybody does, and it just happens that a lot of the stuff I do benefits the wider community and people outside the community as well.”

The president of the Whistler Youth

Soccer Club for nine years, O’Heany has helped grow the sport by leaps and bounds and was a major advocate for the addition of the turf soccer field to Cheakamus Crossing.

O’Heany is also the founder of YES Tours, a ski and snowboard instructor training program.

“It’s a lovely honour to be nominated. I certainly don’t look for accolades; I like to fly under the radar screen,” O’Heany said.

“That’s more my style, so I hope that in this environment we can still have a dinner. It might be like a Dutch auction.”

In the Business Person of the Year category, James Kirkwood of Kirkwood Consulting; Naoko Homma, owner of Sushi Village; and Nicolette Richer, founder and co-owner-operator of Green Moustache, were nominated.

Murphy Construction Corp.; vegan bakery BReD; and Snowboard Addiction, makers of snowboard instructional videos and training products, are up for the Innovative Business of Year Award.

Cassandra Spence, Pearl’s safe home and homeless prevention coordinator for the Howe Sound Women’s Centre; Whistler Blackcomb’s Court Larabee, who is also the director of the First Nations Snowboard Team; and Nikki Best, founder of Snowberry Consulting, will vie for the Rising Star of the Year Award, given to a local businessperson under 39 who has made an impact beyond their years.

In the Whistler Experience Service Small Business Award, Escape Route’s Alpine Demo Centre, Forged Axe Throwing and Revolution Powersports are nominated, while Mongolie Grill, The Adventure Group and the Whistler Public Library will compete for the large business category.

BReD, ecologyst & café and the Fairmont Cheateau Whistler were nominated in the Sustainability in Action Business category, while the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, the Fairmont and the Whistler Film Festival are up for the Champion of the Arts & Culture Awards, given for the first time this year to organizations instead of individuals.

Former Whistler Blackcomb VP and director at the Whistler Learning Centre Doug Forseth; Gibbons Whistler’s director of festival and events Katrina Frew; and avalanche forecaster and Peak to Peak Adventures safety consultant Wayne Flann were nominated for the Above & Beyond Award, recognizing a local who has made an outstanding contribution to Whistler that has benefited the community in unique and meaningful ways.

The Chamber has not announced plans for this year’s postponed awards. Check back with whistlerchamber.com for updates. n

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NEWS WHISTLER

How Whistler is staying fed through all the business closures AS RESTAURANTS SHUTTER OR MOVE TO TAKEOUT ONLY, GROCERY STORES ADAPT TO RISING DEMAND

BY BRANDON BARRETT OVER THE COURSE of a day, the staff at Pasta Lupino did a complete about-face on owner Kevin Holland’s decision to close the Main Street restaurant.

“It flipped in about a 24-hour period, where it went from ‘Why would we close?’ to ‘I think we should go home,’” explained Holland, who decided to close the doors of the Italian eatery hours after Whistler Blackcomb announced it was closing for a week (Vail Resorts has since said it will likely remain closed for the season) and two positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Pemberton.

It’s difficult to overstate just how devastating the loss of revenue will be for restaurants like Pasta Lupino, which already have to contend with sky-high rent and razor-thin profit margins.

For now, dozens of the resort’s restaurants, cafes and shops have closed temporarily, while other eateries have moved to takeout-only to help prevent the spread of the virus. And while most small businesses

may be able to weather the coming weeks or even months, the ripple effect of a looming decline in global tourism could turn into a tidal wave over the long haul.

“I think the long term is the most frightening thing,” Holland said. “Everyone who is under-capitalized is going to have a hard time riding this out. It’s a big question mark of how much government aid is going to come down the pipe.”

There has been talk of allowing businesses to defer their mortgage or rent payments, but even that is simply “kicking the can down the road,” Holland said. “It’s money that is kind of evaporating.”

Although it did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the Restaurant Association of Whistler (RAW) put out a statement on March 11 to reassure its members after convening a planning session with a consulting firm to “reignite the mandate of RAW and ‘why’ we exist.”

“As the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, as more taxes and fees and regulations are downloaded … the F&B sector across the province is incredibly fragile,” it went on. “We believe that if we can move the dial for profitability in

Due to COVID-19 Whistler classes may be postponed or moved online. See website for updates.

20 MARCH 19, 2020

the province and elevate the world-class status of our resort, then we can move the dial in legislation, lead by example and make positive impacts not only to our community in Whistler, but the entire F&B sector of the province.”

“I think the long term is the most frightening thing ... ” - KEVIN HOLLAND

SUPERMARKETS ON THE FRONTLINES With fewer restaurant options and the public panic buying provisions to weather the outbreak, Whistler’s grocery stores are adapting to feed the needs of the community.

Despite the oft-empty shelves, the grocery stores Pique heard from said there was no danger of running out of product.

“We will not run out of food or essential supplies,” said Nesters Market president Dan Bregg in a statement. “We are restocking daily

and our supply chain is working extra hard to restock items that you want and need, we just may need a day or two to catch up.”

To help weather the rush, Fresh Street Market is hiring at all of its stores, said Mark McCurdy, VP of retail operations.

“If we are like other areas of the world, the only retailers open in the future might be grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations,” he added.

The Whistler Food Bank is also bracing for “an unprecedented demand,” said Lori Pyne, acting director of the Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS).

For those experiencing food insecurity, prepared food bags are available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Saturday at the food bank at 8000 Nesters Road.

WCSS is also asking for donations of cash and food to deal with the demand.

Cash donations are eligible for tax receipts and can be made at mywcss.org. Food can be dropped off at donation bins at all local grocery stores.

The most needed items include: canned food rich in protein, canned vegetables and

SEE PAGE 21

>>

NEWS WHISTLER

Two visitors to Whistler test positive for COVID19 upon return to Hong Kong WOMEN HAD TRAVELLED TO WHISTLER AND VANCOUVER BETWEEN MARCH 6 AND 14

BY BRANDON BARRETT TWO HONG KONG women who were on holiday in Whistler and Vancouver have tested positive for COVID-19, confirmed Hong Kong health authorities in a release.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) and Department of Health in Hong Kong announced March 16 it was investigating nine additional cases in the city, including two women, aged 41 and 42, who landed in Hong Kong via Vancouver on March 15.

The women had travelled to Whistler and Vancouver between March 6 and 14.

Authorities said the 42-year-old woman developed a cough and shortness of breath sometime after March 15. The 41-year-old patient tested positive on March 16. Both patients are now in stable condition.

Both women travelled on Cathay Pacific flight CX837 in the business-class cabin.

The CHP’s investigation and relevant contact tracing on the nine new cases are ongoing. All passengers who shared the business-class cabin with the women have

been urged to contact health authorities in Hong Kong via a hotline, +852-2125-1122.

As first reported by the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong authorities have classified the case as an imported infection from Canada.

“The Centre for Health Protection of

the Department of Health has informed Canada health authorities of the cases,” a spokeswoman for the health department said.

“Meanwhile, both cases are classified as imported cases. Epidemiological investigations of the cases concerned are ongoing.”

At press time, Pique was still awaiting more information from B.C. health authorities on the two cases.

A spokesperson for Whistler Blackcomb told Pique he was unaware of the cases and referred questions to Vancouver Coastal Health. ■

SPECIAL HOURS FROM PAGE 20 fruit, canned soups, cereal and granola bars, dried beans and legumes, peanut butter, rice, pasta and pasta sauce.

The Re-Use-It and Re-Build-It Centres are no longer accepting items for donation so WCSS can focus its efforts on the food bank and outreach services. Those leaving town with gently used clothing and household items can still donate them at the Re-Build-It Centre blue bins in Function Junction. Locals remaining in town are asked to hold off on donations at this time.

Grocery stores and delivery services have implemented special hours or discounts for seniors and other vulnerable populations.

Here is a list of the offers currently available:

CREEKSIDE MARKET: Elderly and high-risk individuals can shop from 8 to 9 a.m.

FRESH ST. MARKET: Elderly and high-risk individuals can shop from 7 to 8 a.m. every Wednesday and Friday.

NESTERS MARKET: Preferred shopping to customers needing assistance or extra consideration, including seniors and those with disabilities, from 8 to 9 a.m. Nesters is also implementing its Shop & Drop initiative for the elderly and those in selfisolation or quarantine. Email your grocery list to orders@nestersmarket.com and the store will contact you by phone for payment and deliver your groceries to your car in the

WHISTLER GROCERY STORE: Free delivery within Whistler with a minimum order of $100 (excluding tobacco products). Orders will be accepted by phone from 8 a.m. to noon.

UPPER VILLAGE MARKET: Free delivery between 2 and 6 p.m.

YOUR INDEPENDENT GROCER: Elderly and high-risk individuals can shop from 7 to 8 a.m. daily. ■

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NEWS WHISTLER

Self-love in the age of self-isolation PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR SURVIVING THESE STRANGE TIMES

BY BRANDON BARRETT GENEVIÈVE CÔTÉ was excited to settle into her new job with a Pemberton event company last week. It wasn’t long, however, before she saw her hours cut to part-time.

By the time Monday rolled around and the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed businesses across the Sea to Sky to shutter their doors, she had lost her job.

But the Quebec native has, like many other Whistlerites that have suddenly seen their livelihoods disappear, taken it all in stride.

After all, what choice does she have?

“There’s not much we can do about it, but we can stay positive, as being negative won’t get us anywhere aside from a dark space,” she said.

“I think this will all give us a great opportunity to revaluate how we live and make some changes if needed.”

It’s this approach that Whistler clinical counsellor Greg McDonnell preaches to those that have felt inundated by the barrage of recent news. It’s important to use this newfound alone time to get back in touch with who we are and pursue that passion project we may have been putting off for so long.

“Now is a really great time to take up that hobby you’ve always wanted to try,” he said. “Things that give us joy can help define our identity. When we have a broad base of things that give us joy, it’s something that psychologically protects us. When we only have one thing that defines us, and now COVID-19 prevents us from doing that one thing, it’s going to trigger depression, anxiety.”

McDonnell urges anyone feeling

“There’s not much we can do about it, but we can stay positive...”

- GENEVIÈVE CÔTÉ

overwhelmed to do their best to find the silver lining, which may mean taking consistent breaks from the news. “Of course, we call this positive psychology, or narrative psychology in the sense that we’re going to pick an adaptive narrative to this damn thing instead of this damn thing owning us,” he said. “You want to be informed and you want to stay tuned in, but do not over-consume media right now.

That’s why having other things that define you is really good for you mentally.”

Of course, for those already navigating the

604.894.6135

admin@ pemberton.ca

No�ce to Amend Council Procedure Bylaw No. 788, 2015 In accordance with sec�on 123 (3) of the Community Charter no�ce is hereby given that the Council of the Village of Pemberton intends to amend Council Procedure Bylaw No. 778, 2015 at the Special Council Mee�ng to be held on Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

In par�cular, Section 10 Electronic Participation at Meetings will be amended to add the following clause: Despite (b) and (c) above, in the event of a health, environmental or safety emergency, where it is not possible to have a quorum or the Mayor or Ac�ng Mayor physically present for a mee�ng, all or any por�on of the members may par�cipate in a Council mee�ng by means of electronic or other communica�on facili�es, so long as they comply with the remaining requirements of this Sec�on.

The proposed amendment will provide the opportunity for all members of Council to a�end electronically in the event of a health, environmental or safety emergency in which it www.pemberton.ca is not possible for quorum to be achieved through the physical presence of the Mayor some or all Council Members.

A copy of the proposed Council Procedure Amendment (Electronic Par�cipa�on) Bylaw No. 875, 2020 is available on the Village of Pemberton website.

Ques�ons and comments can be directed to Sheena Fraser, Manager of Corporate & Legisla�ve Services, at 604-894-6135 ext 228 or sfraser@pemberton.ca.

VillageOfPemberton 22 MARCH 19, 2020

Winter Facebook page this week to share her struggles with depression and anxiety with the more than 32,000 members of the group. Her post, raw and vulnerable, elicited dozens of supportive comments, and even a few private messages from people who were going through similar challenges.

Bonvie said just knowing her story resonated with the community has helped her in the past few days. It’s also helped her to connect with people she cares about, even when she can’t always be with them physically.

“I’m making sure that I’m constantly

in contact with someone, whether it’s my family or close friends, and never really, truly isolating myself,” said Bonvie. “Most importantly, the best way to cope for anything in life is to just be nice to other people. I always get a really good energy when I’m nice to other people.”

That’s something that Bonvie has picked up on amidst all the confusion and chaos of the pandemic: in ways both big and small, it’s inspired people to lend a helping hand, to rely on their community.

“It’s weird because this situation is not making me more depressed. I think it’s really opening my eyes and making me want to be better, to be honest,” she said.

“I’ve lived my whole life in the dark, so when something like this happens, it’s like, ‘Well, I’ve already been in the dark; this doesn’t make it darker for me. It actually opens my eyes.’”

Anticipating a rise in demand, Whistler Community Services Society’s Outreach Services are now available six days a week and can be accessed remotely by calling 604-932-0113 or through online booking at mywcss.org.

The Canada Caring Society has also donated 10 copies of Matt Haig’s memoir about depression, Reasons to Stay Alive, that are available for free at Armchair Books. n

Public Open House - POSTPONED

Public No�ce

Ques�ons?

We’re Listening.

pitfalls of mental health, the constant swirl of uncertainty can exacerbate their state of mind.

“I feel like … it has worsened my anxiety,” said 24-year-old Krystal Bonvie. “Now I’m constantly cleaning everything and I don’t really want to hang out with anyone. I’m super self-isolated and I’m really, really worried.”

Bonvie had been dealing with a recent breakdown—which included a suicide attempt—when she took to the Whistler

www.pemberton.ca

Alta Vista Neighbourhood Service Upgrade Design is near complete for Phase 2 of the project to be implemented in the summer season of 2021 and 2022.

The scope of this project will include upgrades to sewer and water services, drainage, road infrastructure and the Valley Trail in the Alta Vista neighbourhood.

Please note that the following open house is postponed Tuesday, March 31 – 4:30pm - 7:30pm Delta Hotel Whistler Village Suite – Whisky Jack B Now scheduled on: Tuesday, June 16 – 4.30pm - 7.30pm Location will be confirmed closer to the date.

Learn about the project at the public open house and come share your thoughts. whistler.ca/AltaVistaUpgrades Resort Municipality of Whistler whistler.ca

NEWS WHISTLER

Province looking at impact of COVID-19 on renters and landlords RENTAL HOUSING TASK LEADER GATHERING INFO AND FEEDBACK ON RENTAL ISSUES

BY NAOIBH O’CONNOR Vancouver Courier VANCOUVER

WEST END MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, the premier’s advisor on rental housing, has been tasked with gathering information and feedback on how to handle rental issues emerging due to COVID-19.

During a press conference March 17, Premier John Horgan said the government is looking at next steps, using a crossgovernmental approach.

“It’s not just individual renters that are concerned,” he said. “Businesses who have rents to pay and no customers coming in the door are equally concerned. So we have a whole range of issues that are piling up and we’re looking at what mechanisms we have to assist these individuals.

“But I want to stress … the objective of our government is to provide services for people. That’s why we’re here. We do not want to come up short. I’ve made that clear to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in our daily discussions—that we all need to work on this together.”

Chandra Herbert headed up the threeperson rental housing task force that criss-crossed the province in 2018 to come up with recommendations to modernize the Rental Tenancy Act. He is now reaching out to many of the same people and groups he dealt with

“It’s not just individual renters that are concerned.”

- JOHN HORGAN

on that file to make short-term and longterm recommendations with respect to the impact coronavirus will have on renters and rental housing.

“It’s quick work in terms of short-term [recommendations] given rents come due at the end of the month,” he said. “We’ll have to be looking at that as an issue. We’re

looking at how to support renters, but also landlords—there’s a number of smaller landlords [for whom] the rent cheque is often also the mortgage cheque.”

The federal government’s announcements this week on financial relief will also inform the work done by Chandra Herbert, who has already put out calls to organizations such as the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association, the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre and LandlordBC. Within government, he’ll be checking in with B.C. Housing, as well as Vancouver and Victoria’s rental advisory committees.

“It’s not everybody under the sun— we have to work faster than that—but I’m doing my best to get out to as many folks that have key experience in this work,” he said. “I’ve set my own deadline—as soon as possible. The sooner we can get action, the sooner people have some peace of mind, which is in short supply right now.”

Challenges are numerous as April 1 approaches and rent becomes due.

Some workers have already lost jobs while others are at risk of losing them.

Some residents are in quarantine or self-isolation. Landlords of smaller and

larger buildings, meanwhile, as well as those who rent suites in their homes, face mortgage payments. “[Some renters] may not be able to get rent money because they’re not working or they may have been laid off,” Chandra Herbert said. “In many cases, people are one paycheque away from not being able to afford rent.

“CMHC on the federal level has said [it’s] looking at mortgage deferrals and questions like that. But really, [after] we hear what the federal cabinet is announcing … we’ll see what we, as a province, needs to do.

“They have a considerable fiscal firepower at their disposal. We’ll watch them and then see what more we can do. Certainly, we’ve been encouraging the federal government to look at the challenge of renters, of course, the challenge with mortgage holders, people in the gig economy who might not qualify for EI, and that kind of thing.”

Under the province’s current Residential Tenancy Act, meanwhile, evictions are still possible—an issue renters’ advocates want addressed. n

Whistler Transit System

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NEWS WHISTLER

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ELECTRIC AVENUE A group of B.C. parents is pushing the provincial government to accelerate the switch to electric school buses.

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provincial government for a rapid shift to electric school buses.

“It just seems to me like we’re being totally outpaced by other parts of North America—like California and New York state and Virginia [in terms of] buying electric school buses—and sometimes buying them from Canadian inventors,” said Whistlerite Paul Shore, who is helping lead the efforts as part of the advocacy group For Our Kids.

An engineer with decades of experience in tech, Shore said he got interested in the idea after attending a workshop on Cortes Island led by environmental activist Tzeporah Berman.

There’s becoming a bit of “pent-up interest” for electric buses, “but here’s the thing: the buses are expensive, just like electric cars are still expensive,” Shore said.

“And I think that’s what holds the school boards back, is they don’t have budget to buy anything other than a diesel school bus.”

A new electric school bus costs about $270,000, according to an October 2018 study conducted by the Salt Spring Community Energy Group in School District 64 (not including charging infrastructure, which the study estimated would cost more than $100,000 for 12 buses).

But the study also found the district could save about $50,000 annually in fuel and maintenance costs.

On March 9, the provincial government announced that the 2020-21 bus acquisition program includes $13 million for 101 new buses in 31 school districts—including up to 15 electric buses.

Districts that buy electric buses will also have access to provincial funding for charging-station infrastructure.

“Our response was basically, ‘hey, that’s a good start, but 15 out of 101 buses in the

year’s budget, that leaves 86 buses that are diesel … That’s locking us in to more exhaust to be inhaled by our kids and more carbon into the atmosphere,” Shore said.

“So we’re going to keep trying to accelerate that transition.”

Switching from diesel buses might not make a huge dent in provincial emissions, but “everything helps,” Shore said, and the health impacts to kids—as well as the knock-on effects—make the effort worth it.

“Let’s say next year kids in our district, or some of them, got to get on an electric bus. Their minds are going to be blown,” Shore said.

In the short term, the buses might get the kids talking at the dinner table, he added.

“Long-term is, it’s not that long before they become drivers, right? And then they become purchasers or rideshare users, and they start demanding electric vehicles,” he said.

“So I think there’s some really positive both short and long-term knock-on effects from exposing kids to electric buses.”

Shore and For Our Kids have been in contact with School District 48 (SD48), and a presentation to the school board is being planned for sometime in April.

“We think it’s great that there is this local initiative in Whistler,” said SD48’s director of operations Ian Currie, adding that he’s been in contact with the Ministry of Education, and has received a cost analysis comparing diesel and electric buses.

“So there’s lots of information out there … It’s something that our district is looking at, and we’re very interested in exploring this option.”

SD48 has about 30 buses in total, each lasting between 12 and 15 years.

The district submits capital requests for bus replacements each year through the ministry, usually requesting two or three bus replacements.

“I’m hoping that we can at least get the ball rolling (on electric buses) in this year’s submission of our capital plan,” Currie said.

Find more info at www.forourkids.ca. n

NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY

Pemberton COVID-19 cases at open house, council meeting GROCERY STORE, MEDICAL CLINIC MAKING CHANGES TO SERVE CLIENTS MORE SAFELY

BY DAN FALLOON IF YOU ATTENDED the March 10 Village of Pemberton (VOP) council meeting, you may have been exposed to COVID-19.

This brings the known cases of the virus to three in Pemberton.

Just before 11 a.m. on Monday, March 16, the VOP sent an email to notify anyone at the meeting that they may have been exposed. The meeting was held between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. at 7400 Prospect St. The email said that VOP staff members had been in contact with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) regarding the case, but VCH has not provided further insight into the person’s conditions nor offered instructions on what council attendees should do.

The VOP email advises attendees to monitor their health for fever, cough, malaise, runny nose, fatigue, sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting until March 25, and to avoid public areas “where you cannot easily separate yourself from others if you become ill.”

The VOP said it would update attendees with further information as it receives it from VCH. Mayor Mike Richman said the VOP

POSITIVE TESTS Two positive COVID-19 patients were at a meeting at the Pemberton & District Community Centre on March 11.

FILE PHOTO

had reached everyone in attendance at the meeting via email.

“We did that on our own through Village channels so that people can monitor their symptoms more than they would have or keep an eye on [themselves] or self-isolate, depending on their own approach,” he said.

Pointing to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry telling attendees of the Pacific Dental Conference to self-isolate

given out due to privacy concerns.

This latest report follows the announcement on Saturday, March 14 that there were two confirmed cases in the community.

Richman said on March 16 that one of the two cases diagnosed in Pemberton was an out-of-town resident who has since returned home. The next day the VOP said it was told this, but it wasn’t confirmed.

“We’re doing everything that was recommended, monitoring our own health.”

- MIKE RICHMAN

immediately, Richman said the VOP has inquired of VCH as to whether the council meeting’s attendees should take similar precautions. Until they hear back from VCH Richman and the councillors are following health officials’ recommendations.

“We’re not going out where we don’t need to,” he said. “We’re doing everything that was recommended, monitoring our own health.”

Pique was alerted to this new case after a reporter who was in attendance at the meeting received the email. Generally, specific locations of positive cases are not

The other affected person is self-isolating and recovering.

The two COVID-19 positive people were at a community information session at the Pemberton & District Community Centre on March 11. Those in attendance have been notified, but there hasn’t been any subsequent bump in requests for tests.

“As far as I know, nobody else presented symptoms,” said Richman.

“The testing demands have been low today at the clinic, so I think people are heeding the recommendations of Vancouver Coastal Health.”

Those who were at the centre or attached library on that date between 2:30 and 8 p.m. and are presenting symptoms are asked to call 811 for assessment and not go directly to the clinic.

Over at the Pemberton Medical Clinic, March 16 was its first day of offering telemedicine appointments to patients who are already registered with the clinic via Doxy.me.

“We want to keep the at-risk population at home … it’s better to get them online like that rather than have them sit down in the waiting room,” said Dr. Will Ho. “Because we are a rural community, we are a bit more nimble and able to adapt to this situation.”

Ho also pointed patients to the province’s new online COVID-19 selfassessment (covid19.thrive.health/) as a great tool for people.

The Pemberton Valley Supermarket has started offering one hour of shopping exclusively for seniors or others at risk between 8 and 9 a.m.

General manager Kirsten McLeod said the public response has been positive adding that the store has ramped up its sanitizing efforts both when it is open and leading into its first hour for vulnerable shoppers.

Between the extra sanitization efforts and additional stocking at a time when some of its workforce is staying home due to illness and/ or their own vulnerabilities, McLeod asks that shoppers remain patient and calm.

For the full version of this story, visit piquenewsmagazine.com. n

MARCH 19, 2020

25

DISPATCHES OUT OF RANGE

Mountain community bids adieu to skiing, guiding pioneer

BY LYNN MARTEL AMONG ERIC LOMAS’ proudest achievements—in a long list of pioneering contributions to Canada’s mountain community—was his longstanding involvement with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).

One of the small group of professional guides who founded the ACMG in 1963, Lomas died on Feb. 19, just days after his 88th birthday.

“Eric was one of the eight founding members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides in 1963,” said ACMG executive director Peter Tucker, upon learning of Lomas’ death.

“His vision was critical to setting in motion the creation of the professional association that would go on to become the first non-European member of the IFMGA. Eric was a fine ski instructor, an excellent avalanche safety educator, and above all a wonderful husband, father and gentleman.”

In addition to serving as ACMG secretary treasurer for four years, Lomas contributed much time and energy to the Alpine Club of Canada, in the Coast Mountains and the Rockies, said ACC executive Director Lawrence White.

“Eric probably never got the credit

SAYING GOODBYE Association of Canadian Mountain Guides co-founder Eric Lomas.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

26 MARCH 19, 2020

he deserved for his contribution to the mountain community,” White said. “In addition to his co-founding of the ACMG and his work in public avalanche safety, Eric also chaired the ACC Clubhouse capital development committee for years.”

Always a keen skier, Lomas was involved in Whistler’s skiing history too, working with Garibaldi Lifts Limited as Whistler’s ski hill manager in 1965.

With no grand plan, Lomas left his home in England in 1955 intending to climb in Canada for two years. He travelled by boat from Liverpool to Montreal, and after disembarking, shared driving shifts all the way to Edmonton, despite never having driven a car before. A plumber by trade, he found work in Prince George, and climbed in Jasper on weekends.

A keen caver and climber, Lomas was introduced to the mountains by the Boy Scouts. He first climbed in the Alps in 1952 and in Norway, and soon accomplished some difficult Scottish climbs in winter.

He much preferred climbing to skiing until 1957, while living in Vancouver he discovered Washington’s Mount Baker.

“I like deep snow,” Eric admitted in a 2012 interview with this author. “Baker had deep snow. That stuff used to flow over our shoulders.”

On climbs in the Cascades, he nearly always led others, so in Banff in 1960 he took his guide’s exam with Walter Perren, the revered Swiss guide who launched Banff’s first public safety program.

“I remember Walter’s last words to me,” Lomas recalled. “He said, ‘there’s a few

things you obviously don’t know, but you’ll learn by experience.’”

That same year, he earned his ski instructor certification. Then, while working as an instructor at Baker, he witnessed his first avalanche control work.

“I noticed these guys would shoot the gun and then they would ski all the ski runs before they opened the lift. I thought, ‘ah, that’s nice, look at all that deep snow.’”

He approached the supervisor and his avalanche-control career began the next morning. That’s where he met a cute ski patroller from Germany named Dorle Hofmann.

“She could ski deep snow,” he said with a grin.

They married in 1962 and their family soon grew to include children Andre, Kim and Chris. Relocating from Vancouver to Banff, Lomas operated Banff Climbing School with fellow guide Peter Fuhrmann (Perren’s successor and fellow ACMG founder).

Back in Whistler, Lomas took an avalanche course in Colorado, his first experience with an avalauncher. Soon he moved Dorle and their three small kids to Stewart, B.C., where he managed avalanche control for Granduc Mines.

“That was the toughest avalanche control in the Western Hemisphere,” Lomas said. “There was 26 miles (42 kilometres) of road alongside a mountain where the snow slides all the time. We introduced the avalauncher—I was probably the first civilian to use artillery.” He also used a 75-millimetre recoilless rifle.

By the early 1970s, they’d relocated to

the Okanagan where he ran a plumbing business and the family managed a beach resort. Then they returned to Banff where he worked as the Banff Centre’s mechanical supervisor from 1979 to 1988. He guided and taught avalanche safety courses with Bernie Schiesser, and together they built the Alpine Club of Canada’s Peyto, Alberta, Neil Colgan, Freshfield and Scott Duncan huts. While skiing from the latter to the Trans-Canada Highway, they were the first to take the most commonly used route today—the Schiesser/Lomas route. Lomas also partnered with Rudi Kranabitter to build the Rockies’ Engadine Lodge.

“Our backyard was often a construction site being used to prefab Alpine Club huts,” Chris Lomas said. “I recall the Neil Colgan Hut being built on our lawn. It was installed by [my dad], Bernie Schiesser and volunteers. This happened no less than four times. I can remember many weekends helping him build Mount Engadine Lodge.”

When Parks Canada decided to decommission the Freshfield hut, Lomas and Schiesser flew it in pieces to Campbell Icefield in the western Rockies to open their own backcountry ski-touring operation, which the families continue to operate.

Appreciated as a loving husband, father and grandfather, Lomas remained humble.

He was named honourary member of the ACMG and the ACC. “He never sought the limelight and quietly went about his business,” White said. “That was his unassuming nature, making contributions where contributions were needed. He will be missed.” n

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in effect, become a de facto euphemism for F*ck the Environment, the slogan cuts to the heart of it.

Being overprotective of economies in the face of existential threats requiring serious action that might somehow impact them is a feature of modern life—the stumbling block for improving our approach on so many fronts it would be a waste of space to enumerate them. But you know where I’m going.

Yes, the economic ecology of the COVID-19 pandemic is telling: to save the economy from undue impact, the original outbreak was covered up (we know now it started in November; the doctor who raised the alarm has since died—presumably of COVID-19); then, when shit hit the fan—and despite extraordinary measures to cordon off a province of 60 million—China and the rest of the world embraced only weak half-measures that flew (pun intended) in the face of what was actually needed given the virus’s demonstrated rapid spread and the capacity of most public health systems (PHS). And so here we are, economically unprepared for what has been warned of for a century—since the flu pandemic of 1918.

The past decade has seen much discussion on how economies need to build “climate resilience.” Yet, in spite of recent epidemics like SARS, H1N1, Chikungunya, Ebola, and Zika, far less talk of building “disease resilience.” Almost certainly this is due to Western economies seeing themselves as less susceptible because of stronger PHS, with the counterintuitive result of a steady erosion of that capacity through funding cuts by neoliberal-minded governments (a video even surfaced on March 16 of Trump ranting in 2018 about cutting the “overfunded” U.S. pandemic team). During the current crisis, such recklessness is revealed as systemically problematic, as many health professionals warned.

Let’s be clear: this pandemic will change the world forever. But it is, essentially, an environmental pandemic, with origins in the illegal wildlife trade. And a globalization pandemic, turbocharged by travel and the need to maintain a fundamentally

interwoven global economy. Most importantly, it’s a pandemic of economic hubris, where most countries adopted only haphazard measures for a threat they deluded themselves into thinking wasn’t all that real. There was an illusion of containment of the limited cases outside China. Until the Diamond Princess. Until Iran. Until Italy.

In the Seattle area, back-calculations indicate the virus has been circulating since January but remained undetected until it began killing patients at a nursing home. Something similar, albeit delayed, happened in North Vancouver. Back in those halcyon days of January, before any cases were confirmed in Canada and only 17 deaths recorded, Bloomberg reported that should the coronavirus spread, it couldn’t come at a worse juncture for the Canadian economy, which was “emerging from … its weakest growth performance since 2016.” It noted how the outbreak resembled the 2003 SARS epidemic when Toronto recorded the most deaths outside Asia, tanking tourism and severely impacting the country; Canada’s economy actually shrank during the quarter coinciding with the outbreak, in part due to concomitant falling commodity prices. Ultimately, SARS wiped $40 billion from the world economy.

Since then, China’s role as global driver of commodity prices has spiked, meaning, Bloomberg suggested, that were Canada to dodge a possible global pandemic, even indirect exposure of our economy

Let’s be clear: this pandemic will change the world forever.

to impact on the Chinese economy would make 2003 seem like a picnic. This is true of most countries, so dependent are they on China for manufactured goods and as a resource customer. In as much, there’s a glaring lack of economic buffering for the scenario now unfolding. Zero resilience.

Just look at airlines. We now have the unfortunate opportunity to observe that Bloomberg was correct—though teasing this apart from direct effects will be an interesting post-hoc exercise.

As the waves of bad news wash over us, good news stories of otherwise profligate consumerists pitching in stand out: French luxury goods icon Louis Vuitton is dedicating its perfume and cosmetics production facilities to making large quantities of hand sanitizer for hospitals free of charge. In support, I might buy one of their T-shirts.

Next time: In every crisis…lies opportunity. ■

OUTSIDER

Taking sanctuary WHEN I WROTE this column last week, I was still making jokes about the world ending. What I hadn’t anticipated was—in the space of a few days—the sudden and drastic measures taken by governments

BY VINCE SHULEY around the world to contain COVID-19, including our own. Last week, I was still pointing and laughing at alarmists who were hoarding toilet paper and canned food, starting supermarket brawls over them. I’m not laughing this week. And the doomsday preppers are all happily grinning from the safety of their fallout shelters.

I’m still cautiously optimistic. I’m staying informed by getting daily updates from credible news sources and not the rumour mill that is the Whistler Winter Facebook group, which has already cried wolf a number of times. (I also realize that by the time you’re reading this, we will likely have a confirmed case in Whistler).

I’m trying my best to be diligent with hygiene. I’m making contingency plans in case myself or my partner have to miss work. Travel plans in the short term have already gone out the window.

Steady as she goes.

Whistlerites generally look to the

WEATHERING THE STORM Like so many bad seasons Whistler has had in the past, we can weather this storm.

PHOTO BY VINCE SHULEY

invisible membrane south of Function Junction to shield us from the outside world and its woes. That works for almost every other negative international news headline, but there’s no escaping this one. We’re at risk like everyone else, so we best lather up our hands, sing Happy Birthday twice and greet our friends with the “Wuhan Shake” as well as other social distancing measures.

Last week, I thought that spending time on our home ski hill Whistler Blackcomb would be largely unaffected. Skiers and snowboarders wear gloves and often neck tubes and facemasks. It’s easy enough to slink down behind your jacket and keep your mouth covered while on the chair lift, eyes safely behind a pair of goggles.

What about the backcountry? That’s where all the social distancing and social isolation-themed social media posts seem to be coming from. Surely this is the safest place to be outside the house right now (perhaps safer, in fact). But if you’re heading out for a few days to escape the urban curfews, watch yourself. We can’t afford to stress our beloved Canadian healthcare system right now, so don’t take the risks that you normally would when skiing in the wilderness. Be careful around people in cramped backcountry huts, stay sanitized (if you can still buy sanitizer) and consider winter camping in tents instead. It may not be as warm as a cozy fireplace in a remote cabin, but the

We can’t afford to stress our beloved Canadian healthcare system right now, so don’t take the risks that you normally would when skiing in the wilderness.

But noticing the string of resort closures in Europe and clusters of outbreaks in the U.S. (including ski towns), our Powers That Be at Vail Resorts have stepped up the precautions by suspending operations at all its North American resorts. I thought skiing, mountains and fresh air were going to be my sanctuary against exposure to COVID-19, but as I’m discovering with each passing day, it’s not that simple. At least we will still be allowed to skin up Whistler Blackcomb.

reduced exposure is probably worthwhile.

We all hate missing powder days, touring days, sledding days, Nordic days and all the other fun stuff that require our bodies to be in pretty decent shape. Injuries suck, but sickness can bench you just as quick. So in order to get the most out of the remaining winter and reduce risk of COVID-19 at the same time, here are a couple of tips from ex-alpinist and skimo racer Scott Semple, who recently updated his online article “Functional Mysophobia: Crazy Ways to Stay

Healthy.” You can see more of his endurance athlete training tips at uphillathlete.com.

Decrease your outdoor germ exposure.

Sounds obvious, but have you thought of strategies like staying upwind of people in case they sneeze? Try to limit your deep inhaling breaths when passing people on a trail or skin track. Avoid crowded enclosed spaces like washrooms, hallways and busy gondola cabins. Keep your gloves on (or use glove liners) for as long as possible when touching communal services such as door handles, gas pumps and PIN pads. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Reduce your vulnerability. Sleep as much as possible. That might not work with that double shift you have to work tomorrow, but consider how early you rise the next day and how hard you plan on skiing. If you get a crappy night’s sleep, adjust your training plan. Don’t over-train and avoid high-intensity workouts. Eat a healthy diet that boosts your immune system and take it easy on the alcohol. Ski touring hungover is never as fun anyway.

As much as I’m bracing for the worst, I’m hoping for the best. I feel for all the local businesses and hotels that have suffered massive cancellations for the rest of the winter season. I feel for the employees that are getting laid off a month early without knowing what the summer will bring. But like so many bad seasons we’ve had in the past, we can weather this storm. We’re not quite at the end of the world yet.

Vince Shuley is ready for some good news.

For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider email vince@vinceshuley.com or Instagram @whis_vince ■

MARCH 19, 2020

29

FEATURE STORY

30 MARCH 19, 2020

FEATURE STORY

W A L K T H I S W AY

Going with the flow on the cutting edge of neuroscience at X Camp >> By Leslie Anthony >> Photos by Eric Berger hey hunch in swimsuits on cramped wooden benches, surrounded by firewood and snow-caked boots. Some steam, having just stepped from the sauna, sweat dripping from their noses. Others flush, having clambered up a four-metre snowpack from an icy river, their bodies glowing pink and eyes flashing like Christmas lights. One by one, they fit a space-age headband onto their skulls and then sit stone-still while their brainwaves are downloaded into an app on Brent Martin’s phone.

The headband is a Muse 2, a multi-sensor EEG device widely employed by professional neuroscience researchers. Naturally, these days you can also buy one on Amazon, where it’s marketed as a meditation aid. It’s easy to see why: Muse 2 provides real-time feedback on brain activity, heart rate, breathing and body movement. In the case at hand, users are tracking their response to thermoregulatory stress. Can you be a more physiologically efficient sauna-er?

A less-reluctant stream-plunger—à la the meditative approach of Dutch coldwater specialist Wim Hof. Of course you can, and biofeedback helps accelerate the process.

When each person is done, Martin shares their results with them. Some will even be able to compare today’s physiological roller coaster with a baseline “neurocatch” recorded a few weeks prior. Regardless, they all nod thoughtfully at what they see on the screen. Then the hot clamber down to the river, and the cool head into the sauna, both likely contemplating the same thing: I can do better this time.

This is Flow science. This is X Camp.

MARCH 19, 2020

31

FEATURE STORY Happy Campers The ad went something like this: Join us at X Camp, a four-day backcountry gathering to stoke the soul and awaken the spirit. We’ll combine the latest neuroplasticity and brain tech with embodied experiences to help you tap into Flow State and raise your game. So unplug your electronics and prepare for an exploratory journey of inner and outer discovery…

Further reading divined that on top of being able to enjoy ski-touring, movement classes, sauna, cold-water plunging, forest walks, meditating, and varied interpersonal exchanging, a range of professionals would train an assortment of brain and body technology on participants and each other, delivering experiential learning that might be converted to knowledge and action.

Unstated, but of primary interest, was to learn more about Flow, an emerging field centred on improving human endeavour and potential. (If that immediately begs explanation, don’t worry. Flow’s first lesson?

Be patient, we’ll get to it).

The intriguing prospects of this inaugural event by Martin’s Vancouverbased outfit, Backcountry Enlightenment, sounded promising enough for a dozen to sign on. Sure enough, no sooner did we variously arrive by snowcat, snowmobile, and cross-country ski to the exquisite backcountry digs of Journeyman Lodge in Whistler’s Callaghan Valley to unplug, than the pros plugged in: theta-wave scanners, light/sound relaxation gear, action-potential stress evaluators, various brain stimulators, and, of course, the Muse 2. More important than this array of “digiceuticals” (therapies for a wide range of health issues delivered through mobile technology—Flow is chocka-bloc with buzzwords), however, were the humans who hoped to learn how to turn our abundant powers into something less wasteful and more useful in our everyday lives—to optimize, so to speak.

In addition to co-organizers Martin—selfproclaimed Director of Mischief—and Greig Gjerdalen, a deep-nature explorer and instructor in Capilano University’s outdoor program, X Camp featured maverick neuroscientist Dr. Ryan D’Arcy, body-movement expert Dr. Carla Cupido, somatic wizard Ian Watson (better-known to ski bros around Whistler as “Cheddar”), life and business architect Nick

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Banks, and functional medicine Neuro-Ninja Dr. Jan Venter.

Once assembled in the lodge, the group circled up for introductions and to offer insight into why each of us was there. The reasons that bubbled forth were probably more diverse—and informative—than any of us expected: some felt they were in a good place in life and wanted to share their good fortune with others; others had had a bad year, sought personal growth, were battling health issues, or needed to let go of some toxic emotional narrative; a few (including yours truly) were merely curious or there for the science. Though each of us was probably wondering what any of these things specifically had to do with Flow, the question was quickly answered: everything.

That first afternoon, with brilliant spring sun prevailing before a forecasted return to winter, Gjerdalen led a simple walk in the forest, challenging us at various points to bring awareness to our surroundings through stillness and silence. The goal was to immerse in the environment; what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku—forest bathing. It’s amazing what you can see and hear and feel when you allow yourself to, and how awareness

of the life that surrounds us changes both how we perceive and proceed. The physics of our stride might not change—we are, after all, evolutionarily engineered as ambulatory creatures—yet somehow our walking improves, as if freed from an unknown resistance. The sudden ease of passage helps us notice more. And then we feel even better— mood elevated, mentally sharper, physically emboldened. Something has clearly shifted.

This is positive feedback, and it’s a powerful thing, unleashing the intrinsic motivation at the heart of Flow.

And yes, now I suppose we better find out what that is.

State of Flow By its very sound and the things people tend to apply the word to, “Flow” can come across as casual stoner talk. In fact, it boasts a solid academic pedigree.

A former head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College, and now Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management

at Claremont Graduate University, the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the first to recognize, study and name the discipline with his seminal 1990 work Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Therein, he describes a highly productive mental state in which people become so focused and absorbed that nothing else seems to matter. As it turns out, this also happens to be the state in which we experience the greatest sense of well-being.

Maybe you’ve called it being “in the zone” or “in a groove,” but we have all, at some point, experienced the unique clarity of total engagement, fulfilment, and skill—whether while cooking, doing a puzzle, paddle-boarding, or something else.

Csikszentmihalyi saw the Flow State as complete involvement in an activity for its own sake, but during which “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

Csikszentmihalyi conducted prodigious research into the precise components necessary to achieve Flow State, and a key

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32 MARCH 19, 2020

FEATURE STORY finding was expressed in his construction of a challenge-skill matrix. This holds that to optimize outcome, a balance must be struck between the challenge of a task and the skill of the performer. When both challenge and skill are low and matched, Flow can’t happen and apathy results; when both are high and matched, however, Flow occurs.

It’s easy to extend this concept to everything from learning curves for outdoor activities to major life goals—upward-leveraging skill and challenge are required to progress at anything, yet it’s also a step-wise process that must be appropriately managed and nurtured over time. The product of such patient achievement is embodied in, say, Olympic athletes and chess players who train themselves to consistently perform at the highest possible levels.

Like many emerging fields, Flow is so new it’s caught somewhere between cult status and neuro-scientific sub-discipline. Perhaps signalling that it’s a bit of both, Flow has its own pop-cultural gurus in authors such as Jamie Wheal and Steven Kotler (i.e., Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and

Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work), and was prominently featured in the New York Times (“How to Change Your Brain for $5,000”). But Flow has also entered the learning streams at universities, where myriad research is being conducted and surprising findings are being made.

As Venter would point out during an evening presentation at Journeyman Lodge, an underground “altered state economy” sees the global population spend $4 trillion each year to alter our consciousnesses through personal growth modalities, recreational pursuits, various media, and drugs, both legal and not. It’s no surprise to discover we spend so much coin to change our state of being, but Flow, done right, it’s claimed, can provide a less costly hack to any of this.

If this is starting to sound like flaky New Age pseudo-medical claptrap, fear not: the empirical brain-science results unequivocally show there’s something to it.

Among the brain changes measured during Flow State are the following: an expected elevation in focus, but also a faster

processing of information from a wider array of sources; increased neural connections, neuroplasticity, lateral thinking, and pattern recognition; a reciprocal relationship between flow and creativity; higher, moresuccessful risk-taking; and the triggering of powerful intrinsic motivation by a flood of addictive neurochemicals. Together these observations suggest that the hackneyed expression “adrenaline junkie” could be replaced by “Flow junkie”—a craving for the sheer enjoyment of high performance and being as good as you can be.

Studies show that being able to regularly achieve Flow State in almost any pursuit can also cut the path to mastery (a.k.a., Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours) in half by accelerating problem-solving and learning (up to 230 per cent), increasing performance (500 per cent), and spiking creativity (700 per cent). Yes, these are huge numbers. And right behind them is the finding that people with the most Flow in their lives (looking your way Sea-to-Sky outdoor enthusiasts) are among the happiest people on Earth.

LIKE MANY EMERGING FIELDS,

Finding the Flow During our four days at Journeyman, things were happy indeed. Meals were artful, carefully curated productions by the lodge’s chef, and while we ate, talk about the empirically studied benefits of various food items was a reminder of how important nutrition is in order for people to function optimally—and hence, how central to the idea of Flow.

As enumerated by Venter, nutrition is but one of the fundamentals of Flow, others being sleep (obvious), hydration (ditto), social network and relationships (keep these positive), heart-rate variability training (remember the Muse 2?), and transient hypofrontality—which merits more than parenthetical explanation. This last references the ephemeral state, under certain conditions, when the focused thinking part of our brain takes a rest, allowing other parts and functions to dominate; for instance, you might leave your desk to go for a run and find that by actually turning off your brain you’re suddenly able to solve a multitude of mental tasks that have otherwise eluded you.

We’d begun our first full day the way we would start each of them—with a short meditation led by Martin. There were only a few of us there who had never meditated.

“What do you need to do?” asked one.

“Nothing,” replied Martin.

“That should be easy,” came the answer, “I do that all the time.”

This lighthearted descent into quietude seemed as it should, before ramping up into a movement clinic with Cupido that included breath-work (anyone who does yoga knows how respiratory awareness drives attention into the Now), as well as strength, stretch, and balance training. It wasn’t Connor McDavid miraculously rehabbing a destroyed knee in record time without surgical intervention, but these “fully-loaded” exercises were similarly aimed at getting us to our physical best faster and more often. With this wind in our sails, we set out ski-touring into a storm that had delivered 20 centimetres of snow overnight and would eventually leave a metre.

The usual metronomic uphill slog to the goods came with new, meditative meaning, and after lunching on a bench with the wind swirling under our hoods, we dropped in. I was immediately physically aware of having a great run. Despite my initial worry of

MARCH 19, 2020

33

FEATURE STORY

THERE WERE AS MANY TEARS

34 MARCH 19, 2020

breaking through solar-affected crust under the new snow, I literally danced down, more light-footed than I can remember. Afterward, it dawned on me that my long familiarity with this activity was a quick on-ramp to the Flow State, that I likely always had 100-per-cent focus on a backcountry run (and possibly more on the pistes of Whistler Blackcomb given the reckless and unpredictable human element). So much so that I’m not even aware of the myriad sensory inputs I’m managing at high speed.

Could I apply this to other areas of my life?

Skiing is easy for me to write about, but there were other, just-as-impactive activities whose effects are harder for me to describe.

While Martin collected more data at the sauna/stream (among other things I could eventually walk more than a kilometre on snow in bare feet—not exactly a new superpower, but close), Watson conducted somatic investigations into sympathetic (alarm and reaction) vs. parasympathetic (rest and restore) nervous responses, leading both discussions and exercises highlighted by a zipline session. For her part, Cupido, a chiropractor with yoga and other body movement training, now shifted to helping people with chronic issues of pain and injury.

Banks held life-mission-analysis sessions, discussing creating vs. consuming in various aspects of life, work and relationships, the message being that when you’re creating you have the most energy and are truly in Flow State—even when creating the creating. That addendum seems kind of meta, but I think I got what he meant: everything we do is a nested Zen set of intention.

When he could, Venter wielded his considerable digiceutical kit to stimulate brains with light, sound, electricity, waves, particles, and magnetic energy. He noted that whatever the range of electrical toys, puzzles, or card games employed, the long-term goal was the same: to achieve a balanced brain—as if it were a car you were learning to put into second, third, and reverse gear as opposed to the first gear most people function in.

Gjerdalen, who’d become interested in the science after experiencing real Flow States mountain biking with his buddies, led another round of forest bathing. This time we were on skis and snowshoes during a gentle snowfall. As our teetering mob walked off into the woods, we looked like a zombie apocalypse in winter. This time, Gjerdalen asked us to try and use all our senses as we followed him in silence; my revelation from this was understanding that wind was not one sound but hundreds, as air glanced off of and around every object in its path. At one point, the group split up for 10 minutes of alone time. Through curtains of snow, I found myself thinking about the health of the forest, the different tree ages, the oldman’s beard on the branches; touching the trunk of an ancient, stunted hemlock snag, I found a live spider under a piece of bark, a discovery made in my own nature-Flow State that I excitedly relayed when we circled up to talk about what we’d experienced.

While I was having physical and biological epiphanies, others were having emotional revelations. Meaning there were as many tears as smiles during some of the activities—though mostly tears of joy and

FEATURE STORY release. “My original idea was for this to between the intimate comfort of Journeyman be a combination of Wanderlust, Cirque du Lodge and the huge expanse of empty Soleil, and Burning Man,” Martin told me. wilderness beyond, it wasn’t always obvious “So I’m not surprised at all the emotional that the science of Flow wasn’t just the dabbling stuff that comes out. People get out of their of a few, but a global effort toward overall heads and into their hearts when they’re human improvement. This all-embracing exposed to an opportunity to heal through thought is embodied in something called the fun, adventurous activity.”

“Flow Genome Project” (flowgenomeproject.

Near the end of camp, we’d gone around com) an interdisciplinary global collection the room stating what each of us thought of academics, athletes (count the ubiquitous the mission we set out for the weekend was, Jimmy Chin among these), artists and whether it had come to fruition, and how it Fortune 500 business leaders who’ve could be transferred to our personal lives for dedicated themselves to “taking Flow from sharing—a legacy, if you will. No one had the extreme to the mainstream.” The basic really thought about this and so, no surprise intent is to advance Flow science and train that each and every post-hoc analysis was individuals and organizations to harness it different. After being initially flummoxed, I in daily life, but the ultimate mission is to decided that my mission was to gather and reverse-engineer the Flow State itself—that is, leave more knowledge; with so much denial break it down into its various physiological, and delusion in the world right now, it’s what neurological and psychological components I feel I can reasonably contribute to the future. to share with humankind at some point in It was both revelation and clarion call. the near future.

Lest this all sound like ice cream and That’s a big prescription, and while we balloons, rest assured that Flow, also a wait for this planetary makeover to come to feature of numerous ancient traditions, is fruition (or not), we can all follow our own as susceptible as any other emergent field paths to doing things better and enjoying or fad to the seeker mentality—that person them more. Which is where gatherings like who goes after one peak state after another, X Camp come in, opening doors to the how looking for something to integrate into their and why. Did I learn anything new out there life they never truly find, plumbing whatever concerning things I engage in routinely? cultural cachet they cross for these balms. Absolutely. Could I still do even better at “There’s going to be some carnage before it some of them? You bet. all settles down,” notes Martin. “It’s like all the drug experimentation in the 1960s—it Further X Camps have since been held in the led to a war on drugs and the shutting down Chilcotins and on Gambier island. The next of research on the merits or dangers of these X Camp at Journeyman Lodge scheduled for substances, but now that’s all back on.”

April has been postponed. Visit xcamp.ca With our X Camp scenes alternating for details. ■

MARCH 19, 2020

35

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

A weekend retreat at the

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health Story and photos by Teresa Bergen

I

n the last couple of years, I’ve started to question self-improvement. I’m a middleaged person. Do I still want to chase after a new practice, mantra, philosophy, worldview? How much energy am I willing to put into being kinder, thinner, more authentic, attractive or centred? If I haven’t found my true self by now, should I just wait for my next incarnation? Other times, I’m more receptive to self-actualization through yoga, meditation and listening to unfamiliar points of view.

At I stood in line to check in at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, a nonprofit organization that operates the retreat in Stockbridge, Mass., on a Friday night in January, I felt a little skeptical. Five hundred people had arrived at the former Jesuit seminary in the Berkshires of Massachusetts before me that day. Had I reached the epicentre of the yoga-industrial complex?

Over the course of a weekend, I came to appreciate that Kripalu is an amazing accomplishment. The retreat centre has been running for almost 50 years, long before wellness was such a thing. Staff cater to a huge number of individuals who are all seeking their own personal transformative experience. Watching how the kitchen feeds 500 people—many of them with some type of picky diet—three times a day, filled me with awe.

Guests can choose a personal R&R retreat or a group program. People on R&R can attend morning, noon and afternoon yoga classes and participate in whatever special sessions are happening that day. Activities offered might be origami and mindfulness, a guided hike, the power of mantra, a whole foods cooking demo or a concert. Some come for a multi-day program, such as mindfulness-based harmonica, mothering

A private room at Kripalu

36 MARCH 19, 2020

and daughtering, setting boundaries that stick or the art of authenticity.

Kripalu also likes to get folks outside.

My three-night snowshoeing and yoga program had a light schedule. We met in the morning for a few hours of snowshoeing (snow permitting) and in the afternoon for a two-hour yoga session. Other than that, we could take part in extra yoga, attend evening programs, peruse self-improvement books at the onsite bookshop, or slip away to lounge in the beautiful fourth-floor sunroom overlooking the snowy grounds.

Two guides led our outdoor activities, encouraging silence and mindfulness as our group of 25 walked Kripalu’s trails. We stopped periodically as our guides reminded us to stay in the present by focusing on our senses. Toward the end of our walks, we’d make a circle and people could talk about their experience, which mostly brought up

feelings of gratitude or their need to connect with nature. Many of my mostly female fellow snowshoers were carrying a lot of weight in their everyday lives. On our last morning, one woman started crying when she thanked a guide for carrying her water bottle the day before. Usually she has to do everything for everybody, she said. I don’t think she was the only stressed out caregiver trying to carve out a little time for herself in the Berkshires.

Kripalu excels at offering people affordable retreats. If you’re on a tight budget, the best deal is to rent a dorm bed for $92 per night midweek or $104 on the weekend. This cost includes meals, yoga classes, evening events and use of facilities such as the lovely steam room and whirlpool and the nature trails. For more solitude, choose a private room with private bath for $329 midweek or $369 on the weekend. Shared double rooms

Snowshoeing on Kripalu’s trails

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

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1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) with shared bathrooms fall in between. If you’re going to New York for business, it’s not too hard to get to Kripalu by car, bus or train, so consider tacking a weekend retreat onto your trip.

All the food is buffet style and mostly vegetarian. As a nod to monastic tradition, everybody eats breakfast in silence. Lunch and dinner get cacophonous in the dining room, but there’s a smaller room across the hall for those who want more silence. This is an awesome place for vegetarians and vegans, with probably the most choices I’ve ever had. The ingredients are listed beside each dish. You can choose everything from pancakes to steamed vegetables and mung beans for breakfast. There’s always a huge salad bar at lunch and dinner, and several entrees. If you need a snack in between meals, the coffee shop sells excellent cookies.

Don’t miss the chocolate chia. There’s no

espresso machine, but the coffee is good.

I really appreciated how Kripalu made space for a wide range of experiences. Folks who feel gregarious can make new friends in the dorms and dining hall. Those who are looking for peace and silence can enjoy a more inward retreat.

During my time at Kripalu, I was feeling on the less sociable side. On Saturday, I tried to get in the group spirit by joining the popular yoga dance at noon complete with live drumming. But when I peered into the room and saw 60 people paired off yelling “you’re amazing” at each other and showing off amazing dance moves to their partners, well, I just didn’t have it in me. But I was in luck, since Kripalu has plenty to offer the more contemplative retreatant. I found a beautiful snowy labyrinth to wander alone. My mind cleared as I marvelled at the brightness of snow. ■

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Snowy view from inside

MARCH 19, 2020

37

SPORTS THE SCORE

Whistler Cup cancelled ORGANIZERS RESETTING FOR 2021 RETURN

BY DAN FALLOON IT WAS SET to be Sara Stiel’s year in 2020.

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) competitor had just posted a podium finish, third place, in the giant slalom at the U16 Canadian Alpine Nationals on March 11.

It was set to be a fantastic springboard into her final year of the Whistler Cup, where Stiel had performed well in the past, including capturing the U14 Nancy Greene Award in 2018. The festival itself had its own sense of optimism as well with new title sponsor O2E Brands in tow.

But on March 12, the remainder of U16 Nationals was cancelled, as was the Whistler Cup—set to run for the 28th time from April 16 to 19—in order to limit the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus.

While an understandable precaution, Stiel was nonetheless saddened that she’d already raced at the event for the final time.

“I was quite upset because it’s on my home hill and that is what we train for the whole season, so hearing that it was cancelled, it was a little bit heartbreaking,” she said. “I know the terrain and I know the snow, because I would have been training for the days prior on it. Honestly, I was hoping to podium.”

As well, being a premier international event, Stiel was eager for the opportunity to bolster her ski-racing CV. Still, she has podium experience from 2018, taking second in the giant slalom, as well as second to best friend and then-teammate Kaila Lafreniere (who now races for Quebec’s Belle Neige club) in the parallel slalom final.

For her part, Lafreniere punched her ticket to Whistler Cup as part of Team

PROVINCIAL PRIDE Whistler Mountain Ski Club members prepare for the opening parade at U16 Nationals at Sun Peaks. Racers were looking to build momentum for the Whistler Cup, which was later cancelled.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

38 MARCH 19, 2020

Canada after winning the super-G race at U16 Nationals on March 10, following it up with another victory in the next day’s giant slalom for good measure.

With the news of the cancellation, Lafreniere was disappointed to see the festival cancelled, but was glad to have seen the truncated season at least end on some winning notes. Still, coming in on such a high, Lafreniere had hoped to keep it up and come away from Whistler with a victory.

“I was really happy that I got the chance to go to nationals. We’re really lucky that it was right before everything got cancelled. I tried focusing on that and how I did really well,” she said. “I’m obviously really, really bummed that Whistler Cup got cancelled, but obviously, the security of the athletes does come first.

“It’s just going to make me train harder for the upcoming season.”

The Whistler Cup, the country’s premier festival for under-16 and under-14 ski racers, was set to welcome more than 400 skiers from roughly 20 countries.

Whistler Cup administrator Christine Cogger said the organizing committee had monitored the situation from the outset. With Alpine Canada and provincial organizations recommending that all domestic events be cancelled after the pandemic’s spread in recent days, she said it was the only solution that made sense.

“Everything came to a head in the last 24 hours. We got together with our board of directors and then made the final decision today in light of the release of Alpine Canada,” she said on March 12. “It was a variety of factors. Asking people to travel at a time when that’s being discouraged, with the health and safety of our volunteers, our coaches, our participants, those were the driving factors.”

Cogger said that organizers are now turning their attention to bringing the event back in 2021.

“We try to make it as fair as we can for everyone involved including the club, our sponsors, our parents, the athletes, and we

feel that this was the most prudent solution we could take on all fronts,” Cogger said when asked about the financial toll of the cancellation. “We really have great support in the ski-racing community and I think everyone understands that this is a little out of our hands.

“Had the global situation been otherwise, maybe our decision would have been different, but the reality is we’re a really small piece in a really big puzzle at this point in time.”

WMSC executive director Mark Tilston said on March 12 that since the club works on the event year-round, it will be unable to recoup investments it had made to this point.

“Everybody’s disappointed,” he said.

“It’s a lot of work that’s gone into preparing for it and it’s a big financial loss for us with the outlays that we make prior to the event.

All in all, it’s very disappointing.”

Tilston said significant costs the club has already paid out include wages for staff to plan the races, as well as the cost of the legendary jackets that each racer receives.

He declined to say the value of the hit to the club, but acknowledged it will have to make some tough decisions in the future.

“We’re a not-for-profit, which means our budgets are very tight,” he said. “We don’t have that amount of room in our budget that we can say, ‘That’s a loss.’

Absolutely, we’ll need to rejig some things going forward.”

It’s too early to say how exactly the club will adapt.

“It’s not a cost that we want our members, our community and ski racing to bear the brunt of, but equally, it’s not a cost that our current members should have to carry,” he said.

Tilston said that in spite of the challenging news for the club, he’s trying to keep it all in perspective, as losing a ski race is still minor compared to those who are facing the illness head-on or facing

other significant hardships as a direct result. As well, while it’s unfortunate for the graduating athletes, it’s a minor loss in the big picture.

“In the grand scheme of things, does it really impact them massively? It’s disappointing, but now, they have to go back to the drawing board and refocus on next year, and moving into FIS,” he said, noting that athletes also miss out on events due to injuries or inclement weather. “It’s a part of life and we’ve got to keep it all in perspective.”

Tilston added that from the club, 45 U14 athletes and roughly 40 U16 racers were getting set to take part.

STIEL SCORES CLUB’S LONE MEDAL At U16 Nationals, Stiel felt strong even on a Sun Peaks course that didn’t particularly suit her style.

In the giant slalom, Stiel had the opportunity to share the podium with Lafreniere.

“It was super exciting. It was a good eye opener to see how good the other girls in Canada are and also the level of competition.

It was a lot of hard work,” Stiel said.

To attain the bronze, Stiel said she had prepared well, locking in everything from her sleep to her nutrition, to excel when called upon, even on a track that provides her some challenges.

“I quite enjoy steep pitches and more hard snow. The snow was super soft and it was quite flat, so I had to push really hard,” said Stiel, who was 14th in the March 10 super-G. In terms of the atmosphere, Stiel said it was initially somewhat intimidating to be around loads of athletes and coaches from across the country, but upon meeting

SEE PAGE 39

>>

SPORTS THE SCORE

WSSF on pause, looking for ‘creative’ ways to move forward WEBCASTS, OTHER SOLUTIONS POSSIBLE TO AVOID CREATING LARGE GATHERINGS

BY DAN FALLOON IN THE FACE OF widespread event cancellations to contain the spread of COVID-19, the World Ski and Snowboard Festival is looking to find creative ways to move forward in some form.

While it would be a significant challenge to run the festival in light of the provincial government’s March 16 ban on events with more than 50 people in attendance, Joey Gibbons, CEO of festival owner Gibbons Whistler, isn’t ready to call it off just yet. A release on March 14 described the festival as being “on pause.”

During a meeting with athletes earlier this week, Gibbons posed the potential need for contingencies for the festival, originally scheduled from April 16 to 26.

“The question that I’ve put toward the athletes and the artists is, ‘How can we continue to celebrate mountain culture in today’s reality?’” he said in a March 13 interview. “How do we, this year, continue to celebrate our artists and athletes and mountain culture in a way that fits in with today’s environment?

“I find athletes, artists and entrepreneurs are the ones who built this town and those are the ones who have the ability to think outside the box and figure out, ‘How do we do cool stuff?’

“The type of people we’re talking to come into these tough circumstances every day when they’re out in the backcountry or whatnot, right? We’ve got to make decisions. We’ve got to adapt. We’ve got to pivot and we’ve got to make moves.”

Being Gibbons Whistler’s first year of festival ownership, details and plans were already changing rapidly. The proposed change in direction has only accelerated the process as organizers look

to adapt to the new reality on the fly while remaining in contact with partners such as Whistler Blackcomb, the participants, and community leaders with how to progress safely.

“It’s definitely not going to look the same way as it’s looked in previous years. We’re going to reshape it,” he said.

“We’re day-to-day with announcements and we’re following guidelines from our health ministers.

“We’re going to do business based on how we’re told to do business during these circumstances.”

Gibbons said some suggested ideas of events that could run without spectators include: skateboarding’s King of the Road contest, where athletes are given points based on completing various challenges in a set time period; letting backcountry athletes pick a location to ski or board and share their experiences; and webcasting battles from artists’ studios.

“They all want to come here. We’ve just got to create an environment that makes them want to come here,” he said.

“Everyone is looking for an excuse to come to Whistler in the last two weeks of April.

“It’s up to us to create a circumstance that makes them want to be here, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Gibbons also acknowledged that while he’d look to attract the best to town, given the advisories against nonessential international travel, such as the recommendation from the Canadian government for its citizens, he understands that those who would otherwise be interested might lean towards staying put this year.

“We’ve been in communication with a lot of these people, but they’ve got their own set of circumstances depending on whether they live in Vancouver, Europe, Asia, Squamish, Whistler,” he said. n

10 classes per session

WHISTLER CUP FROM PAGE 38 friends new and old, she came to feel more comfortable.

“After the first day of racing, I started to get to know more people and it ended up being really fun, a good experience,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lafreniere was proud of both victories.

“The super-G was a perfect course for me. It was very straight and the one that was going to be the bravest was going to win,” she said. “The GS was a little more turny, but the terrain was really good.

“I really love the run in Sun Peaks, so it

was just perfect for me.”

Other WMSC ladies results from U16 nationals were: Erin Husken (tied for 59th in super-G and 46th in giant slalom); Ashley Perron (tied for 59th in super-G0); Meagan Doiron (62nd in super-G); and Laura Keogh (50th in giant slalom).

The men’s results came from: Felix Shorter (30th in super-G and 11th in giant slalom); Sam Fuller (18th in super-G); Sascha Gilbert (33rd in super-G and 19th in giant slalom); Jack Thomas (28th in super-G); Milan Novak (38th in super-G); and Duncan Ross (39th in super-G and 40th in giant slalom). n

MARCH 19, 2020

39

VELOCITY PROJECT

Emotions last 90 seconds so why am I still freaking out?!

HERE’S THE PHENOMENAL nugget of information that dropped into my lap last week (the original source was Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Peace is Every Step; neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor also writes about it in her book My Stroke of Insight):

BY LISA RICHARDSON emotions last about 90 seconds.

After 90 seconds, the feeling has been metabolized. What lingers is the story you choose to associate with that feeling.

So, my frustration on Tuesday morning at my seven-year-old’s molassesslow non-attempt at getting ready, and subsequent missing of the bus, was really just 90 seconds of chemicals flushing through my system.

So why was I sitting in the car, driving him to school, still stewing in steam? What story was I telling myself, that kept me in that space of frustration, restimulating some circuit in my brain, regenerating that frustrated feeling over and over, when I could have just let it go?

It took me a little while to chill out enough and detach from my frustration and my righteousness around it, my entitlement to hold on to it, as if my huffing and sighing would help reinforce the lesson to him that MISSING THE BUS IS BAD and that dawdling and dallying and paying no

GUARDIAN COW ANGEL What stories are you making up today?

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40 MARCH 19, 2020

attention to me as I say, “We’ve got to get moving or we’re going to miss the bus” IS NOT OK...

When I did finally calm down and put this question to myself, “Is there a story that I’m clinging to here? What’s the story?” a big old cow lumbered up in response. It was a Scottish highland breed, with huge big horns and long shaggy hair. She was quite sweet and maternal, almost as if she wanted to lick me.

I’m not sure why the story came to me in the costume of a shaggy Scottish cow.

Maybe I was hungry and had just driven past Mile One. I don’t ask my imagination to explain itself.

The cow didn’t actually speak to me.

Just for the record. In case the little men in white coats with butterfly nets are standing by, waiting to scoop up the people who receive visitations from invisible cow gurus even though they are not themselves actually characters in a Far Side cartoon.

The cow intimated with a gentle nuzzle: the story is that you think you’re a bad mom. You are still feeling frustrated 40 minutes later because you think you should have handled that better, done something different, that you really kind of suck at this motherhood thing.

Funny, eh? Funny with a little bit of ouch—a nervy little shot of pain, like a really hard elbow bang. But it was also ridiculously endearing too, right? (That’s why it was a highland cow!) I mean, did I get an instruction manual with my child?

Do I think that all other parents have this dialed and I am the only person who didn’t navigate their morning with seamless grace and zen? Do I expect myself to be expert in any other aspect of my life? (I am

so good at endorsing Beginner’s Mind in all other realms…)

It took longer than 90 seconds, but the feeling of frustration finally passed, and the story became less self-flagellating and entrenched and a little bit more wacky.

I went Googling to verify this 90-second thing, and then gifted myself the hour to watch Buddhism and meditation teacher Tara Brach speak on the RAIN of selfcompassion. (I justified it as research for this column, but as I make my final edits, it occurs to me that if I feel such a strong need to justify spending an hour of learning about things that might help me on the whole motherhood and self-actualizing adventure, then this encounter with the Cow of Wisdom is probably not my last.)

“If you look closely, whatever difficult emotion is going on, it’s not just that emotion,” says Brach. “There’s also another feeling which is ‘I’m bad for having this feeling. This feeling reflects badly on me.

I feel bad, I am bad.’ These stories we have of personal deficiency, of badness, are the most sticky of all the beliefs.”

In the Buddhist tradition, she explains, it’s known as “second arrowing”—the first arrow is the feeling, and the second arrow is feeling shitty for having that feeling. “We are not able to respond with wisdom and compassion if we add that second arrow of self-blame.”

Brach offers a practice that is easy to spell, for those who find meditation a bit abstract, or for you poor folks who don’t have a guardian cow angel, so that we can stop ourselves from then rushing into some kind of self-sabotaging, numbing or self-destructive behaviour, in order to feel better about feeling bad.

“The healing begins in the moments that we sense what’s going on and make a U-turn and turn the light and tenderness of attention right to where the rawness is,” says Brach. She packages the process as the “RAIN of self-compassion”: R is for recognizing we’re caught up in a story.

A is for allowing ourselves to feel it all.

I is for investigating—with kindness and curiosity—the stories we’re telling ourselves, what we’re feeling, the way it feels in our body.

N is for nourishing, with compassion.

Drop the storyline and just feel the feeling.

Does frustration, laced with “the bus is coming in one minute” panic, feel hot?

Where is it in my body? If it was a colour, what colour would it be? Pay attention to it, because—and here’s the amazing thing!— in 90 seconds, it will be gone! (So will the school bus.)

To separate the story from the feeling, Brene Brown uses a phrase: “the story I’m making up is…”

There’s so much power in naming it as a story.

The story I was making up is “if I were a better mom, we wouldn’t be here right now.

You’d be kissing me goodbye and climbing up the steps to the bus.”

But, when I’m feeling kinder to myself, like four hours, or four days later, I realize, he’s OK, I’m OK, we’re doing OK here. And sidenote: frustration is school-bus yellow.

And highland cattle are hilarious.

The Velocity Project: how to slow the f*&k down and still achieve optimum productivity and life happiness. ■

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MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE IS CLOSED. THE CLOSURE WILL BE REASSESSED ON MARCH 27.

The Lost Lake Nordic Trails and the outdoor skating rink at Whistler Olympic Plaza are closed for the season.

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whistler.ca/recreation | whistler.ca/notices | 604-935-7529 @RMWhistler | @rmwhistler | @rmowhistler

EPICURIOUS

What the global pandemic could mean for Canada’s food supply chain AGRI-FOOD EXPERT SAYS WEAKENING LOONIE AND POTENTIAL FOR POLITICAL TENSION COULD LEAD TO PRICE HIKES

BY BRANDON BARRETT THERE ARE FEW industries that haven’t been touched by the global COVID19 pandemic, and our food and restaurant sectors are among those that have been hit the hardest. Given the weakening Loonie and the potential for political tension with our neighbours to the south, one agri-food expert says Canadians may start to see prices rise at the grocery store. “[The dollar] is getting hammered,” said Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University. “This may actually force food importers to pay more for the food we import and sell here. That would affect produce, seafood, groceries, which are important staples right now, especially when people are buying provisions.”

As oil prices drop, Charlebois acknowledged that food distribution costs should actually start to go down, but as nations around the globe look to tighten border restrictions, those savings could be cancelled out as the pandemic worsens.

“There is a dark cloud hovering over, which could represent a problem,” he added.

The wildcard, as he often is, is U.S. President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, March 18, Canada announced it would be restricting American border crossings to essential travel. Charlebois said he could foresee a situation where the U.S. president, already infamous for his impulsivity, could look to pin his country’s mismanaged response to the crisis on his neighbours to the north and ban the movement of goods.

“Right now, the border is our lifeline. I think Trudeau knows this and Trump, well, he knows it but the question is: does he really care? I think he is being recognized as a leader who really didn’t see the gravity of the situation at first,” Charlebois said. “[The U.S.] is in an election year, so if it is seen as a popular move to block everything in and

PANIC PURCHASE Agri-food expert Sylvain Charlebois says even with all the recent panic buying, Canada’s grocery stores are well equipped to deal with the increase in demand.

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out of the United States because Americans are the best at this and the best at that, that could be a problem for us.”

Whenever a geopolitical spat or widescale disaster like this arises, there is debate about whether Canada should

questions get asked: Should we become more sovereign? Should we process more of our own food? But nothing changes, really,” Charlebois said.

While Canadians may see some sticker shock at the register for imported foods,

“Right now, the border is our lifeline. I think Trudeau knows this and Trump, well, he knows it but the question is: does he really care?”

- SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS

diversify its trade supply and place the emphasis on more homegrown products.

The majority of B.C.’s vegetable imports, for instance, are from the U.S., with more than half of that coming from California.

“Every time there’s a crisis, these

Charlebois said our domestic food supply chain is in good health—even with the recent rush of panic buying at grocery stores across the country.

“There’s enough to be sold. As shelves get replenished, I think people will get

Food Lovers Unite!

disciplined a bit more and there will be more [limits on buying essential items] as well,” he said.

“Warehousing and logistics are really good and can address all of these issues.

The problem that we saw in the news, in papers, is merchandising couldn’t keep up with the day-to-day demand, but pallets were going in and relieving stores.”

It seems unlikely that will be enough to quell shoppers fears of heading to the supermarket. According to a joint Angus ReidDalhousie poll released this week, Canadians are more worried about being infected at the grocery store than at a restaurant. Sixtyfive per cent of Canadians polled said they were concerned about risks at the grocery store. Even still, 57 per cent of those who are concerned continue to buy groceries for themselves, while five per cent have asked someone else to go for them, and three per cent have opted to buy groceries online since the beginning of the outbreak. n

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ARTS SCENE

‘Everyone is fighting the same battle right now’ WHISTLER CREATIVES WEIGH IN ON HOW VENUE CLOSURES ARE IMPACTING THEM

BY ALYSSA NOEL IF YOU’RE LOOKING for “Grateful Greg” Reamsbottom during the COVID-19 pandemic, check his Pemberton garage.

Twenty-three of The Hairfarmers’ shows—that’s all of them until midMay—have been cancelled, so, instead of performing, he has time to work on the classic muscle car he’s restoring.

“That would’ve been way more, but we normally take a two-week vacation in April,” Reamsbottom, singer for the popular Whistler bar band, says. Their cancelled shows included high-end corporate events, weddings, parties, après, and regular Whistler gigs. “There’s nothing you can do about it,” he says.

“You’ve got to do what’s best for society and the community at large. A lot of the private events are all talking about a postponement, not a cancellation …

They’re all in the same boat. Everyone is fighting the same battle right now.”

While many of the bars and restaurants that hire local musicians in Whistler shut voluntarily over the weekend, on Tuesday, March 17, B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr.

INDOOR ART Whistler artist Andrea Mueller has plenty of practice working from home.

COASTPHOTO.COM

44 MARCH 19, 2020

Bonnie Henry ordered all bars closed.

Like all self-employed people right now, musicians and artists are feeling the pinch of gigs and shows drying up.

With 20 years of music experience behind him, Reamsbottom says he’s in OK shape. “If you haven’t saved up and been wise with your money, you’re probably very screwed,” he says. “It applies to everybody.

We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve been very busy and very successful for a long time. We

feel like we’re playing to no one.”

While singer-songwriter Marc Charron was driving to a show in Whistler on Tuesday, throughout the day he had gigs being cancelled until a total of 26 were axed.

(He spoke to Pique before the provincial announcement of bars being closed.)

“I’m expecting it to get cut off, but right now I’m in a position where I can still say, ‘No,’ but I’m saying, ‘Yes,’” he says. “I’m low risk and I’ve checked my temperature three

“It will be fun. We’ll have monitors set up so people can comment. We have fans in the U.K. and Australia who have said they can’t wait for this. We won’t feel like we’re playing to no one.”

- GREG REAMSBOTTOM

should be OK for a while.”

Instead, plans are underway for The Hairfarmers to livestream a concert with viewers able to donate to a to-bedetermined charity.

“It will be fun,” he says. “We’ll have monitors set up so people can comment.

We have fans in the U.K. and Australia who have said they can’t wait for this. We won’t

times a day for three or four days.”

But being a full-time musician is inherently filled with uncertainty, he adds.

“I kind of feel it’s been day-to-day since Day 1, since I first started,” he says. “Who knows what next month brings.”

Whistler artist Andrea Mueller has likewise had time to prepare for both uncertainty and self-isolation. In 2018, she

became a full-time artist and had to learn how to adhere to a work schedule on her own.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, she shared her advice, including choosing to make the best out of the situation rather than being a “sad sack.”

“You CAN take this time to learn something new,” she wrote. “Start a new project. Revisit what six-year-old you loved to do. Call a friend.”

Over the phone, she had more pearls of wisdom for those who suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves working from home.

“It sounds really dorky, but, for me, I found it really useful to have a planner,” she says. “I was putting in goals for the month and planning how to get there.

There are things that artists can do—their back-end work. Musicians, do you have a website? If you don’t, it’s time to do that.

There are free platforms to make yourself more professional and credible. You don’t spend money, it’s time. And it’s time we’re not usually afforded.”

While she’s still working on paintings she’s been commissioned to do, her popular paint nights have been put on hold.

“Those are a big deal for me,” she says.

“I have a little baby here that eats formula.

Formula isn’t free. I’ll have to come up with other ways to provide. Speaking to a lot of friends with small businesses, they’re struggling. We all still have to pay rent.” n

ARTS SCENE

NEW PAINTING Curtis Collins, left, executive director and chief curator at the Audain Art Museum, poses for a

photo with artist Levi Nelson and his painting, Nations in an Urban Landscape. The museum recently purchased the painting for its permanent collection.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Lil’wat artist’s painting now part of Audain Art Museum collection

Vital Conversations start here.

Listen to the latest Vital Podcast, today.

MUSEUM ACQUIRES LEVI NELSON’S NATIONS IN AN URBAN LANDSCAPE

BY ALYSSA NOEL LAST WEEK, Levi Nelson became the first Lil’wat Nation artist to have a piece in the Audain Art Museum’s permanent collection.

His oil painting, Nations in an Urban Landscape, is only the second contemporary acquisition to be made under the auspices of Curtis Collins, executive director and chief curator of the museum.

“I feel extremely privileged,” Nelson says. “When you look at the collection, all the different Northwest Coast nations that live here at the museum, now they have a piece from the Lil’wat Nation. It’s fitting.”

Last year, Nelson contacted Collins to say he had two paintings he thought might be a good fit for the museum. While that didn’t pan out, Collins was impressed with the work and encouraged him to apply for the museum’s emerging artist program.

“Then we just talked about anything else the museum could do for [him], like to start coming in and drawing,” Collins says. “So Levi came in a few Tuesdays when we’re closed just to sit in the first space [the Chrystal Gallery] and draw. We just set that up informally.”

Nelson, who’s currently in his final year of school at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, chose that gallery because it’s filled with Indigenous masks from as far back as the 1800s.

“It felt like a real privilege to have the space to , but also to sit amongst these ancient artifacts that belonged to and were carved by artists 100 years, 200 years ago,” Nelson says.

Ultimately, he ended up incorporating masks from that room into Nations in an Urban Landscape. The painting depicts

a crowded Downtown Eastside street with three masks from the collection, as well as a bentwood box, a basket from the Lil’wat Nation that’s in the Museum of Anthropology, and another basket based on one made by his grandma, a master basket weaver for the Lil’wat Nation, all tucked into the scene.

“I came up with this idea of wanting to give identity to First Nations people who are marginalized in the Downtown Eastside, just to showcase that Indigenous people who are down in that area come from really strong cultural backgrounds still,” he says.

When Collins saw the piece at the launch for Nelson’s solo show, After the Blast, which took place at the Maury Young Arts Centre last December, he was immediately drawn to it.

“From my perspective as a director, this work makes sense,” Collins says. “The fact that it’s got this relationship to this historic work also gives a greater relevance to our collection.”

After approval from the acquisition board, and funds donated by the Bruno family, they purchased the painting.

“We have our acquisitions committee meeting four times a year and some things are approved and other things get declined,” Collins says. “It’s not automatic.

I was a little bit nervous because this was such a bold move with a young artist, but I thought it was a worthwhile effort.”

The painting is currently in the museum’s vault with plans to have it on public display (although the museum is currently closed due to COVID-19).

“I get to take my place among these artists I’ve admired since discovering them in art school,” Nelson says. “It’s super cool.

It’s dreams coming true.”

To see more of Nelson’s work, visit instagram.com/levi.nelson.artiste. n

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A AD DE E LL E E C CA AM MP PB BE E LL LL F F II N NE E A A RT, RT, W WH H II SS T T LL E ER R

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MARCH 19, 2020

45

NOTES FROM THE BACK ROW

Stay home and eat popcorn PANDEMIC!!!

On the other hand, it’s kind of a film nerd’s dream come true: the best thing you can do right now—for yourself, your loved

BY FEET BANKS ones, and the world at large—is stay home, watch movies, eat popcorn and beat back those quarantine blues.

Like theatres around the globe, the Whistler Village 8 has voluntarily shut its doors to help “flatten the curve,” and while we in Whistler are blessed with plenty of space to get outside (alone) there’s a lot to be said for streaming your entertainment to the comfort of your couch/bed and it might be time to consider buying into another platform or two (or at the very least taking Amazon Prime up on their 30-day free trial,

TV TIME There’s no better time to curl up in front of your TV (or laptop) alone than during a pandemic.

WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

then cancelling, starting another email, and taking them up again). Or signing up for some of the free seven-day trials with the lesser-known platforms—Sundance Now seems to specialize in true crime, thrillers and drama and Acorn TV has all the best British shows. Shudder, the all-horror channel, is only $50/year, not that many of us are bleeding money these days (and holy shitballs if booze isn’t an expensive thing to stock up on, eh?).

Aside from boxed wine, there is good news for parents this week: Disney+ started streaming Frozen 2 on Tuesday, weeks ahead of schedule. Now that The Mandalorian has been over for a while this might be the dangling carrot for many quarantined families to sign up (do it, they have Adventures in Babysitting on there too—albeit an edited version).

And the good times won’t stop there.

Major Hollywood studios are beginning to realize that streaming is literally the only game going now and a number of theatrical releases over the next month are being bumped down to platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ (or whatever they are calling iTunes now) and maybe even Netflix.

Universal Pictures has already announced it will rent you Trolls World Tour through streaming platforms starting April 10 (the theatrical release date) for around 20 bucks.

Which means nothing to me because Trolls 1 sucked, but it’s definitely cheaper than taking the family to the cinema would have been.

Warners Bros. announced it is fasttracking the digital release of Birds of Prey, the Harley Quinn spinoff, to March 24 and you can expect other flicks that had their theatrical run cut short to arrive on the small screen sooner than later. Bad Boys For Life, Invisible Man, The Hunt and The Gentlemen are all rumoured to appear in the next few weeks, with more first-run Hollywood films right behind.

Of course, there are plenty of free streaming platforms too. TED Talks has enough intelligent presentations to carry us through a lengthy quarantine, and will likely become much more popular once spring break ends and parents everywhere realize they now have to teach their kids stuff (or if you’re looking for a good “shit, he warned us” session check out Bill Gates 2014 talk The Next Outbreak? We’re Not Ready).

YouTube apparently gets something like

500 hours of video uploaded every minute of every day (I’ve yet to find it but surely there must be some quality in there.) Much better, Vimeo has real films, docs and even features. Check out Frankenstein Created Bikers, James Bickert’s blood-splattered, smutty, B-grade, ‘70s grindhouse ode to everything awesome about making movies (and Tristan Risk stars!).

It’s free on Vimeo for a limited time, and not for the young or the weak-kneed.

If you’re looking for less nudity and more high art—plus a dose of winter, pow, and shredding—peep Darcy Hennessey Turenne’s Elle Aime (She Likes), a fiveminute love story that was nominated for Vimeo’s best of 2019.

And yes, even in these times of supply hoarding, there is still lots of popcorn at the stores. Toss a ½ cup of butter, ½ cup of corn syrup, ½ cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a ½ teaspoon of salt and you got KD’s special caramel corn.

Chili Thom used to make one with maple syrup, cayenne pepper and nutritional yeast.

Get creative, stay home, stay safe, and crack that corn! n

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46 MARCH 19, 2020

Pick up the latest issue of your favourite read in Whistler.

ARTS NEWS

OPEN DAILY TAKEAWAY ONLY DINNER OPEN EVERY NIGHT 4 PM - 9 PM

ON STAGE LB Productions is putting on a performance of Mulan in June with students from Whistler and Pemberton.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

LB Productions start classes for Mulan performance

sushivillage.com | 604.932.3330

WHISTLER AND PEMBERTON STUDENTS TO PERFORM ON JUNE 7

BY ALYSSA NOEL ANITA BURLESON will have some outside help for LB Productions’ year-end performance of Mulan.

Sun Ying, a wushu master and long-time Whistler local, will give students in Whistler and Pemberton a few lessons on the martial art to prepare them for their roles. Wushu is a type of contemporary martial art that combines performance and sport.

“We would like to have a few sessions with each class,” Burleson says. “It would be great for the show, but my priority is the personal growth of kids, but hopefully the show is fantastic too … I think it’s important to expose them to excellence like this. They’re going to get a sense of the discipline it takes to achieve at that high level.”

Burleson was on the hunt for a story to write for her spring students when she saw that Disney was releasing a live-action remake of Mulan.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that would be cool,’” she says. “So I decided, ‘Let’s do Mulan as our year-end show.’ I sent that out to parents and one of them said, ‘My daughter is a wushu warrior! Her teacher might be intersted in helping out.’”

While Burleson and Ying planned to team up with Village 8 for a performance at the opening of the film, Disney recently announced the film’s release has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They hope to perform when the opening eventually does happen, but for now, Burleson is gearing up for her new round of classes, which will culminate in the June 7

year-end show.

While her final script for the musical performance isn’t yet written—she likes to write a part for each student and registration is still open—it will loosely focus on the story of Mulan, a young female warrior who goes to fight in place of her father, who is too old, disguised as a man.

“We’re really going to stay true to the meaning of the show, which is courage and love,” Burleson says. “I might add little things here and there, so each kid has a fun part. I want everyone to have something.”

The classes are set to start in Whistler and Pemberton on April 13. Whistler classes take place on Monday with students ages five to nine from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and 10 to 13 year olds from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Teens ages 16 and up will meet on Fridays from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

In Pemberton, ages five to 12 will meet on Thursdays from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. and teens ages 13 to 18 are set for 5:15 to 6:45 p.m.

Each class rehearses on their own before coming together for the big show. “We work on numbers and scenes in classes then marry it together in the end,” she says.

Some of her advanced teen students, who have been studying musical theatre under her for years, also help with the script, she adds.

“They’re not just learning to do theatre, but also write and organize [shows],” she says.

“They can go on and do similar ventures.”

Registration for the classes is currently open with spring sessions starting the week of April 13.

For more information, or to sign up, visit lbpentertainment.com. For more on Whistler Tai Chi Wushu visit whistlertaichiwushu.com. n

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MUSEUM MUSINGS

Marriage Commissioner The Vital Statistics Agency, Ministry of Health, is looking for an individual to serve as a Marriage Commissioner for Whistler. The individual will perform civil marriages within their community on behalf of the Agency. Applicants must reside in Whistler in order to be considered for this position.

For information and an application form please visit our website at: gov.bc.ca/becoming-a-marriage-commissioner

Village of lions Bay TAKE NOTICE that on March 26, 2020, at 7pm, Council of the Village of Lions Bay intends to consider adoption of the following amendments to Procedure Bylaw No. 476, 2015, as amended: Section 8 (2) (a) Section 9 (1) Section 11 (3)

– – –

minimum requirements for holding of Council meetings date for posting of annual schedule number of Council or committee members who can attend meetings electronically clerical amendment clerical amendment

Section 18 (3) – Section 34 (9) (b) –

For further information, please contact admin@lionsbay.ca

MA

NNER I W 0 2 0 2 , RCH 19TH

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48 MARCH 19, 2020

HOT OFF THE GRILL The Whistler Volunteer Fire Department worked to contain the fire in The Keg and Whistler Village Inn building in 1982.

GREG GRIFFITH COLLECTION

Fire at The Keg

BY ALLYN PRINGLE WHILE CATALOGUING the Griffith Collection (a collection of roughly 50,000 images donated by photographer Greg Griffith), our assistant archivist Stephanie recently came across slides of a fire at The Keg building that we had previously only seen in black and white.

The first Keg in the Whistler Valley opened at Adventures West on Alta Lake in 1974, but when construction of Whistler Village began in 1979 plans were made to open a new Keg restaurant in the Whistler Village Inn. When the first Keg building was moved up Lorimer Rd. to become the new municipal hall in 1981, the new Keg building was still under construction. The hotel and restaurant were expected to open by the end of January 1982, in time for the World Cup, and by the beginning of January restaurant staff had already been hired.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1982, a fire broke out in the building, caused by a leaking propane tank. The fire started in the restaurant section, spread upwards into the roof and, aided by strong winds, spread across the entire building.

The Whistler Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD) worked well into the night. According to the Whistler Question, they poured almost 400 litres of water on the building over seven hours. Luckily there were no injuries from the fire, but one firefighter was taken to hospital with chest pains and several others were treated for smoke inhalation.

The next week the WVFD sent a lot of roses into the Whistler Question’s “Bricks & Roses” section to thank those who had helped. The Whistler and Pemberton ambulance crews were present all night, Dr. Christine Rodgers spent the night on call, Terry Rodgers manned the radio,

Carol Simmie, Kathy Hicks and Katie Rodgers helped coordinate the effort, and the RCMP provided crowd control.

Members of the Surrey Fire Department and Squamish Fire Department who were in Whistler also came out.

As it was January, dry clothing and hot food were greatly appreciated in the -20 C weather. The Grocery Store opened late to provide food supplies, the Alta Lake Community Club, Stoney’s, the Brass Rail, Tapley’s and The Gourmet all brought coffee and food, and the Blackcomb Lodge offered the use of their dryers.

The fire was contained to the top floor of the hotel section, and most of the building was considered structurally sound on the lower levels, with some damage from water and smoke. The damage was estimated at $2.5 million.

By mid-February demolition work had already begun. Smith Brothers & Wilson Construction Ltd. got to work repairing and reconstructing the restaurant and hotel. Because the Whistler VIllage Inn was designed in two separate buildings, they were able to open 44 rooms in 1982, but the hotel was missing amenities such as a pool, restaurant, and permanent lobby.

January 1983 was a busy month, as finishing touches were put on the restaurant and more than 100 staff were hired from more than 500 applicants.

The Keg was finally able to open on Friday, Feb. 4, with some familiar faces. Herb Capozzi, founder of The Keg restaurant chain, was one of the first to be served, and some staff members from The Keg at Adventures West came back, such as Scott Paxton. Over the first three evenings, the restaurant served more than 900 meals.

Though the Whistler Village has expanded and prices may have changed (in 1983 an 8-oz sirloin would cost you $8.95 and highballs at Brandy’s were $1.85), The Keg and Brandy’s continue to operate in the space opened in 1983. n

PARTIAL RECALL

2

1

3

4

5

RETRO GLIDE A group of friends gathered at Whistler Olympic Park on Wednesday, March 11 for a retro-themed social ski on the final discounted Wednesday night ski of the season. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 2 STOCKING UP Shelves at local RCMP GIVE BACK Earlier this month, members of Whistler’s RCMP dropped by the Whistler Community Services Society offices to participate in its hot lunch program. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 4 CHICKS WITH PICKS Chicks with Picks celebrated International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8, with a performance at Grimm’s Deli in Pemberton, B.C. Grimm’s offered complementary refreshments during the two-hour performance, while the event raised a total of $350 for the Howe Sound Women’s Centre. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 5 DOGSOLATION Chilko provides an excellent example 1

grocery stores were looking bare as shoppers stocked up in preparation for self-isolation amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 3

of social distancing while getting some fresh Sea to Sky air. PHOTO BY ALYSSA NOEL.

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS! Send your recent snaps to arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

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MARCH 19, 2020

49

ASTROLOGY

AGM & CALL FOR NOMINATIONS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 5:30pm Maury Young Arts Centre, 4335 Blackcomb Way

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

Candidates should have strategic leadership skills, previous board experience, knowledge or experience in governance, and familiarity with Arts Whistler’s mandate and opera�ons.

Deadline for nomina�ons to the Board of Directors: March 31, 2020 For more informa�on please contact Susan Holden: 604.935.8233 | sholden@artswhistler.com

artswhistler.com

CALL FOR FUNDING APPLICATIONS Applications are now being Applications being accepted acceptedfor forour our April Funding Deadline.

Deadline.

April 1, 1, 2020 2019 Spring Funding

The dedicatedto toproviding providingfinancial financial TheWhistler WhistlerBlackcomb Blackcomb Foundation isis dedicated support groups and charities whose activities provide benefit support to to community Registered Canadian Charities whose activities provide benefit to to residents residentsof ofthe theSea SeatotoSky SkyCorridor Corridorininthe theareas areas health, human services, ofof health, human services, education, culture and andthe theenvironment. environment.Special Specialemphasis emphasis education, recreation, recreation, arts & culture isisplaced youth and and family familyprograms. programs. For For more moreinformation, information, placed on on children, children, youth eligibility an application, application,please pleasevisit visitour our eligibilityrequirements requirements and and to to download download an website Orcontact contactMei MeiMadden, Madden, websiteat atwhistlerblackcombfoundation.com. whistlerblackcombfoundation.com. Or Executive ExecutiveDirector Director at at mmadden@whistlerblackcombfoundation.com mmadden@whistlerblackcombfoundation.com

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR A NEW LIQUOR PRIMARY LICENCE ESTABLISHMENT LOCATION: 209-2071 Lake Placid Road LICENCE TYPE: New Liquor Primary APPLICANT: Spot Cocktails Ltd. Spot Cocktails Ltd. has applied for a new liquor primary application with the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch. This new liquor primary application proposes an interior lounge capacity of 43 persons. The applicant is requesting hours of liquor service from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. to serve Creekside Village.

Residents and owners of businesses may comment by writing to: Planning Department Resort Municipality of Whistler 4325 Blackcomb Way Whistler, BC V8E 0X5 PETITIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. To ensure the consideration of your views, your written comments must be received on or before April 9, 2020. Your name(s) and residence address (or business address if applicable) must be included.

Please note that your comments may be made available to the applicant and local government officials as required to administer the licence process.

Free Will Astrology WEEK OF MARCH 19 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Lyric poet and Catholic friar

Luis de León taught theology at Spain’s University of Salamanca from 1561 to 1571. Sadly, he offended the Inquisition when he translated the Bible’s erotic poem Song of Songs into Spanish. As a result, he was whisked away to jail. Four years later, in a dramatic turnaround, he was freed from confinement and allowed to return to his teaching post, with a warning to be more careful in the future. To begin his first lecture, he told his students, “As we were saying yesterday...” I invite you to show similar grace and poise and amusement as you return to the groove after your break in the action.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Popular poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) was a big fan of popular author George Sand (1804–1876). During their first meeting, Browning got down on her knees and reverentially kissed Sand’s hand. A similar exchange had occurred decades earlier, when composer Ludwig van Beethoven knelt and kissed the hand of his hero, composer Joseph Haydn.

In the coming weeks, Taurus, you can enhance your spiritual health by summoning feelings akin to those of Browning and Beethoven. You’ll provide yourself with mysteriously practical blessings if you overflow with admiration, appreciation, even adoration.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You Geminis can be scintillating friends and helpful allies. People who are lucky enough to be linked to you are often inspired to outgrow their narrow attitudes and think more imaginatively. If there is a downside to your tribe’s social value, however, it may come through inconsistency or lack of loyalty. In accordance with astrological omens, I will ask you to inquire whether you might sometimes be guilty of those shortcomings. If you are, please work on remedying them. Now is a favourable time to bolster the consistency and loyalty you bring to your friendships and collegial relationships.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I believe that Cancerians like you and me require more slack and silence and spaciousness than most people. It may be inconvenient to regularly give ourselves an abundance of relaxing downtime, but that’s the way we function best. Maybe other tribes can thrive on five hours of sleep per night, but most of us Crabs can’t. And then there’s our fundamental need to be gradual and unhurried: We need to assert our right to be that way.

Having said all this cautionary advice, I now want to tell you that you may be able to do without your full quota of those necessary luxuries in the coming weeks. It’s action time!

(But don’t overdo it.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In March 2019, a small town in Belgium hosted the first annual European Gull Screeching Championship. Humans competed to utter cries that resemble the caws of seagulls. Some of them dressed up to resemble gulls, and flapped their wings to provide even greater realism. The next contest is coming up this March 22 in De Panne, Belgium. Do you have any interest in trying out? You Leos now have an extra strong connection with your own animal intelligence. You’re especially capable of calling on your instinctual powers and fostering a resonance with the natural world. I bet one of your tribe will be this year’s winner. (More info: tinyurl.com/GullScreech) VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do Virgo people have demons?

Of course! Everyone has demons. Dealing with hardto-manage pests running around inside our heads is a natural part of being human. I suspect they may even be essential to our well-being. And why do I make that outlandish statement? Because the demons keep us off-balance in ways that motivate us to keep trying to improve ourselves. They challenge us to continually become smarter and more resilient and resourceful. I bring these thoughts to your attention, my dear Virgo, because I expect that in the coming weeks you’ll be able to have some especially interesting and fruitful conversations with your demons.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Try this experiment: Invite everyone in your world to offer you blessings similar to the best blessings you’re capable of dispensing. Have fun as you playfully teach your allies and cohorts how to imitate a sensitive, attentive Libra who listens well, expresses sincere curiosity, and provides helpful mirroring. Demonstrate to them the secrets of how to create harmonious outcomes, and dare them to honour you with the same kind of magic.

Show them your techniques for seeking out and fostering beauty, and ask them to collaborate with you as you pursue that holy quest together.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet Marianne Moore aspired to do “potent and accomplished work.”

She sought the joy that comes from being a skilled craftsperson who offered unique understandings of the world’s bounty. In her words, “There is no pleasure subtler than the sensation” of being a good worker. You Scorpios now have a ripe opportunity to experience that joy and pleasure. Cosmic rhythms are nudging you to do your work with a heightened commitment to excellence and integrity and love.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarius genius William Blake (1757–1827) was unsung in his own era. But modern critics treat him as a superstar, an adept of both visionary poetry and the visual arts. London’s Tate Museum just finished a major exhibition of his paintings, prints, and watercolours. I’m happy to inform you that this darling of the intellectual class behaved in ways that the modern intellectual class would regard as bizarre. For example, he believed that the spirits of dead heroes visited him while he was awake. And he insisted that he once saw God gazing at him through a window. I offer these thoughts in the hope that you’ll be inspired to express both your rational brilliance and your crazy brilliance in the coming weeks. Both modes should be working quite well for you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Movable type” is a term that refers to the technology used to print symbols or letters on paper. In 1450, German inventor Johannes Gutenberg created a movable-type machine called the printing press that led to the mass production of books.

He is rightfully regarded as an influential innovator. To be thorough in our historical understanding, though, we must note that Chinese inventor Bi Sheng printed paper books with comparable machinery beginning in 1040.

I bring this to your attention as an example of how to correct old stories that are only partially true. This can be a rewarding activity as you reconfigure your own past in the coming weeks.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I’m guessing that the imminent future will have a paradoxical quality. On the one hand, it will be a favourable phase to separate and even cut asunder influences that are joined but should no longer be joined. On the other hand, the coming weeks will be a good time to blend influences that aren’t blended but should be blended. What belongs together for the good of everyone concerned? What doesn’t belong together for the good of everyone concerned? Put those questions at the forefront of your awareness. Your discriminatory powers should be working at peak efficiency—preferably with a high degree of kindness and creative imagination.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Artist Pierre Bonnard had his live-in girlfriend and future wife Marthe de Méligny pose for him when he painted Blue Nude in 1899. Thirtytwo years later, she served as his model for his painting Nude at Her Bath. In fact, she was his inspiration for 384 paintings, many of them while wearing no clothes.

I admire their continuity, persistence, and loyalty in collaborating on this work together. I also appreciate the fact that they were able to steadily reinvent a familiar task so as to keep it interesting. These will be great virtues for you to cultivate in the coming weeks.

Homework: Do you know the difference between fear and intuition? Listen: https://tinyurl.com/FearOrIntuition

In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates

EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES

In-depth weekly forecasts designed to inspire and uplift you. To buy access, phone 1-888-499-4425. Once you’ve chosen the Block of Time you like, call 1-888-682-8777 to hear Rob’s forecasts. www.freewillastrology.com

50 MARCH 19, 2020

Sachi Sushi To our valued clients and guests, We at Sachi Sushi want our community to know that we will be closing our doors to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will still be offering freshly prepared sushi via takeout, beginning this Friday, March 17th, from 12 – 8 PM. Please call (604) 935-5649 to place your order.

We look forward to reopening our doors for in-house dining when it is safe for both you and our staff, but in the meantime, stay safe and take care.

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Monthly rental accommodation that is available to local renters for a minimum of 12 months.

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(Small dogs acceptable) Rent and term negotiable depending on qualifications. Owner managed 604657-1270 weden@telus.net

FLOORING

SHAW CARPET & FLOOR CENTRE

Come and visit Whistler’s funkiest thrift store and get (almost) everything you need for your EPIC season! Winter clothes, skis, boards, boots, bindings, goggles, toques and more! As well as all the usual stuff to make that rented closet feel like a palace. You may even find some hidden treasure you never knew needed.

Shopping and Donation hours: 11am - 6pm, 7 days a week 8000 Nesters Road 604-932-1121

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Furniture, appliances, kitchen cabinets, doors, plumbing, tools, flooring, hardware, lumber, lighting and more!

Open 10am-5pm, 7 days a week 1003 Lynham Road, Function Junction 604-932-1125 Recycle, Re-build and Re-invest in your community. All proceeds support 28 programs and services such as the food bank, outreach services, and counseling assistance offered by Whistler Community Services. www.mywcss.org Like us on Facebook @ Whistler Community Service Society

Bright & updated smartly laid out studio suite located in the heart of Whistler Village North. PHASE ONE, for living full time or INVESTOR ALERT: rent month-tomonth or nightly. Fully equipped kitchen, cozy gas fireplace, patio overlooking it all plus a hot tub common to the building plus bike room and a secure underground parking stall.

604-376-2423 kate@onepercentnorthshore.com https://bc.onepercentrealty.com/pr operties/628700990/Whistler303_4368_MAIN_STREET

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Open Monday through Friday 8:30 - 4:30 Saturday 10:00 -4:00 Sundays and Evenings by appointment only.

3-1365 Alpha Lake Road Whistler, B.C, V0N1B1 Phone 604-938-1126 email shawcarpet@shaw.ca LAWN & GARDEN Lesley's Gardens I can take on large and small projects in whistler and Pemberton area, please contact me for more information.

604-907-1142 lesleymaskell89@gmail.com www.lesleysgardens.com

CLEANING

VACATION RENTAL CLEANING & PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Housekeeping - daily, weekly monthly Move in/out & Construction Cleaning IICRC Professional carpet cleaning Caretaker Services

REAL ESTATE SERVICES For a weekly sales report of new and sold listings in Whistler & Pemberton, please go to whistlerrealestatemarket.com or contact josh@joshcrane.ca

Ray Wiebe 604.935.2432 Pat Wiebe 604.902.9300 raymondo99.69@gmail.com

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MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE IS CLOSED.

EDUCATION

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EDUCATION

The Lost Lake Nordic Trails and the outdoor skating rink at Whistler Olympic Plaza are closed for the season. www.whistler.ca/recreation 604-935-PLAY (7529)

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BG Urban Grill: 604-905-5090 & Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. at the Pan Pacific, Mountainside. www.whistler-rotary.org Pemberton Rotary Club at the Pemberton Community Centre, Wednesdays at 7:15am www.pembertonrotary.ca

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Walk For Alzheimer's Remember and honour people affected by dementia in your community SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020 Registration 10 a.m Walk 11 a.m - noon Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church 6229 Lorimer Road, Whistler Honouree: Erika Durlacher Register and fundraise at walkforalzheimers.ca

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MEETING PLACE Welcome Centre at Whistler Public Library Information, support, community connections and ESL practice groups for newcomers and immigrants.

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• Room Attendants • Houseman • Room Inspector Benefits include - activity allowance, extended medical, RRSP match, opportunities for growth and more.

To apply for this opportunity, please specify the position and email your resume and cover letter to: beth.fraser@resortquestwhistler.com We thank all applicants for their interest but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

54 MARCH 19, 2020

Homeschool Teacher An able and experienced teacher with elementary school experience is required for a one year assignment starting July 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. The role involves tutoring one boy, aged 9, in a full-time home school setting. The family is based in Whistler, but also spends chunks of time in Hawaii and other tropical destinations. The role will suit a flexible, energetic, inspiring and knowledgeable tutor with a passion for the outdoors and the arts who is gifted#at39 inspiring children to progress in literacy, penmanship and math skills. Please send applications to smileylauren@gmail.com with the subject line: teacher application. 604-9071790 smileylauren@gmail.com

7 9 5 1 6 7 6 4 2 8 3 Resort Municipality of Whistler 4 7 9 2 Employment Opportunities 3 For full details on current openings and to apply, please visit our website.

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N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre

N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre

PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0

PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0

JOB POSTING

JOB POSTING

POSITION: INFANT TODDLER EDUCATOR

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR AND/ OR ABORIGINAL SUPPORTED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT WORKER

Nature of position: Regular, Full-Time Term: Ongoing Start Date: Immediately QUALIFICATIONS: • Valid Early Childhood Educator Certificate and License to Practice as an Infant Toddler Educator (or in the process of obtaining your License to Practice) JOB SKILLS AND ABILITIES: • Planning & implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports community inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children.

• Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing Regulations.

• Interpersonal, written and oral communication skills.

• Maintaining positive communication with parents.

• Collaborate with community service providers.

• Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects • Ability to work independently and as a member of a team

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52 ISSUES $76.70/YEAR

REGULAR MAIL WITHIN CANADA

$136 /YEAR .60

COURIER WITHIN CANADA

REQUIREMENTS: • Standard First Aid with CPR-C & Clear Criminal Record Check • Food Safe certificate, or willingness to obtain • Evidence that the candidate has complied with the Province’s immunization and tuberculosis control programs.

Wage: Negotiable depending on experience Hours of work: 32 hours per week Location: D’Arcy, BC Closing Date: Until position is filled Submit cover letter &resume to: E-mail: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca

$605.80/YEAR

COURIER WITHIN USA

PAY BY MASTERCARD, VISA OR AMEX TEL. 604-938-0202 FAX. 604-938-0201

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is currently hiring for the following positions:

Class 1 TruCk Driver General labourer Competitive wages and benefits package available for full time positions.

Please apply to

admin@tktcontracting.ca NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

The N’Quatqua First Nation is seeking a qualified Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker to fill a full-time position at N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre. The successful candidate will join our NCFDC team, the function of the Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker is to provide the extra staffing support to a child care center in order for children with extra support needs to fully participate in the child care settings chosen by their families. The Early Childhood and/or Support Worker works as a team member with child care setting staff and with all the children and families providing general support to the whole program to ensure effective inclusion of the children.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated ability in: • Ability to develop and maintain a warm, caring, responsive relationship with the child.

• Ability to establish and maintain supportive, collaborative relationships with families and staff.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality, positive, professional, nonjudgmental attitude.

• Physically ability to carry out the duties of the position.

• Planning and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports community, inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children • Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing regulations • Interpersonal, written, oral communication skills and maintaining positive communication with parents • Collaborating with community service providers, Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects In addition, the Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker will have: • A minimum of 2 years work experience in a child care setting • Valid Early Childhood Education Certificate, Special Needs License to Practice or going to school to take Early Childhood Educator and/or special needs.

• Special Needs certificate or relevant experience preferred • Clear Criminal Records Check & Current First Aid • Food Safe, or willingness to obtain • Some knowledge of curriculum and philosophies in First Nations Early Childhood settings Terms of Employment: • Full-time Permanent, Monday to Friday hours to be determined • Start Date: As soon as possible • Wage: (negotiable depending on experience) Cover Letter & Resume to: Title: Lisa Sambo, Manager Agency: N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre Email: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca Fax: 604-452-3295/3280 Deadline: until position is filled We thank all those who apply. Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

MARCH 19, 2020

55

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56 MARCH 19, 2020

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PUZZLES ACROSS 1 6 11 15 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 35 39 41 42 44 45 48 51 52 55 59 60 62 63 64 67 68 70 72 73

Shish -Pilot’s aid Kill time Smoke or mist Fridge maker Kudu cousin Supermarket area Proverb Rock climber’s device Branches Yogurt choice Parliament members -- donna Projection room unit A big fan of Disturb With suspicion Erase Flavors coffee Country in Asia Get acclimated Poetic tribute Stick-in-the-mud Anka’s “-- a Lady” Bar mem.

Continue (2 wds.)

Judge “Exodus” hero You can feel it Forum wear Novelist -- Levin Peels Caesar’s day Red stones Throws in the microwave Pitcher -- Clemens Pair of oxen

75 76 77 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 90 92 93 94 95 98 99 101 102 103 105 107 108 109 110 113 114 116 117 118 119 120 122 124 126 131 134

Rocket part Admonition Prince Valiant’s wife Gusto Insurance worker Volkswagen kin At this place New England catch Spiny-leaved plant Whiskey grain Goes on stage Feng -Small wood Take to court Fixed look Sampled Rani’s wear Back of the neck Column type Restless Weighed, as evidence Departed Cry of approval Dik-dik cousin Terra- -Make indistinct ATM code Mailed out On board ship Trouble Disparaging remark Beowulf’s drink Clown’s getup Comes closer Isinglass Delta deposit Enigmatic Gardener’s buy (2 wds.)

138 139 141 143 144 145 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156

Snappy Try to persuade Bridge or chess Hang loosely Sound off Discover Mete out Is overly fond Firmed up Dismiss (2 wds.)

Unriddle Unmoving Line of work Future flower Worked as a model Dreaded assignment

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 23

Frat letter Mideast VIPs Tie-dye cousin Unusual thing Yellow fruit Invigorated Healing plant Pressed one’s luck Foot’s neighbor Hwys.

Wash against, as waves Slicker Mighty -- -- oak Darts about Prized Gave a home to Examine closely Nash of humorous poems Breaks Sufficient, in verse

34 36 37 38 40 43 45 46 47 49 50 53 54 56 57 58 61 62 65 66 69 70 71 74 76 78 80 81 83 84 85 87 88 89 91 92 93 94 95

Expense Pinocchio, often Put in a log Well-known pharaoh Many, many years “Me” devotee Ms. Fawcett Oval-nest builder Spice rack item Got off the turnpike Brew tea Pointed arch W. Hemisphere gp.

Blarney stone locale Columnist -- Bombeck Yacht feature “Pulp Fiction” name Juicy steak (hyph.)

Abhors Mexican Mrs. Lopsided Fat cat’s bundle Crop duster Trinket stealer Pool hall item Luau fare Cause of heartburn Response on deck Heifer’s mouthful Main artery Abashed Appetizer Unimportant things Extra helping Attention getter Loose robe Architect’s info Close kin Follows closely

96 97 98 100 103 104 106 109 111 112 115 117 119 121 123 125 126

Diarist -- Frank Throw for a loop It has a homepage Hirt and Gore Titanic message Cabinet parts Proclaimed loudly Bird enclosure Finest Old barge canal Curved Technique Married ladies Obstruct Appear Golf course gofer Polar explorer

127 128 129 130 132 133 135 136 137 140 142 146 147

Misprint William and Harry’s mother Amounting to nothing Maples and oaks House of snow Phones Goose liver delicacies Wagner opus Irritable Slalom obstacle Affect Doze Deadly snake

LAST WEEKS’ ANSWERS

Enter a digit from 1 through 9 in each cell, in such a way that: • Each horizontal row contains each digit exactly once • Each vertical column contains each digit exactly once • Each 3x3 box contains each digit exactly once Solving a sudoku puzzle does not require any mathematics; simple logic suffices.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: EASY

8 9 6

6

7 5 6 5 3 1 7 6 4 9 8 9 3 7 8 3 7 6 1 2 7 9 4 2

EASY Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com# 38

ANSWERS ON PAGE 54

MARCH 19, 2020

57

MAXED OUT

A season baked-in with life lessons IN KEEPING WITH the, how you say, je ne sais quoi, of the whole zietgiest of the moment, a unique moment if for no other reason I get to use both French and German in the same sentence, I have to pose a perennial question I’ve never before posed in the middle of March...or at the end of March for that matter.

So, what kind of season was it?

The short answer is: Late...and early.

With the announcement Tuesday morning that Whistler Blackcomb (WB) was closed for the rest of the season, it seems timely to ask that question. And while our

BY G.D. MAXWELL Vail Resorts overlords offered a faint hope clause—that WB may reopen in late April/ early May—I would not suggest holding our collective breath. By late April/early May it seems unlikely there will be anyone left except maybe WB’s new COO Geoff Buchheister to operate the lifts.

Interestingly—OK, interesting to me—is the etymology of faint hope. It’s a statutory provision in a number of criminal codes adopted by countries that at least pretend to believe in rehabilitation allowing prisoners who have been sentenced to life to apply for parole after they’ve served, well, most of their life. In popular culture, its use has been expanded to embrace any unlikely outcome, for example that you’d walk into a store today and find toilet paper. Possible, but not likely.

The season began without a trace. Of snow. Halloween gave way to whatever comes in early November with cold temps and hardly a flake of snow. American Thanksgiving and opening day arrived with a handful of runs on artisanal—machinemade—snow and vast numbers of eager people who had never yet heard the words “social distancing.”

As bad as it was, it got worse, perhaps foreshadowing things to come. Early December gave way to mid-December and people were beginning to set their hair on fire wondering whether anyone would show up for the holidays. Some did, a lot didn’t.

Those who did were finally rewarded when the snow came, a belated Christmas present.

There were many outstanding ski days in January and February and even March.

Last Friday for example. Unless, of course, you were Vail Resort’s management, sitting around your corporate campfire singing, “Where Have All the People Gone?”

Uncrowded, except on the occasional powder day on whatever alpine lift managed to get opened, it was the first year in recent history when I hardly knew anybody who suffered an on-mountain collision.

So the ski experience was, say, a 7.5.

Snow, 6. Bitching and moaning about Vail Resorts’ management, 9.3. Duration, 3. And, as always, hope springs eternal for next season...at least for those of us who may last that long.

58 MARCH 19, 2020

As disappointed as I was about Vail Resorts jumping the gun on shutting the mountain and as poorly as it was rolled out, I understand. None of us know what to do right now and as people wiser than me have said, probably better to over-react and wonder what kind of goofs we were than under-react and wish we’d taken bolder steps. It’s not like we’re sending people to internment camps...yet.

And so, rather than beat a dead horse or bore you with meaningless insights about how to keep from going bonkers while selfisolating, I’d like to spend the rest of this column responding to little Meya Haglof

were here, and when they showed up an hour before closing, yup, no more cinny buns.

Meya, honey, I feel your pain. No, really. Been there, done that. But there are important life lessons to be learned here.

First—and dear to my heart—is this: Eat dessert first! It makes no sense to me that dessert comes at the end of a meal. You might be too full to eat it. You might choke on a fish bone or wad of tofu or something before you get there. Eat it first. You’ll never be sorry. If your parents don’t want you to eat it first, throw a tantrum. They’ll give in.

In the case of cinnamon buns, or any coveted baked goods, it means don’t wait

Eat dessert first! It makes no sense to me that dessert comes at the end of a meal.

McCallum, a sadly disappointed recent visitor from Seattle. Meya wrote a letter to the editor last week. She was despondent because she didn’t get a Chic Pea cinnamon bun she’d longed for as only a 12-year-old can long for something that isn’t a puppy or pony.

Meya’s parents promised to take her to Chic Pea, for one. But they waited too late in the day, apparently the last or only day they

until closing time. Bakeries and places that sell baked goods, almost always run out of their bestest product. After all, a day-old cinny bun is to a fresh one what a stuffed puppy is to a warm, squirmy, licking real one. Your parents should have taken you to Chic Pea as soon as it opened because fresh cinny buns are good, but warm, fresh ones are heaven. Don’t be mad at Chic Pea; be mad at them. They’re used to it.

I tried to get the recipe from Whistler Blackcomb to send you but they’re a little busy right now. So I’ll let you in on a little secret: there are lots of recipes for gooey, sticky, cinnamonny buns and every single one of them will fill your little heart with delight. Learn to make your own and you’ll be the master of your destiny and the envy of your friends. Heck, you might even discover a shining path for your future: Meya, Cinnamon Bun Queen.

Don’t laugh. I know of which I speak, er, write. I’ve been making cinnamon buns most of my life and while I will eat them sometimes from a really good bakery; mine are as good as almost any, better than most.

Why? Because they’re made with love and they make the whole house smell like the inside of a cinnamon bun while they’re baking and I can eat them as soon as they’re cool enough to not blister my upper palate.

Of course, right now it might be a little difficult to find flour in your grocery store.

People seem to be hoarding it. I don’t know why since most of them haven’t baked anything since Obama was president... which seems like a lifetime ago. But maybe you have some at home. You only need a couple of cups.

And here’s a hint to make the best cinnamon buns. Ignore the amount of cinnamon most recipes call for. At a minimum, double it. After you’ve made a few batches you’ll know how much cinnamon you like. I like a lot! Oh, and make sure it’s fresh.

Good luck, Meya. We all need it—both luck and cinny buns. n

FOLLOW YOUR DREAM, HOME G L O B A L R E AC H , L O C A L K N O W L E D G E

WHISTLER CREEKSIDE 2-2238 Gondola Way Luxury Phase 1 property located in the heart of Creekside - just a short walk down Gondola Way to reach the base of Whistler Mountain. Nicely renovated and offers 2 bedrooms + 2 bedrooms throughout the 2 levels and 1,000 sq/ft of interior living space. $1,125,000

Maggi Thornhill *PREC

604-905-8199 Allyson Sutton

WHISTLER VILLAGE 109-4405 Blackcomb Way Rare 3 bed/3 bath upper unit in Granite Court. Just steps from Whistler Village and Lost Lake. Wraparound windows with tons of natural light.

Nightly rentals allowed $1,599,000 GST Exempt

Janet Brown

BENCHLANDS 11-4894 Painted Cliff Ski in/Ski out from this 3 bedroom/2 bathroom, completely renovated in 2018 with the highest quality fixtures and appointments offering a modern rustic retreat, with no expense spared Phase 1 zoning allows for nightly rentals or full time use. $2,299,000

GARIBALDI HIGHLANDS 2954 Strangway Place Custom built home in prestigious University Heights. Featuring 9ft ceilings throughout, chef’s kitchen, open concept living, hardwood floors & coffered ceilings. Unobstructed mountain views with a self contained 1 bedroom suite. $1,879,000

Angie Vazquez *PREC

604-932-7609 Ron Mitchell *PREC

WHISTLER CAY HEIGHTS 211-6117 Eagle Drive Virtual tour: 211sunrise.info. Original developer’s unit! 3 bed 2 bath, 1600 sq ft townhome with garage! VIEWS (uninterrupted breathtaking Blackcomb views!), LIGHT & SPACE (lofted ceilings, bright and airy!). $1,650,000

604-935-0700 David Wiebe *PREC

604-938-3815

BLACKCOMB BENCHLANDS 301-4591 Blackcomb Way Upgraded Deluxe King Studio Suite - sleeps 4 (2 adults + 2 kids or 3 adults)! Cozy interior, king bed, sofa bed, fireplace, private balcony & world-class amenities. Personal use and strong rental revenues! $429,000

604-966-8874 Katherine Currall

WHISTLER CAY HEIGHTS 6292 Palmer Drive, Whistler Mountain Chalet just minutes from the Village! Amazing views from the floorto-ceiling windows, stunning focal point wood-burning fireplace, room to entertain, private hot tub, ample deck space etc. $2,899,000

778-318-5900 Kerry Batt

BENCHLANDS 32-4637 Blackcomb Way Take a tour: Snowberry32.com.

This gorgeous fully renovated 3 bdrm, 2 bath townhome has it all! The perfect year round location on the Blackcomb Benchlands. Comes fully furnished with zoning allowing for unlimited personal use and/or nightly rentals. $1,750,000

604-966-1364

WEDGE WOODS 9088 Corduroy Run Court A newly constructed 3,669 square foot home with 4 bedrooms / 3.5 bathrooms in the main house and a 2 bedroom / 1 bathroom suite. $2,520,000

604-902-5422 Allie Smith

Whistler Village Shop

Whistler Creekside Shop

Squamish Station Shop

36-4314 Main Street · Whistler BC V8E 1A8 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

325-2063 Lake Placid Road · Whistler BC V8E 0B6 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

150-1200 Hunter Place · Squamish BC V8B 0G8 · Phone +1 778-733-0611

whistler.evrealestate.com

whistler.evrealestate.com

whistler.evrealestate.com

Engel & Völkers Whistler *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION ©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.

604-698-7024

#102 - 4865 Painted Cliff Road

$1,799,000

Welcome to this renovated 3 bedroom townhouse. The Snowbird development is perfectly situated in the ski in/out Benchlands area on Blackcomb Mountain. Walk out your door to the free shuttle bus that brings you directly into the main Whistler Village or stroll across the street to ski down to Blackcomb Gondola. 3D Matterport Showcase: rem.ax/102snowbird

Madison Perry

3

778.919.7653

#312 - 7445 Frontier Street

$569,000

Remarkable top floor corner suite with two master bedrooms,a den/guest room and huge 14’ X 28’ living space! This 1302 sq.ft. top floor condo is located in the “tower” corner in Pemberton’s beautiful Elements Building, having two private master bedrooms at opposite ends of the suite, each with 4 piece ensuite bathrooms.

Patrick Saintsbury

2.5

604.935.9114

#1425 - 4308 Main Street

$398,000

1

604.905.6326

#38 - 8030 Nicklaus North Blvd.

$1,975,000

Extensive renovations and upgrades include the kitchen, bathrooms, living and dining rooms as well as lighting and fixtures. A double garage and extended driveway provides ample parking for vehicles and toys. The Clubhouse is home to a newly renovated restaurant and is convenient walking distance from your new Whistler home.

Michael d’Artois

604.905.9337

3

WHISTLER OFFICE 106 - 7015 Nesters Road, Whistler, BC V8E 0X1 604.932.2300 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070 *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION

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Property Management remaxseatoskypm.com

$214,900

Quarter Ownership in a modern well appointed condo at the base of Whistler Mountain. Overlooking Whistler Creekside Village, this unit has a great kitchen, open floor plan, and is pet friendly. Use your unit 1 week every month, or allow it to be rented out for revenue.

Matt Chiasson

2

604.935.9171

7294 Clover Road

$3,600,000

Rare opportunity to own 81.6 acres, 30 minutes from Vail Resort’s Whistler Blackcomb, world renowned ski & Summer paradise. The property is nestled at the foot of the majestic Mt. Currie in the beautiful Pemberton valley, surrounded by spectacular farm land, trees and sweeping views of the mountains.

Richard Christiansen

Great revenue investment property at the Delta Whistler Village Suites.

Managed by Marriot, with international brand recognition, the Delta is a favorite of investors, owners and guests. #1425 is one of the largest one bedroom floor plans and overlooks the swimming pool from the 4th floor.

Sally Warner*

#202B - 2020 London Lane

604.907.2717

#229 - 4905 Spearhead Drive

5

$899,000

604.932.1315

8464 Bear Paw Trail

1

$3,595,000

$554,900

This cozy condo with 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom is nestled in the trees with views of the mountain from the bedroom, and from the living room enjoy the quiet forest. The update list is extensive with new European appliances, windows, trim, painting, flooring, smart lock system and lovely modern furniture including a mattress and pull-out sofa.

Meg McLean

604.907.2223

#301D - 2020 London Lane

1

$240,000

2 bedroom 2 bathroom Evolution quarter share condo - a corner unit facing the outdoor heated pool and forest. Whistler mountain is on your doorstep, and when not enjoying the slopes, enjoy the modern interior of one of Whistler’s newer complexes. 1 week of owner usage per month can either be used for personal use or revenue gain.

Richard Grenfell

Ski in Ski out location only a 5 minute walk to Upper village. Located in Greystone with an outdoor pool and hot tub right on the ski hill. This 1 bedroom with lock off is one of the largest one bedroom units listed with zoning for Tourist Accommodation or unlimited personal use. 3D Matterport Showcase: rem.ax/229greystone

Sherry Baker

#4 - 2154 Sarajevo Drive

604.902.4260

#1213 - 4308 Main Street

2

$386,000

One of the largest 1 bedroom floor plans with spacious dining area and extra large balcony with Western exposure showcasing peek a boo views of Whistler through the trees. The Delta is one of the best performing investment opportunities in Whistler, and enjoy the excellent income or personal use. 3D Matterport Showcase: rem.ax/1213delta

Ursula Morel*

604.932.8629

#23 - 4636 Blackcomb Way

1

$1,998,000

Dreaming about classic Whistler Views? All day Sunshine? Join us for a tour of this beautiful new property ready for your family and guests. An amazing Rooftop Deck compliments this well designed 4 bedroom home with private pockets for reading or exercise. A separate 2 bdrm suite is ready for revenue.

Arguably, the finest location in Gleneagles, this front row, southwest corner unit faces the first fairway of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler golf course & offers mountain views & convenient access to year round recreation opportunities. Kick back & relax in front of the wood-burning fireplace after a fabulous on the slopes. 3D Matterport Showcase: rem.ax/23gleneagles

Ann Chiasson

Bob Cameron*

604.932.7651

6

604.935.2214

3

PEMBERTON OFFICE 1411 Portage Road, Pemberton, BC V0N 2L1 604.894.6616 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070