Pique Newsmagazine 2801

20 20 JANUARY 7, 2021 ISSUE 28.01

WWW.PIQUENEWSMAGAZINE.COM

FREE YOUR INNER STARDUST

YEAR IN REVIEW

16

DIAL IT BACK Search-and-rescue teams

plead for caution in the backcountry

17

ASSESSMENTS IN

Despite the

findings, it’s a red-hot real estate market

38

DANCE ON Dancers at Mountain

Movement Dance Collective keep on moving

604 932 5538 WHISTLERREALESTATE.CA *Personal Real Estate Corporation

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

34

38

26 Year in Review 2020 was one of the most hellacious years the resort has ever faced, and as we look back, it is Whistler’s heart that we will remember. - By Pique Staff

16

DIAL IT BACK

Search and rescue officials and

23

FEEDING THE NEED

The Feed the Need

avalanche experts are warning backcountry enthusiasts to be on their

campaign raised more than $70,000 for Sea to Sky food banks, but

guard as they head out in this latest storm cycle.

donations are still required.

17

34

ASSESSMENTS IN

Assessment notices are

HAND PICKED

Sea to Sky snowboarders are eager

in the mail, but realtors in Whistler say a one-per-cent average increase

to take part in the inaugural season of the Natural Selection Tour co-

doesn’t tell the whole story of a red-hot 2020 real estate market.

founded by the legendary Travis Rice.

22

38

PAYING THE PRICE

Whistler RCMP cracked

DANCE ON

Dancers at Mountain Movement Dance

down on several illegal gatherings leading up to New Year’s last week,

Collective have had a lot of ups and downs over the pandemic, but they’ve

issuing more than $9,000 in fines for contravening COVID-19 health orders.

managed to keep their passion for the art alive through it all.

COVER The real questions are: ‘Are we at the begining or the end? Is the sun setting or rising?’ - By Jon Parris 4 JANUARY 7, 2021

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

Opinion & Columns 08 OPENING REMARKS Whistler is caught in the middle as vacationers ignore travel guidelines

#202 -1390 ALPHA LAKE RD., FUNCTION JUNCTION, WHISTLER, B.C. V8E 0H9.

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

telling them to stay home during pandemic, while the resort breaths more easily with injection of tourism dollars.

Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT

10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A letter writer expresses dismay at the number of visitors to

Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

Whistler despite pandemic travel advisory not to vacation, while another explains why they might visit from Quebec.

Editor CLARE OGILVIE - edit@piquenewsmagazine.com

15 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST It’s totally normal to love pro sports in regular times, but have

Assistant Editor ALYSSA NOEL - arts@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com

conflicting feelings about tuning in during the pandemic, writes Dan Falloon.

Production Manager KARL PARTINGTON - kpartington@wplpmedia.com

50 MAXED OUT Max pens a letter to B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry telling her about

Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com Advertising Representatives

how many people are not following her advice to ski only at their local mountains.

AMY ALLEN - aallen@wplpmedia.com TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com Digital/Sales Coordinator AMELA DIZDARIC - traffic@wplpmedia.com Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com LOU O’BRIEN - lstevens@wplpmedia.com

Environment & Adventure

Arts & Entertainment Editor ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

25 THE OUTSIDER Vince Shuley calls out some backcountry travellers who took tools with them to

Sports Editor DAN FALLOON - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com

break into a closed mountain-shelter hut.

Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com Reporters

Lifestyle & Arts

BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@wplpmedia.com

36 FORK IN THE ROAD Glenda Bartosh tells us when life gives you a pandemic—and don’t kid

Classifieds and Reception mail@piquenewsmagazine.com

yourself, it’s going to go on for a while yet—try something new, anything new will do.

Office and Accounts Manager HEIDI RODE - hrode@wplpmedia.com I.T. and Webmaster KARL PARTINGTON

40 MUSEUM MUSINGS Like so many places, the museum had to re-invent itself during the

Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, MICHAEL ALLEN, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ALLEN BEST, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON

pandemic year. But the slowdown gave it a chance to gather new collections and get programs online, too.

President, Whistler Publishing LP SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com 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.

Where the belL curve is vs where we want it to be

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.

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.

✘

People who blow up the spot on social media

✘

NUMBER OF PEOPLE

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.

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.

✘

✘ People who telL people not to blow up the spot on social media

People who think no one should ski in “their” spot

Average

✘

JOES

✘

Pro skiers with a goOd mesSage

✘

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

ISSN #1206-2022

OUTSIDER

People who break into backcountry huts

ZEROES Below average

✘

25

HEROES Above average

Map & guideboOk authors

Hut volunteErs

✘

RESPECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND COMMUNITY

“PULLQUOTE Large” - PULLQUOTE NAME

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JANUARY 7, 2021 33

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OPENING REMARKS

Our double-edged sword IN MID-NOVEMBER, when B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry advised everyone that skiers and boarders should only recreate at their local mountains, it caused most of us locally to pause.

I happened to be at an outdoor patio with my husband and two friends in our “bubble” and as word spread, there was literally a sense of panic amongst the staff at the eatery. Our server was visibly upset and told us she wasn’t sure how she was

BY CLARE OGILVIE edit@piquenewsmagazine.com

going to afford to keep living here and voiced frustration about how much more the restaurant sector could be expected to do to keep their patrons safe, never mind the prospect of not having any if no one could come to ski.

It was a rather sobering experience.

Yet as Whistler saw its own local coronavirus case numbers begin to rise, I

Line-ups to get up Whistler Blackcomb and ski and ride on mountain are as long as I’ve ever seen them—let’s not pretend all these people are local (as in Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish). The line-ups at all the local grocery stores were insane.

In the days leading up to Christmas, the line-ups to gift shop throughout the village could only mean one thing—visitors were back spending.

Walking the golf course trail, I can’t even count the number of visitors I walked behind, around or past. My favourite was when I got stuck behind a U.S. visitor who was busy describing via cellphone to her mum how much better Whistler Blackcomb was to ski on compared to other Vail Resorts mountains they had visited. Any other year and that would have put an ear-splitting grin on my face, but not during the pandemic.

However, let’s not forget that the travel restrictions to Whistler to ski are only an advisory, not a health order. People can come if they want.

And there are hundreds of workers and business owners in Whistler who are

[T]here are hundreds of workers and business owners in Whistler who are grateful they came and are still coming. could see how this new mini-lockdown Dr. Henry was recommending made sense.

Initially, people from the Lower Mainland seemed to take Dr. Henry’s advice to heart and it definitely felt quieter in the resort.

But by December, it was as if the travel guidelines has never been mentioned despite being in numerous news stories day after day.

And certainly over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday periods, Whistler was coronavirus-style “packed.”

grateful they came and are still coming— this is our double-edged sword.

Locals are concerned. Just take at look at the reaction on Pique’s Facebook to a Letter to the Editor posted on the topic a few days ago.

Wrote one person, “As a health care worker it’s a slap in the face.” Said another, “I think it’s very inconsistent that B.C. residents were recommended to ski local while some accommodation providers in Whistler were allowed to

accept bookings from people coming from provinces with higher infection levels than we have in B.C.” And then this week, to find out that politicians at the federal and provincial levels had gone on holidays to places like St. Barts, Hawaii and Mexico over Christmas while their own health officers have been advising against all travel is just the final straw. (One of our own local councillors, Cathy Jewett, flew to Ontario to provide respite care for her aging parents, both of whom are in lockdown in a remote rural area.)

Why should anyone abide by travel restrictions if their own elected officials are travelling for vacations? Well, the answer is, of course, because we have to if we want to fight the coronavirus. Let’s look at Wuhan, ground zero for COVID19, one year later for why lockdown and monitoring work.

This city of 11 million was put into lockdown for 76 days (officially, there were 4,000 dead and 50,000 infected, though many question these stats as being artificially low). Yes, it was draconian and civil rights were violated every day—they are still being violated. But one year later, the city is fully open without a single locally transmitted case. When they did have a scare in May, they tested 10 million people in 20 days and locked down those infected. Everyone in China has also had to download an app that traces their health.

Obviously, these types of steps would never be taken in Canada, but the results of this type of action is what is at the root of the ask not to travel, to wash our hands, to wear a mask (though Wuhan officials denied for weeks at the outbreak that the virus could be transmitted person to person).

Since January 2020, Howe Sound has seen 2,169 cases of COVID-19. From Dec. 20 to 26, there were 41, while from Dec. 25 to Dec. 31, there were 69. Let’s do what we can to be safe, be calm and be kind as we face this continuing pandemic. n

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR B.C. government needs to take stronger action to control spread of coronavirus I am writing to inform you of my displeasure with the BC NDP’s recent COVID-19 response.

The B.C. government started off well, but in the last few months has failed the people of B.C. I have voted for the NDP in every provincial election I have voted in, but that will likely change come the next election.

It is time for the government to actually take action and stop simply “suggesting” people follow recommendations. Actually lay down proper restrictions and enforce those limited restrictions that have been implemented.

I hear news reports of Americans heli-skiing and spreading COVID-19 in several regions of the province. Why did these tourists not have to quarantine for two weeks?

Then I try to go skiing in my hometown and see line-ups so long that it suggests half of Vancouver is in Whistler.

I understand there is some social distancing spreading out the line-ups, but these are the longest line-ups I have ever seen in Whistler. They are allowed to do it, though, because the government just strongly recommends that people from outside the Sea to Sky don’t go to Whistler.

For weeks I listened to the government representatives, including [Health Minister] Adrian Dix repeat that they strongly recommend wearing masks in public indoor places.

argument, however, can also be made for a strong response that reduces COVID-19 numbers relatively quickly. Jurisdictions like Australia took harsh, but short-term, effective measures, and are reaping the rewards now, as they have limited COVID-19 cases and are living relatively unrestricted normal lives.

They are even attending large-scale public and very profitable events.

Chris Sauer // Whistler

The dilemma of inter-provincial travel

When asked why they did not mandate it, they would just repeat “we recommend it,” as if such a recommendation would mean anti-maskers, etc., would suddenly wear a mask indoors.

It took weeks for the government to implement mask rules, despite the science suggesting it was effective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

It is also time to close the provincial borders. I know personally people travelling home to Alberta and Ontario to visit family. I tell them they should not be travelling and they respond that the borders are open and they are allowed to travel and they are technically right.

In response to an opinion published recently about outsiders vacationing in Whistler, here is our dilemma: I live in Quebec and have been a regular winter Whistler visitor since 1982. We had a vacation planned in March 2020, which we [obviously] had to cancel.

We got a credit for our 10-day Edge Card if we bought one for the 2020-21 season, which after reflecting [on], we did—hoping to be able to come.

We haven’t reserved either plane tickets or lodging yet.

We have been respecting recommendations about COVID-19 since last spring, we work from home [and] hardly see anybody outside our bubble. We think that by following the same guidelines if we travel we will not be, or put anybody, at more at risk.

Planes are flying; the resort and the province of B.C. are open. We would travel within our country and take great care for all prevention measures.

But ... this would be contrary to

The NDP can’t point its fingers at the federal government on this one. There can be no clearer signal from Ottawa than its silence and inaction when other provinces closed their provincial borders. The precedent has been set.

It is time for the NDP to stop trying to placate anti-maskers and other fringe demographics, which are unlikely to ever vote NDP. It’s time for the NDP to grow a spine and to start serving the people of B.C. B.C. and Canada in general are taking half measures and we are paying the price for it.

People will make the economic argument for these half measures. An economic

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Nick Davies, Whistler local and experienced family lawyer practising across BC andYukon.

present recommendations asking to avoid unnecessary travel.

If Whistler Blackcomb/Vail Resorts could confirm to us they would give us another credit for our ski pass, for next season, we would probably cancel our plans.

I have sent an email about the matter a few days ago to customer services, but we did not get a response yet, although they expect to reply within 48 hours.

I won’t be broke if I lose the value of that pass, [but this could be true for] less-fortunate people than me.

Of course, it is probably less risk if we stay home, but how much less risk? I don’t know what to think anymore as I am writing this.

I suppose I am not the only one facing this dilemma, which probably explains why certain visitors have decided to travel to Whistler.

I just wanted to share my thoughts with you.

Beatrice Cacopardo // Val Morin, Que.

Good job, Whistler Blackcomb

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

I think for the first time in a long time, I can honestly say what a pleasure it has been dealing with the current Whistler Blackcomb staff.

In the past month, my family and I have seen everything from two dads in vehicles screaming at each other over our parking spot when we left mid-morning to a tall, agro man repeatedly hold up the line so he can yell at the small snowboard chick behind him to the feisty, pissed-off lady who scolded and then “reported” on two young men standing at the front of the line waiting for their friend.

[The two men] said they were in line for a long while and then stood to the side at the front of the gondola to keep waiting for a friend. Hubby pretty much told them that that ain’t how it works and they might want to get a coffee while waiting for their friend instead.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Then there was the] large, male visitor from Vancouver getting in the face of one of the cheery mountain hosts for making him wear his mask— luckily, [the host] was a care worker and not fazed in the slightest—to everything in between.

And during these instances, the Whistler Blackcomb staff has been extraordinarily patient and reserved and going out of their way to resolve these conflicts with aplomb.

Perhaps it is because quite a few seem to be British, if not locals, but almost every day we go skiing, an employee has made me feel proud of our mountains. (The snow has helped with that, too.)

Also, the number of times during our nine or so ski days we have been told to remain staying [two metres] apart and keep our young boys’ masks over their noses while in line has almost been embarrassing.

So, thank you, Whistler Blackcomb. You are doing the best you can keeping the mountains open safely to the best of your abilities.

I personally like the reservation system— don’t want it forever, perhaps—but regardless, I depend upon skiing as my winter exercise and energizer, and am very grateful to be able to enjoy it this winter.

Sarah Valentine // Pemberton ■

FOR THE RECORD In Pique’s annual Best of Whistler poll, which ran last week, Back in Action was listed as the third-place winner in the Favourite Chiropractic Practice category.

While Back in Action offers a range of physiotherapy and massage care, it doesn’t offer chiropractic services.

Dr. Adam Underhill Chiropractic earned enough votes for third. Pique regrets the error. ■

Backcountry Advisory AS OF WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6 There has been quite a bit of uncertainty in the forecasts recently. Much of it stems from the presence of a persistent weak layer (PWL) that formed in the middle of December and is now buried about a metre below the snow surface.

At this depth, PWLs become hard to trigger.

The problem is, if they are triggered, they go big. Obviously, this is a concern for skiers and boarders thinking about stepping out onto bigger lines in the Sea to Sky backcountry.

You might trigger a PWL like this in a few ways. The snowpack on a slope could be thinner around some rocks, bringing that layer closer to the surface. You could trigger a smaller avalanche on the surface that then steps down to the lower layer. Or a piece of cornice could fall on the slope and give a big enough shock to make that deeper layer fail.

So, how do you manage things when there’s a lingering chance of triggering a large avalanche?

Assuming you’ve allowed sufficient time after recent storms and you’re confident there are no storm or wind slab problems, it comes down to

travel habits and terrain selection.

Travel habits are the procedures we always follow to account for the small chance of something going wrong. The critical ones include: never riding alone in avalanche terrain; going one at a time on a slope; selecting safe re-group spots; and being ready and practised with your avalanche rescue gear—a transceiver, shovel and probe for each member of the group.

Terrain selection involves ensuring the slopes you choose are appropriate for the conditions. The trip planner on the Avalanche Canada website will give you a good starting point. You should always assess the size of the slope and the presence of terrain traps, which are features that increase the severity of getting caught in a slide, like cliffs or stands of trees. Finally, think about whether your line has an escape route, such as an easy way to pull off to the side.

If the forecast looks reasonable and you judge it’s time to step things out, move carefully and not the whole group at once.■

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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PIQUE’N YER INTEREST

A shift in sporting priorities THIS TIME OF YEAR is normally filled with the jubilation of victory or the agony of struggle of the Canadian team at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

The tournament still happened this year—next door in Alberta, in fact—but it was difficult to get up for it this time around.

In a prime example of how the pandemic has warped priorities, I haven’t

BY DAN FALLOON sports@piquenewsmagazine.com

found pro and, in the case of the World Juniors, pro-in-everything-but-title, sports all that appealing since March. I still haven’t entirely been able to pin down why.

Objectively, it should be a prime period for viewership. If everyone’s supposed to be home, sitting down to catch a game would presumably be one of the more appealing entertainment options. After all, it’s a step back into normalcy at an abnormal time, right?

The atmosphere for something like the Stanley Cup Playoffs obviously looked quite different. Apart from running the tournament in the middle of summer, there were no fans in the stands and coaches donned masks. In a lot of ways, the whole

affair was a reminder of how deep this pandemic permeates as opposed to being a brief reprieve from it.

I’m not the only one who’s avoided tuning in, as ratings have failed to keep pace with pre-COVID levels the whole way along.

At first, there were a number of reasonable theories: people aren’t inclined to hole up and watch TV in the summer, especially checking out wintry sports like ice hockey, plus there were periods where all of the Big

of six-plus per cent, even without upwards of 60,000 spectators cramming into stadiums for each contest.

Perhaps beyond failing to be a necessary escape from the pandemic, pro sports have also highlighted the risks these athletes are taking for our entertainment. While several competitors will have lingering injuries or, worse, effects of concussions long after their playing days are over—even as we learn more and more—it’s still kind of easy

If the Germans can’t ice anywhere close to a full roster for multiple World Junior games after an outbreak on their team, should there have been a tournament?

4 leagues were in action concurrently. Then there’s the argument that major leagues’ social justice messaging was such a turnoff for some demographic segments that it accounts for a decline of several percentage points. A few, perhaps, but to take that much credit seems like a stretch.

But the proof seemed to be in the pudding more recently when the NFL stood alone, operating every autumn Sunday like usual, and still saw declines

to compartmentalize those things as a fan.

It could be anything from keeping up an image that these people are superhuman, or that it’s a risk they’ve chosen with increasingly common knowledge.

But with COVID-19, it’s telling that players are kept out of the lineup because they’ve merely been exposed to someone with the virus. We don’t know tons about the long-term effects of COVID-19, but the early indications are far from reassuring.

At the heart of it, there are a number of precautions that have rightfully been implemented that make it easy to question whether any of this should be happening at all. If the Denver Broncos need to start their fifth-string quarterback, a wide receiver, after their four other pivots met without masks and one of them tested positive shortly after, should there have been a season? If the Germans can’t ice anywhere close to a full roster for multiple World Junior games after an outbreak on their team, should there have been a tournament?

If the Los Angeles Dodgers have to remove one of their star players in the middle of a championship-clinching game because of a positive test (only to have him run out and celebrate the victory), should there have been a World Series?

Surely, these sports being allowed to run is primarily out of financial considerations but in a lot of ways, it feels out of step with reality when youth and recreational activities are a no go. If we’re making decisions truly for the pure public benefit, isn’t that the direction we should be going?

Kids have had so much taken away, been so resilient and taken all the changes in stride. If it’s safe to play sports within strict guidelines, it should be them who receives the reward and finds some joy these days. ■

JANUARY 7, 2021

15

NEWS WHISTLER

‘Dial it back’ in the backcountry, say SAR groups CHALLENGING CONDITIONS PERSIST ACROSS SEA TO SKY FOLLOWING STRING OF AVALANCHES

BY BRANDON BARRETT A CONFLUENCE of factors, from tricky weather conditions to an influx of recreationalists in the backcountry, have prompted Sea to Sky avalanche forecasters and search-and-rescue groups to urge caution following a string of recent avalanches.

“There are so many variables—that’s the problem—and they’re always, constantly changing,” noted forecaster Wayne Flann, who mans a popular blog on avalanche conditions throughout the corridor.

A persistent weak snow layer buried below the surface continues to present challenges, Flann explained, and is contributing to the widely variable conditions that can be deceiving at first glance.

“There are almost infinite possibilities because when you look at the big picture, there is so much going on,” he added.

“Surface hoar can form on one slope at a certain elevation, a certain aspect, and you can be just around the corner from where you were digging your foot, and you might not find that buried surface hoar layer. But go around the corner and you go skiing not far from where you just dug that pit and there could be a little buried surface hoar

SNOW-GO ZONE Whistler Search and Rescue manager Brad Sills is urging the public to ‘dial it back’ in the backcountry following a string of recent avalanches.

FILE PHOTO BY DAVE STEERS

16 JANUARY 7, 2021

layer, and you could cause a slide.”

There have been a handful of what were thought to be human-triggered slides in the Sea to Sky over the past week or so, including one that ended in tragedy.

“People should really be dialing it back.

It’s just that simple,” said Whistler Search and Rescue manager Brad Sills, in light of the current conditions.

On Monday, Dec. 28, an experienced local was caught in a Size 3 avalanche and

Lillooet Regional District confirmed that one of the men was Graham Haywood, a senior project coordinator with the district, while loved ones have identified the other as 30-year-old Nick Bowker. The pair reportedly met through an online snow-biking forum and bonded over their shared passion for the sport.

Pemberton Search and Rescue (PSAR) president and search manager Peter Schimek said his crews are seeing “a whole

“There are so many variables— that’s the problem—and they’re always, constantly changing.”

- WAYNE FLANN

briefly buried on Rainbow Mountain. Pro snowboarder Sean Miskiman wrote about the “eye-opening experience” on Instagram after he was one of several who helped dig the man out of the slide before search-andrescue crews arrived.

“From the time we got [to] the scene to the time we cleared his airway it was about 3 minutes,” he wrote on Instagram. “It is SO important to have a crew who you can trust when you go out there.”

That same day, two experienced snowbikers were caught in a slide on Mount Matier, near Pemberton, and found dead the following morning. The Squamish-

bunch of [snow] activity near tree-line,” as was the case in the recent fatalities.

“It was kind of at tree-line in an area you wouldn’t expect a slide of that magnitude,” he explained. “It’s the same thing as always: you have to expect the unexpected. You can’t take it for granted that you’re in an area that’s not going to be a hazard to you. Nowhere is safe right now, is what I would say.”

Then, on Dec. 31, tragedy struck again when a skier died after falling into a tree well near the area of Brandywine Bowl, just south of Whistler. Police said the man, in his 30s, was skiing with friends through a

treed area and appeared to have had “all the knowledge, skills, equipment, and receivers necessary” to stay safe.

“If these unfortunate events can happen to the most experienced, this can happen to anyone,” said RCMP Sgt. Sascha Banks in a release.

Friends and family on social media identified the man as Max Vinegar, who is listed on his LinkedIn page as a local snowmobile guide and operations manager for a Vancouver-based company.

Sills stressed the importance of skiing in groups and keeping close contact, especially through treed areas.

“When we say ski together when you’re skiing the trees and there is treewell danger, we mean eye contact all the time,” he said, before clearing up a common misconception about tree wells.

“It’s not necessarily that you ‘fall’ into tree wells; it’s that they actually grab you and pull you in. I don’t think that’s really understood,” Sills explained. “You may think you’re a safe distance away, but when you hit one, it just gives way and you cascade into the bottom of it. I was coming on my snowmobile [recently] and I got pulled into one right away—and I’m pretty observant.”

Local skier Joe Howard considers it lucky that he and a friend happened to be close by to a skier who fell in the area of Franz’s Meadows on Whistler Mountain on Monday, Jan. 4, before getting stuck dangling over a creek.

“I was pretty close, so I just sidestepped

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BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS FROM PAGE 16 a few paces to where he was, handed him a pole so he had something to hang onto, and made sure he could get out quick, because snow was falling onto him so he was obviously panicking a bit, hearing water right below him and snow falling on him,” Howard said.

Given the rise of motorized snowsports, a trend that has only been accelerated by the pandemic, Sills wonders if it’s time to reconsider going out with larger groups when travelling through avalanche terrain.

“With the phenomenon of motorized recreation, we are learning all the time, because they can cover so much terrain, that maybe we have to start adjusting our thinking,” he said. “Maybe one buddy isn’t enough. Because of the amount of terrain you can gobble up, you need to have more than one set of eyes on you at any time.”

Search-and-rescue groups across the Pacific Northwest have warned of the anticipated spike in callouts this winter, with the pandemic pushing more people outdoors.

Although PSAR has kept relatively quiet over the holidays until last week’s pair of incidents,

Schimek has tracked, at least anecdotally, a noticeable increase in backcountry users over the entire winter, some seemingly less experienced than others.

“From some of the things I’ve heard from our members when they went out skiing and from what I’ve seen myself, is the people that are out there seem to be a lot less experienced as a whole than they probably should be or what I’ve seen in the past,” he said. “Everything that we’re seeing is bearing out what the prediction was for this winter.

We’re already talking about what happens when we get our first bluebird day and what that’s going to look like.”

According to Environment Canada data, the period between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 marked the first time there have been six consecutive days of 10 cm of snow or more at the Whistler Roundhouse since Dec. 9 to 22, 2018, when there were 14 days in a row with a total of 367 cm accumulated over those days. The heaviest snowfall period overall was eight days between Nov. 14 and 21, 2009, in which 432 cm fell.

-with files from Dan Falloon n

G IN ST LI

[pandemic], they want a place to go … some people are relocating here, so we’re seeing a lot of families looking at us as a better place to live, because they can work from home now.”

Factor in low interest rates, and Whistler makes for an extremely attractive pandemic investment for some buyers.

“Higher-end sales are up, so we have more people with money making a lifestyle choice, looking at making Whistler their little getaway place,” Chiasson said.

“I don’t know if it’s an arrival, or if

!

- ANN CHIASSON

W

VALUES in Whistler rose one per cent last year, according to BC Assessment, but sales figures from local realtors tell a different story.

While sales predictably dropped off in March when COVID-19 hit (with just 11 transactions that month—the lowest since December 2018, which saw 19 sales), the slowdown led to a pent-up demand that exploded in September and October.

According to figures provided by Ann Chiasson of Re/Max Sea to Sky, total transactions in Whistler hit 129 in October—the busiest month of the past five years.

You’d have to go back to February 2016, which saw 120 sales, to find a comparable month, transaction-wise.

Dollar-for-dollar, Whistler’s real-estate market looks like it was hotter than ever in September 2020, with $194 million in sales volume posted that month—blowing away a previous highwater mark of $122 million set in May 2017.

Much of the demand is for single-family homes and townhouses, and coming from Vancouver, Chiasson said, though there is interest from other parts of Canada as well.

“Honestly, when the Americans are allowed to come back, we could have a whole influx of other people,” she added.

Average sale price also continued to rise in 2020, going from $1,033,000 in the

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second quarter of 2019 to $1,564,000 in Q2 2020 (before falling slightly to $1,515,000 in Q3).

“Everything’s kind of up, but the reason is [due to] COVID, the market stopped for four months, basically, and so there is a certain amount of pent-up demand,” Chiasson said.

“But there are also people that are looking at alternatives for lifestyle, and if they get stuck in something like this

N

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JANUARY 7, 2021

17

NEWS WHISTLER << FROM PAGE 17 it’s going to carry on, [but] all indications are that the market is going to carry on through 2021.”

As BC Assessment uses July 1 as its cutoff date for sales data, it’s not likely that the one-per-cent average tells the whole story, said Pat Kelly, of the Whistler Real Estate Company.

“I don’t think it’s indicative of the marketplace, no. The marketplace was probably stronger,” Kelly said, though he noted that, as in every year, the assessed value of every property would be different.

“I just looked at a property that is coming on the market next week, and the assessed value this year is eight per cent down from last year,” he said.

“I think it behooves everybody to take a look at their assessments this month, and just see where they stand, because I think that you’re going to find that the one per cent isn’t consistent across the entire marketplace.”

According to BC Assessment, as of July 1, 2020, the average assessed value of a single-family home in Whistler was $2,034,000 (up from $2,014,000 in 2019).

Condo and townhouse properties were also up one per cent on average, from $920,000 to $931,000.

On the commercial side of things, most Whistler properties actually saw decreases in value between zero and five per cent, said Bryan Murao, deputy

FAMILY TIES Whistler’s real-estate market was red hot in the final months of 2020, driven largely by sales of single-family homes, like this listing at 2304 Gondola Way. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER REAL ESTATE CO.

assessor with BC Assessment.

Just 12 per cent of commercial businesses saw an increase in assessed value, Murao said—a stark contrast from just two years ago, when commercial properties increased in value by 23.36 per

cent, on average.

The drop in assessed value for commercial properties is not uncommon this year, Murao said, aside from perhaps industrial markets found in the Lower Mainland.

“Whistler, of course, is a little bit more dependent on the hotel industry, as well as the retail industry, and those industries were impacted a little bit more by COVID than say industrial,” he said.

“I think that’s why you’re seeing that most commercial properties are receiving decreases in Whistler, even if it’s not really huge decreases.”

The total assessed role for all property classes in Whistler is now $19,678,508,100, up 1.37 per cent from last year.

In Pemberton, the average single-family home was assessed at $945,000 on July 1, 2020 (up from $873,000 the year before, an increase of eight per cent), while Squamish saw a 10-per-cent jump (from ($930,000 to $1,026,000).

“Now it’s almost like Squamish is just another suburb of Vancouver,” Murao said.

“What we see when it comes to market movement in Squamish is that it’s more aligned with what’s happening on the North Shore of Vancouver than it is perhaps with the rest of the Sea to Sky market.”

Overall total assessments in the Lower Mainland region—which includes all of Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Sea to Sky area and the Sunshine Coast— rose to about $1.46 trillion, with more than $15 billion being added by new construction, subdivisions and rezonings, according to BC Assessment.

Property owners have until Feb. 1 to dispute their assessment. Head to www. bcassessment.ca for more. n

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19

NEWS WHISTLER

Whistler can expect larger tax increases in coming years Q3 FINANCIAL UPDATE PRESENTED

BY BRADEN DUPUIS IF DOING A municipal budget once a year is an onerous task, try doing it three times.

That was the job awarded to Whistler’s director of finance Carlee Price in 2020, as COVID-19 forced the municipality back to the drawing board on two different occasions.

“Two amendments to the operating budget in a year is not typical, and it does essentially triple the amount of budgeting work that’s required of the team as a whole,” said director of finance Carlee Price, at the Jan. 5 council meeting.

“So it was a tremendous amount of work with a tremendous amount of uncertainty, and I think that the team rose to the occasion, and that the numbers are very sound, and it gives us confidence in the team and also confidence that we understand the operating model here relatively well.”

With so much turmoil, the third-quarter financial update presented at the first council meeting of the new year, on Jan. 5, is based not on the original amounts

budgeted at the outset of 2020, but the twice-amended amounts, Price explained.

At the end of the third quarter of 2020, the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s overall operating revenues were at 93 per

Investment income for the six months ending Sept. 30 was $2,367,474 (unaudited)—or 111 per cent of the total budgeted investment income for the year.

“This has to do primarily with ongoing

“[I]t was a tremendous amount of work with a tremendous amount of uncertainty...”

- CARLEE PRICE

cent, and expenditures 73 per cent of their amended, annual budgeted amounts, Price said, compared to 92 per cent and 72 per cent, respectively, at the same point in 2019.

As of Sept. 30, actual net project expenditures were 42.3 per cent of the total budgeted for the year, but that’s not out of the ordinary, Price said.

In fact, it’s ahead of the five-year average of 36.1 per cent.

declines in the interest rate environment,” Price said.

“This pushes investment income higher, because when interest rates fall, the market value of our securities rises and market value changes are included in investment income amounts.”

With no further declines in interest rates expected heading into 2021, the numbers should stabilize going forward, she added.

Council also gave first three readings to the 2021-2025 five-year financial plan bylaw on Jan. 5, which sets out the municipality’s proposed revenue sources and project spending for the next five years.

The 2021 tax rate bylaws are scheduled to come to council in April.

On Dec. 15, council reversed course on a planned 4.89-per-cent tax increase, opting instead for an increase of 1.08 per cent in 2021—but the move will have significant tax implications down the line.

The 1.08-per-cent requisition was achieved in part by lowering draws on municipal reserves, which are used to fund infrastructure that continues to age and will eventually need to be replaced.

Councillor Cathy Jewett commended the work of Price and her team in whittling the 2021 tax increase down to 1.08 per cent, but noted her concern with the years ahead.

“Sooner or later we do have to rebuild these reserves, and there will be an increase in our taxes,” Jewett said.

“Thank you very much for your hard work, and as a new taxpayer, I’m going to get ready for my bill in 2022, knowing that it’s going to be a bit bigger.” n

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NEWS WHISTLER

Hectic summer renews focus on municipal parks WHISTLER BUDGET INCLUDES $8.7M FOR PARK IMPROVEMENTS

BY BRADEN DUPUIS THIS PROBABLY doesn’t need to be said, but summer in Whistler was different in 2020.

While international borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the resort saw dramatically increased visitation from regional visitors, primarily from the Lower Mainland.

“The increased regional visitation used our community in ways that we hadn’t seen before, which included a shift from utilizing the mountain to visitation to our [municipal] parks—in particular lakefront parks,” said Mayor Jack Crompton.

“During some really high-capacity times, parking and washrooms were obviously challenged. In response, the parks team measured the impacts to our parks system and responded in a number of ways.”

Those responses included monitoring garbage and sanitization level requirements, and increasing services where necessary; improved signage to address parking at parks and boat launches; and increasing the presence of park hosts to answer questions and engage with the public.

“With that increased pressure on parks,

we see that not just a short-term response is required, but also long-term infrastructure investments,” Crompton said.

With that in mind, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) plans to spend big on parks in 2021 and beyond, including a rejuvenation at Rainbow Park and the acquisition of new parkland along Millar Creek.

All told, the RMOW’s 2021-2025 project list counts about $8.7 million for park improvements—everything from washroom upkeep and tennis court repair to master planning for the Parkhurst lands and a feasibility study for a new disc golf course— including about $3.5 million in 2021 alone.

Much of the parks spending in this year’s budget is proposed to come from provincial Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funds.

In regards to the $2.42-million rejuvenation of Rainbow Park (all from RMI), “there’s planning that needs to be done on that between now and the summer, but it’s fair to say that the decision making and planning is inspired by the broad community consultation process that we did in the summer, and the Outside Voice series that was held in 2019 and 2020,” Crompton said.

“Some of the issues that Rainbow Park, in particular, faces are related to drainage, access, [and] parking. There is work to

FEELING THE LOVE The municipality plans to invest big in park infrastructure in the coming years.

PHOTO BY CLARE OGILVIE

do to ensure that that park can serve the community for the long run.”

A similar rejuvenation is being planned for Meadow Park, with $2.4 million budgeted for that (again, all from RMI) in 2022 and 2023.

The municipality has also budgeted $315,000 in 2021 and 2022 for the planning and acquisition of new parkland along Millar Creek (50 per cent from RMI, 50 per

cent from the general capital reserve).

Asked for more details about the potential park, Crompton said the RMOW is still working on acquisition.

“Generally speaking, work is ongoing and remains confidential to the land acquisition process,” he said. “We are in negotiations with the private landowner.”

Further down the line, the RMOW is budgeting $1,040,000 from 2023 to 2025 to develop a master plan for the Parkhurst Lands, which it acquired in 2017.

Other planned spends include enhancements to the Lost Lake gateway ($200,000 in 2021), improvements to parking congestion at park and trail access points ($50,000 in 2021), and developing a Sports Courts Master Plan ($25,000 in 2022).

“These investments are not just related to what we saw in summer 2020, they are the result of a recognition that increasingly the folks from Metro Vancouver are spending summer weekends in our parks, and if we don’t invest in those assets, they will not be able to serve our permanent community and our visitors in the way they need to,” Crompton said.

“Recreation is critical to the mental, physical—and in our case, economic—health of a community. These are investments that I think make a lot of sense.” n

JANUARY 7, 2021

21

Reminder Winter Parking Regulations

Question?

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Did You Know 604.894.6135

admin@ pemberton.ca

www.pemberton.ca

To facilitate snow clearing, residents are reminded that as of November 15th, parking is not permitted on the even side of the street or in Village public parking lots between 9pm and 9am, 7 days a week.

Vehicles parked in contravention of the posted parking regulation will be ticketed and/or towed at the owner's expense. Winter Parking Regulations are in effect until March 31st.

You can help to ensure quick and efficient snow clearing by: • Keeping cul-de-sacs clear of vehicles; • Parking the entire vehicle in your drive way and off the roadways; • Yielding to the snow plow; • Not pushing snow onto the Village streets; and • By familiarizing yourself with the Village of Pemberton Snow Clearing and related Boulevard Maintenance Bylaws available at www.pemberton.ca.

Parking is not permitted on both sides of Dogwood St between Aster & Greenwood Streets.

Parking for 72 hours or more on Village streets is not permitted.

Unregistered and uninsured vehicles may not be parked on Village Streets or property.

Vehicles must be parked in the same direction as the flow of traffic.

For the safety of children, please ensure they refrain from playing on and around snowbanks. Snowbanks will be dumped on or moved, posing a serious threat to children playing in close proximity.

VillageOfPemberton

www.pemberton.ca

NEWS WHISTLER

Police issued $9K in fines for gatherings ahead of new year POLICE BRIEFS: KEITH’S HUT BROKEN INTO FOR SECOND TIME IN PANDEMIC

BY BRANDON BARRETT WHISTLER POLICE cracked down on a handful of gatherings leading up to the New Year, issuing more than $9,000 in fines for contravening COVID-19 health orders, according to a Jan. 5 release.

The first fine was issued the evening of Dec. 29 after Mounties received a complaint of a house party in the 1500 block of Spring Creek Drive. Attending officers observed a gathering in the driveway of about 15 adults, who police said were not physically distanced or wearing facemasks. A “popup” tent was also set up in the driveway, the relase went on.

A $2,300 violation ticket was issued to the homeowner.

Then, at about 11:15 p.m. the same night, officers attended a residence in the 3200 block of Blueberry Drive after a complaint of a loud house party. Investigators learned the unit’s occupants were in Whistler on vacation, and also were not a part of the same household, police said.

Another $2,300 fine was issued.

Then, at about 3:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, police responded to “a group of people throwing beer cans from a unit down onto patrons in the village,” the release said.

Officers attended the unit in the 4000 block of Golfers Approach and issued another $2,300 fine in contravention of the order limiting large gatherings.

Later that night, at around 12 a.m., police observed a gathering of approximately 100 people at the base of Whistler Mountain.

Officers intervened, “as an individual had brought a speaker and started playing music,” police said.

The individual was fined $2,300 and the crowd was dispersed.

Whistler RCMP said a total of 105 files were started between Dec. 29 and Jan. 1, including seven for causing a disturbance and two mental-health calls.

BACKCOUNTRY HUT BROKEN INTO FOR SECOND TIME Keith’s Hut, a public backcountry hut in the Cerise Creek conservancy, was reportedly broken into last week, the second such break-in since it was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Erika Flavelle of the Keith Flavelle Memorial Hut Society believes the hut was likely accessed sometime Dec. 30, with visible signs of a portable power tool used to cut two separate locks off the front entrance. The front door was also removed,

22 JANUARY 7, 2021

along with a wooden COVID-19 health sign, and a large window shutter was cut down, the Flavelles said.

After first noticing signs of the break-in on Dec. 30, Erika returned the following day, surprised to find smoke billowing out of the chimney and a woman inside.

Not wanting a confrontation, Erika said she gave the woman and her party until the next day to vacate the space, and found it on New Year’s Day in clean condition, with a letter left behind expressing gratitude for the use of the hut and claiming they placed money in the donation box. Erika said she was unsure if it was the same group that broke into the hut.

The incident has been reported to Pemberton RCMP. Usually a first-come, first-served public hut that is left unlocked in case of emergency, Keith’s Hut was voluntarily closed by the society in the fall before a public health order officially shuttered it due to the pandemic.

It’s the second time the hut has been broken into in the past year, said Scott Flavelle, who added that the society didn’t publicize the first incident, as they hadn’t officially announced the hut’s closure by that point, in late September. “[A man] hiked up there with [a] woman and his one-year-old child and he decided he really wanted to be in the hut and decided to break the locks,” Scott said of the first break-in.

“He also decided it wasn’t a really great thing and he tried to find us. He apologized and did some repairs himself. It was a bit odd.”

The Wendy Thompson Hut, located in the Marriott Basin, is another public-use hut that was ordered closed by Rec Trails and Sites BC in the pandemic—the first closure in its history. But, like Keith’s Hut, not everyone abided the order.

“Slowly on social media, you’d see pictures of people in the hut. People from the Whistler section would come up during the day and find people’s stuff in the hut,” said Bryce Leigh, president of the Whistler section of the Alpine Club of Canada, which is tasked with maintaining the hut.

In response, the club placed locks on the hut this summer for the first time, and boarded up the windows, which has so far curbed unwanted access, Leigh said.

For Leigh, the recent break-in is a sign of the general lack of awareness some have of who actually maintains these largely volunteer-run backcountry huts.

“The tooth fairy doesn’t come by at night and clean this place,” he said with a laugh. “There seems to be this lack of etiquette in the backcountry and respect for some of the things people do, and that’s a challenge for us.” n

NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY

Feed the Need campaign raises more than $70K for Sea to Sky food banks BUT DONATIONS STILL NEEDED; ‘WE’RE NOT SEEING THE TAP TURN OFF,’ SAYS SSCS DIRECTOR

BY BRANDON BARRETT A RECENT FUNDRAISING drive has raised more than $70,000 so far for food banks across the Sea to Sky, with the lion’s share going to the Pemberton Food Bank, where volunteers continue to see skyrocketing demand.

Launched in April, the Feed the Need campaign was spearheaded by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and the Sea to Sky Community Services Society, which operates the Pemberton Food Bank, in the face of unprecedented demand sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The SLRD said $63,735 was donated to the Pemberton Food Bank, while $7,307 was given to a regional food bank fund, which will be divided among food banks stretching from Squamish to Lillooet.

“The outpouring from the community has been great,” said Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman. “For sure, there have been huge pressures on our food bank and that service.

People are also stepping up and providing and we’re hoping people will continue to step up and donate to that program.”

Jaye Russell, executive director of Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS), said the Pemberton Food Bank has seen an average 54-per-cent increase in month-to-month usage compared to the same period prepandemic, and, like most food banks, is anticipating a surge in demand following the holidays.

Federal, provincial and local funding support means the food bank has been able to keep pace with the rise—but “that doesn’t mean we now have the margins for growth, nor do we have a solid footing on where we’re going to be six months from now if this demand keeps pace as it is,” explained Russell.

Families have made up a significant piece of the spike in demand, Russell added, with family usage of the food bank surpassing individual usage this past summer.

FOOD FUND The Feed the Need campaign has raised more than $63,000 for the Pemberton Food Bank, which has seen a 54-per-cent increase in usage month-to-month during the pandemic.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

“We’re seeing a very interesting curve increase specific to families,” she said.

Along with the added pressure on resources and staffing, the pandemic has also presented certain logistical challenges that the SLRD and food bank have had to contend with, namely around delivery. The Pemberton Food Bank has teamed with its regional partners to arrange and send out an average of 1,500 food hampers a month, including to more remote communities in Area A, such as Bralorne, Gold Bridge and throughout the Southern Stl’atl’imx Nation. “[At the onset of the pandemic], there were so many people in our communities, from Furry Creek right through to Area A, that we needed to help but didn’t know how. So finding a way to match those was something that just happened really quickly and really organically,” explained SLRD chair Jen Ford. “We had a need and we had a desire to help, so it made sense for

the regional district to connect all of those dots in a way that would remove a lot of the barriers we were seeing.”

That emphasis on delivery has meant food bank users haven’t received the same face-to-face interaction with SSCS staff that they would have pre-pandemic, which has shifted how the organization connects users to other needed services.

“When we start to look at the impacts on connection, the impacts on food security, on finance and those greater pieces that lead to mental health issues, what we are doing is trying to bridge folks with at least some information around programming and information around referrals,” Russell said, noting that each hamper contains brochures on the services that the SSCS offers.

“Like it or not, we’re going back to the old ways of distributing paper flyers, dropping a phone number or a card of one of our

employees in that package, because we know some people don’t have the access to technology either, so we have to start thinking outside the box and get back to the basics of just providing the information to people, but also the contact that they can reach out to if they’re feeling isolated or uncertain about the future,” she added.

Donations can still be made through the Feed the Need portal at sscs.ca/feedthe-need, and can be directed to either the Pemberton, Whistler, Squamish or Lillooet food banks, or to the general fund, where donations will be divided based on the greatest need.

“We’re not seeing the tap turn off,” Russell said of the continued demand at the food bank. “This is a real issue, and it’s only just increasing. I’m hoping we can continue to keep this campaign in place and … to keep information and the awareness growing.” n

Call for Grant Applications Caring Community Grants & Leadership Grants Submit applications January 18 - February 19, 2021

Environmental Legacy Fund Grants Submit letters of inquiry January 18 - January 29, 2021 Have questions? Contact info@whistlerfoundation.com

Investing in a thriving community, together. whistlerfoundation.com/grants

JANUARY 7, 2021

23

EST.2006

School Registration for the 2021/2022 School Year Opens January 19th-22nd, 2021 Kindergarten, New Students to the District, and Programs of Choice (French Immersion, Cultural Journeys and Learning Expeditions)

Immigrating great people to a great country Our team of Canadian immigration experts will help you understand the immigration system and processes to give you a clear understanding of how to achieve your immigration goals.

Book a Roadmap Consultation to develop a detailed strategy tailored to your unique situation based on an in-depth analysis and discussion of your situation as student, worker, visitor, family sponsor, employer, or entrepreneur.

Our full-service representation will manage each stage of the application process for you to achieve results faster, with less stress and higher likelihood of success.

Contact Us E: info@whistlerimmigration.com W: whistlerimmigration.com P: 1-888-266-1161 A: 201-4230 Gateway Drive (above the Visitor Center & beside the Whistler Chamber) We are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) Managing Partner and Director Brooke Finlay (R514337), Barbara Kolvek (R531141) and Caitlin Thomas (RCIC R530663).

Pathways COMMUNITY SERVICE DIRECTORY RESOURCES • Addictions • First Nations Services • LGBT2Q+ Supports • Food Services • Mental Health Supports • Seniors Services • Wellness Support

School District No.48 (SD48) is welcoming registrations for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year starting January 19th, 2021 at 8:00am and ending January 22nd, 2021 at 4:00pm. Due to COVID-19, there will be changes to this year's registration process. There will be two key steps: Step One: Parents and Guardians will be asked to fill out an online webform through the school district website. This will include basic contact information such as name, email address, physical address and student name and grade. Parents will be walked through the process within the webform to either register as a new student to the district, or a current student registering for French Immersion.

Step Two: Make an appointment to complete your registration at your English catchment school by booking online through our district website, or by contacting the school directly.

Note - French Immersion registrations must be completed through your English catchment school, not the French catchment school. For Cultural Journeys and Learning Expeditions, complete your registration directly at Stawamus School.

Please Note the Following Important Information: The order in which registrations and/or transfer requests are received have implications for placement in a program or school where space and seats may be limited.

A time and date stamp will be provided for your registration with the completion of the webform. This time and date stamp will be valid for 10 business days and will be confirmed at the completion of your registration during your school appointment.

Parents and guardians who miss the availability of the webform can register by contacting their English catchment school to book an appointment. The completion of the registration during this appointment will serve as the time and date stamp.

Making it Easy to Access Community Resources in Your Area

The Pathways Community Service Directory provides easy navigation for the complex world of community services. The user-friendly search and filter options help you quickly find the best service/program in your local community that meets your specific needs.

Visit us at: sea-to-sky.pathwaysbc.ca/

24 AUGUST 27, 2020

More detailed information on this new registration process and SD48 program information can be found on our District Website: www.sd48seatosky.org or contact your English catchment school principal for further assistance. We encourage parents and guardians to register as soon as possible to help schools plan for September, 2021.

Where the belL curve is vs. where we want it to be

✘

People who blow up the spot on social media

NUMBER OF PEOPLE

✘

OUTSIDER

✘

✘ People who telL people not to blow up the spot on social media

People who think no one should ski in “their” spot

✘

✘

Pro skiers with a goOd mesSage

Average

JOES Map & guideboOk authors

✘ People who break into backcountry huts

✘

ZEROES Below average

HEROES Above average

Hut volunteErs

✘

RESPECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND COMMUNITY

Bell curves, break-ins and a new era of backcountry ineptitude I WAS A YOUNG TEENAGER when a graphic representation known as a “bell curve” was explained to me by an academic mentor. “If you take exam results from a class, you’re going to get a few students performing well above average, a few performing well below average and the

BY VINCE SHULEY remainder around the middle, who received close to the average mark.” Years later when I was falling asleep in a statistics class, I learned that this bell curve is known as a “normal distribution.” Get enough data points and they will plot in the shape of a bell (kind of like how we wish the curves of our COVID-19 cases looked).

The ski-touring community on the South Coast has grown so large in recent years that it now qualifies for its own bell curve. Such is the fate of rapidly growing niche groups.

In the “above average” performing section on the right of the graph are the heroes of the ski-touring community. These are the ones we like to hear about. They make informed decisions based on years of training and experience. They share their knowledge happily and lend help to

ON THE CURVE The ski-touring community on the South Coast has grown so large it now qualifies for its own bell curve.

IMAGE BY JON PARRIS AND VINCE SHULEY

the community when needed. Most of all, they have deep respect for the mountains and the other people that help make their ski-touring adventures possible. They’re the ones maintaining backcountry huts, bringing in firewood every summer and digging the new hole for the outhouse.

In the “average” performing section is the majority of the ski-touring community.

They might be new to the sport and are looking for mentorship and guidance from the heroes in order to enhance their own skills and knowledge. They might be grizzled veterans of the sport that tend to keep to their backcountry circles and are likely a bit touchy about all the people blowing up their favourite spot. In any case, members of the “average” performing section still know the difference between right and wrong. They know that you don’t drop into a line when you can see another group climbing the slope below you. They know that you pack out what you pack in and don’t leave empty beer cans and garbage in beautiful places. They use the backcountry huts like good citizens: burning firewood sparingly, keeping the noise down for other parties trying to sleep before an alpine start, and they don’t pee by the front door.

The “below average” section are the ones we like hearing about the least. They make questionable decisions regarding the safety of themselves and their party, putting ski objectives above all else and disregarding the complexity of their own potential rescue. They treat the backcountry as their own personal ski resort, leaving behind empty booze containers, abandoning wrecked snowmobiles, partying all hours

of the night in the backcountry huts and burning all the firewood.

At the far edge of the “below average” section of the South Coast ski-touring community are the people that, on or around New Year’s Eve, broke into Keith’s Hut by severing the locks on the door, most likely with a powered cutting tool.

Who the hell travels with an angle grinder in their pack in the backcountry?

There was visible signage that the hut was closed for safety reasons due to COVID-19, both on the door of the hut and at the trailhead.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the crowded, close quarters of backcountry huts would make a super-spreader environment.

That’s why the benefactors of Keith’s Hut, Scott and Erika Flavelle, decided to close and lock the hut in September 2020.

“When we realized that the only other huts that were open were trying to do cleaning between visiting groups, that was the nail in the coffin. We’re not prepared to do that,” said Scott.

“As the public-health orders got more emphatic, we realized we’d need to close it to be compliant with the provincial law.”

“It’s a super popular hut,” added Erika.

“As a family [to the late Keith Flavelle, the hut’s namesake] we always like to see it open to everyone, beginner to expert. We just can’t take the risk. We do not want anyone to get sick and we do not want to keep having to re-lock the hut, buying new locks and fixing doors and windows. We would rather go ski touring and enjoy the mountains.”

For anyone claiming that Keith’s Hut needs to stay open as a backcountry shelter, that argument doesn’t hold water. The

hut is at treeline less than 90 minutes’ travel from a highway, not some far-flung alpine refuge where shelter could mean the difference between life and death.

It’s frustrating for the two other sections of the bell curve to hear this kind of blatant disrespect for a public, ski-touring facility.

But as our sport grows, so does creep at the edges of the bell curve. We will get more heroes, but not without more villains. It’s up to us all in this happy average section of the bell curve to move the needle of where acceptable backcountry etiquette lies. That means speaking up to strangers in the field when they are blatantly breaking the moral code or putting others at risk. I’m not talking about elitism here, nor am I talking about doxing people who just didn’t know any better. People that ski tour up to a backcountry hut with means to break into the facility are not beginners nor people who simply “didn’t see” the closed sign at the trailhead. They’re reasonably experienced, incredibly entitled and have little respect for the founders of our ski-touring community.

The rate of growth in backcountry use is not slowing down—mechanized, selfpropelled, summer, winter, you name it. With that growth comes responsibility from the average backcountry user. The heroes are doing their part. It’s time for the rest of us to hold our community to a higher standard.

Vince Shuley expects more from his backcountry community and will do his best to help move the bell curve in the right direction.

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

JANUARY 7, 2021

25

20 20 FEATURE STORY

YEAR IN RE

26 JANUARY 7, 2021

FEATURE STORY

IN WHISTLER,

VIEW

WE WEAR MASKS

A MOMENT, IF YOU WILL, for a trip

down memory lane—all the way back to the great and distant year of 2019.

I remember it well.

It was around this time, in fact—our annual Year in Review— and after scouring 52 issues of Pique, something just didn’t feel quite right.

“Do you ever get the feeling that you’re living through the calm before the storm?” I wrote in last year’s Year in Review.

“Flipping back through Pique’s pages from the past 12 months, one almost gets a sense of delayed or impending—not doom, necessarily, but drama at the very least.

“Because 2019 was, for want of a better phrase, quite boring.”

I won’t say I’m responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, but… be careful what you wish for?

Let’s just say this to start: 2020 was not boring.

It was in turns tragic and tiring, desperate and devoid of hope, but it also proved our tenacity—our ability to adapt and survive, and in some cases even thrive, in immensely difficult conditions.

It was simultaneously the longest and shortest year of all of our lives; it was unspeakable upheaval and the loss of personal connection; it was dramatic and fluid and constantly changing; it was cripplingly isolating.

But it was never boring, at least not in the traditional sense of the word.

How to truly summarize Whistler’s year that was in 1,000 words or less?

It’s an impossible task, to be frank—the past 12 months carry more twists and turns, emotional weight, grieving families, and personal hardships than one snappy feature article could ever truly capture.

But some day, historians will look back on 2020 in an attempt to empathize with their immediate ancestors; to get a sense of their thoughts and feelings and hardships living amidst a once-in-a-century pandemic.

What follows is my best attempt to summarize the year in as few words as possible, in the interest of saving said future historians valuable research time: “It was hard; we did our best.”

“…to protect our friends who are dealing with cancer. And to keep my mom and dad safe!”

Chris Winter, Dad, husband, skier & mountain biker

#WhistlerWearsMasks www.whistler.ca/wewearmasks JANUARY 7, 2021

27

20 20

FEATURE STORY AS COVID-19 TOOK HOLD IN MARCH AND VISITATION EVAPORATED, WHISTLER VILLAGE BECAME AN EERIE SIGHT TO BEHOLD. PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS

WHISTLER COVID CATASTROPHE The year started off normal enough.

The village was busy as ever as the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Olympic Games in February, and all was right with the world.

“Then everything stopped,” said Mayor Jack Crompton, in his end-of-year remarks at the Dec. 15 council meeting.

“Public spaces that were teeming with people from around the world sat empty only days later. It was jarring. It was devastating.

We were in a completely new territory.”

Whistler Blackcomb ceased operations on March 14, and two days later, the RMOW activated its emergency operations centre.

Municipal facilities shuttered, and residents spent much of the next two months isolating at home, and practicing physical distancing as best they could.

“From the very beginning of our COVID19 pandemic, I have been amazed by the resilience of our community, and our willingness to pull together and to care for one another,” Crompton said.

“We focused all of our attention on safety, ensuring we are in a preventative

position to provide safe experiences for our residents and for those that visit us, and I’m proud of our community and all that’s been done since March 16.”

The pandemic, of course, led to some drastic changes to operations at municipal hall.

All casual and auxiliary staff were laid off in March, and key RMOW staff were diverted to help with the Whistler Food Bank, which was relocated from its usual Nesters Road base to the Whistler Conference Centre due to unprecedented demand.

Funds for community groups were initially refocused solely on the social services that needed them most, before being re-expanded to include other sport and community groups.

A proposed 2.8-per-cent tax increase went forward in May, though project spending was cut by $12.7 million in light of COVID. The summer offered some slight reprieve from pandemic angst, as the resort saw low case numbers and began welcoming visitors back in May. Whistler Blackcomb reopened on June 29, and by August, Whistler’s parks and lakes were at or near full capacity.

In October, B.C. voters elected an NDP

BY BRADEN DUPUIS

majority after a snap election, while Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy was narrowly re-elected in the Sea to Sky, defeating Green Party challenger Jeremy Valeriote by just 60 votes once a recount settled the close call.

AT MUNICIPAL HALL For as strange a year as it was, there didn’t appear to be much slow-down at municipal hall in the grand scheme of things.

New chief administrative officer Virginia Cullen started with the RMOW in March (as outgoing CAO Mike Furey retired), and managed to help accomplish some high-priority, non-COVD-related agenda items—even as council meetings went virtual on April 7, and have yet to return to the Maury Young Arts Centre.

Whistler’s Official Community Plan was officially adopted on June 23, followed by the signing of a framework agreement with local First Nations.

The OCP had been in limbo since 2014, and the update has been actively in the works since 2017.

Major strides were made on Phase 2 of Cheakamus Crossing, with funding and

development plans now in place to start construction on two apartment buildings (followed by much more in the years to come), as well as other housing projects from private developers—each with varying degrees of public opposition.

The RMOW also purchased a property in Emerald to restore access to the popular recreation assets behind the neighbourhood, began the process of renaming the controversial Squaw Valley Crescent in Creekside, introduced a new Climate Action Big Moves Strategy, and voted to change its asphalt procurement policy (among other things… All of this to say that it has been a very busy year).

In December, council reversed course on a planned 4.89-per-cent tax increase in favour of a 1.08-per-cent increase—a move that will have tax implications down the road.

“It’s been a long year with many challenges, and there will be more to come,” Crompton said.

“Through all of this, I’ve been amazed

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FEATURE STORY

CRIME W H E N C O V I D  1 9 effectively brought the global economy to a screeching halt in March, practically every industry had to reimagine how it was going to operate in the new pandemic landscape. But for first responders like the Whistler RCMP, without the luxury of time, figuring out how to continue protecting and serving the community at the height of an allencompassing health crisis took on an added urgency.

“I can honestly say, in 20 years of policing, I never thought I would be enforcing the Quarantine Act and provincial health orders, and the fact that we did that, essentially, overnight—and we’re still in it,” said Whistler and Pemberton RCMP Staff Sgt. Paul Hayes. “It needed to be created, developed and implemented instantaneously.”

Like it did with almost every facet of our lives, the pandemic also shifted criminal patterns. For the first few months, as Whistler’s tourist engine slowed to a virtual crawl, the most common crimes dotting the police blotter here—property theft, impaired driving and other alcohol-related offences—followed suit.

“We’ve seen a shift. Of course, in the beginning, everything slowed right down as everyone tried to figure out what their next steps were,” Hayes noted. “The fact that we don’t have a whole lot of alcohol-related issues on the stroll that we may have seen pre-COVID, but we are now seeing those issues manifest themselves in private homes or in the community. People are still doing those types of things; they’re just not doing them on the Village Stroll. So it shifts our focus, but it doesn’t really change the crime.”

South of the border, the dawn of the pandemic coincided with a wave of protests sparked by the police killing, in May, of Black man George Floyd, pushing the conversation around police treatment of Indigenous and racialized communities to

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the forefront in Canada as well. In Whistler, a group of Pemberton teens organized a rally at Olympic Plaza in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and victims of police brutality everywhere. Just weeks later, local First Nations activist Linda Epp teamed with organizer Steve Andrews to hold a vigil marking National Indigenous People Day that honoured the Indigenous Canadians who had died in police incidents so far in 2020.

Much of the conversation in Canada has centred around the role police play in mental-health calls, with scores of advocates calling for a broader program that would pair RCMP officers with mentalhealth experts on relevant calls. It’s a move both outgoing Insp. Kara Triance and Hayes are in favour of.

“Do I think police can handle every single situation? No. Can we maintain a situation as safe so that the appropriate professionals can do the work they need to do? I think that’s our role, a positive role we can play.

I’ve seen it work,” Hayes said.

While Hayes wouldn’t comment on the case while it’s still being investigated

by B.C.’s police watchdog, you can’t discuss use of force without mentioning the March death of Whistler business owner Jason Koehler. The owner of smoking accessories shop 2 Guys with Pipes, Koehler was at Stonesedge Restaurant in the village on the morning of March 8 when police were called regarding a disturbance.

Attending officers used pepper spray, batons and

BY BRANDON BARRETT

a taser to subdue Koehler, who police said was intoxicated at the time. Koehler went into medical distress before CPR was administered and paramedics were called.

A civil claim filed in June by Koehler’s mother alleges that the four attending officers used “extreme and excessive force” and only “limited efforts to de-escalating the situation” in the arrest.

Another major case that remains before the courts involves Whistler man Roger Molinaro, 50, who was arrested in June on two counts of sexual interference under the age of 16, one count of sexual interference under the age of 14, two counts of sexual assault under the age of 16, one count of invitation to sexual touching under the age of 16 and one count of invitation to sexual touching under the age of 14. Investigators said the alleged incidents occurred between 2007

20 20

and 2018, and this summer sought out additional potential victims. Pemberton RCMP launched the investigation in March after allegations came to light of historical child sexual assault involving Molinaro, a long-time resident of both Pemberton and Whistler.

This year also marks two significant personnel changes at the RCMP. This fall, Triance left her role as Officer in Charge for the Sea to Sky after four years to return to her roots in Kelowna, where she now serves as the Central Okanagan’s new RCMP commander. Meawhile, Hayes wraps up his posting as head of Whistler and Pemberton RCMP a year early to head back to the Lower Mainland, where he will serve in a provincial role the RCMP’s Divisional Duty Officer program. No fulltime replacements have yet been named to fill their respective positions.

IN MARCH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS LAID FLOWERS IN FRONT OF 2 GUYS WITH PIPES IN REMEMBRANCE OF STORE OWNER JASON KOEHLER, WHO DIED IN A POLICE INCIDENT. PHOTO BY BRANDON BARRETT

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FEATURE STORY

SPORTS THE YEAR IN SPORTS began like any other: Whistler athletes predictably dominating in their respective disciplines and standing atop podiums around the world, from the youth Olympics to the X Games.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic clamoured its way into North America.

Whistler Blackcomb shut down in midMarch, along with nearly every event that was scheduled for the foreseeable future, including the World Ski and Snowboard Festival, Whistler Cup and Whistler Half Marathon. Even as restrictions eased slightly when temperatures rose, the events that did return did so virtually.

Amid widespread rallies protesting systematic racism, the prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement also rightly prompted many organizations and industries to consider what more can be done to encourage diversity in their sports.

But despite the unprecedented circumstances that defined 2020, we all know nothing can keep Whistlerites from the great outdoors. The mountain reopened with new protocols, as did Whistler Olympic Park, while trail use in the corridor spiked throughout the summer. While we can’t predict exactly what 2021 has in store for sports, what is clear is just how lucky Whistler is to have the backyard it does.

Pique caught up with a few of the movers and shakers in the Whistler sports world to hear about how they adapted to a year unlike any other.

2020: THE YEAR THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY WOKE UP As a pro mountain biker, humanitarian, engineer, anti-racism educator and a diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) consultant, Sea to Sky resident Anita Naidu has a hand in more than a few different industries.

As you might expect, COVID-19 had some level of impact on all of them.

The effects ranged from dampened incitement to train after Crankworx Whistler was cancelled—“motivation after age 30 to try bike tricks with major consequences is at times waning… so an event to keep you inspired is necessary,” she explained with a laugh—to cancelled speaking engagements. She was featured in a film selected for the Banff Mountain Film Festival, but was hugely disappointed after learning she couldn’t present it to a live audience on the big screen. She was unable to host any international bike clinics, while any humanitarian projects “came to a sharp halt” after borders began closing.

It’s a good thing Naidu, who calls herself a natural optimist, tends to view foiled plans as further opportunities.

Instead of those aforementioned plans, she told Pique in an email, Naidu helped

30 JANUARY 7, 2021

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ANITA NAIDU. PHOTO BY R. DYKSTRA DARCY SHARPE COMPETING IN MONSTER ENERGY MEN’S SNOWBOARD BIG AIR DURING X GAMES NORWAY 2020.

PHOTO BY BRETT WILHELM/ESPN IMAGES

BY MEGAN LALONDE deliver artificial-intelligence technology in response to COVID-19, in the form of wearable wristbands that alert its wearer when they’re getting to close to another and help with contact tracing, called Corona Shield.

The wristbands came in handy during the physically-distant “Bike Fest Series” mountain bike clinics and anti-racism training sessions she was still able to hold here in Canada. The demand for those training sessions has also been higher than ever, since the death of George Floyd sparked a continent-wide reckoning when it comes to systematic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The single most vital concept I’ve been reinforcing to all my DEI clients is that we are in the middle of a civil rights movement, not an opportunity to capitalize on our struggle,” wrote Naidu, who is of Indian descent. “As this message sinks in, the most permanent shift in the mountain bike industry will be advancing from performative allyship to genuine allyship towards marginalized communities.”

Performative allyship, as Naidu explained, includes treating diversity as a trend—for example, a corporation “pumping out multiethnic photoshoots without changing the internal culture of an organization,” or “claiming solidarity without doing the very deep, complex personal work required to unlearn racism.”

She added, “Nobody becomes antiracist in a media cycle. I think what the bike industry is learning in 2020 is that they must adopt the attitude of ‘How can we elevate these communities?’ rather than, ‘How can we gain profit from these communities/applause from others?’”

The outdoor industry as a whole “is getting a master class in the difference between ‘woke washing’ for social media applause and racial justice,” said Naidu. “It’s about generating meaning not generating hype. This movement is not about ‘feeling good for helping [people]’ … this is about changing a universal system of racial unfairness.”

X GAME GOLD MEDALLIST DARCY SHARPE’S GUIDE TO STAYING STRESS-FREE DURING A PANDEMIC You could say Darcy Sharpe’s year was off to a pretty decent start.

In January, the 24-year-old Whistler local took home his first-ever X Games gold after stomping his final run in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event in Aspen.

Sharpe, a Comox native, followed that up with a silver medal in the X Games rail jam. In February, he finished ninth in slopestyle at the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain and fourth at the Burton U.S. Open at Vail, before heading over to Oslo, where he won big air bronze at the X Games

FEATURE STORY Norway in March.

It would be understandable if going from riding that high to locking down, with all foreseeable contests cancelled, might be cause for a little doom-and-gloom. But ask Sharpe about it, and you’ll quickly find out that wasn’t exactly the case.

When the rest of the snowboard season was effectively cancelled, “I just shut down my expectations of being an athlete and just kind of lived a normal life—I didn’t really stress,” Sharpe explained. “I just tried to maintain being happy.”

The mountain shutting down and not WHISTLER SPORT being able to snowboard for a few months LEGACIES PRESIDENT & “sucked,” Sharpe admitted, but other than CEO ROGER SOANE. that, living an outdoor lifestyle meant PHOTO COURTESY OF WHISTLER SPORT LEGACIES the pandemic didn’t really affect his or his friends’ day-to-day too badly. It was relatively easy to look on the bright side that they can excel at, or even enjoy, and I when travel restrictions meant Sharpe think that’s been taken away from the kids to was able to spend more time at home in a certain degree this year,” said the president Whistler, “just being more of a local,” more and CEO of Whistler Sport Legacies (WSL), time getting familiar with the waves in the not-for-profit organization responsible Ucluelet and more time on his skateboard for operating Whistler’s trio of 2010 Olympic than he would in a typical summer. legacy venues.

“I never had been usually able to “That, to me, is one of the things I’m skateboard because I would be scared of looking forward to, is that we can start getting hurt,” he explained. “Because it’s putting on programs for kids.” always like, ‘Oh, I snowboard in a couple It’s not just individuals and athletes months.’ But knowing that I had so much who have experienced hardship throughout time off, skating was sick.” the past 10 months.

Also key to maintaining this low-stress, For WSL, the ability, or lack thereof, to easy-going approach has been living by a generate revenue across its three popular, two-week policy, Sharpe explained. and normally bustling sites, has undoubtedly “That was the biggest strategy, not to proved challenging during varying levels plan more than two weeks ahead. And I of lockdown. For example, Canada’s highstill think that’s a good plan to follow to just performance athletes were able to train at the keep yourself in the least amount of stress,” Whistler Sliding Centre, while WSL opted to he said. “Because thinking about, ‘We’ve shut down its public sliding programs, for the got to go to this contest next month, are we time being. Amidst those challenges, Soane going to be able to do that?’ or ‘This training, emphasized just how grateful he is to live is it going to even happen?’ All that stuff, where he does, for numerous reasons. it’s like, there’s really no point in thinking For one, the fact that the federal about any of it, because it’s just going to be government’s wage subsidy was available what it is.” to help WSL help bridge the gap. “I feel very So what, then, is Sharpe’s main fortunate to be living in Canada and having takeaway from 2020, through all of his a government that recognizes that keeping successes and adaptations? “If you want people employed is important at this point,” something and you make the changes to he said. set yourself as best as possible to get it, you From a more personal point of view, can get it,” he said. “Whether that’s just “We’re so lucky that the majority of our finding your happiness or your stoke or activities in the Sea to Sky corridor are accomplishments.” outside … and I think that has been the And his plans for 2021? saving grace,” Soane added.

“Like I said, I don’t look more than two “I think for the most part, people in the weeks ahead.”

Sea to Sky corridor appreciate what we have, and following the regulations and AMIDST LOCKDOWNS AND restrictions is not too much of a hardship.”

RESTRICTIONS, WHISTLER To that end, Soane expects “that pent up SPORT LEGACIES CEO demand will be there for people to travel,” R O G E R S O A N E I S G R A T E F U L as more people start getting vaccinated, FOR WHAT HE’S GOT borders begin opening and restrictions begin easing.

Despite a difficult year marked by an empty But for now, with far fewer numbers Whistler Athlete’s Centre, cancelled events of tourists than usual, Soane is offering at the Whistler Sliding Centre—including his thanks to the Sea to Sky community the FIL Luge World Championships—and for its continued support of WSL’s venues, having to shut down Whistler Olympic particularly Whistler Olympic Park and its Park’s cross-country ski trails, Roger Soane Nordic trails. doesn’t hesitate when asked what he’s “We’ve seen such an uptake in people looking forward to most in 2021. visiting and buying seasons passes,” he “One of my big goals, working for a sport said. “Hopefully they get to enjoy the Park organization, is to ensure that kids are and enjoy a new activity, that is one that always kept active and they have the ability is easily socially distanced, and you don’t to recreate, to compete, to find an activity have to line up for.”

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20 20 FEATURE STORY

FOR THE SQUAMISH LIL’WAT CULTURAL CENTRE, 2020 WAS FILLED WITH UPS AND DOWNS. PHOTO BY LOGAN SWAYZE COURTESY OF THE SLCC

ARTS & C U LT U R E I F N O T H I N G E L S E , 2020 showed us

the value arts and culture adds to our lives.

Concerts stopped, art galleries were shuttered, and movies even paused production for a time. But after the initial panic of the first wave in the spring, Whistler’s arts organizations got to work and figured out unique ways to bring culture into our lives.

Pique caught up with some of the people at the helm of these groups to talk about hard decisions, adjusting expectations, and making things happen—even if they looked much different than usual.

CURTIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CURATOR AT THE AUDAIN ART MUSEUM Let’s start on a positive note since it was such a challenging year. What the Audain’s highlight of 2020?

COLLINS: For 2020, I think it would’ve been launching the Rebecca Belmore exhibit [Reservoir]. Both in terms of the fact that we’re hosting an internationally recognized artist, and she made an exhibit that was very much tailored to our spaces, including new works she created for this location in Whistler, as well as the North American premiere of the Body of Water piece.

Arts organizations made some remarkable pivots to keep art in our lives this year.

Looking back, how do you reflect on your team’s efforts?

CC: At a very practical level, it brought us close together. In a time of crisis, we needed to pull together as a team and we did that very effectively in terms of reimagining the museum and the necessity of ensuring the viewer experiences align with the health order. That, I think, was clearly our largest pivot. As the year winds down, we’re all very appreciative of each other’s work.

32 JANUARY 7, 2021

What was the most successful event?

CC: It wasn’t an event per se as a number of new initiatives. The two things that come immediately to mind would be the TNT [Tuesday Night Talk] series. It’s not so much as event, but it came about as a result of having to be creative and think of virtual initiatives. And as a result of that, Season 2 is starting in January. Another event we did was the Alta + Audain Fine Dining Art Experience. That was a new use of the building, a new partnership and a new way to take people through the museum in a much more intimate fashion. That guided us in terms of things we’re thinking about moving forward.

With the TNT, we’re building this excellent record of artists discussing specific works in the collection. That will be a lasting record for us. The TNT launches its second season on Jan. 5.

HEATHER PAUL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SQUAMISH LIL’WAT CULTURAL CENTRE

HP: Surviving, and reopening. I would have said the incidents of racism that have happened since reopening, but I have learnt something that stays with me everyday: This is not an unexpected challenge for our Indigenous staff. It is a reality that doesn’t surprise them, and they are much too experienced in managing it calmly and with compassion.

What was the biggest lesson you learned?

HP: The team has been nimble in the face of ever-changing provincial guidelines, creating takeout and delivery dinner programs, improving our online shopping experience, and designing safe Cultural tours—including virtual Zoom tours for B.C. classrooms! We also took the time to create a public virtual experience. Staff worked way outside their job description to make magic happen at the centre, taking part in increased cleaning protocols, jumping into cars to deliver gifts and meals to customers in isolation, making budgets laid bare work for them. Whatever it took.

What are your hopes for 2021?

What was the biggest challenge?

Festival. It was a big question whether we’d be able to do that or not. I was really pleased we were able to pull that off and do all the changes that were necessary to make it safe and happen.

Because there were so many restrictions and things completely cancelled, people were really thrilled to be able to come to an outdoor event and be safely distanced and enjoy some theatre and music.

How do you reflect on your team’s efforts?

What was the SLCC’s highlight of 2020?

PAUL: With the loss of our international guests, plus the many group weddings, corporate events and chartered travel groups we host, there was the gift of time. Time to slow down and focus on our mission. Time to make culture our priority. Time to create regalia, study ancient medicines of the land while in isolation, craft new drums and sing each other through the difficult days.

Finally, wrapping up 2020 with an unprecedented agreement between the Cultural Centre and the SLCC, opening our doors with free admission from Dec. 20 to Jan. 24.

B Y A LY S S A N O E L

HP: Standing room only at the SLCC by the end of the year. That everyone in Whistler knows the name of an SLCC Ambassador, the people who come travel up to four hours every day to share their knowledge and culture with us. That we all end 2021 together, hugging, shaking hands, high-fives, singing and dancing, celebrating what’s over and the gifts that this crisis may have given us.

STEPHEN VOGLER, FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE POINT ARTIST-RUN CENTRE What was The Point’s highlight of 2020?

VOGLER: The Flag Stop Theatre and Arts

SV: [This year you had] to plan further ahead.

You had to be very organized with safety protocols and plans and the revamping of things we’d done similarly for so many years.

That was important for me. And the move towards livestreaming as well—with Tim Smith and Rajan Das. We did the Flag Stop Festival and streamed it two nights.

Then we worked with the Writers Festival in October and we pre-recorded from The Point with the Literary Cabaret. It was really complicated.

We did another livstream—a fundraiser.

We had some problems with that. We learned a lot. We ran into glitches here and there, but it was exciting to get out to a wider audience. That’s something we’ll keep doing. We’re applying for some grants to get upgraded technology and stuff like that.

What are your hopes for 2021?

SV: It’ll be nice to get back to more usual programing with events, but we’ll approach it with flexible planning for whatever the conditions are—and keep expanding our ability to go digital. That’s something we can carry onto the future when this pandemic is done and gone.

We are planning the winter carnival.

We’ll see what restrictions are by midFebruary, but it’s largely outdoor things.

We’ll wait and see.

FEATURE STORY

PEMBERTON A S T H E Y E A R S G O O N , the more

likely they are to run together.

But with such a distinct before-andafter marker of COVID-19 precautions and restrictions coming down in mid-March, loosening and tightening over the months, it can be difficult to remember that 2020 included about 10 weeks of the Before Times.

That goes for Village of Pemberton (VOP) Mayor Mike Richman, too.

All told, Richman was glad with how the community navigated a trying 2020.

“From a COVID perspective, I’ve got to say again that I am exceptionally pleased with how well our community has responded and continues to respond,” Richman said in early December. “It shows the community fabric that we have here, how strong that is, and people continue to support each other.

“I’ve never been more proud or happy or grateful to live in Pemberton than I was this past year, not just because of the access to the outdoors, but because of the way the community responded.”

Pemberton saw its first COVID cases early, with public exposures at a March 10 council meeting and at an open house on March 11.

In terms of its response, the Village followed suit with other communities in shutting down everything from its indoor spaces, requiring that employees work remotely, to playgrounds and parks. As knowledge of how the virus is transmitted came to light, and there was more discovered about which activities could be done safely, the municipality started to reopen those public spaces.

COVID hit as the VOP was planning its annual budget, and shifted from a five- to a zero-per-cent increase. Council meetings are still held via Zoom and, owing to the small footprint of the council chambers and lack of other viable options, it seems likely to continue that way well into 2021.

One unique part of the Village’s pandemic response was Richman’s creation, in May, of the Mayor’s Task Force for COVID-19 Response and Recovery, including representatives from the business, tourism, community support, and mental health sectors, as well as community members at large. The task force has met five times, most recently in September. Group members have formed subcommittees and are working in smaller groups to tackle current and pressing issues as well as exploring big ideas for the Village’s future in terms of economic and social wellbeing.

“We pulled together a broad representation of our community to try to address concerns. It’s been challenging, because it’s a broad group, getting together,” he said.

The task force, Richman explained, has managed to push ahead with some activities, such as garnering public feedback

regarding what residents need now and envision for the future.

As well, the process has boosted the Village’s connections with organizations such as WorkBC, and Richman noted that another significant undertaking is to create a virtual community hub helping residents plug into various opportunities, “anything from mental health support to financial services to information on government plans and subsidies.”

“This virtual hub will bring together all those services, all that information, ability for people to connect, and offer each other services,” he added.

The task force’s work has already seeped into other areas of the Village’s operations, with the connections with such organizations as WorkBC bearing fruit as the municipality learns of opportunities such as subsidized early childhood educator training, which is one tool that can help tackle the shortage of spaces.

It’s one example of how the pandemic has altered the VOP’s relationships with other groups.

“The way local government works with

20 20 DESPITE COVID19 CHALLENGES, PEMBERTON MAYOR MIKE RICHMAN WAS PLEASED WITH HOW THE COMMUNITY CAME TOGETHER AND NAVIGATED 2020.

FILE PHOTO BY JOEL BARDE

BY DAN FALLOON

other levels of government has completely on last year’s budget and managed to changed, as has the way we work with complete some really key infrastructure our health authority. But especially our projects,” he said. relationships locally, with First Nations, Looking ahead to 2021, Richman is with our neighbouring communities, eager for the Official Community Plan to work for the betterment for all of our update, as well as working with Sea to Sky communities,” he said.

Community Services on affordable housing Even as the pandemic shifted priorities, and chipping away at more childcare spaces the VOP continued on with much regularly and workers to help sustain them. scheduled programming, including Richman noted that, heading into the updating its Community Amenity third year of their four-year term, council is Contributions Policy, working to secure getting set for some big things. more housing, updating its development Meanwhile, Lil’wat Nation Chief Dean procedure bylaws, building relationship Nelson went through the ups and downs for with local stakeholders such as Squamish- their community.

Lillooet Regional District Area C, the In response to COVID, Nelson said the Pemberton Valley Dyking District and Nation’s top priority was ensuring the safety Lil’wat Nation on the Pemberton Valley of all its workers. Though he said there was Emergency Management Committee, some non-compliance initially, the Nation re-channelling One Mile Lake’s intake and only saw its first COVID-19 case in midresponding to a blockage at the wastewater December. (As of Jan. 5, after this interview treatment plant. Richman added that the was conducted, Mount Currie had seen 46 VOP is in the final administrative stages cases, with 11 of them considered active.) of establishing the Spel’kúmtn Community “We had a slow adjustment to it because Forest in partnership with Lil’wat Nation. like everything, until we had the direct “We’ve made improvements within the information, it was hard to adjust,” he said. budget. We kept a zero-per-cent increase “It’s been taken more seriously as it’s gone on.

“We’re a bit more comfortable with it, but the threat is still there.”

The Nation is also mourning the loss of father-and-son Peter Oleski and River Leo, who had gone mushroom picking on Oct. 22 and did not return. They were found deceased near the McKenzie River on Oct. 29.

Nelson said the wounds were still raw and supporting the pair’s family and friends was still top of mind.

“Right now, we’re in the grieving and loss process,” he said. “It brought the community closer together.”

In response to the pair’s deaths, Lil’wat had requests from the community and the family to form a Lil’wat search-and-rescue organization and has started working with the Whistler and Pemberton organizations to make that a reality.

“We’re collecting likeminded people who want to be involved,” Nelson said.

In terms of 2020 accomplishments, Nelson cited the opening of two new buildings in the Health and Healing centre and the elders’ complex. The Nation is also working with the provincial government on land-use management strategies for the Meager Creek and Keyhole hot springs areas.

Looking ahead to the New Year, Lil’wat will continue to explore new opportunities presented by Whistler’s Official Community Plan and the memorandum of understanding signed by the Nation, Squamish Nation and Whistler Blackcomb.

Nelson is also looking forward to developments in the Pemberton Benchlands and Whistler’s Function Junction progressing in 2021.

“We’re looking for bigger and better things for the coming New Year without COVID restricting a lot of this,” he said. ■

JANUARY 7, 2021

33

SPORTS THE SCORE

Sea to Sky to star on Natural Selection Tour THREE LOCAL SNOWBOARDERS ANNOUNCED AS PART OF INAUGURAL SEASON

BY DAN FALLOON THOUGH SHE DOESN’T have a background in competition per se, it doesn’t mean that Pemberton snowboarder Robin Van Gyn lacks a competitive fire as she gets set for the inaugural season of the Natural Selection Tour.

The backcountry freestyle tour, launched in part by American legend Travis Rice, will kick off the three-stop tour at Jackson Hole, Wyo. next month, halving the field of 16 men and eight women each time out, so Van Gyn will need to be ready from the get-go.

“It will be more challenging for me because I’ve never really had that competitive mindset, even though I would like to say that I am competitive by nature.

Most snowboarders who film or who are at a certain level, we use our competitiveness to get ahead,” she said. “For me, it now is about harnessing it in the right way to strategize.”

With half the riders still to be revealed, the roster already looks strong. With a field that includes two-time Olympic slopestyle gold medallist Jamie Anderson, as well as big mountain and Freeride World Tour veterans, the tour will be a mosaic of styles.

“My strengths will lie in hitting features

NATURAL FEELING Robin Van Gyn puts in a run on the Natural Selection test event course in Jackson Hole on Jan. 27, 2020.

PHOTO BY T. BIRD/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

34 JANUARY 7, 2021

and landing in pow,” Van Gyn said. “I may not have the technical tricks that a Jamie Anderson or an Anna Gasser would have, but I have had a pretty long career, 15 years, of backcountry filming and playing in the pow.

“I’m really looking forward to showcasing those skills in that competitive space.”

The tour is growing out of the ashes of Ultra Natural and Super Natural one-off events held in Jackson Hole in 2008 and at Baldface Lodge in 2012 and 2013. Those events invited only men, and Van Gyn is thrilled to show how women approach the contest.

“I don’t think we should think about being on a similar level to the men because we’re different. We snowboard like women.

We don’t snowboard like men and it’s important to differentiate that,” she said.

“We’re different beings and I think we bring something different to the table, whether it’s flow in our riding, or a beautiful turn or a more-simple trick with more style.

“This being the first time that we’re included in this type of event, I think it’s important to remember that.”

On the men’s side, Whistler’s Chris Rasman will be one of the initial 16.

Rasman has been a fan of Rice throughout his career and admired the previous incarnations of the events as someone who’s always been drawn to riding the backcountry more than the park.

“I want to paint my own canvasses in the mountains and use my own creativity,” he said. “To be part of this is very flattering

and nerve-wracking.”

Rasman, who’s befriended Rice in recent years, dropped hints that he’d love to be part of a relaunched Natural Selection, but didn’t get a confirmation until recently.

“He’d never been like, ‘You’re going to be in it, 100 per cent,’” Rasman recalled.

“He just smiled and said it would be epic.

“I knew I was in the group of riders they were talking about, but I definitely didn’t think for sure that I’d be selected.”

Like Van Gyn, Rasman has focused more on cameras than contests, as his last competition was Showcase Showdown more than a decade ago.

“My best riding comes with a small group of eyes on me in the mountains in the middle of nowhere with a couple of cameras,” he said. “That’s what’s making me most nervous right now, how I’m going to deal [with it] in a competition setting, but at the same time, the saving grace, because our community is so small, I know all the other riders in it.

“I hope it just feels like another day in the mountains.”

With the men’s field including Olympian Mark McMorris and Rice himself, Rasman knows he needs to focus on what got him invited.

“I don’t want to go into it thinking, ‘I need to try something I’ve never tried before’ or ‘I need to grab a different way to make it unique and fresh.’ I got selected to be in this event because of what I’ve done, not what I’m going to do, so I’m just going to go into it and do my strongest riding that

I’m comfortable with,” he said.

Tour co-founder and COO Liam Griffin said plenty of hard work went in to launching the tour before the pandemic, which only complicated matters. He said Natural Selection has subsequently worked with authorities to make it a safe and feasible operation.

“Planning a three-stop tour in the backcountry at this level would have been a fairly Herculean task in a normal year. This year, there’s just an added layer of COVID planning and contingency planning over top of everything,” he said.

Griffin described Natural Selection as a hybrid of Freeride World Tour, taking natural terrain and riding it in its original state, with going out and building features that accentuate what’s already there.

“There’s a big difference between what we’re doing and what any other event is doing,” he said. “The optionality of the terrain, providing people with opportunities to really push the boundaries of what’s possible on a snowboard in the backcountry from a freestyle perspective, but not losing sight of the natural terrain and the freeriding ability that’s needed to make it in between all those features.”

The first stop is set for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort from Feb. 3 to 9, with the next stop at Baldface Lodge just outside Nelson in early March. The final, with the top four men and top two women, will go down from March 20 to 27 at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Alaska. All stops will be broadcast on redbull.tv. n

SPORTS THE SCORE

Whistler Olympic Park awarded grant for snowmaking TECHNOLOGY WOULD CREATE GREATER CERTAINTY OF CONDITIONS WITH MAJOR EVENTS COMING

BY DAN FALLOON AS IT GETS SET to host provincial, national and international Nordic contests leading up to the 2023 FIS World Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships, Whistler Olympic Park has landed some funding to investigate additional snowmaking technology at the Callaghan Valley site.

Whistler Sports Legacies president and CEO Roger Soane said on Jan. 5 that the $150,000 grant from the Federal Gas Tax Community Works Fund in partnership with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District will be used primarily to look into the snowmaking possibilities through engineering studies, researching equipment and possibly purchasing a snow gun or two.

“It’s been in the works since 2010, to be quite honest,” he said. “It’s something I think that was always envisioned when the park was built, but with VANOC’s [Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games] budget constraints towards the end of the build, it was put on hold.”

Soane noted that the park currently has snowmaking capacity at its ski-jumping site due to the need for consistent snow on the landing hill, but is eager to harness the technology for its cross-country offerings in the form of a track two to four kilometres in length. The park currently stores snow over the summer to use for skiing in the early season, dubbed Callaghan Gold, but the ability to make additional snow would be a boon.

Soane anticipates that, if snowmaking is feasible, it would be used to supplement Callaghan Gold, not replace it. Having the technology at the ready is key for landing high-level events.

“In the new FIS agreement, the ability to make snow is one of the things they look at when they’re looking at venues for highperformance competitions. They don’t like to have things called off because of weather,” he said. “It certainly will help us secure more events.

“Although we have a great facility and consistent snow, in the early season, sometimes we have races planned and it’s really touch and go.”

Soane is doubtful that snowmaking would be ready for next winter, with the planning stage expected to take at least six months, while also noting the red tape associated with the undertaking.

“We’d have to get authorization to draw water from the river. We have a licence to draw water right now but the flow would

increase if we went to snowmaking,” he said, adding that crews would also need to construct the infrastructure. There’s also the question of where funds would come from, with the project estimated to cost $1.5 to $2 million.

Soane added that the park will take environmental concerns into consideration throughout the process, including looking at chemical needs, power requirements and the water-use needs from Callaghan Creek.

In other Nordic news, the park will, hopefully, host some high-level crosscountry skiing action this winter.

The Black Tusk Nordic Events Society announced on Jan. 4 that it will host the Teck BC Cross-Country Championships at Whistler Olympic Park from March 20 to 22.

The whole Nordic season has been in turmoil because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Black Tusk was originally supposed to host the NorAm World Junior/U23 Championship Trials this weekend, from Jan. 7 to 10. When Nordiq Canada pulled the plug on trials in late November, the group downsized the event into a BC Cup contest, which was subsequently postponed. Black Tusk chair Norm Laube said on Jan. 4 that the group hopes to have clarity regarding the event in the coming weeks.

Laube added that Black Tusk, by landing the provincials, is thrilled to plan to host something larger than a regional event after all.

“Our competition committee and our organizing committee, we were all geared up to put on the World Junior trials, which would have happened this coming weekend,” Laube told Pique. “With that not happening, we’re glad that we’ve got the provincials to focus on for the teams.”

With the framework from the national trials in place, Laube is feeling confident the provincials will be able to go ahead safely and successfully.

“We’re certainly hopeful that, at that time, travel within the province will be allowed for competition,” he said. “It’s a very distanced activity. There’s a lot of space between the athletes and we’re able to control the start and finish.”

Nordiq Canada announced on Dec. 23 that two Sea to Sky athletes, Whistler’s Benita Peiffer and Pemberton’s Joe Davies, will compete at the FIS World Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships in Finland as part of the U23 and junior teams, respectively.

In addition to the FIS World Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships in 2023, the group is set to host the FIS Cup Ski Jumping / Continental Cup Nordic Combined contest in December and the Canadian National XC Championships next season. n

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Happy

70th Birthday Stu Bird

From all yo ur kids and grandkids We hope it ’s a powde r day!

JANUARY 7, 2021

35

FORK IN THE ROAD

Happy new new year!

KEEP THINGS SPARKLY BY DOING SOMETHING NEW YOU KNOW IT’S definitely a new kind of new year when an old retail stalwart like Hudson’s Bay features in its holiday advertising a slinky young woman wearing a slinky black dress and matching slinky black COVID-19 mask. (I almost said old Canadian stalwart there, but cut myself short after dredging up from the misty moil of my

BY GLENDA BARTOSH mind that the same U.S. private investment firm that once owned Lord & Taylor bought Hudson’s Bay Co. more than a decade ago, and that was after The Bay’s previous American owner died.)

So what do you do when life gives you a pandemic? Some people, generous souls that they are, have been making pandemicaid. If you’re in the right business, you obviously sell face masks in myriad iterations, including black sparkly ones.

But if you’re lying low figuratively or metaphorically (hopefully not both), you’re probably handling things like the rest of us—looking for ways to best keep your dear little brain cells and the rest of your lovely self safely stimulated and engaged.

In a nutshell, when life gives you a pandemic—and don’t kid yourself, it’s going to go on for a while yet—try something new. Which is my New Year’s resolution in rhyme: Something, anything new will do.

And don’t buy it through Amazon.

No. 1 in the “new” department in terms

NEW YEAR, NEW WORLD A Hudson’s Bay advertisement featuring “a slinky young woman wearing a slinky black dress and matching slinky black COVID-19 mask.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

36 JANUARY 7, 2021

of ease and availability: New food to pique our senses—and use up those bloody tins of whole bamboo shoots from Japan I grabbed when local store shelves were emptying.

(What on Earth was I thinking!?)

You may well already be doing what I described in my earlier column on getting antsy in your pantry. Trying wild new dishes and flavours. Whipping up some new comfort food à la dulce de leche or home-baking (again, see a recent column).

Figuring out those fat bamboo shoots. Or tinned sardines in tomato sauce.

If you’re still surviving on Kraft Dinner and takeout, hey, nothing wrong with that.

But consider this a little New Year’s nudge

ways of dressing that don’t use a single bit of new “store-bought” clothing from The Bay or anywhere. How about a nice sweater on top for that Zoom session, and something ridiculous, like nothing, below?

Or outrageous lipstick under your mask— something you guys can really have fun with. Personally, I’ve been playing with my middle-aged-Italian-man persona and growing out my moustache lately.

All of which brings us to the newest and most obvious clothing accessory we’ve all had to adapt to: The Mask. Jim Carrey must be so groovin’ it, but here’s where I really want to tip my not-so-new hat. After four tries, the No. 1 best reusable masks I’ve

Something, anything new will do.

And don’t buy it through Amazon.

to check out some new food angles, the more playful, or sustainable, the better. I tried a little whipped cream on my cheese and crackers the other day. Not bad. And cutting down on the meat you eat reduces carbon emissions and influences the food choices of others.

No. 2 on the new list: Authors I’ve never tried before (Jenny Diski). Or ones I’ve always meant to (Jerzy Kosiński). And playing with old art supplies and drawings in new ways. A little collaging here, a little acrylic paint there, and Bob’s your uncle.

For No. 3 and onwards, how about some new routines, like making a phone call instead of texting or emailing. Getting up an hour earlier—or later. Driving home along a new route.

Then there are all the quirky new

found for not steaming up glasses outdoors is the V4 model from Seattle’s Tom Bihn.

Easy to wear, easy to wash, great materials and design, and no steamy lenses! (Thanks, WIRED magazine, for that tip!)

If you think all this is just another New Year’s pep talk to boost your spirits and keep you going, well, you’re partly right.

But all this “new” fandangle-angled talk isn’t just because everyone’s getting fed up and burnt out.

The science is in, and anything “new” is good for you and your brain, anytime.

As we age, we lose about four per cent of our brain volume every decade, and the best antidote for that is building new neural pathways.

According to an excellent article

by Erin Blakemore in Popular Science’s

Winter 2020 issue (never read one of those before!), molecular changes happen in our brains every time we learn or experience something new. And each time we learn new info or alter our neurons with new experiences, our lovely brains release chemicals that subtly alter our synapses and generate new neural pathways.

Those new changes are dynamic— you’ve heard of neuroplasticity, right?—and make up for loss of brain volume. Bonus, they only stop when we die or suffer a degenerative disease. And you might have been worrying that the sluggish lockdown brain you’ve been dealing with was a new permanent setting.

So here’s more stimulating news for your little grey cells. Lord & Taylor, formerly the oldest and most venerated U.S. department store is, or was, a mere enfant compared to The Bay, which started in 1670 and has the distinction, some would say an inglorious one, of having been the largest land holder in North America. Remember that and all its implications next time you see a creamy wool Hudson’s Bay coat with its trademark yellow, green, black and red stripes.

Ironically, Lord & Taylor was later purchased by Le Tote—a leader in, get this, women’s clothing rentals, as in just rent the dang dress, never mind buying it for one lousy party. But the whole shebang— Le Tote and Lord & Taylor—filed for bankruptcy protection last August due to that nasty little bug that’s been bugging us all for nearly a year.

So best of the new new year to you. Keep things fresh and sparkly, and maybe even consider one of those slinky masks to stay stimulated. For even with vaccines in hand, it’s going to be a long winter.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who welcomes the bravest and newest ideas. n

MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE SWIM • SKATE • SWEAT • SQUASH OPEN DAILY: 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Timeslots can be booked up to 72 hours in advance

whistler.ca/MPSC

GROUP FITNESS SCHEDULE JANUARY 7

JANUARY 8

JANUARY 9

JANUARY 10

JANUARY 11

JANUARY 12

JANUARY 13

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

I Sweat it Out w/Louise 7:30-8:30 am ONLINE

I Low Impact Endurance w/Beth 7:30-8:30 am ONLINE

I Body Pump Boot Camp w/Jess 7:45-8:45 am ONLINE

I Low Impact Endurance w/Steve 7:15-8:15 am NEW TIME !

IN PERSON

I Low Impact Strength and Stretch w/Louise 9-10 am ONLINE

I Sweat Effect w/Beth 9-10 am ONLINE

I Low Impact Strength and Stretch w/Jess 9:15-10:15 am ONLINE

I Mountain I ZUMBA Ready Strength w/Carmen and Structure - 9-10 am NEW! ONLINE w/Steve 8:45-9:45 am NEW TIME !

IN PERSON

I High Impact Fitness - with Andy 9-10 am ONLINE

R Gentle Fit for Seniors w/Diana 9-10 am ONLINE

I Low Impact Strength and Stretch w/Beth 8:45-9:45 am NEW TIME! IN PERSON

R Gentle Fit for Seniors w/Diana 11am-12pm ONLINE

Save the date!

F Mind-Body Stretch & Core w/Beth 10:15-11:15 am NEW! IN PERSON

F Subtle POWER YOGA w/Laura 1-2 pm NEW! IN PERSON

Learn more about how lessons have changed due to COVID-19 and how to be prepared for registration day at whistler.ca/swimminglessons

I Aqua Fit Deep End w/Marie-Anne 10-11 am IN PERSON

R Boy’s Strength Boot Camp w/Andy 4-4:45 pm NEW! IN PERSON

R Gentle Fit for Seniors - w/MarieAnne 1-2 pm ONLINE

F FLEXIBLE REGISTRATION Flex-reg’ classes have a separate fee and allow you to register for classes on the days that fit your schedule.

R REGISTERED FITNESS Registered fitness classes have a separate fee and a defined start and end date.

Pre-registration is required for the entire set of classes.

I Low Impact Endurance w/Andy 7:15-8:15 am NEW TIME! IN PERSON

Swimming lesson registration opens January 9, for Whistler residents

I Low Impact Strength and Stretch w/Andy 5:15-6:15 pm NEW! IN PERSON

I INCLUDED FITNESS These classes are included with your price of admission for no extra charge.

See exact schedule of classes at the sports centre or online at: whistler.ca/recreation

Select classes now in-person!

Check the schedule or whistler.ca/fitness for more details.

I Sweat Effect - w/ Beth 7:30-8:30 am ONLINE

I Mind and Body Stretch w/Heather 6:45-7:45 pm NEW! IN PERSON

White color box ON-LINE Green color box IN-PERSON

I Slow Flow Yoga w/Laura 6:45-7:45 pm NEW! IN PERSON

ARENA PUBLIC SKATE SCHEDULE JANUARY 7

JANUARY 8

JANUARY 9

JANUARY 10

JANUARY 11

JANUARY 12

JANUARY 13

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

12:15-1:45p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

12:15-1:15p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

1:45-2:45p.m.

6:30-7:30p.m.

6:30-7:30p.m.

Lost Lake Nordic Trails are now open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

6:30-7:30p.m.

ARENA STICK AND PUCK SCHEDULE THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

10:15 – 11:45 am (Adult)

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

10:15 – 11:45 am (Adult)

POOL SCHEDULE

Lap swim and family swim times available daily by reservation only at whistler.ca/swim.

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

@rmwhistler |

@rmowhistler

Winter has arrived.

No walking, hiking, running, dogs or biking permitted during winter operations.

ARTS SCENE

Mountain Movement Dance Collective keeps on moving, despite the pandemic LOCAL DANCE STUDIO’S COMPETITIVE TEAM RECOUNTS WEATHERING NUMEROUS CHANGES, DONNING MASKS FOR HIGHINTENSITY NUMBERS, AND REMAINING HOPEFUL

BY ALYSSA NOEL IT’S BEEN SAID time and again: kids have been the unsung heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They’ve quietly adjusted to online learning, restrictions in schools, the cancellation of beloved sports, arts, and extracurricular activities—and if they’ve grumbled about it, it certainly hasn’t been as loudly as their adult counterparts.

For Hayley Edmondson, nowhere has that been more apparent than with her Whistler and Pemberton dancers at Mountain Movement Dance Collective.

“We joke that if dance was your boyfriend or girlfriend, this would be the worst breakup in history,” she says of the rules prompting on-again, off-again classes.

“It’s something that they’re so passionate about that they absolutely love that got ripped out of their lives with no control on their part for six weeks. It was so hard.”

It all started back in March when, in the midst of Saturday ballet class, Edmondson realized it might be their last normal session.

“It was during that class when I started

ONSTAGE The Mountain Movement Dance Collective’s competitive team for 2021 is ready to be back on stage.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

38 JANUARY 7, 2021

saying to them, ‘This might be the last time we’re dancing like normal,’ but not really believing it at all,” she says. “Then over spring break, I realized we can’t move forward with classes. We would normally dance through May, which was unfortunate for our competitive dancers—that’s competitive season. And then, by the end of May, we

to do what you have been looking forward to all year.”

Not wanting the dancers to lose the fitness they worked so hard to build, Edmondson turned to Zoom.

“From March all the way until June, those kids danced 10-plus hours a week via the internet, in their homes,” she says.

“After a while, it was so unmotivating to be like, ‘OK, I’ve got to go eat breakfast to go do some pliés in my room!’”

- REESE PALMER

have our year-end recital for our recreational dancers. I had to pull the plug on all of it.”

The blows were different for the recreational group, which was looking forward to its year-end recital that was slated to take place over five nights at the Maury Young Arts Centre; and the competitive group, which practises 10 hours a week.

“It’s really sad because it’s pretty much what you work the whole year for,” says McKenna Watters-Reck, who is on the competitive team. “Then for it to get cancelled—we couldn’t do anything about it. You felt pretty helpless not being able

“No one missed any classes. They stayed super committed. There’s only so much you can do in your house. So they were doing push-ups and sit-ups for 10 hours a week to stay conditioned and train. No one ever complained about it.”

Turns out, it wasn’t anywhere near as fun as being in the studio, says Reese Palmer, who’s also on the competitive team.

“We were all super excited to do it at first,” she says. “We were like, ‘Oh yeah, it will be great to see everyone’s faces.’ So pretty much immediately after spring break was over, we started doing dance online, too.

After a while, it was so unmotivating to be

like, ‘OK, I’ve got to go eat breakfast to go do some pliés in my room!’ All of us were wanting to be in the studio so, so bad.”

Save for some private lessons over the summer, the dancers took a break until school resumed in-person. “I like to follow the school’s lead,” Edmondson adds. “I’ve always done that, even for snow days.”

But she’s also had to adhere to public health orders that fall under group fitness. That’s meant opening and closing, sometimes within the span of a few days.

For now, though, they’ve struck a new normal that allows them to dance in the studio, but with masks and distancing, and no manoeuvres that require contact.

“That was definitely weird [at first], staying in a little box, not getting close to people and wearing a mask,” WattersReck says. “For like three-and-a-half hours with the mask, not taking it off. It was a big change.”

But now, the group—and Edmondson— seem cautiously optimistic about the future.

They calculate they haven’t been onstage performing for other people in about 18 months—and they’re ready for it.

“I’m hopeful that even if we can’t get an audience for competition, even being on a stage with lights and having someone— apart from our two instructors—critique us, would be very nice,” says Quinn Isert, another dancer on the team. “I hope we can get on a stage with people.” n

ARTS SCENE

NEW BOOK Whistler author Sara Leach recently released her newest book, Duck Days, which is available now.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Whistler author adds to her series with Duck Days SARA LEACH’S NEW BOOK FEATURING HER RECURRING CHARACTER, LAUREN, IS BACK WITH A WHISTLER-INSPIRED OBSTACLE

BY ALYSSA NOEL THERE’S JUST SOMETHING appealing about trilogies.

At least that was the advice from Sarah Leach’s publisher.

“My publisher contacted me and said, ‘We’d really like to do a third book to round out the trilogy,” the Whistler author says.

“They had feedback from booksellers that it’s nice to have three on the shelves.”

That’s not to say she’s done exploring the character of Lauren, an elementary school student with autism spectrum disorder who has appeared in both Slug Days and Penguin Days, but the call did inspire Leach to write Duck Days, the third in her series.

“I feel like she’s a character with quite a bit of depth,” Leach says.

In this latest book, Lauren is facing two challenges: how to share her friend Irma and how to face the other students on mountain bike day while she’s still on a bike with training wheels.

The latter problem was inspired by observing students at Spring Creek Community School, where she’s a teacherlibrarian, during the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association’s school program.

“For most kids, [it’s] an amazing opportunity,” she says. “For a small minority, it’s really stressful. It wasn’t based on a reallife thing. It was inspired by seeing a couple of kids who really didn’t want to take part and then in the end did, and enjoyed it. I wanted to explore that idea of courage and bravery, but I didn’t want the ending to be, ‘And she learned to ride without training wheels!’

That’s too predictable.”

By the third book with the same

character, Leach knew Lauren well. It was just a matter of finding the right obstacles to help her grow.

“I need her to show some growth, but she still has the same base that she’s coming from. She has experienced growth over the three books, but she still has autism spectrum disorder, so no matter how much she’s grown, she’s going to have some challenges interacting with other people and their expectations,” she says.

At first it was nerve-wracking writing about autism when she herself doesn’t have it, Leach says. But three books in, and plenty of feedback later, those fears have dissipated.

“I’ve had really wonderful responses,” she says. “Emails from parents in Australia saying, ‘My daughter has autism and she loves seeing herself in a book.’”

While COVID-19 has put a damper on Leach’s favourite part of releasing a new book—travelling to schools for book readings—she’s hopeful she will be able to resume some time soon.

“That’s the nice thing with children’s books and schools; it’s not really necessarily tied to the new release,” she says. “These books have some lasting power. Hopefully in the spring or next year I can do some touring again.”

Leach isn’t teaching at Spring Creek this year, but her students there have historically been supportive fans as well.

“It’s very fun to see their excitement,” she says. “We have lots of copies of my books in our school library … Every year there are a couple of kids who are super keen on writing and I’ve been able to work with them a little more in-depth.”

Duck Days is available now at Armchair Books in Whistler, on Amazon, or at Chapters.

For more, visit saraleach.com. n

JANUARY 7, 2021

39

MUSEUM MUSINGS

Whistler Museum 2020: Year in review

BY BRAD NICHOLS

JANUARY 11, 6:30 PM Curious about our local grizzly bears?

Join three experts as they answer questions about how we can share our Sea to Sky backcountry with our at-risk grizzly bear populations.

Where: ZOOM Who: All Are Welcome

How Much: A FREE Event

Full Details & Registration https://www.awarewhistler.org

JOIN OIN N US SF FO FOR O FIESTA HOUR R! Margarita and Beer Spec Specials!

Seven days a week | 3:00 to 4:30 pm

OPEN HOURS Monday to Sunday 3pm to close At the Base of Whistler Mountain in the Sundial Hotel 604.962.4450 www.themexicancorner.ca

40 JANUARY 7, 2021

Follow us on @themexicancorner

WITH THE ARRIVAL of COVID-19 early in 2020, and the lockdowns and uncertainties that followed, it was an unprecedented year for the Whistler Museum & Archives Society.

From March 16 to July 1, the museum, like many businesses in Whistler, was closed to the public. During this time, however, museum staff were still hard at work, taking in and processing archival and artifact donations from the community, digitizing VHS and 8mm films, conducting oral history interviews, re-designing our website, hosting online events, and researching topics for our blog and Museum Musings column.

The museum saw an increase in archive and artefact donations during this time, as many people had free time to tidy their homes, unearthing items they could then donate to our collection. We received donations related to the 2010 Winter Games from former mayor of Whistler Ken Melamed and from Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) site construction manager Jan Jansen.

Items included uniforms, development documents, and commemorative materials.

One of the major donations the museum received this year was the Whistler Pride & Ski Festival collection. This collection, donated by Dean Nelson, documents many aspects of the long-running festival, one of the biggest and best sexually diverse focused ski weeks in the world. This is a major asset to the museum, and helps preserve aspects of Whistler’s diverse community that have been under-represented within our collection until now.

The museum started welcoming visitors into the building again on Canada Day 2020 and has since remained open six days a week (closed on Wednesdays). Over the course of 2020, we saw 5,099 exhibit visitors, down considerably (65 per cent) from 2019’s 14,410 exhibit visits.

During July and August, we were still able to operate our popular summer programs, albeit slightly modified to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

These offerings attracted an additional 7,529 participants to programs held outside the museum, including our Valley of Dreams historical walking tours through Whistler Village and our Discover Nature educational program about Whistler’s rich biodiversity offered at Lost Lake Park, and to virtual programs, such as Crafts from the Park (delivered in partnership with Whistler Public Library) and our 24th annual LEGO Building Competition.

The museum continued to explore, share, and educate about Whistler’s unique history and people through our online presence on Facebook, Instagram, and our Whistorical blog. Our numbers (including followers and engagement with posts) increased on all platforms significantly

HISTORY IN THE MAKING It’s been a challenging year for the Whistler Museum & Archives Society, which closed for months due to COVID-19, then re-opened in a re-imagined way.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

throughout 2020 due to the hard work and dedication of the museum’s events and community manager Allyn Pringle and head archivist and collections manager Alyssa Bruijns.

Last year also marked the first time the museum has hosted a travelling exhibit since the 1990s. The Land of Thundering Snow travelling exhibit developed by the Revelstoke Museum & Archives explores the history of snow avalanches and their impact on the people and nature in Canada.

We are grateful to the Revelstoke Museum & Archives for developing this exhibit and for the opportunity to host it in Whistler.

This exhibit will run at the museum until March 31, 2021.

The museum team also continued its collaboration with the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) to produce the History & Heritage segment of the Whistler 101 series. Originally conceived in 2019 as an in-person lecture series, the scripts and content of each Whistler 101 lecture were reimagined in 2020 to produce a 20-minute video for each subject. The History & Heritage segment will premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 and will be available to view at whistler.ca/101.

The museum is currently finalizing its 2021 winter programs, including the return of our Speakers series and Naming Nights, both to be delivered virtually, and our Kids Après program, currently being developed as an interactive activity booklet. More details on these programs will be available in the coming weeks.

I would like to take a moment to thank our funders and supporters: the RMOW; the Province of British Columbia; the Community Foundation of Whistler; Canadian Heritage; British Columbia Museum Association; and our museum members for their continued support over the years.

I would also like to say a special thank you to everyone who has visited our exhibits, attended our events, read our Pique column, followed us on social media, and otherwise helped spread the word about Whistler’s fascinating people and history. Your support helped us make it through a very challenging year! n

PARTIAL RECALL

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ABOVE THE CLOUDS Although Whistler has been absolutely hammered with snow in recent weeks, the sun popped out high above the valley on Dec. 29. PHOTO BY JUSTIN KAPOOR. 2 WAITING GAME Morning lift lines in Creekside are looking a little CREEKSIDE CAMPERS Lining up for a powder day generally means you’re in it for the long haul. These locals decided to get creative and make it a more comfortable experience. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 4 OFFICIAL VISIT Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is known to pay regular visits to Whistler’s slopes. Amid COVID-19 travel restrictions, the PM joined local MP Patrick Weiler, as well as Whistler business leaders Pepe Barajas and Lou Hudec, for a virtual visit on Tuesday, Jan. 5 instead. SCREENSHOT, COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/PATRICK WEILER. 5 SNOWY ROADS This most recent storm cycle may have created magic on the mountains, but it’s also wreaked havoc on roads and made digging out vehicles for early-morning shifts a little bit more of a struggle, as seen here in Whistler Cay. PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS. 6 WINTER WEDDING There were a few good things that happened in 2020. For 1

different—and stretching back a little longer than usual—this season, as seen here at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6. PHOTO BY JUSTIN KAPOOR. 3

one, born-and-raised Whistlerite Melissa Smith and Jake Paddle’s wedding day on Dec. 12. The couple were married on on the dock at the Point Artist Run Centre on a sunny Saturday. PHOTO SUBMITTED.

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

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41

ASTROLOGY

HEAR AND NOW WHISTLER’S LOCAL MUSIC CELEBRATION

Free Will Astrology WEEK OF JANUARY 7 BY ROB BREZSNY

ONLINE

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The pandemic has made it

THURSDAYS, 7PM

Jan 7

Little Earthquakes

Jan 14

Lozen & The Get Down Brothers

Jan 21

Introduce Wolves

Jan 28

Cat Madden

Find the episodes on Arts Whistler’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

artswhistler.com/hearandnow

The Salvation Army

@artswhistler

would like to thank the following volunteers and stores who made this year’s “Ringing the Bells” kettle drive in Whistler and Pemberton another success! We have raised almost $80,000.00 over the past 12 years. These funds come back to Whistler, Pemberton, Mount Currie and the surrounding areas by way of food banks, frozen dinners to seniors and shut ins, coats for kids, kid’s camps, disaster relief after fire and flood, school supplies for underprivileged kids and much more!

Whistler Locations: Many thanks to the managers and staff for their help and understanding at these kettle locations: Fresh Street Market & Nester’s Market.

Whistler Bell Ringers: Dave Beattie, Carolyn Hill, Doug Treleaven, Kathy White, Jen Ford, Oliver Ford, Jill Notman Colpitts, John McGregor, Jackie Dickinson, Michael McSkimming, Darryl Bowie, Kerry Batt, Charalyn Kriz, Alex Mounsey, Sherry Baker, Gail McGregor, Janet Robson, Sharon Audley, Laura Wetaski, Will Warm, Beck Warm, Stacey Whittacker, Jacki Bissillion, Arthur De Jong.

Pemberton Location: The Salvation Army is Pemberton’s largest Food Bank supplier and wishes to thank the manager and staff of the Pemberton Valley Supermarket for their wonderful support. The generosity of the Pemberton people is amazing.

This year’s Pemberton “Ringers”: Mark Leverton, Kathy Leverton, Tanis Ayers, Tracey Cruz, Lisa Hilton (our wonderful organizer)

42 JANUARY 7, 2021

Photo: Arts Whistler / Kelly Cosgrove

JANUARY EPISODES

challenging to nurture our communities. In order to make new connections and keep our existing connections vibrant, we’ve had to be extra resourceful. I hope you will make this work as one of your holy quests in 2021, Aries. In my astrological opinion, you should be ingenious and tireless as you nurture your web of allies. Your assignment during our ongoing crisis is to lead the way as you show us all how to ply the art of high-minded networking.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus actor George Clooney is worth $500 million. Yet his dazzling opulence is puny compared to that of Taurus entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune exceeds $100 billion. It’s my duty to inform you that you will probably never achieve either man’s levels of wealth. Yet I do hold out hope that in the next 12 months you will launch plans that ultimately enable you to have all the money you need.

2021 will be a favourable time to formulate and set in motion a dynamic master plan for financial stability.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): One of your main themes for the next 12 months comes from Leonardo da Vinci. He wrote, “To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” If you use da Vinci’s instructions as a seed for your meditations, you’ll stir up further inspirations about how to make 2021 a history-making epoch in the evolution of your education. I hope you will treasure the value of “learning how to see” and “realizing how everything connects to everything else.” They should be at the root of your intention to learn as much as you can.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An extensive study by psychiatric researchers suggests that more than half of us experienced a potentially disabling trauma in childhood. You’re in the minority if you didn’t! That’s the bad news. The good news is that 2021 will be a time when you Cancerians will have more power than ever before to heal at least some of the wounds from your old traumas. You will also attract extra luck and help to accomplish these subtle miracles. To get the process started, make a list of three practical actions you can take to instigate your vigorous healing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo author Isabel Allende says, “We are in the world to search for love, find it and lose it, again and again. With each love, we are born anew, and with each love that ends we collect a new wound. I am covered with proud scars.” I appreciate Allende’s point of view, and understand that it’s useful, even inspirational, for many people. But my path has been different. As a young man, I enjoyed my endless quest for sex and romance. It was thrilling to keep leaping from affair to affair. But as I eventually discovered, that habit made me stupid and superficial about love. It prevented me from having to do the hard psychological work necessary to continually reinvent intimacy—and become eligible for deeper, more interesting versions of love. I bring this to your attention, Leo, because I think 2021 could be your time for a personal rebirth that will be made possible by deep, interesting versions of love.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Occultist Israel Regardie (1907–1985) was an accomplished author and influencer. To what did he attribute his success? I’ll let him speak for himself: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

I hope you will write out this quote and tape it to your bathroom mirror for the duration of 2021, Virgo.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Kabbalistic Tree of Life is a mystical symbol of the hidden structure of creation.

At its heart, in the most pivotal position, is the principle of beauty. This suggests that the wise teachers who gave

us the Tree did not regard beauty as merely a luxury to be sought only when all practical business is taken care of. Nor is it a peripheral concern for those who pursue a spiritual path. Rather, beauty is essential for our health and intelligence. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to take a cue from the Tree of Life. During the next 12 months, give special attention to people and things and experiences and thoughts and feelings that are beautiful to you. Meditate on how to nurture them and learn from them and draw inspiration from them.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to motivational speaker Les Brown, the problem for many people is not that “they aim too high and miss,” but that “they aim too low and hit.” I’m conveying this to you just in time for the Reach Higher Phase of your long-term astrological cycle.

According to my analysis, you’ll generate good fortune for yourself if you refine and expand your personal goals.

Here’s a key detail: Don’t borrow anyone else’s standards of success. Home in on your own unique soul’s code, and give it fuller, deeper, wilder expression.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): One of my primary pleasures in reading books is to discover thoughts and feelings I have never before encountered. That’s exciting! But it’s hard to force myself to keep plowing through an author’s prose if it’s full of stuff that I already know about from my own life or from books, movies and other art. Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels fit the latter description. I realize that many people love his fiction, but for me it is monumentally obvious and boring. What about you, Sagittarius? Where do you go to be exposed to thrilling new ways of looking at the world?

Judging from the astrological omens, I conclude that this quest will be especially fun and crucial for you in the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I only want people around me who can do the impossible,” said Capricorn businesswoman Elizabeth Arden. In that spirit, and in accordance with your astrological potentials, I hereby authorize you to pursue two “impossible” goals in 2021.

The first comes to you courtesy of fashion writer Diana Vreeland, who wrote, “There’s only one thing in life, and that’s the continual renewal of inspiration.” Your second “impossible” goal is from actor Juliette Binoche, who said, “My only ambition is to be true every moment I am living.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your past is becoming increasingly irrelevant, while your future is still a bit amorphous. To help clarify the possibilities that you could harvest in 2021, I suggest you suspend your theories about what your life is about. Empty yourself out as much as you can. Pledge to re-evaluate everything you think you know about your purpose. Once you’ve accomplished that, meditate on the following questions: 1. What experiences do you truly need and passionately long for—not the experiences you needed and longed for in the past, but rather those that are most vivid and moving right now? 2. What are the differences between your fearful fantasies and your accurate intuitions? How can you cultivate the latter and downplay the former?

3. What are your nightly dreams and semi-conscious fantasies telling you about how to create the most interesting version of the future?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author Gunter Grass wrote, “Writers know that sometimes things are there in the drawer for decades before they finally come out and we are capable of writing about them.” I would universalize his thought in this way: Most of us know that possibly useful ideas and dreams are in the drawer for years before they finally come out and we know how to use them. I believe this will be an ongoing experience for you in 2021, Pisces.

Homework: What’s the biggest and best lucky break you’d love to attract in 2021? FreeWillAstrology.com

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

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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.

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Located in the mountain resort town of Whistler, HARD British Columbia, Pique Newsmagazine is the unequivocal leader in reporting, interpreting and understanding the culture of the Coast Mountains and what it means to those who live, work and play in Whistler. It is part of Glacier Media, one of Western Canada’s leading community media publishers, with more than 75 weekly, bi-weekly and daily community newspapers. Pique has been chosen by both the BCYCNA and News Media Canada as the top newspaper in its circulation category in 2020.

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Become one of the Village of Pemberton’s most valuable natural resources – our people.

Assistant Manager of Operations – Permanent, Full-Time Position: Reporting to the Manager of Operations and Projects, the Assistant Manager of Operations is responsible for planning and directing the day-to-day activities of the Operations Department, assisting with the oversight of Contractors and capital projects, and bringing innovative and organizational leadership to the Operations team.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT & CEO Year Round, Part Time (anticipated 3 days per week, noting that schedule flexibility will be considered for the right candidate)

Engineering & GIS Technician – Permanent, Full-Time Position: Reporting to the Manager of Operations and Projects, the Engineering and GIS Technician performs a variety of technical and administrative functions relating to the creation and maintenance of the Village’s GIS and engineering data. This position reviews and inspects engineering works for new developments and capital projects, and acts as the point person for sourcing and providing utilities and mapping information for both Staff and external stakeholders.

Reporting to the President and CEO, the Executive Assistant is responsible for a variety of administrative responsibilities, such as: acting as the point of contact between executives and internal/external clients and key stakeholders, preparing presentations and reports, collating information for Board and Committee meetings, coordinating meeting schedules, organizing meeting set up and taking meeting minutes.

This role requires someone with executive administrative experience and the ability to work in a professional and confident manner, within a flexible environment. With exceptional verbal and written communication skills, along with digital proficiency, the successful candidate will be extremely organized, with strong attention to detail and time management.

Interested? Please send your resume and cover letter to recruiting@pemberton.ca

by Friday, January 22nd, 2021. For a full job description and to learn more about the Village of Pemberton, please visit www.pemberton.ca

To view our career opportunities, and to apply, visit us online at: whistler.com/careers

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PLAY HERE Join a supportive and fun work environment where the team delivers exceptional service in the beautiful, lakefront lounge and restaurant.

We are busier than anticipated and hiring for F&B Support Staff, Breakfast Servers, Bartender and Night Audit.

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Great perks, work environment and remuneration.

» piquenewsmagazine.com/jobs JANUARY 7, 2021

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PUZZLES ACROSS 1 6 11 16 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 35 36 38 39 40 42 44 46 48 52 54 55 59 61 62 63 64 65 67 68 70 71

“___ Life Is It Anyway?”

Wide tie Banister post Island nation Quartz and marble Rub Banish Not in a whisper Square Viennese dessert Divide Earth, e.g.

Lunch hour, often Samovar Alike, as socks Use a paper towel Drain, as energy Comprehend Absorbed, as costs Former Italian money Most gauzy Type of seaman New Orleans NFLer Errand runner Highland girl Eggnog topper Take pleasure in At the center of Virginia Woolf novel In a jiffy Without doubt (2 wds.)

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Constructed Oater showdowns XL Tribal adviser Shade tree Our, in Tours

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Job applicant’s quest Wall covering Firearms lobby Flower plot Took unlawfully Andy’s friend Freebies Not super (var.)

Brain sections As -- -- (usually) Sticky mud Maglie or Mineo Consumers Stringed instruments Golden-touch king What i.e. means Has the nerve Hounds’ trails Ulna and tibia Provo’s state Rigs a game Psyche’s beloved Seeps Approaches Pear-shaped instruments Soul food Of ships Unstable Networks Metric units -- noire Pee Wee of baseball Evidence Embankment Midwest airport Delicious Lady’s honorific Type of duck

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Take by force Extremely unpleasant Dosage units Half a sawbuck Join wood Baking ingredient Territories -- -- tizzy Lagoons Protuberances Happy sighs Metal in pewter Leathernecks Perfumed Pretty and delicate “Woman With Fan” artist

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Judge Out loud Give the slip Steel rod -- la vista!

Use a pencil Wildlife staple Coaxed Stylish auto Fencing swords Beaded shoes, for short Draw on glass PFC mail drop Be sorry for Caviar Electronics mfr.

LAST WEEKS’ ANSWERS

6 # 46

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: HARD

2

4

5

3

1 1 8 6 5 9 6 4 7 7 6 8 3 2 4 9 3 6 7 2 5 HARD Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com# 48

ANSWERS ON PAGE 46

JANUARY 7, 2021

49

MAXED OUT

They are not listening to you, Dr. Henry DEAR Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry: Wow, that seems so formal. After all this time, hanging on your every word week by week—not to mention admiring your shoes—I feel as though using your formal title is too impersonal. That’s why I simply refer to you as St. Bonnie.

At any rate, like I said, my admiration for the job you’ve been doing ever since I learned there was such a thing as a provincial health officer recognizes no equal. You’re the top, as Cole Porter once wrote.

BY G.D. MAXWELL But I’ve got a problem. I’m struggling to be calm and be kind. That’s because, well, I’m not feeling particularly safe... at least not as safe as I’d like to feel. Don’t get me wrong, I’m feeling personally safe, since I live like a monk and hardly recognize myself without a mask, but I fear for the safety of my community.

This, I’d like to point out, is a recent problem. Since this pandemic nonsense began in March, I’ve been the epitome of calm. Heck, I’ve been so calm at times my spouse thought I was comatose. She was a nurse so she should know. But really, putting a mirror under my nose to make sure I’m still breathing?

And despite a quarrelsome—some would say curmudgeonly—persona, I’m generally pretty kind. I won’t go into detail because I do have this public image to protect. You’ll have to take my word for it.

The source of my distress is, well, people who either don’t know, don’t believe or don’t care about your very clear orders to stay close to home and avoid non-essential travel. I’d like to say it’s just a few people but that would be both untrue and naive.

Did I mention I live in Whistler? I know you’ve heard of it because you’ve mentioned it before. I do, have for quite a while now.

And while I’ve always been a big promoter of Whistler, the past two weeks have been uncomfortably crowded. And if there’s one thing I’m certain of, not everyone was local.

And I have a pretty expansive definition of local. Since so many of the people who work here live in Squamish and Pemberton, I would term Whistler and Blackcomb their local mountains. I believe you’ve told people to stick to their local mountains. Being a reasonable guy, I’d even include those folks from the Lower Mainland who own a home and spend a lot of time up here. I’m sure you know some of them. In a very real sense—at least other than geographically—these are their local mountains.

But the day trippers? The ones who clog the highway every weekend and every day for the past two holiday weeks? They don’t

50 JANUARY 7, 2021

PHOTO BY ANDY DITTRICH // WWW.GRIP.TV

seem to be getting your message. Or they’re unfamiliar with Grouse and Seymour? Or don’t care? Doesn’t matter; same effect.

Then there are the “Others.” The unquestionably non-locals. The Ontarians.

The Albertans. The international folks.

Yeah, I know, your orders don’t apply extraprovincially. But really. Ontario has ordered all its ski hills closed. Not because skiing poses a serious risk but because travelling to ski, in their minds, does. So Ontario folks jumped on a plane and flew out here to ski. Albertans did because, well, it’s just what they do. And human nature being what it is, it’s a safe bet that not all the international folks here have observed a strict 14-day quarantine.

with so many people... you can imagine.

It’s also important to point out once up the mountains, it’s very safe. Well spaced, reasonably safe lift lines, really safe restaurants. Full marks to management.

But these mosh pit crowds at the bottom?

That’s what’s making me feel unkind and anxious instead of calm. It is, as a reader wrote to me, making him and me and most everyone else I know who does follow your orders angry, an anger born out of selfrighteousness and voluntary deprivation.

I hate feeling that way. I’ve always felt welcoming and even boastful about where I live. I’ve gone out of my way to help visitors have a good time while they’re here. Nearly

We were closed down in March, with devastating consequences, and I don’t know how well we’d survive another closure.

This has resulted in lineups every morning that would curl your hair. Really.

When I say morning, I mean well before the lifts open until noon. By the time loading starts, some of the crowds look like a rock concert. Other lines snake further than the eye can see.

The mountains have all hands on deck and staff is doing as good a job as possible keeping people masked and distanced. But

20 years on the frontlines of a guest-relations counter made that attitude second nature.

But dammit, these uncaring people are threatening my town. We were closed down in March, with devastating consequences, and I don’t know how well we’d survive another closure.

Sadly, too many people aren’t willing to follow your orders. They need encouragement to do so. I mean, even the

Pope recognized this on Sunday when he gently admonished people who travelled abroad to escape coronavirus lockdowns, saying they don’t think of others but only about going on holiday and having fun.

Believe me when I say I am the last person who would ever look to the Pope for guidance but, hey, he nailed it.

There is, of course, a solution. Since it requires a reservation to come skiing up here, we could borrow a page from Big White and limit reservations to people within the Sea to Sky corridor. I know that wouldn’t be popular with the Lower Mainland daytrippers, the Ontarians, Albertans and others.

Too extreme? How about reservations with one-hour time slots to space out the initial loading?

I know anything limiting numbers wouldn’t be popular with some local businesspeople and I feel safe assuming it wouldn’t be popular with Whistler and Blackcomb’s owners but the way I see it, having fewer people up here is a whole lot better than having no people. Safer, too.

We’ve seen what having no people is like. We saw how many locals lost their jobs in March, how many needed the food bank, rent and mortgage relief, CERB payments. It wasn’t pretty. It was pretty devastating. We don’t want to do that again. We’ve worked our butts off to make this place safe. But that safety relies on other people doing their part and it seems so many of them just don’t give a damn.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

In safety and with the hope of calm and kindness, - Max ■

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 NEW PRICE!

SOLD

BENCHLANDS 2-4894 Painted Cliff Ski in/ski out! Slopeside 2.5 bed/2bath in a quiet setting w/ mtn views. Well maintained with private hot tub, and nightly rentals allowed. $1,825,000

Suzanne Wilson

604 966 8454 Pierre Eady

WHISTLER CREEKSIDE 215A-2020 London Lane, Evolution Quarter share, pet friendly property just steps fron Creekside gondola, shops & restaurants. Beautiful contemporary design with great amenities including entertainment rooms, fitness centre, outdoor pool, hot tubs and sauna. $114,900

Janet Brown

FUNCTION JUNCTION 8-1375 Alpha Lake Road 2 bed, 1 bath residential suite in a commercial building in Function Juntion. Bright and spacious at 804 Square Feet with 8.6 foot ceilings.

Private balcony, and two designated outdoor parking spaces. $175.00 monthly strata fees. $612,000

ALTA VISTA 101-3050 Hillcrest Drive Congratulations to the Buyers for recognizing this beautifully renovated, 2 bdrm, 2 bath in Alta Vista was the perfect choice for their two families!

If you’re considering a move, let me help you make it happen! $1,075,000

604-698-6748 Laura Wetaski

BENCHLANDS 413-4800 Spearhead Drive Top floor ski-in/ski-out 1 bedroom suite with forest views & all day sun. Enjoy unlimited personal use or rent out for revenues. Enjoy use of an outdoor hot tubs, an outdoor pool, gym, front desk, & a lounge. Strata fees include utilities. $868,000

604-935-0700 Allyson Sutton

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WHISTLER VILLAGE 448-4314 Main Street. Town Plaza Convenient village location in this 2 bed/1 bath, end-unit apartment. Unrestricted owner use & nightly rental availble. Monthly HOA includes hot water, heat, gas, internet, cable & front desk reception services. Includes ski locker and parking stall. $998,000

604-932-7609 Nick Swinburne *PREC

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VIRTUAL TOUR

CREEKSIDE 1351 Alta Lake Road Cedarstone Lodge, a 5.7ac enclave just 2km from Creekside. 4br, 5.5ba, 3-car garage, outdoor spa, wrap around decks, three fireplaces and landscaping that blends with the surrounding forests. A sanctuary for generations. $7,799,000

EMERALD ESTATES 9508 Emerald Drive Welcome to “Raven-Hut” the epitome of mountain modern design. Interior living spaces flow seamlessly with the outdoor living spaces. 3 bedrooms & 2 bathroom house with a lovely 2 bedroom & 1 bathroom suite $3,995,000

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Maggi Thornhill *PREC

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SQUAMISH Lot 6 Harris Road What will you build on this 16, 867 sq ft Squamish lot? Zoned for single family home, duplex, stable, light industrial & more. The options are endless.

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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.

604-966-7640

3D Tour - rem.ax/7115nesters

#3 - 2024 Innsbruck Drive

$530,000

Located close to shops, restaurants, lakes & trails! Jump on your bike, board or skis and head up the mountain in minutes. Nightly rental zoning makes this the best investment opportunity while still allowing you the freedom to live there full time or rent it monthly.

Enjoy the easy access, and the bright fresh feel of mountain village living.

Bruce Watt

1

604.905.0737

7115 Nesters Road

3D Tour - rem.ax/312greyhawk

$3,788,000

Thisisanamazing,wellmaintainedpropertywithbeautifullandscaping,plentyofparking andoutdoordeckspacewithalargecoveredhottubforguests.Arareopportunitytoown anaccommodationbusinessofthissize,locationandqualitywithsubstantialpotentialfor growth.Aseparatecaretakersuiteoffersprivacyforthemanagerorowner/operator.

Dave Beattie*

8.5

604.905.8855

#312 - 3317 Ptarmigan Place

$1,200,000

This unit has had a wonderful renovation that is clean bright and modern. Wide plank wire brushed engineered oak floors run through out the home and both bathrooms are finished with heavy glass doors,recessed tile walls and heated floors. This is a truly turn key luxury apartment with a south facing deck with all day sun.

Dave Sharpe

2

604.902.2779

3D Tour - rem.ax/8349needles

#331 - 2036 London Lane

$179,900

Enjoy this slopeside 1/4 share suite at the popular Legends at Creekside.

This spacious poolside 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom 901 sf suite offers views of the Whistler Mountain slopes, pool & hot tubs. Legends ¼ ownership provides 13 weeks annually of owner use or rental.

Denise Brown*

2

604.902.203

8349 Needles Drive

$2,699,000

2 Garibaldi Drive

$625,000

Situated on over 12,000 sq. ft. lot, the Main house includes 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a spacious 1 bedroom suite with separate entry. The property also boasts a 400 sq.ft stand-alone commercial kitchen, leased through May 2022.

Have your housing needs changed – are you able to work from home? While not waterfront, consider the purchase of this 7535 sq.ft. flat lot, priced under the current assessed value. It is within walking distance to the communal lake and beach area, and by purchasing now will allow you time to plan your home build for Spring.

Doug Treleaven

Laura Barkman

604.905.8626

604.905.8777

3D Tour - rem.ax/107woodrun

#202B - 2020 London Lane

$229,900

QuarterOwnership in amodernwellappointed condo atthebase ofWhistler Mountain.

OverlookingWhistlerCreekside Village, thisunit hasagreat kitchen,open floor plan,and ispetfriendly.Use yourunit1 weekevery month, or allow ittobe rented out for revenue.

Comeswithaskilocker inthe building,and asecure owner closet in theunit.

Matt Chiasson

2

604.935.9171

#212 - 4220 Gateway Drive

$285,000

A renovated studio with loft - right in the heart of Whistler Village and within a 2 minute walk to the ski lifts. These fully furnished lofted studios include a fully equipped kitchen and sleep 6. Blackcomb Lodge has undergone extensive renovations and upgrades to the indoor swimming pool, hot tub and other Common Area facilities.

Michael d’Artois

1

604.905.9337

#107 - 4910 Spearhead Drive

$1,799,000

The Woodrun is one of the few concrete buildings in Whistler and #107 is conveniently located on the ground floor facing the green belt. The unit features a boot heater, huge owner locker, Washer, and Dryer in suite and the gym and pool access is just across the hallway.

Richard Christiansen

604.907.2717

2

3D Tour - rem.ax/3282arbutus

7201 Fitzsimmons Road S.

$4,788,000

3282 Arbutus Drive

$2,499,000

Walk to the Village from this completely renovated 4 bedroom and den home in White Gold. The den could easily be used as a 5th bedroom for extended family groups. This spacious home is located on a large, flat 12,159 square foot corner lot, right on the Fitzsimmons Creek.

Bright family home within walking distance to Whistler Village with beautiful Blackcomb Mountain views. Open concept floor plan is perfect for entertaining.

Flex room could be used for an office or bedroom plus master bedroom are situated on the main level. The upper level showcases 3 bedrooms with a loft.

Sally Warner*

Ursula Morel*

604.905.6326

4.5

WHISTLER OFFICE 106 - 7015 Nesters Road, Whistler, BC V8E 0X1 604.932.2300 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070 *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION

If you are a home owner, buyer, tenant, landlord, or small business in need of help during this time, please see our updated list of resources at: remax-whistler.com/resources

604.932.8629

1

9286 Siskin Street

$920,000

WedgeWoods is a private 108 lot community with unique privacy and many larger properties. You can build a family home as well as an auxiliary building of 2150 sq. ft. Perfect for a workshop, studio or guest suite with extra garage. 1.96 acres Private Cul De Sac.

Ann Chiasson

604.932.7651

PEMBERTON OFFICE 1411 Portage Road, Pemberton, BC V0N 2L1 604.894.6616 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070