Pique Newsmagazine 2852

DECEMBER 30, 2021 ISSUE 28.52

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14

RANSOMWARE

RMOW shares some details of the cyber attack

15

FITNESS FIASCO

Gym owners question new COVID-19 restrictions

62

SKI AND BOARD GAME Whistler kid reinvents Snakes and Ladders for mountain life

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

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36 Best of Whistler 2021 Readers tell us the places, people and things they loved most in Whistler this year.- By Pique staff

14

KING’S RANSOM?

The Resort Municipality of

32

WATERSPRITE SITE

A trip to the

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increasingly popular Watersprite Lake Trail and Recreation Site might look

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20

FITNESS FIASCO

Whistler gyms and fitness

58

GOING FOR GOLD

Whistler’s Mollie Jepsen

centres were forced to close completely again last week amidst surging

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coronavirus cases, while owners question the logic of such a drastic move.

next month and the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games in March.

22

62

COVID CRUNCH

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COVER I’m not the words guy. I’m going to miss you Clare. You have steered this ship so well, for so very long. Long live empathy! I’m in tears, but good and very grateful ones. I look forward to your letters to the editor. - By Jon Parris 4 DECEMBER 30, 2021

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

Opinion & Columns 08 OPENING REMARKS After 11 years as editor of Pique I’m stepping away from the role. It’s

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

been an amazing adventure thanks to the community and my Pique family.

Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT

10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A letter writer this week offers thanks for a life-saving search by

Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com Editor CLARE OGILVIE - edit@piquenewsmagazine.com Assistant Editor BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com Production Manager AMIR SHAHRESTANI - ashahrestani@wplpmedia.com Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com Advertising Representatives TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com GEORGIA BUTLER - gbutler@wplpmedia.com Digital/Sales Coordinator AMELA DIZDARIC - traffic@wplpmedia.com Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com

Whistler Search and Rescue, while others pen letters calling out Whistler Blackcomb for its COVID-19 safety policy.

13 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST As Pique bids farewell to editor Clare Ogilvie, reporter Brandon Barrett pays tribute to a formidable leader whose impact goes far beyond what you see in ink and paper.

78 MAXED OUT From new lifts announced for Whistler Blackcomb to a lack of staff, this year had it all, as the infamous Maxie Awards reveal.

Environment & Adventure

Arts & Entertainment/Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com

35 RANGE ROVER Leslie Anthony offers up a wish list of things he would like to see addressed in

Social Media Editor MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com

2022, including stopping the logging of old-growth trees in Whistler’s community forest.

Reporters BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com HARRISON BROOKS - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com Classifieds and Reception mail@piquenewsmagazine.com Office and Accounts Manager HEIDI RODE - hrode@wplpmedia.com Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ANDREW MITCHELL, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON

Lifestyle & Arts

60 FORK IN THE ROAD Looking for healthy snacks for 2022 in Whistler? Pique’s Glenda Bartosh has got a list of not-to-miss favourites you can buy locally!

64 MUSEUM MUSINGS Whistler has long had a connection to the film industry in Canada, including being part of Canada’s earliest talking picture, which was based on a novel by Whistler’s Alex Philip.

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.

The entire contents of Pique Newsmagazine are copyright 2021 by Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of WPLP, a division of Glacier Media). No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the Publisher.

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

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

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

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

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OPENING REMARKS

See you on the slopes…

“Clare would do a great deal better in class if she simply controlled her imagination.”

LOOKING BACK across the decades that I have been a journalist, perhaps my fate was sealed when these words were written by an elementary school teacher to my parents.

My desire to understand, to ask questions, to ferret out information, to imagine the shape of a story, a life, an experience is what eventually landed me in Pique’s editor chair.

BY CLARE OGILVIE edit@piquenewsmagazine.com

I had, in fact, “retired” from journalism after two decades-plus at The Province newspaper in Vancouver covering everything from politics to crime to education to courts, and finally the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games when I agreed to become editor at Pique.

What would it be like? Whose stories would I get to share? How can I keep truth alive in my community?, I wondered when

reporter and assistant editor Braden Dupuis into the position.

This will be my last editorial, though I have no intention of leaving the craft and intend to continue writing.

I’ve spent months thinking about what to say in this space this week. I’ve put pen to paper (metaphorically speaking) a hundred times… but somehow I have both too much and too little to say about the life-changing time I have spent with the people of Pique and Whistler, too. So here I am, right on deadline, scrambling some thoughts together—my favourite place to be.

I can remember my first week at work when the story broke about the cull of the sled dogs in the Callaghan Valley. Coming straight from a hard-news daily, this story caused a paradigm shift for me—I had to tell the story, but it had to be Whistler’s story.

And for more than a decade, that is what Pique has endeavoured to do: tell the stories of the people, the issues and the community that is our home.

There are hundreds of stories I am proud of in Pique—hundreds. But I know that every single one of them would never have happened if readers had not shared what they had to say with us, and if Pique’s

There are hundreds of stories I am proud of in Pique—hundreds.

Pique’s then-owner and editor Bob Barnett offered the chair to me.

And suddenly instead of retiring, I was doing a job that took every ounce of my imagination, creativity, energy and passion for words, people and community.

I never imagined I’d still be doing it 11 years later.

But, it’s time to pass the editor’s chair to a new generation at Pique, and I am so excited for you to welcome longtime council reporter, multi-award-winning

talented and dedicated reporters hadn’t taken the time to listen and research and put the truth out there. I am humbled by the talent of Pique’s writers and our amazing creative heart, Jon Parris.

Across the years I have cribbed many lessons from them all.

These last years with COVID-19, all the climate-change disaster events and the meteoric rise of the internet have meant those in the newsroom can never disconnect.

This is now a 24/7 career, and readers expect

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Some thanks are owed: First and foremost to my husband Steven who understood from the start my passion for journalism and supported me year in and year out to this day; my amazing kids Kayley and Matthew who had to learn selfsufficiency early, and often found themselves dragged around to the sites of breaking news; creative genius Jon Parris who puts up with my constant literal interpretations of our cover art and Pique’s imaginative production team; publisher Sarah Strother who is so much more than “my boss”—she is the heart of the paper; to my news family Braden, Brandon Barrett, Alyssa Noel, Megan Lalonde and Harrison Brooks—you are the centre of Pique’s universe; to all the columnists who constantly push me to look at things in new ways (Max—who helped me to be fearless in seeking the truth despite the discomfort it can cause); to the amazing sales team; to all those who support us with advertising and contributions—I don’t know where we would be without you—and huge thanks to those who share their stories, we wouldn’t exist without you. n

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immediate, accurate information all the time—and this at a time when people cannot even seem to agree on a common set of facts to describe the truth of our lives. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t totally exhausting, especially with a smaller newsroom.

Pique’s newsroom strives to meet its obligations to the public, but it is a constant battle against click-baiters and those who outright lie.

In this daily reality I sometimes find myself chuckling when I recall that I used to type on an electric typewriter and produce carbon copies for the editors and typesetters, while now I spend most of my time managing my corner of the media in what feels like a multiverse.

But the changes have not touched the essence of what we do at Pique. We are storytellers, and our role is to inform our community, act as a watchdog on institutions and governments and report to you with speed, accuracy and grace.

And I know that this is what will continue to happen as I step down as editor.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Action needed by stakeholders to get vaccine mandate to ski WB

Family of rescued snowboarder sends thanks To the brave men and women of the Whistler Search and Rescue (WSAR): My name is Wen Hui Toh. I am the younger sister of Wen Yi, the snowboarder that your team rescued from the top of Whistler [Mountain] on Dec. 19 following a two-day search [in] inclement weather.

I am reaching out on behalf of my family: my mother, Siok Har; my father, Beng Khoon; my sister, Wen Jing and my husband, Robert.

We are eternally grateful to the team at WSAR for rescuing Wen Yi. The support, well wishes, and kindnesses we received from our extended family, Wen Yi’s friends, and members of the VancouverWhistler community are all a testament to the person that Wen Yi is—the person we all have you to thank for bringing back to us.

Although we were not in direct contact with your team during the search (every update we received was second-hand via Terry Salman and the RCMP team), we were assured at every turn that Wen Yi’s fate was in the best hands with your team. And now we know firsthand WSAR’s expertise and unceasing determination.

When Wen Yi had gone missing, we were left helpless and lost.

WSAR’s exhaustive efforts gave us comfort and allowed us to persevere through the unknown. I cannot overstate what it meant to

know such a brave, knowledgeable team was out there looking for my brother.

Our family recognizes the risks and potential sacrifices that were taken by your team in searching for Wen Yi, especially in the midst of inclement weather and avalanche warnings.

WSAR is an incredible group, made all the more remarkable being an organization of volunteers. My family is indebted to the families of every volunteer, whose own loved ones risk their lives in service to others. We will never forget what you have done for our family, and want to do all we can to ensure

that every family brought to these terrible circumstances can receive your team’s invaluable services.

To this effect, my family would like to support your organization and its brave men and women in the form of a donation.

There is of course no amount of money that could sufficiently reflect our gratitude, but please consider [it] a small token of our appreciation, and an opportunity for us to help ensure other families can benefit from your tremendous service.

Wen H. Toh // Singapore

Over the last two months there has been a growing concern expressed in Whistler and the Sea to Sky region regarding the need for the implementation of a vaccine mandate for skiing at Whistler Blackcomb.

This is manifested by the 12,000-plus supporters of a petition organized by John Konig, by several letters to the Pique each week and by the efforts of the Whistler municipal council to persuade the Ministry of Health to implement a mandate.

All of these groups and individuals have put forward respectful, coherent, detailed scientific and practical arguments for taking such action.

The case for not putting in place a mandate is unclear, as pointed out in the opinion article published recently in the Vancouver Sun by Dr. David Earn, Faculty of Science Research Chair at McMaster University. He confirmed the opinion of many other qualified individuals that there is a significant risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the crowded, enclosed space of a gondola and provided specific evidence.

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has substantially raised the risk of an outbreak because it is much more transmissible than previous variants and also more likely to infect the fully vaccinated.

The devastating effects of Omicron are already apparent in the United Kingdom and in many other countries, including Canada. The need for action now is urgent.

What is the downside of a vaccine

I hope you and your family are surrounded by all the joy of the holiday season!

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR mandate? The vast majority of citizens of B.C. are fully vaccinated (thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Health) and there is already a vaccine mandate for dining both on and off the mountain.

Recently the Whistler municipality has put in place a vaccine mandate for all its staff.

Most of the ski resorts in British Columbia, Eastern Canada and Europe have already put in place a vaccine mandate. Indeed, if Whistler Blackcomb were still a Canadian company it is probable that it would have already put in place a mandate. The lack of a mandate will likely result in more unvaccinated individuals coming to ski at Whistler.

In addition to the threat to the health of those who reside, work and visit Whistler, the advent of the Omicron variant substantially increases the risk of yet another outbreak, raising the prospect of another early cancellation of the season. This will result in a serious economic impact that will further

20 metres.

Very politely, I suggested that the families from the two cars to be towed had probably spent in excess of $1,000 each for the day to ski, and that Vail Resorts would certainly be ruining their day and the start of their Christmas holiday.

“Rules,” said the WB employee.

Where is the break these two families could and should expect? And why has Vail Resorts dictated that this is a “no parking” zone when it should be available? Aside from an illogical parking policy, (aside from Vail Resorts reserving about 30 per cent of the spots in Lot 5 for itself), the towing about to happen was just plain mean.

Just when we think we have heard it all, we read Pique letters about disappointed angry customers with stories that “top” the previous stories describing Vail Resorts’ illogical policies, lack of caring attitude, and in my latest experience, meanness at Christmas.

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“In addition to the threat to the health of

and a

those who reside, work and visit Whistler, the advent of the Omicron variant substantially increases the risk of yet another outbreak.”

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- PETER CORDY MD FRCP (C)

T 604.935.2287 E marshall@marshallviber.com marshallviner.com

endanger many businesses, many of which are already facing significant challenges.

The time has come for citizens of the Sea to Sky region and those who wish to ski in Whistler this winter, together with the municipal council of Whistler and the Chamber of Commerce to make a last concerted effort to persuade the Ministry of Health to listen to the welldocumented, scientific argument for a vaccine mandate to ski in Whistler.

Peter Cordy, MD FRCP(C) // Whistler

Towing cars from Whistler Blackcomb is poor service On Dec. 23 I had just read Clare Ogilvie’s [Opening Remarks in Pique] on the hardships to the local businesses that ended with, “As we head into another pandemic Christmas season in Whistler let’s do our best to stay positive, help the guests to stay positive, help the guests we have find the break they need here in our wonderland ...”

I then went skiing, having found a parking spot in Lot 7 (uphill side perimeter). It was then a Whistler Blackcomb (WB) truck honked at me.

“Can’t park there,” I was told. “Have just radioed to have the car in front of you and the one behind you towed,” said the WB employee, acknowledg[ing] that the distance between my car and the first line of cars to the left of my passenger door was wide enough for two fire trucks to pass side by side, or approximately

Mr. Geoff Buchheister [WB COO], where is your voice in all this? I ask you politely to stop being silent and report these issues to Vail Resorts’ Colorado executive.

I now constantly think of those two families, likely with kids in tow, returning from a day of skiing to find their cars missing.

Merry Christmas to you and your family [Mr. Buchheister], and please improve those things that you are reading about in the Pique, week after week after week. Vail Resorts should do better.

Jim Pipe // Whistler

WB has only itself to blame if COVID-19 shuts it down Whistler Blackcomb COVID-19 protocols are a joke.

Fill the gondolas and hope everyone wears a mask? We skied last week and two of the gondola rides out of four had a bunch of 20-somethings without masks, chatting away.

Ride the chair? Who is that person next to me without a mask?

Whistler Blackcomb even lets unvaccinated people ride, and I might be shoulder-toshoulder with them, while the lift stops and starts.

It’s the mountain’s own damn fault if it gets shut down after an outbreak. Last year was much safer.

David Egles // Victoria

Write to us! Letters to the editor must contain the writer’s name, address and a daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 450 words. Pique Newsmagazine reserves the right to edit, condense or refrain from publishing any contribution. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer and not that of Pique Newsmagazine.

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11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Mayor and council need to be accountable on COVID-19 safety

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As we find ourselves surfing another surge of COVID-19 infections, it may be time to ask if society has come to terms with the true seriousness of the planetary crisis we face.

One indication of this to me was a conversation I had with one of our municipal councillors recently. This councillor acknowledged that they believe Vail Resorts’ operating policies to be unsafe, but also spoke about “getting turns in” up on the ski hill.

This shocked me somewhat. I thought that perhaps our local political leaders would be a little more conscientious about community safety, or at least be concerned about the appearance of their behaviour.

When someone engages in a situation they know to be dangerous for viral transmission, where they may contract a potentially deadly or disabling disease, and then perhaps spreads it to others, we have every right to question their judgment.

When political leaders who are elected at least in part based on their presumed good judgment act with questionable judgment, we the electors definitely have an interest in their behaviour.

So, I sent four questions to each municipal councillor and the mayor.

My goal was to try to determine whether they thought Vail Resorts’ operating policies provide safety for the community, and to see how congruent each representative’s personal beliefs are with their behaviour.

Three of the questions could be answered “yes” or “no.” In addition to their opinion about the safety of Vail Resorts’ operating practises, I asked whether or not they believed that lobbying for restrictions on unsafe practices should continue with the Provincial Health Officer, and if they have been skiing or snowboarding on Whistler or Blackcomb mountains this season.

The fourth question invited an explanation of why they would be using the ski hills if they did not in fact believe that Vail Resorts’

practises provide safety for the community.

As of writing this letter, it has been 12 days since I emailed the questions to the mayor and council. I have received no responses yet.

This surprises me a bit, since I had expected that local politicians would be eager to inform the electors about how they are personally protecting the community during a period of sustained crisis.

After all, depending on what happens in the coming days and months, the answers to these kinds of questions could become relevant during the next municipal election in October of 2022. I want to vote for representatives who make the safety of the local community a priority, and who act in accordance with this priority in their personal behaviour.

I urge others to contact the mayor and council to try to determine just where our council members and mayor stand on these important questions, and to publicize any responses or lack of responses that they receive. We are in the midst of a global emergency, and we need elected representatives who take the situation seriously.

Michael Burnett // Whistler ■

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: WE’LL MISS YOU CLARE OGILVIE With this issue, Pique says goodbye to longtime editor, Clare Ogilvie. Clare has been much more than a steward of Pique for the past 11 years as editor. She has been a constant and relentless force for outstanding journalism and the interests of Whistler. She takes the greatest of care to mentor and support her team, collaborate and lead with colleagues, and stand up for our community. Clare’s commitment to Pique and its readers has been boundless, and to say that Pique will not be the same without her would be an understatement. Thank you, Clare. You will be missed by us all. ■

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Serving sea to sky for 18 years

12 DECEMBER 30, 2021

AS OF WEDNESDAY, DEC. 29 After a prolonged post-Christmas cold snap, a return to normal coastal weather is expected to start in the new year. A juicy storm and milder temperatures are in the forecast for Sunday, and it looks like this storm will be big enough for the typical spike in avalanche danger. What is less typical is the week of -20 C temperatures leading up to it. This sets us up for two distinct days on the weekend: one final cold day on Saturday and a classic storm day on Sunday.

Sustained cold generally makes it more difficult to trigger avalanches. As a result, we’ve seen danger ratings drop to “moderate” this past week. But there’s a caveat to this— we are still dealing with a tricky, persistent slab-avalanche problem caused by a weak layer buried 100 to 200 centimetres deep in the snowpack. Although the combination of cold temperatures and the depth of this layer make it less likely to trigger an avalanche, it is still

possible in isolated areas.

Remember, “moderate” danger includes scenarios where sporadic large avalanches are possible. This has been the situation during the cold snap and we remain concerned about triggering persistent slab avalanches in shallow, rocky slopes between 1,800 and 2,100 metres. Keep this in mind if you head out on Saturday, because even if avalanches are not likely to be triggered, any avalanche releasing on this persistent weak layer will be large.

Another impact of the past week’s weather is that the surface snow often weakens when exposed to prolonged cooling. Because of that, we can expect the new snow on Sunday to bond poorly, resulting in elevated avalanche danger and widespread avalanche activity. The best course of action during the storm will be sticking to low-angle or non-avalanche terrain.

From all of us at Avalanche Canada, we wish you a happy and safe new year. ■

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.

PIQUE N’ YER INTEREST

Beyond what you see in ink and paper THIS THURSDAY marks the final issue of Pique with editor Clare Ogilvie’s name on the masthead, after nearly 11 years of putting her distinct stamp on Whistler’s weekly newsmagazine. I am fortunate enough to have called Clare my editor for nine of those years, and as Pique’s longesttenured reporter, I’d be remiss if I didn’t

BY BRANDON BARRETT at least try to put into words what she has meant to me, personally.

For Whistlerites who only recognize Clare from the pages of Pique, you probably know her as an erudite writer unafraid of tackling the big issues, an inexhaustible editor who has helped transform Pique into a small-town paper with big-city ambitions, and a walking database of institutional and local knowledge that is impossible to replicate. If something is going on or even about to go on in this town, there’s a good chance Clare knows about it, and her time as a prolific city and crime reporter for The Province has lent her a deep well of experience I know we will continue to draw on even after she leaves the editor’s chair.

But Clare’s true impact goes beyond what you see in ink and paper.

I still remember walking into Pique’s Function Junction office one sunny morning in the fall of 2013, my first day on the job after spending the past year and a half at the now shuttered Whistler Question.

Coming over as part of the deal that saw Question parent company Glacier Media purchase Pique from founding editor Bob Barnett, to say I had my worries about the

of my refusal (beyond never wanting to sit through another four-hour council meeting ever again) was an attempt to see where Clare’s priorities lay. Of course, as I would soon learn, Clare’s priorities, as they always have, align with her team above all else.

“Well, I want you to be happy here,” she responded.

I was shocked. Accustomed to the journalism cliché of the callous, coldhearted editor who cares more about filling

[S]he cares because, quite simply, that is the essence of who she is.

new role would be a vast understatement. It seems funny in hindsight, but I had major doubts about placing my professional fate in the hands of an editor I had up until that point only known as a bitter rival.

So there I am seated across from Clare, someone I’d never met but whose reputation I was well aware of, preparing to tell her I was not going to take on the municipal beat as originally planned.

Rebuffing your new boss’ very first request is probably not the smartest tactic careerwise, and looking back, I think at least part

a news hole than fulfilling their staff’s career aspirations, I was taken aback at the care and consideration Clare showed me that day, even at the cost of having to completely rejig the newsroom’s roles.

That’s not to say she doesn’t care deeply about Pique and the stories we tell; anyone who knows Clare recognizes her dedication to this paper and its success is profound and all-encompassing, sometimes to a fault.

(I’m not sure she even remembers what free time is at this point.) But like any great leader, she recognizes a happy and

engaged staff is far more likely to produce compelling, quality content.

But even that doesn’t quite do Clare justice. She doesn’t care about her team because of its knock-on effect for the paper, she cares because, quite simply, that is the essence of who she is. I know in her earlier life she was accepted to medical school, with aspirations of becoming a doctor like her father, and I have no doubt in my mind that she would have excelled at that job, too, because her nature is to nurture. In an industry known for chewing up and spitting out journalists at an alarming rate, Clare time and again has proven the exception to the rule.

I am humbled to have gotten the chance to learn under her for the better part of a decade. I’m the first to admit there are times when I’ve made her job tougher than it needed to be, and although we don’t always see eye to eye, journalistically speaking, just like the first day I met her, she has always listened and afforded me the space and guidance to be who I am and who I want to become.

I’m positive I wouldn’t be the reporter I am today without her mentorship, but even more important than that, I know I wouldn’t be the man I am today without her friendship, support and love.

Now, go enjoy some time off, Clare.

You’ve certainly earned it. ■

OMG FUN! USE CODE ONLINE10 TO SAVE 10% OFF TOURS photo: Blake Jorgenson

CARLETON LODGE

604.938.1616 CANADIANWILDERNESS.COM

DECEMBER 30, 2021

13

NEWS WHISTLER

Presentation offers inside look at Whistler ransomware attack EIGHT MONTHS LATER, STILL NO ESTIMATE OF TOTAL FINANCIAL IMPACT

BY BRADEN DUPUIS MORE THAN EIGHT months after a ransomware attack severely impacted services at the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), it remains unclear what the incident cost the municipality—or taxpayers.

While the RMOW has previously said much of the costs were covered by insurance, the full financial impact won’t be shared until the new year, as some items like staff overtime are still being calculated, a municipal spokesperson said after a Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting on Dec. 22.

At the meeting itself, RMOW IT manager Phil Cartwright walked committee members through the cyber security event from a technical perspective, sharing how the municipality handled the late-April attack on municipal servers.

“You hear people say, a cyber breach is not if, but when, and I’m going to reiterate that,” Cartwright said, though he noted that the attackers didn’t technically complete their ransomware attack.

“It’s possible that my team’s actions were taken in a timely manner to prevent

EXTORTION ATTEMPT A presentation to Whistler’s Technology Advisory Committee on Dec. 22 detailed how Resort Municipality of Whistler staff handled a late-April cyber security breach.

PHOTO BY D3SIGN / GETTY IMAGES

14 DECEMBER 30, 2021

any ransomware components, but a portion of our files were accessed and extracted and an extortion attempt was made.”

The RMOW has previously stated that it did not engage with or send any payment to the criminals, believed to be a group known as HelloKitty.

But with the new tactics cyber criminals are using, tracking their actions with any certainty is next to impossible.

make it difficult to verify that.

One of the challenges the RMOW ran up against after the breach was logs that cycle every 30 days, or in some cases 60 or 90 days, Cartwright said.

Attackers can sometimes “lay dormant on systems for months,” he said, adding that “we don’t have a comprehensive picture of their lateral movements [through municipal systems], mostly because of the

“You hear people say, a cyber breach is not if, but when, and I’m going to reiterate that.”

- PHIL CARTWRIGHT

“Threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated at covering their tracks in deploying anti-forensic measures,” Cartwright said.

“They are deleting logs, rebooting servers, deleting memory and then going after the backups to make detection, attribution and identifying indicators of compromise harder—and they are highly motivated.”

As Pique reported in May, the criminals likely gained access to the RMOW’s servers through a vulnerability found in SonicWall VPN, a service used by the municipality, Cartwright said, though logging limitations

limitations of logs exceeding 90 days.

“And we don’t know if they were able to leverage other vulnerabilities … [We have] very limited information on what we could confirm.”

SYSTEM BREACH The morning of April 26 started out as a regular day, but turned into one Cartwright will not soon forget, he said.

“We came into the office with reports of various systems being down; definitely concerning, but we weren’t suspicious at that particular moment,” he said.

“We learned that all services had been rebooted at approximately 4 a.m., and that led us to believe a suspected hardware issue. And as the team was investigating, we discovered that our primary backup appliance and subsequent backups on that appliance had been wiped.”

Though a secondary backup was still intact, “at that point, we were immediately suspicious of a breach,” Cartwright said.

The alarm was raised and an incident response team was assembled, which focused on containment and preserving evidence as its first steps.

“It’s really important to note at this point, that if you do go through something like this, it’s really important to not shut systems down, but to disconnect them from the network. The idea here is to preserve memory artifacts in the current state as best as possible,” Cartwright said.

“You should also resist the urge to remove or delete or remediate any suspicious files or software. Again, we want to preserve as much information as possible.”

Next, the municipality reset all its passwords, and took the independent network supporting the wastewater treatment plant and drinking water systems offline.

“That was critical from a public health and safety perspective. We took all precautions to secure that environment immediately,” Cartwright said.

An “IT war room” was established, as

NEWS WHISTLER well as the Emergency Operations Centre— already well practised from a year of pandemic response—and teams focused on incident response and business continuity.

Working around the clock, staff collected as much intel as they could before conducting an in-depth forensic review of municipal systems.

Following that, the municipality moved into recovery mode.

“This was arguably the biggest body of work for the team, and the first challenge was managing expectations,” Cartwright said, adding that there seemed to be an expectation from some senior staff that the system would be offline for only a couple of days.

“Once we realized that things would be offline for a greater period of time measuring in weeks to months, that changed the temperature around staff and their reliance on technology, and how they could continue providing services to the public in the absence of these critical tools,” he said.

“So it’s really important to get ahead of those expectations early on to support the planning process.”

Part of the recovery included prioritizing what systems needed to be rebooted to support critical municipal processes—some necessary for legal obligations, others for public health and safety requirements.

“So really trying to define where should we be spending our resources to recover these systems to support those critical processes,” Cartwright said.

At the same time, temporary communication tools were put in place, as well as a plan to rebuild and remediate municipal servers.

“We had a healthy level of paranoia at this stage, and one of the biggest things that we wanted to avoid was finding ourselves in a position where we were re-compromised because we missed a tool or avenue to close off that the threat actor could regain access,” Cartwright said.

“So at this point, we were trying to balance the speed in which we recovered with the thoroughness of rebuilding our systems.”

FROM THE GROUND UP At a high level, the RMOW’s recovery plan was to re-establish basic network services, such as internet access, in a trusted environment (or one known to be clear of potential threat actors).

The process involved rebuilding all municipal workstations from the ground up, and remediating all systems based on priority.

To do that, IT staff created four “zones”: red, yellow, blue and green.

The red zone referred to the RMOW’s existing corporate network at the time of the breach.

“We had zero trust in that zone, and we wanted to make sure that we didn’t contaminate any other areas, potentially, with red-zone devices, servers or workstations,” Cartwright said.

The yellow zone was used to remediate servers from the red zone, providing very

restricted internet access to run anti-virus scans or install updates, “and a full battery of tests and evaluations were performed on each server moving through the yellow zone,” he said.

Remediated servers were moved to the blue zone, while the green zone was reserved for all rebuilt servers or systems in which the RMOW had full trust.

“Part of this was the redesign of our network architecture with improved [Virtual Local Area Network] and subnet segmentation,” Cartwright said.

“We moved our default gateways from our core router to the firewall so we had greater visibility across the traffic between segments.”

A majority of the municipality’s core IT services were also rebuilt from the ground up.

“We needed to ensure that these pieces, which were critical to restoring basic network access, were cleaned and trusted,” Cartwright said.

The RMOW wasn’t working alone through the process, he added, noting that the municipality had assistance from its cyber insurance team, IT peers at another municipality, the RCMP and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Deloitte consulting and the office of the privacy commissioner.

Eight months after the fact, the municipality considers itself out of recovery mode, Cartwright said, though a handful of internal systems remain out of commission.

“Where this has left us is a backlog of work as a result of the impact of the cyber security breach impacting our 2021 work plan. We’re now factoring in some of the delayed projects into 2022,” he said, adding that staff burnout is another element he’s mindful of.

In the wake of the incident, the RMOW has taken time to review and reflect on the entire ordeal, while looking for ways to strengthen systems and processes to protect the organization from future threats.

“We’ve also taken some opportunities to implement some significant improvements in the architecture and design as a foundational piece to improving our cyber security posture,” Cartwright said.

In terms of key lessons for other organizations, Cartwright recommends having appropriate cyber security insurance; preserving evidence and ensuring you have adequate logging; keeping multiple copies of backups in multiple locations, as well as having a copy offline; seeking the help of partners and experts; and having an incident response plan that can be implemented in a hurry.

The work of the RMOW team left an impression on the other organizations, said general manager of corporate and community services Ted Battiston.

“Every one of those organizations, when they’ve circled back with us, has been absolutely blown away by the quality of work, the dedication, the extra hours, and really the ingenuity that the team brought to this,” Battiston said.

“So I just want to thank you and your team for all the hard work that you put in.

It was very impressive during a really tricky time to get through.” n

DECEMBER 30, 2021

15

Engel & Völkers Whistler

Engel & Völkers Whistler

NEWS WHISTLER

‘Completely blindsided’: Whistler gyms wrestle with logic behind recent closures BUSINESS OWNERS ARGUE GYMS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC

IT WASN’T LONG after the Dec. 21 announcement that B.C. would once again be closing gyms and fitness centres that Whistler Creek Athletic Club owner Hannah Edleston’s phone began to explode with messages.

“If you had seen the amount of people who messaged me and emailed me— literally the second it was announced, my phone blew up. I had people messaging me saying, ‘Please don’t close. I need this for my mental health,’” she recalled. “I’m all for public health and safety, but I don’t understand closing something that is vital to not only somebody’s physical health but mental health, which right now is so important.”

While owners Pique spoke with expected some form of restriction to come down this holiday season amidst surging Omicron cases, most were surprised to find out they would have to shut down completely until at least Jan. 18.

“I think we were expecting maybe lower capacity, probably cancelling classes again,”

WHISTLER

|

A change.org petition calling for gyms and fitness centres to stay open that was launched last week has at press time garnered nearly 35,000 signatures and sparked a debate over whether gyms should be deemed essential in the pandemic.

According to local gym owners, there’s no question they should be.

“I know the industry is fighting very hard right now to try and overturn that,” said McFetridge. “Whether or not we will be able to open legally before the 18th is a big question in the whole industry’s mind, I think.”

Beyond the clear physical and mental benefits that gyms offer is a sense of community that is hard to replicate over Zoom, argued Lindsay May, owner of Kufuka Fitness, who had to downsize to a smaller studio last year due to the ongoing restrictions.

“One of the most heartbreaking things for me when I shut the studio last year was the connection that it offered people,” she said. “It was an opportunity for people to actually be together and we had important relationships that were formed. We called it our little fitness family." n

federal side, Ottawa has also adjusted its Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit to offer $300 a week to eligible employees in provinces or territories that have introduced capacity-limiting restrictions of 50 per cent or more.

“All my personal trainers, everyone, is out of work and they’ve offered them $300 a week. In Whistler, I’d love to see someone live on $300 a week,” said Edleston, whose Creekside gym is eligible for a $5,000 provincial relief grant, available to businesses of between five and 99 employees, which she said is not enough to cover her overhead costs for a month.

Fitness centres across B.C. have wrestled with the medical logic behind the closures, with some defying the closure order, as venues such as foodprimary pubs, cinemas and theatres are allowed to stay open at limited capacities.

Last week, Dr. Brian Conway, head of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, told CityNews he had yet to see the numbers to suggest gyms were a major vector for COVID-19 transmission, but expressed hope the province has a strong case behind the closures.

said Katie McFetridge, owner of Altitude Fitness. “But I have to say we were completely blindsided. We did not see this coming.”

For a sector that had to weather a full closure once before in the pandemic, the announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time, as gyms head into the new year, historically one of their busiest periods.

“It’s extremely challenging because in years past we rely on these little surges to increase our member base, and for the first time in years, even though I’ve been open since 2008, we’re struggling to get back the base we once had, so to lose this opportunity is a huge blow,” explained Jordan Glasser, owner of Whistler’s home for CrossFit, Opus Athletics.

Gyms already had to contend with the loss of both members and staff after the first lockdown, many of the latter either pressed to return to their home countries or forced to look for new work with no clear timeline for reopening. Businesses such as gyms, clubs and event venues mandated to close last week are eligible for a one-time provincial relief grant of between $1,000 and $10,000, based on the number of staff they employ. On the

BY BRANDON BARRETT

SQUAMISH

NORTH SHORE

|

VANCOUVER

WE THANK ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL CLIENTS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR THEIR SUPPORT IN 2021 AND WISH EVERYONE SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS! #108D-2020 LONDON LANE, WHISTLER FOR SALE

$206,000 (1/4 share) 1

•

SOLD

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$960,000

$1,680,000

$2,950,000

1

5

1

642 sqft

PEMBERTON MEADOWS, PEMBERTON

4864 CASABELLA CRESCENT, WHISTLER

SOLD

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38221 HEMLOCK AVENUE, SQUAMISH

#303-4314 MAIN STREET, WHISTLER

3

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FOR SALE

$4,199,000 5

3.5

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Walking distance to Creekside

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Sold over $100,000 on asking price

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Substantially rebuilt home

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Minutes walk to Whistler Village

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Quiet 17-acre estate

gondola, shops, lakes and trails

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1 bedroom suite

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NICK SOLDAN HARRISS

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LINDSAY MCIVOR

JOSH CRANE

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604 612 1484

604 902 6106

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604 902 3878 dana@seatoskydreamteam.com

604 902 0091 nick@nicksoldanharriss.com

lindsay@lindsaymcivorrealestate.com

josh@joshcrane.ca

Stilhavn Real Estate Services | 208 - 1420 Alpha Lake Road, Whistler

hannah@hannahgarcia.com

| stilhavn.com

This communication is not intended to cause or induce the break of an existing agency relationship. *Personal Real Estate Corporation.

We would like to acknowledge that we work and live on the traditional, unceded territory of the xwməθkwəýəm, səlilwətaɬ, Lil’wat & Sḵwxwú7mesh People.

20 DECEMBER 30, 2021

dana@seatoskydreamteam.com - 604.902.3878 | SEATOSKYDREAMTEAM.COM | kristen@seatoskydreamteam.com - 778.266.0150

It’s About Our Clients We are so grateful to have had the following clients join our growing Sea to Sky family in 2021...

DAVID

LISA

JOE AND LIZZIE

MIKE

KIM AND PETE

ROBBIE AND JESS

DON AND HOLLY

PHIL

SONIA AND ROBERT

CARI-LEE

THE DUNCANS

JENNIFER

ILSE

MAI

JENNIFER AND CASEY

LORAN AND MAYA

IAN

ANDREA

JEAN AND MIRIAM

LARA AND MIKE

ANGELA AND PAT

JAKE AND JOAN

JEFF AND RACHAEL

ROCHELLE

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FARSH AND SHAHINDOKHT

JACQUELINE

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SHANNON AND TYLER

DAMIEN AND LEANNE

JENNIFER AND ROBERT

NICOLE AND STEVE

DANA AND BRAD

RUDOLPH, JANICE AND INA

TANYA

CHRISTIAN

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HAYLEY AND EVAN

RICHARD AND STELLA

KIM AND CHRIS

KRIS AND KAREN

CLAIRE

CRAIG

TOM AND NATALIE

MARNIE, HARVEY AND TRACEY

DON

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NICOLE

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JAY AND STEPHANIE

CHANEL AND CHRIS

ROBBY AND JONATHAN

CRAIG

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PETE, TANIA AND SYLVIA

SAM

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MELISSA AND MICHAEL

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ERIKA AND DANIEL

JASON AND JILL

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BRITTNI AND ALEX

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DANA FRIESEN SMITH REALTOR® Whistler

KRISTEN DILLON REALTOR® Squamish

NEWS WHISTLER

Demand for COVID-19 tests in Whistler on the rise as cases surge WHISTLER’S NEW YEAR’S EVE EVENTS CANCELLED FOLLOWING PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER

BY MEGAN LALONDE AS THE DEMAND for COVID-19 tests in Whistler skyrockets alongside the surging number of Omicron cases, procedures around where and how to get those tests are shifting, too.

Asked if inquiries for COVID-19 testing in the resort are on the rise after the Howe Sound Local Health Area—which includes Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and parts of the southern Stl’atl’mx Nation—logged a total of 125 new cases over the week spanning Dec. 12 to 18 (the most recent stats available at Pique’s print deadline), Dr. Karin Kausky said “that’s the understatement of the century.”

Both Rapid Antigen Tests and PCR tests are now available in Whistler, but only for people who fit a specific set of criteria.

Take-home rapid tests are available for people in Whistler aged between five and 65 years old who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19—including congestion, cough, fever, or sore throat—and who have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination.

22 DECEMBER 30, 2021

The more-dependable PCR tests are being reserved for those aged 65 years and older, health care workers, those who have not been vaccinated and people with severe symptoms.

Locals and visitors must be experiencing

COVID screener will then direct the caller about which steps to take next and how to access a test. Kausky pleaded with locals to refrain from calling or texting the COVID-19 line multiple times. She also asks anyone seeking testing not to call the Whistler

“There is a delay in getting back to people, unfortunately, because the demand has increased so much.”

- KARIN KAUSKY

symptoms of COVID-19 in order to access testing through public health. “The rapid self test is not very accurate for people that are asymptomatic,” said Kausky, adding that private testing options are available for people without symptoms, such as those offered to travellers.

Anyone in Whistler experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 is encouraged to call the Whistler Medical Clinic’s COVID19 testing line at 604-966-1428, where a

Medical Clinic, as that line needs to stay open for patients.

“There is a delay in getting back to people, unfortunately, because the demand has increased so much,” said Kausky. “And then when we call back we either direct them to go pick up a rapid test or to go for PCR testing.”

Rapid tests must be taken at home.

(Find instructions on how to do so at bit. ly/319wb9W.)

Rapid tests are not as accurate as PCR tests, Kausky cautioned. She explained that a person infected with COVID-19 may test negative because the infection has not been active long enough to produce sufficient antigen to be detected by the rapid test.

Rapid antigen screening only provides a point-in-time result, which means that a negative result does not guarantee an individual is not contagious or will not become contagious a day or two after testing.

A negative rapid test result “is not a green light,” Kausky continued. “It just means that at that moment in time, you don’t have enough of a viral load for a rapid test to be positive. So it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have COVID. If you are symptomatic, you should be self-isolating.”

That said, a positive result should be taken as a “red light,” to self-isolate, said Kausky.

“If you are symptomatic, and you have a home rapid test that’s positive, there’s

SEE PAGE 24

>>

NEWS WHISTLER << FROM PAGE 22 no need to do a confirmatory PCR,” she explained. “Just behave as if you have COVID.” Those who test positive should report their result to public health to help officials track the amount of cases in the community, Kausky added.

This local guidance lines up with comments made by B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Dec. 24, when she told reporters in a press briefing that procedures at testing stations have changed. “There is triage happening at the testing stations” across B.C., she said.

Anyone who tests negative but is still experiencing any symptoms of the virus should continue self-isolating until those symptoms go away, even if another rapid test proves negative as well. That means no working, no visiting others or inviting others to visit your home, and no heading up the mountain. If your housemate tests positive and you’re fully vaccinated, Kausky said you don’t necessarily need to self-isolate as long as you’re not displaying any symptoms, though she recommends wearing masks at home and using separate bathrooms, if possible.

Kausky urged everyone to continue monitoring their symptoms and seek urgent medical care if needed, particularly if symptoms like trouble breathing, chest pain, being unable to drink, or feeling very sick or confused, arise. Whistlerites are

TESTING, TESTING A negative COVID-19 rapid test. The take-home self-tests are now available for Whistler locals and visitors experiencing symptoms of the virus.

OLIVER HELBIG, GETTY IMAGES

advised to continue seeking care for other medical conditions as needed, even if they are not related to COVID-19. Dial 911 for emergencies and 811 for advice on nonurgent matters.

Whistler Community Services Society is also available to help community members who require help with self-isolation, food and financial support as well as mental health services. Connect with an Outreach Worker at www.mywccss.org or by calling 604-932-0113.

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WINTERSPHERE, WHISTLER’S FREE NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONS CANCELLED When it comes to events and celebrations planned for this holiday season, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is opting to shut its down.

The municipality announced Wednesday that Wintersphere, an indoor celebration featuring drop-in entertainment and activities at the Whistler

Conference Centre, has been cancelled. The frigid temperatures forecast for the valley this week have also put a halt to Whistler’s live and local music series and Sugar Shack characters at Olympic Plaza, which was scheduled to run from Dec. 19 to 30.

The RMOW also announced Whistler’s free New Year’s Eve Celebrations, including fireworks, have been cancelled in light of the new COVID-19 restrictions. While the additional transit service planned New Year’s Eve has also been cancelled, free transit will continue to be offered from 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 within Whistler.

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Dec. 21 announced a slate of new health and safety restrictions to try and quell the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, including a ban on all indoor organized gatherings.

Seated events will be reduced to 50 per cent of their capacity regardless of their venue size, while bars, nightclubs, fitness centres, and dance studios will be closed.

Restaurants, pubs, and cafes are permitted to stay open but only a maximum of six guests may be seated per table, and guests cannot mingle between tables.

Indoor gatherings continue to be limited to one household plus 10 other individuals or one other household. Everyone who attends a gathering must be vaccinated.

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NEWS WHISTLER

Pulling back the curtain on Whistler’s Old School Initiative MEET THE OLD SCHOOLER WHO’S BEEN QUIETLY FUNDING LOCAL ATHLETES ON SNOW AND CONCRETE SINCE 2020

BY MEGAN LALONDE BEAU JARVIS remembers a time when, for he and his friends, there were only two seasons in Whistler: “We didn’t have any sports teams so in the winter, we skied, and in the summers we skateboarded,” he said.

According to Jarvis, he’s one of just five people his age to have the honour of being born and raised in Whistler—“My claim to fame,” he said with a laugh.

Today, he’s president of Vancouver-based Wesgroup Properties, and is in a position to give back. He was inspired to do just that shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, donating funds to food banks and community social services, mostly. That’s since snowballed into the Whistler Old School Initiative, a grassroots program through which Jarvis and a few friends have quietly been funding local athletes and organizations for the past year and a half.

It started with Alpine Canada skier Broderick Thompson, who has also called Whistler home for all of his 27 years.

Thompson and Jarvis were introduced

on the hill by mutual pal Joey Gibbons, and Thompson—like most other Canadian Olympic athletes—needed help funding hefty team fees, travel and other competition costs. He reached out to Jarvis to see if he could offer some support.

It continued when Jarvis brought his daughter to a skateboard night run by Real Wild Kittens, the girls’ skate club operated by Whistler snowboarders Juliette and Amalia Pelchat.

“I started asking them questions that led to [them saying] they’d love to have some T-shirts printed,” Jarvis recalled. “So I was like, ‘I’ll do that.’” (Simplifying that task was the fact that Vancouver print shop, Vandal Merch House, is owned by Jarvis’ brother.)

That was in 2020. Fast forward to the following spring, when the Real Wild Kittens reached out for more merch, Thompson reached out for more funding, and the Whistler Skateboard Club officially launched.

With the help of his friend, fellow bornand-raised Whistlerite Marco Feller, who owns Vancouver skateboard company Supra Distribution, Jarvis managed to secure skateboard gear for the club at cost.

Real Wild Kittens soon needed its own gear,

OLD SCHOOL COOL The list of local athletes Jarvis helps with funding continues to grow year after year.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

too. “And so I did the same thing again,” said Jarvis.

“They just were so grateful for the support, and they were surprised by the support, and I was just like, ‘You guys just need to stay in business—just keep doing what you’re doing, so this becomes sustainable, and I will get you as much support as I possibly can.’”

At that point, Jarvis realized his various charitable endeavours needed more direction— and the Old School Initiative was born.

Giving back to his community felt good, and he knew he had the connections to grow his impact.

“There’s a whole bunch of people that were either born and raised in Whistler and Pemberton, or have longstanding ties to the corridor, who have gone out and had some kind of moderate success in business or life,” Jarvis said. “[They’re] still really tied and committed to the community and interested in giving back a little bit, but no one’s ever talked to them about it. So that’s when I came up with the Old School Initiative.”

Initially, Jarvis wanted to keep the name behind the initiative anonymous, but eventually figured he had to let a few fellow old schoolers in on his secret.

“I realized quickly that if I wanted people to get involved, I had to call them and tell them it was me,” he said with a laugh.

Since then, he’s brought friends and their respective companies, like Coastal Mountain Excavations, Thornhill Real Estate and Landyatchz longboards into the fold to contribute to specific initiatives, whether

SEE PAGE 28

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NEWS WHISTLER

RMOW feels well prepared for heavy-rain events FITZ LANDSLIP STILL MOVING, BUT DEBRIS FLOW NOT INEVITABLE

BY BRADEN DUPUIS WHISTLER MAY have avoided the flooding damage seen in other parts of B.C. during the atmospheric rivers that washed over the province last month, but behind the scenes Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) staff were standing at the ready as the storms rolled in.

“I would say that there was an additional level of readiness than perhaps there would have been otherwise, given the context of what happened in the south region of the province, and also with the awareness that the River Forecast Centre may not have got it totally correct,” said chief administrative officer Virginia Cullen.

And given the unknowns surrounding atmospheric rivers, the municipality was “at a higher level of readiness than perhaps the weather, or forecast, indicated to us,” Cullen added.

“But it was a good opportunity for us to run through what we would do in the event of having a significant flood alert in front of us.”

The RMOW has two specific flood plans in place, said emergency program coordinator Ryan Donohue: a general flood

hazard plan and one specifically tailored to the Fitzsimmons Creek debris barrier.

The plans provide a roadmap for the municipality when heavy rain is in the forecast, starting with a risk assessment using

a flood-rating tool.

Depending on the likelihood (and severity) of a flooding event, the plans direct staff through different courses of actions to prepare.

“The final parts of those plans detail the operational components of how our staff and our resources would be deployed to respond

SEE PAGE 30

>>

WHISTLER OLD SCHOOL INITIATIVE FROM PAGE 26 it be supplying branded shade tents for the skateboard clubs, buying Ikon season passes for Juliette and her snowboard coach, Sam Weston, or sponsoring skate contests. The Old School Initiative also recently launched a collaboration with Pemberton-based craft ski manufacturer Foon Skis. They’ve created a custom Old School topsheet, where 40 per cent of the profits from skis sold go toward funding their projects.

The Initiative is now looking for another athlete to sponsor—ideally a female, and ideally a skier, and definitely someone who’s willing to pay it forward to the community in some capacity.

Jarvis estimates the Initiative has contributed up to $20,000 to date, most of which has been his own money.

“I’ve been lucky and I’ve worked hard and I’m in a position to be able to do a little bit of that,” he said. “It just makes me feel so good.”

As the Old School Initiative’s first sponsored athlete, Thompson—a newly minted World

Cup medallist—said he’s excited to have been a part of the initiative from its beginning.

“There’s going to be a lot of opportunity coming from it for sure … If it just keeps growing, a lot of people will want the support, and I think the people that deserve it, will get it, because of the people that are behind [the Initiative],” Thompson said. “It’s not about who’s the best, necessarily, or who gets that sponsorship to be, say, that high-brand recognition. It’s to support local, and build programs and build up athletes that might not have that support they need to reach their goals and live their dreams.”

While the funding provides “a sense of relief, knowing that I don’t need to go out and fundraise more, and I can really focus on my sport, and focus on the training and the racing,” the ski racer also said he identified with the hyper-local, old-school mentality behind the Initiative.

Considering the tight-knit nature of Whistler’s community and the constant

support it has always provided Thompson, “it just made sense,” he said. “I think it’s just cool to have [a sponsor] that I feel represents my childhood and where I come from.”

As for the name? In Whistler, conversations between strangers rarely last two minutes before someone asks the other how long they’ve lived in town, noted Jarvis.

“There have been people who have asked me, ‘How are you qualified to be an old schooler?’ And I want to say that as far as we’re concerned with what we’re trying to do, you can be in Whistler for a hot minute, or you can be Whistler for 40 years, and you’re an old schooler … there’s not some kind of exclusive group here,” he said.

As its members continue doing what they can to give back to the community, “It’s really just trying to generate awareness so that people see and know what we’re doing. And if they want to get involved, please get involved.”

Find more info at oldschoolinitiative.com. n

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NEWS WHISTLER << FROM PAGE 28 to one of these incidents,” Donohue said.

“So it’s really a three-step process, and it starts basically from just monitoring those weather reports and getting the most up-to-date information from the River Forecast Centre and Environment Canada and assessing the likelihood of an event happening.”

Though the municipality didn’t have to fully mobilize during the heavy rain events seen in Whistler last month, roads crews were out monitoring critical spots around the community, said general manager of infrastructure James Hallisey.

“There was some low-lying pieces of Valley Trail that were under water for a few hours at a time, so some of the parks staff was engaged putting out signage and things like that,” he said.

“We definitely were keeping our eye on things … none of the forecasts made us think that we were going to have serious trouble here, but we were definitely being aware and trying to be prepared.”

NO SIGN OF INCREASED MOVEMENT ON FITZSIMMONS LANDSLIP One major hazard looming large over Whistler is the Fitzsimmons landslip, an area on Whistler Mountain that is roughly the size of seven football fields, 35 metres thick with rock and soil.

The municipality has been monitoring the slip since 2003, recording its movements through annual surveys.

The landslip typically moves a few centimetres each year, aside from a few outlier events since monitoring began. In October 2017, for example, survey results showed the slip had moved 110 cm laterally and 65 cm vertically between October 2016 and October 2017.

A subsequent survey in the spring of 2018 showed it had gone back to its normal pace of movement, Hallisey said.

The RMOW surveyed the landslip after heavy rain on November 14 and 15 of this year, “and confirmed that it moved only a few centimetres again, like it has been for several years,” Hallisey said, adding that another survey is tentatively planned for the spring.

“We’ve done that regularly when there’s been more extreme weather events.”

It’s not an inevitability that the slip will eventually come down—“some of them just find equilibrium after a certain amount of time,” Cullen said—but a debris barrier constructed in the Fitzsimmons Valley in 2009 aims to reduce the impact on Whistler Village in the event it does.

“It was identified pre Olympics that it was a good idea to put in additional protections,” Hallisey said, adding that the province gave the RMOW ownership of the day-skier parking lots in exchange for construction of the debris barrier.

The barrier is an approximately eight-

metre-tall structure made of concrete and steel that’s designed to capture rocks, logs and other debris coming down the creek.

While no significant events have occurred since it was built, a debris flow in 1991 gives a sense of the potential damage.

In August of that year, a “significant amount of debris” flowed down Fitzsimmons Creek, sweeping the pedestrian bridge off its moorings on one end and undermining a bridge over Nancy Greene Dr. “There was quite a lot of damage done within the creek channel,” Hallisey said.

“Approximately 100,000 cubic metres of debris and rocks and gravel were removed from the creek channel after that event.”

Aside from the debris barrier, the RMOW also provides flood protection via a dike and berm system along Fitzsimmons Creek (from the Gondola Transit Exchange on Blackcomb Way down to Nicklaus North Golf Course at Green Lake).

The minor movement seen on the slip after the heavy rain last month offers reassurance to the RMOW. “Big weather events and increased movement with the slip aren’t necessarily correlated; we haven’t seen that,” Cullen said.

“I would say we’re always cautious, [and] wanting to understand what’s going on around us. We definitely were heads up on what could be moving, but we’re happy to see that we didn’t see any big movement after that big storm.”

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EVERYONE ENCOURAGED TO SIGN UP FOR WHISTLER ALERT Whatever heavy rain or flood events may occur in the future, the RMOW feels well prepared.

In regards to both its general flood hazard plan and Fitzsimmons Creek, “we have done a lot of work over the years, and there is a pretty robust system in place,” Hallisey said. “[Donohue] and his team have put together some great plans for what we will need to do if we need to do it, so we feel pretty well prepared for that.”

For his part, Donohue stressed the importance of signing up for WhistlerAlert, the municipality’s mass notification system.

“That will allow us to provide real-time emergency information to people, and give them a heads-up warning,” he said.

About 46 per cent of Whistler’s resident population has signed up so far, “which is fairly good for a system of this kind,” he added.

“Obviously our focus has to be on how we capture the visitor population as well, so once we get to that stage where we’re fairly confident with resident signups, we are starting to now come up with ways where we can push this information out to visitors.”

Residents and visitors can find more info and register for the system at whistler. ca/whistleralert.

“It’s been tested, it works,” Donohue said. “We’re quite confident that we’ll be able to push that information should the time come.” n

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NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY

Watersprite Lake designated provincial recreation site BCMC WILL RETAIN OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH RECREATION SITES AND TRAILS BC

BY MEGAN LALONDE IF YOU’RE PLANNING an overnight trip to Watersprite Lake in 2022, the experience might look a little different than your previous visits.

The B.C. Mountaineering Club (BCMC) has entered into an partnership agreement with Recreation Sites and Trails BC—a division of the province’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRO)—to manage the popular hiking trail and alpine lake in Squamish after the area was designated a formal recreation site earlier this year.

“I’ve been told this is a bit of an experiment in that this will be the first alpine recreational site in the province,” said David Scanlon, a member of BCMC’s executive board and a past president of the club.

Scanlon helped spearhead the construction of Watersprite’s trail and existing hut more than a decade ago. The 10-person, reservation-only BCMC hut at Watersprite Lake opened to the public in 2017, after the access trail was completed in 2016. The recreation site will be bordered on two sides by Garibaldi Provincial Park.

Beginning next summer, Scanlon said the plans are to have 20 newly built, payfor-use lakeside campsites available by reservation only. At this point, the fees will

WATERSPRITE SITE Hikers hoping to sleep under the stars at Watersprite Lake in 2022 will need a reservation in order to do so.

PHOTO BY MEGAN LALONDE

32 DECEMBER 30, 2021

be set at $15 per campsite, per night, he said.

Because there wasn’t space near the cabin to comfortably pitch tents, Scanlon said most backpackers naturally began heading to a flat section of terrain on the far side of the lake. BCMC volunteers put in “a tremendous amount of work to put a trail through that rockslide to the far end of the lake, and it worked out really well,” he explained.

Turning Watersprite into a formal rec site “is going to be quite the transition, because everybody’s been under the impression that you just go up and grab

Watersprite site, work is also underway on a strategy to improve interactions between the area’s threatened mountain goat population and those recreating.

“What really changes when you establish a [recreation] site is now the province can act and take responsibility and fund [initiatives] within that site to manage recreation, and we can make real changes to manage recreation,” he explained. “And we can partner with other stakeholder groups that are concerned or want to contribute like the BCMC, and more effectively, we can

“This is going to be a challenge and I’m anticipating a few hiccups, but we’ll see.”

- DAVID SCANLON

a spot. This is going to be new,” said Scanlon. “This will be a challenge and I’m anticipating a few hiccups, but we’ll see.”

Under the agreement, BCMC volunteers will continue to operate and maintain the site, from taking point on ecological restoration, research and conservation projects to completing trail and facility work and handling public outreach. In addition to the volunteer BCMC custodians, a recreation officer will also attend the site on occasion.

B.C. recreation officer Alistair McCrone said while stakeholders are currently working on a booking and funding structure for the

manage the recreation together there.”

Added McCrone, “We are working on a lot of different ways to refine and improve the experience for the public there, and also manage the impacts of a high level of use on a fairly fragile environment.”

Including initiatives like trail work, toilets, tent pads, bear caches and other infrastructure, McCrone estimated that FLNRO and the BCMC combined have put in nearly $100,000 worth of work over the last four years, “getting the site to a point where it can stand a high level of use.”

The area has experienced a massive traffic spike in recent years: Watersprite logged a

126-per-cent increase in visitation from summer 2019 to summer 2020, though it saw traffic fall by 47 per cent from 2020 to 2021, according to data from FLNRO. Watersprite’s busiest day in 2020 occurred on Aug. 15, when 263 people visited the trail. Its busiest day this year was on Aug. 29, when 194 people ventured to the trailhead. In 2020, there were more than 4,000 people who visited the trail between June and November.

“We get about 5,000 people a year go up there, and we get about 1,000 to 1,200 people who use the cabin,” explained Scanlon.

He attributed the success of the site to the thousands of people who have hiked and camped in the area, whom he said have been “absolutely fantastic in keeping things neat and clean and tidy… and keeping it clean for the next person.”

McCrone, on the other hand, credited Scanlon and other BCMC volunteers for their endless hours of “hard work and consistency” to help the site keep up with that rapid development.

Though day-use passes have been one strategy that’s been increasingly used to help manage foot traffic in some of B.C.’s most popular provincial parks, that will not be the case for Watersprite, McCrone assured. “And if that was to change, there would be a long consultation process and public engagement before we ever did anything like that,” he said.

“When you talk about high levels of use, the most important thing to do is to design the infrastructure to handle it, to put the use where you want it, and provide the opportunity people want.” n

Truth be told.

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DECEMBER 30, 2021

33

SCIENCE MATTERS

It will take more than electric cars to drive down emissions RESOLVING THE CLIMATE crisis isn’t just about shifting from one technology to another; it’s about shifting our ways of thinking and being. It’s a point that often gets missed in conversations about major greenhouse gas emission sources.

That was illustrated at the recent 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) climate summit, in Glasgow, where governments, automakers and airlines worked on deals to cut global transport emissions. Because transportation is responsible for one-fifth to one-quarter of global emissions, that seems like a good step.

BY DAVID SUZUKI

THANK YOU, WHISTLER!

But there are problems.

With aviation and shipping, the main idea is to switch from polluting fossil fuels to “biofuels.” But with expected increases in both sectors, that could mean destroying more natural areas or displacing foodgrowing lands with crops for fuel production.

And as George Monbiot points out, “Flying accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions of the super-rich, which is why the wealthiest 1 per cent generate roughly half the world’s aviation emissions.

If everyone lived as they do, aviation would be the biggest of all the causes of climate breakdown.” Finding better fuels

possible, from roads and parking to malls and drive-thrus.

This idea of constant economic growth—with the excessive consumption and waste required to fuel it—has become so ingrained that we resort to incremental measures in the midst of a crisis. We just can’t imagine different ways of seeing, and so we try to shoehorn solutions into an outdated system that wasn’t designed to be sustainable.

Again, electric vehicles are important.

They pollute far less than internal combustion engine vehicles and can last longer. But what we should really focus on is reducing private automobile use, through good public transit, active transport like cycling and walking, increasingly popular modes like e-bikes and scooters, better urban planning and design, and new technologies like self-driving vehicles that can facilitate car sharing and efficient ridehailing services. All this would dramatically reduce congestion and pollution, and would even make it possible to convert massive amounts of road and parking to green space.

And while electric vehicle sales are increasing rapidly, they’re still far outnumbered by gasoline and diesel car sales.

As for the COP26 automakers’ pledge— which would require all cars and vans sold to be zero-emission by 2040—as inadequate as it is, not everyone is on board. Even though Volkswagen and Toyota are major electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturers,

We just can’t imagine different ways of seeing, and so we try to shoehorn solutions into an outdated system...

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is important, but cutting back on flying— which would mostly affect the affluent—is just as critical. But, of course, that doesn’t fit with the current growth-and-profit economic paradigm.

As for shipping, Reuters notes around 90 per cent of traded goods travel by sea, and shipping accounts for about three per cent of global emissions. Our current global economic system encourages corporations to go where resources and labour are cheap and standards are often low to maximize profits. Shifting away from consumerism and supporting local businesses and production would go as far or farther in reducing shipping emissions, although cleaner ways to fuel ships are needed.

With the automobile industry, it’s all about electric vehicles. And the focus is on direct emissions rather than the many other environmental impacts, from production to massive infrastructure requirements. Few people even question car culture—why we’ve decided so many people should each have large machines to transport them in isolation. And why they should be provided with the massive infrastructure to make it

they didn’t back the commitment. The U.S., China and Germany also refused to support the pledge.

According to Reuters, “The wider lesson is that private players can’t be relied on to stick their necks out if public action is absent.” This shows how essential it is for society to get involved. It’s mainly up to governments, business, industry and international agencies to resolve the climate crisis, but without massive public pressure, they’ll continue down the status quo road until it’s too late to keep the planet from heating to catastrophic levels.

Climate conferences such as COP are important, and perhaps they’re more than just “blah, blah, blah,” but until we replace the outdated human-invented systems that got us into this mess, we’ll only be downshifting rather than putting on the brakes. That’s not good enough.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington. ■

RANGE ROVER

My Whistler wish list WHISTLER is an amazing place. It was, in fact, my litany of amazements with aspects of our happy little valley that ultimately saw me move here. And now, as a 22-year resident, I’ve only lengthened the list that first drew me.

In addition to the mountains, the skiing, the wildness that surrounds, and the energy and creativity of its citizens, I’ve now added

BY LESLIE ANTHONY the community I’ve come to know, the access to locally raised food, knowledge of the area’s remarkable biodiversity, the ability to easily reach the unique environs of the Interior and the Coast, and an appreciation for the way the town is run—the way it looks (visitors constantly remark on how well kept it is), the amenities we have (the Valley Trail and our parks are unmatched), and the numerous proactive efforts by government and Non Governmental Organizations to craft a better future.

But still, there are shortcomings.

Whistler talks a good sustainability game but, for whatever reason, refuses to do what’s really necessary to achieve this and paint itself as the environmentally minded community it portrays. Even good policies

IMPROVING PARADISE Leslie Anthony outlines the ways Whistler can improve on the already beautiful resort.

PHOTO BY GETTYIMAGES.CA

(like waste reduction) come with little or no enforcement, half-measures or no measures at all. Whistler needs to stop being afraid to put the hammer down when it comes to the environment. Visitors are ready for it. Carpet-bombing with carbon levies and plastic bans by the federal government has softened up the proletariat target. Let’s get it done. Here’s my wish list for 2022: Outdoor gas heaters and firepits:Ban them. During his recent talk here, SFU energy professor Mark Jaccard noted that the absolute minimum we need to pursue as a society is no more open burning of fossil fuels.

While we’re at it, businesses along the Village Stroll should be forced to keep their doors closed whenever they have the heat running.

As Kramer’s lawyer Jackie Chiles says of such behaviour in the long-running Seinfeld series, “It’s outrageous, egregious—preposterous!”

Two-stroke Leaf Blowers: See above.

Is there a reason these things even exist? I saw a guy at Myrtle Philip School this fall blowing the leaves off of a tree. Absurd.

Mass Transit: We need some. Too many cars coming from the city. I doubt we’re going to see a high-speed monorail link to Vancouver’s SkyTrain, so maybe Whistler Blackcomb could give lift-ticket discounts to day skiers arriving on buses or shuttles?

Logging Old Growth: Just. Stop.

It. The Cheakamus Community Forest should cease any harvest of old growth and shift to being a conservation-oriented caretaker of our forests. FireSmart activities to thin second-growth can continue (where warranted), but Whistler should forcefully fight the province over

its archaic Allowable Annual Cut mandate on the basis that Resort Municipalities should be exempt from anything that impacts touristic potential by degrading the environment physically, aesthetically and ecologically.

Fireworks: Ban them. They’ve become popular with yahoo tourists who set them off during birthdays and stags. In addition to the fire hazard and considerable chemical and material pollution they cause, the sounds are extremely annoying to humans who have to put up with cacophonic reverberations in their home, and more so, incredibly disturbing to pets and wildlife.

Allowing this to continue is an act of true environmental unconsciousness.

Material Litter: We can’t stop people dropping paper and food wrappers either by accident or on purpose (but really, who does that?), but we could raise fines and pursue them more often. And if we can’t do that, at least we could ban unnecessary forever items that invite abuse by their very nature.

Like mylar balloons—those silly shiny things filled with helium for kids’ parties that are released into the air to come down god knows where and never decompose.

Ditto confetti, which in case you haven’t noticed, is no longer biodegradable paper but shiny plastic-metallic garbage that Cidiots sprinkle all over the dock at Nita Lake and into the water without even thinking during wedding photos. Wedding planners could put a halt to this, or the municipality could make them.

Speed Limits: Working along Whistler’s roadways it’s clear to me that people drive too fast everywhere. The Resort

Municipality of Whistler has lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h on most roads and this is fantastic. The relationship between speed and injury severity is critical for pedestrians, cyclists and, let’s face it, bears.

For example, there’s a 90-per-cent chance of survival when struck by a car travelling at 30 km/h or below, but less than 50 per cent in an impact at 45 km/h, and almost zero per cent at 80 km/hr. And yet the speed limit on the constantly crossed Highway 99 through Whistler is 60 to 80 km/h. The RMOW should immediately petition the province to lower the speed limit between Function and Emerald to 50 km/h. It would send the kind of signal to drivers to take care that 60 and 80 km/h do not. Furthermore, it’s doubtful any more bears would be killed or trapped in intersections with no one slowing down as I witnessed twice this summer.

Idling: Whatever happened to cracking down on vehicle idling? Where have the signs gone? Where are the bylaw officers patrolling busy supermarket lots? All it would take is one solid ticketing session and word would get out.

Off-leash Dogs: You knew I’d get to this. I’ve lost track of the number of dog fights and human entanglements seen on the Valley Trail because of off-leash dogs.

Last year I got bit by one while out running and the owner yelled at me for distracting the dog by running past them. Oh, the entitlement. Again, a solid ticketing effort would end this foolishness in a hurry.

Leslie Anthony is a Whistler-based author, editor, biologist and bon vivant who has never met a mountain he didn’t like. ■

DECEMBER 30, 2021

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Photos by David Buzzard / davidbuzzard.com 36 DECEMBER 30, 2021

FEATURE STORY

e t i r e l t Fa v o u r i t e W h i s

KARIN KAUSKY

Quintessential Whistler FAVOURITE WHISTLERITE KARIN KAUSKY It took a pandemic to do it, but perennial Favourite Whistlerite Mike Douglas has been bumped from the top of the mountain.

Pique readers chose Dr. Karin Kausky—who also won Citizen of the Year at the Whistler Chamber’s annual Excellence Awards in 2021—as their favourite local in this year’s reader poll.

But Kausky sees the nod as less about her, and more about where the community’s priorities lie.

“What I really think this reflects is, our community, in this age of COVID, just really values health and well-being,” Kausky says.

“The reason our community has done so well [during the pandemic] is because we have this incredible community that’s rallied and worked together to really just take care of everyone.

“There’s no place I’d rather live.”

Aside from highlighting the value of health and wellness, the pandemic has also created “phenomenal relationships and collaborations” between healthcare, local government, social services and non-profits, Kausky says.

“They existed before, but they’re just much richer and I think those relationships are incredibly effective,” she says.

“And I think they’ll outlast COVID.” Kausky has practised in Whistler since 1993, in recent years serving as a member of the Primary Care Task Force

aiming to improve the quality and availability of primary care in the resort.

In October, the task force presented its ambitious vision for a community-led, non-profit primary care centre that would bring a range of healthcare professionals together under one roof.

“I just can’t tell you how proud I am of our entire healthcare community, and how well everyone has worked together, and at the times of sort of lowest energy and greatest workload, that whole team-based care concept and working with others and getting good results has been really reinvigorating,” Kausky says.

“So I think there’s a lot of optimism around that.”

Douglas wasn’t completely forgotten—the filmmaker and pro skier took second this year, after earning seven first-place nods from 2012 to 2020.

Ace Mackay-Smith (a.k.a DJ Foxy Moron) and realtor Madison Perry tied for third.

There’s Lola, the three-year WAG resident pit bull (and star of many a WAG Instagram post), or the bonded pair of Cal and Sol, brothers who are coming up on a thousands days at the shelter, to name just a few.

“It’s what I love the most about volunteering with WAG, is just the experiences with the animals,” Wood says.

“I love meeting the really special ones—WAG has some challenging cases sometimes with animals, and it’s really rewarding to spend time with them.”

Wood is a 25-year resident of Whistler, and has volunteered with WAG since 2009, sitting on the board of directors (she’s now the chair), helping with human resources and animal enrichment, and even selling handmade bandanas to raise funds for the shelter.

“I absolutely love WAG,” she says.

“I love what they do for the community, and neighbouring communities … They’re instrumental in animal welfare in the Sea to Sky, so I’m really proud to be part of WAG.” For those hoping to give a forever home to one of WAG’s residents, Wood recommends doing your research to determine what type of pet will fit your lifestyle.

“And when you have adopted, take your time with that animal, and give them time to adjust to their new lifestyle,” she says. “Invest in a good trainer, with positive enrichment for the animal, so that everyone is successful and it’s a Volunteering at Whistler Animals Galore (WAG), you’re successful match and a forever family.” bound to end up with some favourites from among the As for being voted this year’s Favourite Volunteer, “it’s shelter’s many four-legged residents. an honour, because there are so many amazing people out For Denise Wood, longtime WAG volunteer (and this there giving their time,” she says. year’s Favourite Volunteer, as voted by Pique readers), “So thank you.” there are a few standouts.

In second place was Andy Sward, technically a resident

FAVOURITE VOLUNTEER DENISE WOOD

DECEMBER 30, 2021

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y Worst Decision b il Whistler Counc PAY PA R K I N I N PA R K S

G

y b n o i s i c e D t s Be il c n u o C r e l t s i Wh ORK ED W U N I T CON NG I S U ON HO

of Coquitlam, but a common sight on the highway around Whistler in recent years chipping away at his goal to pick up 1 million pieces of trash.

Cathy Jewett and Mary Briggs tied for third.

BEST THING TO COME OUT OF THE PANDEMIC A FOCUS ON COMMUNITY

BEST DECISION BY WHISTLER COUNCIL CONTINUED WORK ON HOUSING Will Whistler’s indefinite housing crisis ever be solved? No, probably not.

Rents will likely stay high, availability will likely remain scarce, and some greedy landlords will undoubtedly keep cramming dozens of people into houses and charging as much as people will pay—at least

until the next black swan event comes along to crash the market or upset the status quo.

But that doesn’t mean we should give up on trying to fix it in the meantime.

Council’s continued focus on building more housing in Cheakamus Crossing Phase 2 was Pique readers’ favourite initiative to come out of municipal hall this year, and if all goes according to plan, there will be 100 new Whistler Housing Authority units available for ownership by summer 2022.

Looking further out, another 195 could be added in Cheakamus Crossing in the coming years—a mix of townhomes and condos for both rental and ownership— as well as dozens of others proposed from private developers.

Now if only council could do something to address Whistler’s rapid loss of market suites…

Continued work on reconciliation with local First Nations—including adopting an official territorial statement and renaming Squaw Valley Crescent in Creekside to Chamonix Crescent—was your second favourite council initiative in 2021.

2021

After two years of exhaustive research, we’ve come to a definitive conclusion: The pandemic (drumroll please…) sucks.

The back and forth restrictions, the masks and sanitizer and social distancing, the angst and division, the sickness and the death—it all just sucks so bad. 0/10, would not recommend.

But there are some positives to be found, too, and Pique readers helped us find some light amongst the darkness with their responses to this question.

Your No. 1 answer to this question was all about community—community support, community spirit, community engagement, and community connection.

In second was the stretch of weeks and months in 2020 where everything slowed down, and there were far fewer people in the resort.

An increased focus on supporting local was third.

We’ve got you covered.

Thank you Pique readers for voting us

BEST OF WHISTLER

FAVOURITE HOTEL 1.604.938.8000 FAIRMONT.COM/WHISTLER

38 DECEMBER 30, 2021

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

FEATURE STORY

Fa v o u r i t e W h istler N o n - P ro f i t

WA G

Climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts through things like the Big Moves Strategy came third.

WORST DECISION

BY WHISTLER COUNCIL PAY PARKING IN PARKS Pay parking has long been the bane of Whistler locals’ existence, and it was no different in 2021. The introduction of pay parking at local parks this summer was far and away Pique readers’ least favourite decision by council this year.

The introduction of pay parking in the Day Lots in 2010 is often cited as a major factor that led to the ousting of Whistler’s entire mayor and council in 2011. Will history repeat itself in October 2022?

The Resort Municipality of Whistler’s decision to sue Pique Newsmagazine over its coverage of a late-April ransomware attack was your second least favourite council decision in 2021, followed by the approval of a controversial development on the shores of Nita Lake in third.

The provincial government’s introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine card in September was third.

BIGGEST NEWS STORY LABOUR CRISIS Like securing affordable housing, attracting and retaining enough workers to staff Whistler’s hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions is a perennial concern in the resort—and the two issues being as interconnected as they are, it’s really no surprise.

But the COVID-19 pandemic made an already challenging situation worse, and in 2021 many businesses found themselves shortening hours and taking other creative measures in an attempt to serve the visitors who returned to the resort en masse.

As such, Pique readers voted Whistler’s worsening labour crisis as the Biggest News Story of 2021.

In second place was the ransomware attack on the Resort Municipality of Whistler, which handcuffed services in late April and necessitated a complete rebuild of municipal servers.

FAVOURITE WHISTLER NON-PROFIT WHISTLER ANIMALS GALORE In the nine years Pique’s Best of Whistler survey has asked readers for their favourite volunteers (first as one category, then broken out into individuals and non-profits), the team at Whistler Animals Galore has never lost.

The undefeated streak continues this year, as WAG is once again Pique readers’ Favourite Non-Profit.

The Whistler Community Services Society, which has a massive impact in the resort with its food bank, Re-Use-It and Re-Build-It stores, outreach services and other programs, came second, while Zero Ceiling, the local non-profit committed to ending youth homelessness in B.C., took third.

BEST BEER SELECTION Thank you for voting us in once again!

ee us in Come s ion n Junct Functio at we’ve h to see w wing! r b got e DECEMBER 30, 2021

39

FEATURE STORY

Favourite Food Po p - u p S P CY G R L S

a z z i P e Fa v o u r i t E FUN

LP A N O I CT

I

Restaurants and Cafés Best Coffee 1.Mount Currie Coffee Co. 2.Blenz 3.Forecast Coffee

Best Wine List 1.Araxi 2.Bearfoot Bistro 3.Rimrock Café

Best Breakfast 1.Elements 2.Wildwood Café 3.Stonesedge

Best Burger 1. Splitz Grill 1.Splitz 2. Caramba Restaurant 2.Caramba Cure Lounge 3.Cure

Best Lunch Gone Eatery 1.Gone 2. La Cantina 2.La 3.Samurai Bowl

Best Pizza 1.Functional Pie 2.Creekbread 3.Pizzeria Antico

Best Casual Dining 1. Earls 1.Earls 2.Hunter Gather 3.21 Steps

Best Steak Hy’s Steakhouse 1.Hy’s 2. RimRock Café 2.RimRock 3.The Keg Steakhouse

Best Fine Dining 1.Rimrock Café 2.Araxi 3.Red Door Bistro

Best Sushi 1.Sushi Village 2.Nagomi Sushi 3.Sachi Sushi

40 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Spicing things up It would have been easy for Amie Comerford and Kirby Emmett, the duo behind Spcy Grls, Whistler’s delectable line of hot sauces—not to mention the inaugural winner of Pique’s ’s Favourite Food Pop-up—to lament the series of wrenches COVID-19 has thrown at them over the past couple years.

But if there’s anything the friends-turned-businesspartners have succeeded at during the pandemic, it’s adapting on the fly. When the coronavirus shut down markets across the corridor, they essentially reimagined their entire business plan. Instead of the food truck they had planned to launch, they set up shop at The Corner Deli and transitioned into selling their own hot food, like pierogies, tacos and burgers, all complemented by a new line of sauces.

“We feel like this has been a really good year, all things considering,” Comerford says. “The world did open up a bit further this year. But I feel like a lot of people now know what Spcy Grls is and we get a lot of compliments on our tacos and burgers. Everyone seems to know our sauces or recognize me and Kirby.”

More recently, the pair has taken advantage of the kitchen at Dubh Linn Gate, where Comerford works, setting up weekly taco and burger nights that have proven a hit with the pub’s regulars. They’ve also redoubled their efforts on the event side of things, setting up barbecues at on-mountain lunches for Whistler Blackcomb and selling their wares at the Pemberton Speedway this summer for its stock car and motocross events.

In hindsight, it proved to be the right decision for Spcy Grls, eschewing the overhead costs of a food truck while still growing their brand’s visibility.

“We’ve kind of adapted just because knowing the world was closed down, no one was making that much money, so we just kept it simple,” Comerford says. “We just need a big barbecue and cook burgers and tacos.”

For the young entrepreneurs, the key to their success was as simple as focusing on what makes them happy.

“For us, we’re still learning and we’re still growing ourselves personally. Sometimes we’re just winging it, but I just think you should do what makes you happy,” says Comerford. “I think if you enjoy what you do, you’ll want to work at it. We don’t mind working everyday on Spcy Grls, because it’s what we love to do.”

2021

Best of Whistler 2021 Favourite Food Pop-Up

From the Spcy Grls team...

Thank You

for supporting local. We had a great year with all of you.

Thank you for voting us

BEST PIZZA IN WHISTLER

2021

www.spcygrls.com 604-388-4161 info@spcygrls.com spcygirls SpcyGrls

for a second year!

We are so honoured to be recognized by the community and are looking forward to seeing you through 2022.

Much love,

The Functional Family!!

www.functionalpie.ca 111-1085 Millar Creek Rd 604 962 3141 (pick-up only) leigh@functionalpie.ca DECEMBER 30, 2021

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B e st Lu n c h

G O N E E A T E RY

B e s t H e a l t hy M e a G R E E N M O U S TA

CHE

Best Healthy Meal 1. Green Moustache 1.Green Naked Sprout 2.Naked Hunter Gather 3.Hunter Best Dessert Purebread 1.Purebread Rimrock Café 2.Rimrock Cows Creamery 3.Cows Favourite Food Pop-up 1.Spcy Grls 2.Lucia Gelato 3.Whistler Wood Fired Pizza Company 42 DECEMBER 30, 2021

l Long (live) Gone

Best Off-Season Deal 1.Araxi 2 Rimrock Café 3.21 Steps Favourite Takeout 1.Samurai Sushi 2.Samurai Bowl 3.La Cantina

When Jim Salusbury of 49 North Foods Co. purchased the local haunt Gone Eatery several years back, it was more than just a business transaction. It was personal.

“I’ve been eating at Gone since I was a kid coming up here from North Van to ski, so I knew what a special place it was,” he says. “I also knew I wanted to preserve what made it so special.”

Winners of this year’s Best Lunch category, Gone has always been known for its no-fuss, home-style cooking, the kind of place you go to fuel up before a day on the mountain or catch up with friends. It was important for Salusbury and his team to maintain that inviting atmosphere (as well as some of the menu’s most beloved dishes—pad Thai, anyone?), especially in a year when it was more essential than ever for people to have somewhere to come together over a warm meal or cup of coffee.

“The locals are our bread and butter; they’re what kept us going through the pandemic, so if we could offer a bit of comfort and familiarity, then we are proud to do so,” Salusbury says.

2021

Thank You Thank You Whistler for

VOTING US #1

Construction Company in Whistler and Thank You to our clients and staff for your continued support.

(604)962 8836

115b - 1330 Alpha Lake Rd Whistler, BC, Canada V8E 0R6 DECEMBER 30, 2021

43

FEATURE STORY

Best Wings Best Après

DUSTY’S BAR & BBQ

Bars, Pubs And Clubs

’ s l a c o L Fa v o u r i t e t H a n go u S ON STINKY’ LL O THE STR

Best Après 1. Dusty’s Bar & BBQ 1.Dusty’s 2. Garibaldi Lift Co. 2.Garibaldi Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub 3.Dubh Best Nachos Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub 1.Dubh The Mallard Lounge 2.The Garibaldi Lift Co. 3.Garibaldi

Dusty’s: The Bar, The BBQ, The Legend It’s long held the title of Whistler’s original watering hole, but now Dusty’s Bar & BBQ in Creekside has been named Whistler’s Best Après, too. (An honour stolen away from its rival Garibaldi Lift Co. to boot!)

“We focus our business towards après, so winning this is kind of like the ultimate goal,” says general manager Julie Vachon. “I’m very happy about this.”

It’s fitting, considering that Dusty’s was originally known as L’après when it opened its doors in 1966, the same year as Whistler Mountain. In the decades since, the Creekside bar has hosted prime ministers, celebrities, locals and visitors alike and has earned a reputation built

44 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Best Wings 1.Dusty’s Bar & BBQ / The 1.Dusty’s Crystal Lounge (Tied) 2. Earl’s Kitchen 2.Earl’s 3.Roland’s Creekside Pub

Best Bar/Pub 1.Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub 1.Dubh Tapley’s / Stinky’s on 2.Tapley’s the Stroll (Tied) The Beacon 3.The Best Patio Table 19 at 1.Table Nicklaus North Longhorn 2.Longhorn Nita Lake Lodge 3.Nita

on both raucous fun and a questionable history. they’re our biggest seller,” says Vachon, adding that, on L’apres was renamed Dusty’s in the 1980s after a a Saturday afternoon in early December, Dusty’s kitchen stuffed horse named Dusty that had a tendency to pop staff pumped out 130 orders of wings in a three-hour span. up throughout the resort. As the legend goes, a partier It even has a vegan “wings” option, so your plant-based pals stripped down and jumped on Dusty’s back one fateful don’t need to feel left out. full-moon Friday. Dusty bucked into life, burst through But speaking of inclusion, it’s the come-as-you-are, the bar doors, shook the shocked, nude woman into a we’re-all-friends-here, sure-I’ll-share-a-shot-ski-with-you snow bank and galloped off into the night, never to be atmosphere that really makes Dusty’s what it is. seen again. “[Our customers and staff] are very loyal to Dusty’s and These days, Dusty’s is better known for its ski-in patios, I think that created kind of like a family vibe,” says Vachon.

Power Hours (the famous Caesar/beer combo is called a “Each time you come in Dusty’s, you know you’ll bump into Voyageur because it gets you on your way, in case you were your friends or someone you know … I think that’s a big part unaware), as the best place to dance in your ski boots to a of why people love it so much, to come here after skiing.”

Hairfarmers’ set, and, of course, for its barbecue.

New this winter, Dusty’s is also shifting its hours to In this year’s BoW awards, Dusty’s (tied with the Crystal offer breakfast and an extended morning happy hour— Lounge) was also voted as having the Best Wings in town. meaning you no longer need to save all the fun for après “I think we focus a lot on having good wings because only.

2021

FEATURE STORY

Best Cocktail

T H E R AV E N R

OOM

Best Cocktail 1.Raven Room 2.Bar Oso 3.Fairmont Chateau Whistler Best Beer Selection 1.Coast Mountain Brewing Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub 2.Dubh 3.The Beacon

On The Rocks At Raven Room The Raven Room might have only opened its doors in January 2019, but in just three years it has already solidified itself a spot in the hearts of most cocktail-loving locals.

So much so that those locals voted Raven Room, located in the Whistler Village Pan Pacific, as having the Best Cocktail in Whistler for a third consecutive year, by a landslide.

“We’re really excited as a team; really, really proud of the team all the work we put in, so we’re definitely appreciative that we were voted for and a lot of it has been local support from day one,” says co-owner/operator Jason Redmond, offering credit to Raven Room’s “amazing” staff and culture of positivity. “We consider [our team] like a small family.”

46 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Favourite Locals’ Hangout 1. Stinky’s on the Stroll 1.Stinky’s 2. Tapley’s 2.Tapley’s Roland’s Creekside Pub 3.Roland’s “We really decided to sort of elevate the game a little bit.

We want to be definitely quality-focused, and that comes down to spirits used—which a lot of it is supporting local distillers and craft beer producers and wineries that are doing amazing things—and then techniques and care, and a lot of time and effort.”

Much of that effort comes in the form of research, tasting, testing and, above all, collaboration when developing Raven Room’s seasonal menus.

“We all get together and bounce some ideas off each other before we start putting things in a glass, and then it usually takes us a few versions to get it right,” explains Redmond. “But we try and take whoever’s idea it is, or inspiration, and turn it into something delicious in a glass that people will appreciate, enjoy and that may be a little different from you’re going to see on the average menu.”

The cocktail bar recently released a winter 2021‘22 menu that looks, without a shred of exaggeration,

jaw-dropping. To list all of the creations and their contents here would take up far too much space, but we’ll include an example: “Queen of Barbados,” comprised of Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy pineapple rum, Sheringham coffee, yellow Chartreuse, espresso, and Fernet Branca spritz.

“I recommend working your way through the list,” says Redmond.

That’s something that should be no trouble for the members of Whistler’s hospitality industry that tend to frequent Raven Room during its late-night hours.

While Redmond said Raven Room has grown from being “very local centric to having a nice mix of tourists, hotel guests, and locals,” in its three years of operations, there’s “still a ton of locals and a lot of the industry coming in [after their shifts] to support us and unwind the day, as we’re there ‘til 1 a.m.”

Raven Room, he adds, is “always there for them, never closing early.”

THANK YOU FOR VOTING FOR US WE’VE HAD AN INTERESTING 2021 AND LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!

2021 WINNER BEST FINE DINING

G O I N G O U T F O R D I N N E R , GO LOCAL! LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED FOR OVER 35 YEARS

604.932.5565

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS w w w . r i m r o c k w h i s t l e r. c o m DECEMBER 30, 2021

47

FEATURE STORY

Fa v o u r i t e A r t i s t

Arts and Culture Favourite Artist or Artisan 1.Andrea Mueller Kris “KUPS” Kupskay 2.Kris 3. Vanessa Stark 3.Vanessa Favourite Major Art Show 1. Art on the Lake…

1.Art literally 2.Anonymous Art Show 2.Anonymous 3. Teeny Tiny Art Show 3.Teeny Favourite Arts and Culture Event or Festival 1.Crankworx Cornucopia 2.Cornucopia 3. Whistler Film Festival 3.Whistler Favourite Photographer 1. David McColm 1.David Logan Swayze 2.Logan 3. Blake Jorgensen 3.Blake Favourite Filmmaker 1.Kris Dontas 2.Mike Douglas 3.Jeff Thomas Favourite Musical Artist or Band 1.The Hairfarmers 2.Red Chair 3.Ruckus Deluxe 48 DECEMBER 30, 2021

ANDREA MU

ELLER

Making a mess Andrea Mueller is a big proponent of creative chaos.

Whether at her popular Paint Nights or through her summer kids camps, the award-winning painter encourages a healthy dose of artistic experimentation.

“It was more about creativity and creative thinking, less about a specific outcome,” she says of her kids’ arts camps offered last summer through Arts Whistler. “I had different age groups, so I had these little guys, like these three- and four-year-olds, five and six, and seven and eight. The threeto six-year-olds just went for it. I was like, ‘Here’s the thing: make a mess and go crazy.’ And they were like, ‘What? I’m allowed? This is awesome!’”

A sought-after instructor, Mueller, a multi-time winner of this category, has also used the uncertainty of the past year to redouble her focus on her own work. Known for her brightly coloured, highly stylized paintings of local wildlife and landscape, Mueller has also been exploring more personal work that she says is “100-per-cent different from what people know me as doing.”

Eyeing 2023 for a slate of new solo exhibitions, Mueller says audiences can expect a more conceptual, darker style that touches on themes of the female body, motherhood along with the profound societal disruptions of recent years.

As an accomplished commercial artist, Mueller plans to unveil a new creative alias, website and social media persona for her new work, an idea that harkens back to her college days.

“It’s a whole separate person,” she says. “Honestly, part of what’s taken me so long to do this is figuring out what the alias was. I’ve been trying to have an alias since I left art school. Looking back, I wish I had actually started with an alias.”

Like so many creatives in Whistler, Mueller feels the pressure to deliver on what her audience wants, which in a tourism town replete with scenic vistas and interesting wildlife, usually means landscapes and bears.

“When I first moved here, I was like, ‘I’m never painting a bear.’ Then it’s like, ‘OK, I’ll do 35 of them,” she says with a laugh. “It’s funny living in Whistler. This is other people’s holiday spot … They want a place-based memory that they can take home with them, look at the picture and go, ‘Man, I had a really nice time in Whistler. That was a really great memory for me and my family.’ If you want to be working commercially in this community, in my opinion you need to take that into account. But it doesn’t mean you can’t be more than one thing.”

The best of both worlds In her 30 years as an event producer, Arts Whistler executive director Mo Douglas has learned an important lesson about what makes events in Whistler click. “[S]ome of the most successful and I’d say magical events here have been … the ones where we combine the arts with Whistler’s unique experience and landscape,” she says. “It’s unique propositions and that’s what we’re trying to do more and more.”

You certainly can’t say that Whistlerites’ Favourite Major Art Show this year, the second annual Art on the Lake … literally, wasn’t a unique proposition. Held on Alta Lake (and that is meant literally: attendees paddled their way though the festivities), this roving art show, musical extravaganza and series of performances brought locals out in droves this August to enjoy a cultural event, held right on the water, unlike anything this town has seen.

It was also tailor-made for a pandemic year when largescale indoor events were few and far between.

“Art on the Lake was an idea not so much born of the pandemic because we had talked about it before, but it was actually accelerated because of COVID,” Douglas says, adding that the event was so popular it will expand to two days in 2022.

It was a clean sweep of this category for Arts Whistler, with each of the top 3 events being produced by the organization. After a tumultuous year for the arts in general, garnering such gratitude from the community was all the more significant.

“This has really helped our spirits and fingers crossed what we’ve done has also lifted the spirits of our community,” says Douglas. “The Arts Whistler team has certainly been onboard for this crazy ride but the community has also been there with us. We appreciate how much they’ve appreciated what we’ve done.”

2021

THANK YOU WHISTLER!!!

you’ve got good taste voted your favourite clothing store 10 years running

the beach. whistler

2021

u o Y k n a Th

We are ttruly W l h honored d tto b be chosen for the

Favorite Takeout of 2021 We celebrated our 20 year anniversary for

and 15 year anniversary for

by offering b ff i

50% Customer Appreciation Day. More customers than expected came to our restaurants, and we are very appreciative of their visits and feedback reflecting the last 20 and 15 years.

It is because of Whistler locals that we could survive the Covid pandemic.

We will strive to do our best to support our Samurai customers.

We are open everyday from 11am-9pm at Samurai Sushi - Nesters 12pm-9pm at Samurai Bowl - Creekside including New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

Thank you very much Samurai Team

DECEMBER 30, 2021

49

FEATURE STORY

Sports Favourite Winter Athlete Stan Rey 1.Stan 2. Marielle Thompson 2.Marielle Mercedes Nicoll 3.Mercedes Favourite Summer Athlete Jesse Melamed 1.Jesse Finn Iles 2.Finn Brandon Semenuk 3.Brandon Favourite Junior Athlete Wei Tien Ho 1.Wei Juliette Pelchat 2.Juliette Marcus Goguen 3.Marcus Favourite Park 1.Rainbow Park 2.Lost Lake 3.Alpha Lake Park Favourite Ski Run on Whistler or Blackcomb 1.Peak to Creek 2.Dave Murray 3.Ridge Runner 50 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Favourite Junior Athlete WEI TIEN HO

Favourite Slackcountry/Run Area 1. Million Dollar Ridge 1.Million 2. Flute Backside 2.Flute 3.Khyber’s Favourite Bike Trail Lord of the Squirrels 1.Lord 2. Crank it Up 2.Crank 3.A Line Favourite Golf Course 1.Nicklaus North Golf Club 2.Whistler Golf Club 3.Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club

Favourite Adventure Tour Company 1. TAG: The Adventure 1.TAG: Group 2. Canadian Wilderness 2.Canadian Advenutres Blackcomb Snowmobile/ 3.Blackcomb Whistler ATV

Back-to-back champ For the second year in a row, the people spoke, and Stan Rey came out on top of Best of Whistler’s Favourite Winter Athlete category.

“There are a lot of good athletes in town and maybe I have a leg up on them because I’ve lived there pretty much my whole life, so maybe I’m more recognizable. So yeah, I’m stoked,” says Rey. “It’s super humbling and I definitely feel honoured from that. I just try to be myself and I think for me, my biggest goal every year is just to have fun, and that is somewhat infectious, so maybe that’s why they enjoy watching me ski.”

As a well-known and long-time Whistlerite, there’s nothing inherently shocking about Rey being recognized in the winter athlete category … except for the fact he hasn’t really skied competitively for years.

Instead, Rey and his partner Alexi Godbout have spent the last several years focused on producing movies for the film company they started seven years ago called Blank Collective Films.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s a bit of organizing and getting other athletes involved and stuff but it’s cool because we can try to put some spotlight on some up-and-coming athletes that are very talented, a lot of skiers that are better than me,” says Rey.

FEATURE STORY alongside Whistler’s other favourite athletes this year.

But not having much of a freeride season last year, and switching mountain bike disciplines from enduro to downhill this past summer, Ho was surprised to be receiving the text saying he won Favourite Junior Athlete.

“It’s an honour,” he says. “I mean, with the level of competition and how talented the community here is, it’s an honour to hold this and I’m stoked.”

But that wasn’t the only surprising message the 17-yearold Whistlerite received this year.

Being a long-time enduro racer already, Ho decided to try his hand at competitive downhill mountain biking for the first time in his career. Over the summe rn ,bmvs, competing in Canada Cups, Ho continued to improve culminating in a fourth-place finish at the National Championships in Kicking Horse.

And shortly after his impressive finish in Kicking Horse, Ho received an email inviting him to the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerand, something he never would have thought possible in his first season.

“That was a huge shock,” he said. “I’ve watched [downhill World Cups] since I was a kid, so it has been a dream of mine to actually go to them and be there in person. And then to do it along with some of my best friends from Sea to Sky as well, was a sweet experience,” he said.

But now that summer is over, and the ski season is ramping up, Ho is switching focus to the upcoming freeride season where he plans on attending nationals at Red Mountain, Lake Louise and Whistler as well as a handful of regional competitions like the ones in Whistler and Revelstoke.

But his main goal this season is to work on a film project with one of his ski coaches.

“I like competing in free ride and stuff, but I find I just really feel at home when filming and just that creative piece,” he said.

- Harrison Brooks

Balancing act Freeride skier in the winter, Enduro and downhill racer in the summer, with a passion for filmmaking, Whistler’s favourite junior athlete WeiTien Ho fits perfectly right

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2021

Putting it all together Not only did Whistler’s Jesse Melamed ride to the best finish of his Enduro career with a third overall in the world rankings, he also finally cracked the top spot in the Favourite Summer Athlete category after losing out to the likes of Finn Iles and Brandon Semenuk in years past.

“I think that kind of just shows on one hand the rise of Enduro and its legitimacy as a discipline of mountain biking, which I think is really cool. I think having done so well just shows that maybe a lot more people tuned in and were, I

would hope, proud to have me as their local that was off doing well around the world. We live in one of the mountain bike meccas of the world and to kind of come from this area is special for me and I love representing it,” he says.

“I think it’s special and I hope I give the entertainment back to the Whistler community and they enjoy following along.”

Melamed’s third-place finish on the world circuit this year was the culmination of what he says was his most consistent season to date. In the first half, despite the pace not quite being there to push for the top spot, Melamed finished with a third- and three fourth-place finishes, showing the consistency he has struggled with in the past.

And after returning home for the mid-season break, and having some time on familiar trails to get in touch with his bike again, Melamed went back to Europe where he had some technical issues leading him to put up an eighth and a DNF before he finished the season with three second place finishes to three different people.

“That showed that I was the most consistent to round out the season and that’s kind of something I’ve always struggled with in the past so I was really proud of consistently putting up top results and doing so safely in a way that kind of suited me,” he said. “Because of those mechanicals and the DNF I had in France, I think I dropped to sixth overall so it was really cool to have to fight back for that third overall because I really wanted it and I knew I could do it.”

During his offseason, Melamed plans on enjoying his time at home and getting some days in on the mountain before gearing up to start training to defend his podium in next year’s season.

2020

“And it’s just cool to see the talent in Whistler and kind of give them the platform to show off their skills is kind of cool. So that’s what I’ve been up to the last couple years.”

Rey’s latest film, Tales from Cascadia, recently won Film of the Year at the iF3 Festival held in Whistler, marking the first award for the film company in its seven years.

While he’s not sure what the focus of the next film will be or where the project will take them, Rey says it will definitely maintain the fun, lighthearted tone of his past movies, while they continue to try out more creative filming techniques like using drones.

Despite his films, and his ski career before that, taking him to mountains all over the world, when asked about some of the favourite spots he’s been to in his life, Rey’s can’t think of a more deserving place than right here in his own back yard.

“I might be a little biased, but Whistler Blackcomb is a pretty amazing place. When you think about the resort itself and then the backcountry you have around this place, we live in a pretty special area and I feel very lucky to call it my playground, my backyard,” he says. “The sled-skiing when you go into those mountains, it’s crazy what’s out there because you don’t really see it just looking across from Whistler Blackcomb.”

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DECEMBER 30, 2021

51

FEATURE STORY

Best s es N ew B u s i n JOE FOR

Business Services

TES

Best Re a l t or M

ADI S PER ON RY

Best New Business 1.Joe Fortes 2.The Movement Lab Whistler 3.Mountain Chic Hair Lounge

Best Jewelry Store 1.Keir Fine Jewellery 2.Ruby Tuesday Accessories 3.3 Singing Birds

Best Ski Shop 1.Coastal Culture 2.Fanatyk Co. 3.Comor Sports

Best Hair Salon/ Barbershop 1.Elevation Hair Studio 2.Mountain Chic Hair Lounge 3.The Loft Salon

Best Snowboard Shop 1.Evolution 2.Showcase Snowboard Surf & Skate Shop 3.The Circle

Best Grocery Store 1.Nesters Market 2.Fresh St. Market 3.Creekside Market

Best Bike Shop 1.Coastal Culture 2.Evolution 3.Fanatyk Co. Best Clothing Store 1.The Beach 2.Aritzia 3.Re-Use-It Centre 52 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Best Customer Service 1.Creekside Market 2.Evolution 3.Nita Lake Lodge Best Realtor 1.Madison Perry 2.Katelyn Spink 3.Dana Freisen-Smith

On the Rise Since the COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head in the spring of 2020, houses in Whistler have been flying off the market at a furious pace.

Whether it’s people looking to work remotely or looking to purchase a second home, the market has been on the upswing with no sign of slowing down anytime soon, according to Remax realtor Madison Perry, who recently won Whistler’s Best Realtor in Pique’s Best of Whistler poll. “[The market] definitely took an upswing, and it was incredibly interesting to see how our inventory stayed at an all-time low. So it’s just creating a higher demand.

And with such low inventory, it’s just been spiking all of the pricing in town,” she says. “The way that this year has gone has meant tons of multiple offers, which for sellers was absolutely amazing and incredibly lucrative with people throwing in these massive over-asking offers.

But for buyers, it was obviously incredibly daunting and frustrating and challenging.”

And for someone like Perry, who is stuck in the middle of those two extremes, it has created an incredibly hectic environment.

With houses being listed one day, and sold the next, usually way over the asking price, it means Perry, and everyone on her team at Remax, had to be “on it” at all times to give their clients the best advice and best chance at landing their dream homes even though in many cases, clients didn’t succeed until their fourth or fifth attempt or sometimes even got priced out of the market entirely.

“When you’re working with buyers, your whole goal as a real estate agent has kind of transferred from it being ‘I want to get you this property for the lowest price possible,’ to now it’s almost that your client just wants you to obtain the property, no matter what it takes,” said Perry. “So the question now is, how much more do we put down higher than the actual listing price? Do we put $20,000 over, do we put 50? Do we put 200? It’s an incredibly challenging

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A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted us #1 Realtor® in Whistler!

We are incredibly grateful to those who support our mission to bring direct, honest real estate advice to the Sea to Sky corridor. We love working for you. Wishing everyone a successful 2022!

MADISON PERRY

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MELISSA McCRORY

FEATURE STORY

Best Building or Construction Company 1.TM Builders 2.RDC 3.CVC Custom Builders Favourite Building 1.The Audain 2.Fairmont Chateau 3.SLCC Best Store for Gifts 1.3 Singing Birds 2.Get the Goods 3.Whistler Kitchen Works Favourite Hotel 1.Fairmont Chateau 2.Nita Lake Lodge 3.Four Seasons

spot to be in as a realtor because they’re looking to us to working hard at trying to hone in the exact right gear, but give them guidance and really what we have to do is give then we also started to focus on boot fitting realizing that them our best educated guess and really work with our boots are quite a core part of our gear in the winter,” says client to find out what they are comfortable with, and Bourbonnais. “That’s been about four years now where usually, obviously, everybody’s not comfortable with going we’ve focused on boot-fitting and foot beds and then also over asking.” having more performance rentals and demos because But through all the chaos, and the hectic nature of the everyone wants to try before you go out. So we have a big job that Perry joked can sometimes be “panic-inducing,” fleet now. We needed to pick it up in the winter as far as she’s incredibly thankful not only for the support of her having a lot of people recognize us and come to us and it’s team but for the community that has recognized all the worked, we’ve been doing a great job.” hard work they do by voting her Whistler’s Best Realtor.

Having already been serving the community since 1995, “To have the community’s support, honestly means Bourbonnais says their goal has always been a simple one: that all of the hours and the long nights, the long days, “to help as many people as possible have fun.” all the effort that goes into this career, it just makes it all “Every customer who comes through the door, our goal worth it, to be honest with you, because there’s so many is to help them have more fun in the mountains so that times in this job where it is so demanding and draining, means having gear that works and the correct fitting gear and honestly soul sucking at the same time,” she says. “So and all that but basically it is all about spreading the fun,” when you find out you won an award like this, and you find she says. out that you have the community that’s out there, Moving forward, having fun will remain a core element it just makes it all worth it and it’s a huge boost for us to to what they do over at Evolution, while also focusing on continue to keep giving out the service that we do.” stocking the very best gear and getting their customers exactly what they need to get the most out of winter and the summer.

With their increased efforts over the last few years to While owner Jenine Bourbonnais and the team over at make Evolution a true every-season store, Bourbonnais Evolution Whistler are no newbies when it comes to is super thankful to have her team’s hard work be winning Best of Whistler awards, this year feels a little recognized by the community. But even more than different. that, she’s thrilled just to be a part of a community as Normally, Evolution sticks near the top of the rankings awesome as Whistler. when it comes to the Best Bike Shop category, but this year “I really appreciate all the support, like the locals have they were voted Whistler’s Best Snowboard Shop thanks to been amazing over the last two years through this whole a plan to refocus their energy on making the store a premier pandemic thing, we’ve really been recognized as a true spot for both winter and summer sports. local shop by the community,” she says. “I love Whistler. I “About four to eight years ago there was a stretch love living here. I love being part of the community. Rock where there was a lull in snowboarding, so we have been on Whistler.”

Evolving Evolution

“A heartfelt thank you from Dr. Julian Truong and the team at Creekside Dental for voting us as your favourite dental clinic in the Pique’s Best of Whistler 2021. We are again humbled and grateful for this recognition.

Although it has been a challenging year for all of us, we will continue to strive and provide the best dental experience while keeping you and your family safe.

This year we are celebrating 29 year of being locally owned and operated. Thank you to all our valued customers for shopping local and making our year a success. We greatly appreciate your loyalty, support and friendship. Thank you for choosing Keir Fine Jewellery as “Best Jewellery store 2021” and we look forward to serving you in 2022.

We truly appreciate your support over the years and look forward to your visit in 2022.

Wishing everyone a safe and healthy holiday season!”

2021

Happy New Year!

We wish you all the very best for 2022!

PH: 604 938 1550 317-2063 LAKE PLACID ROAD in Franz’s Trail beside Creekside Market

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54 DECEMBER 30, 2021

FEATURE STORY

Health And Wellness Favourite Spa 1.Scandinave Spa Whistler 2.The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge 3.Vida Spa at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler

Favourite Beauty and Aesthetic Provider 1.The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge 2.Be Beauty Spa & Tanning Lounge 3.Elevation Hair Studio

Favourite Chiropractic Practice 1.Whistler Chiropractic 2.Dr. Andrea Bologna 3.Dr. Keith Ray Favourite Physiotherapy Provider 1.Back In Action 2.Peak Performance 3.Alex Fell – The Movement Lab Favourite Massage Provider 1.The Spa at Nita Lake Lodge 2.Peak Performance 3.Back In Action Favourite Dental Practice 1.Creekside Dental 2.Whistler Dental 3.Whistler Smiles Dental Clinic Favourite Doctor or Nurse 1.Dr. Karin Kausky 2.Dr. Tom Demarco 3.Dr. Brennan McKnight Favourite Fitness Activity Provider 1.Altitude Fitness 2.Meadow Park Sports Centre 3.Peak Training

56 DECEMBER 30, 2021

knowledge, and I think that gives us a bit of an edge,” she says.

While several Back In Action staff members are currently busy travelling with national teams ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, “our focus has always been to try and provide the same service that we provide to elite athletes, to as many people as possible,” says Matheson.

Plus, “we’ve been part of this community for a long time,” she adds. Whistler’s community “is full of great people and it’s great to be part of keeping them active.”

Amid the challenges posed by the nearly two-year-long COVID-19 pandemic, Back In Action has adapted to find new ways of keeping its clients active, says Matheson, from developing new exercise software, offering more online services, loaning out exercise equipment and more gymbased physiotherapy.

“We can offer something to help a lot of different types of problems,” she says.

“Physio services have definitely been more utilized since the pandemic started, because of everything from people wanting to be more active outside, people wanting to look after their bodies more, to people in chronic pain from different procedures and surgeries [being delayed], which have caused them to need physio for longer.

“All of that is definitely a challenge, but one that I think we’ve risen to pretty well.”

Altitude Fitness reaching new heights

s s e n t i F Fa v o u r i t e r o v i d e r Activity P DE A LT I T U S FITNES

Back In Action, Back Again Naming a community more active than Whistler’s would be a challenging feat.

One downside to all that activity? The inevitability that an injury will strike every so often, whether you’re an in-season Olympian or a weekend warrior ripping through tree lines on a Sunday morning.

When an injury does occur, the pros at Back In Action Physiotherapy & Massage are available to help Whistlerites get back to the activities that make living in a resort town so fun no matter your ability level.

Back In Action physiotherapist and owner/operator Bianca Matheson credited that wide-ranging pool of clientele as part of the reason why the practice was voted Whistler’s favourite physiotherapy provider for the fifth year running.

“We do work really closely with the elite athlete groups, and that gives us access to a lot of really good resources that those groups have: education; we get the up-to-date

A call to discuss Altitude’s win as Whistler’s favourite fitness activity provider should have been a purely exciting occasion, but the mood proved to be more bittersweet when Pique reached owner and director Katie McFetridge on Christmas Eve. She had just returned from dropping barbells off at clients’ homes after Altitude, like every other gym in B.C., was ordered to close until at least Jan. 18, amid surging omicron cases. It marks the second official closure the gym has suffered in as many years.

“It’s a lot of administrative work behind getting everyone’s passes on hold and like trying to figure everything out, but it is what it is,” she says. “We’ve done it before.”

With that in mind, learning about the win was “so exciting,” McFetridge adds. Altitude has steadily climbed up the ranks since opening its doors in 2019, finishing third in that year’s Best of Whistler Awards and second in 2020.

“It’s just crazy. I know we have what it takes to be there, but I didn’t know—based solely on the fact that Meadow Park has, like, an arena and all this extra stuff—if we could actually [win],” she says. “But I have such an awesome team, and our community here, our membership is so amazing.

Everybody’s been so supportive in the last couple years, especially going through COVID. I’m just so thankful.”

McFetridge offered a particular shout-out to Altitude’s head trainer Cinta Cassini, the force behind the facility’s popular women’s-only BootyCamp classes. “She’s been with me since the beginning, and I’m very proud of her and all she’s accomplished here,” McFetridge says.

The entire Altitude team has also worked hard to implement several new, stringent health and safety measures since the onset of the pandemic, from Plexiglas to individual sanitizer bottles, which McFetridge says are likely to stick around once the public health situation improves.

If anyone hasn’t yet stopped by the spacious, highceilinged facility in Creekside for a workout, McFetridge says complementary drop-ins are available for first-timers (once gyms have the go-ahead to re-open, that is).

“Come and check us out. We’ve heard from some people before they started coming here that they were intimidated to go here, but just come in and try it out … We all smile,” McFetridge adds with a laugh. “We’re friendly here.” ■

SPORTS THE SCORE

Whistler’s Mollie Jepsen looks to build off hot start JEPSEN HOPES TO CONTINUE EARLY-SEASON SUCCESS AT 2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

BY HARRISON BROOKS BEFORE THIS MONTH, Whistler paraalpine skier Mollie Jepsen hadn’t dropped out of a World Cup start gate in 23 months.

And even in January 2020—the last time she raced before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the rest of that season and the subsequent one—she was coming off of missing the entire previous year after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease following the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

So when she stepped up to this year’s first World Cup start gate on Dec. 5, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I don’t think any of us even knew what was going on the first day … [J]ust realizing how long the days are and all the little things that you forget about because you are just training and running your own schedule for like two years, and then you go back and you are in control of absolutely nothing,” said Jepsen about jumping back into a full World Cup schedule that has seen her land on the podium in all six of her first races of the year.

“It’s been super amazing [to be back racing]. Like, I forgot what I did, I forgot every feeling of racing and the environment,

PODIUM STREAK Mollie Jepsen skis to a firstplace finish in Super G at the World Cup stop in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPINE CANADA

58 DECEMBER 30, 2021

I forgot what all of it felt like, and so being back in that environment and knowing that I’m the strongest that I’ve ever been in my whole life has just been super rewarding.”

That strength, coming from the chance to dedicate nearly two entire years solely to training without the worry and hassle of a World Cup circuit, is what Jepsen believes has been the biggest key in her hot start and newfound consistency, which she says has been an issue for her in the past.

So there is definitely room to grow and room to improve and I’m looking forward to continuing to push it and see where I stack up once I am feeling a little bit more ready to be in that environment.”

If performing in a high-stakes environment is what Jepsen is working towards this season, this year won’t disappoint. With last year’s World Championships being cancelled and moved to this January, as well as the Beijing

“The skiing is building, and we are still building into a high-stakes environment.”

- MOLLIE JEPSEN

But despite her best-ever start to a season, which includes two first-place finishes, one second and three thirds, the work isn’t done yet for Jepsen, who looks to continue improving her skiing throughout the year.

“I’m very nitpicky on my skiing and I know there is more in the tank that way.

I know I didn’t go out and show my best skiing,” she said.

“I definitely was in a really great headspace and was able to push a little bit harder than I thought I was going to, so I think that is where the success came from, but the skiing is still building, and we are still building into a high-stakes environment.

Paralympic Games in March, this season is shaping up to be a unique one for all of Team Canada’s para-alpine skiers.

And while she is still trying to keep her expectations for each of the major competitions low, with the start to the season she’s had and four Paralympic medals already under her belt, Jepsen knows she is a contender for the podium in each of the disciplines she races in.

Now the challenge becomes managing those expectations and “keeping the fatigue in check” so she can put down her best runs when they matter most.

“Whenever I push out of the start, I’m

trying to be either full gas or I won’t finish, so I try to leave everything I possibly can on the hill. It definitely adds a little bit of pressure knowing that I am capable of being on the podium,” said Jepsen.

“In 2017 before the Games, I was never on the podium and that was so fine with me because I knew I was capable of it. So it’s a different mentality, for sure, going into these Games because I’m at the top of my game right now and I want to make sure that I can stay there for the remainder of the season. So that’s definitely a little bit of added pressure.”

As nice as adding more medals to her collection would be, all Jepsen really cares about at the end of the day is being able to look back on the season and be proud of her skiing, as well as see her teammates succeed.

“To be successful this season, I think, is not only for everyone to make it through the season happy and healthy, but just to be proud of myself and proud of my skiing and proud of every race and know that I put 100-per-cent effort in every day, even if I don’t achieve the results that I want for myself,” she said.

“If we walk out of the season and everybody is happy and healthy, probably super exhausted, but no one got sick, everyone is doing well, that’s the goal. It’s a different year obviously with COVID and I care so much about the team and I want everyone to put everything on the line on-hill but also be as safe and happy as possible.” n

May Your 2022 Be Defined By Happiness and Joy. Thank you Whistler for your continued support and for voting us

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2021

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FORK IN THE ROAD

Best of the best in 2021 BITS AND BITES OF GOOD THINGS THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME WHOA! ANOTHER YEAR has flown the coop!? Even with, or maybe because of these COVIDian-confined days, time seems more slippery, more precious, than ever, which brings me to my best food picks for 2021.

At least some of them, for “The Best” of anything is itself a slippery slope—albeit one that’s a fun tradition at year-end. So

BY GLENDA BARTOSH take these tips for what they are: A bit of inspiration for eating and snacking over the holidays and into the new year with a minimum of time and bother and a maximum of good health and sustainability.

That includes supporting very local, very Canadian businesses, for there’s no brighter way to start 2022 than with resolve to strengthen our communities, wherever we find ourselves.

Happy New Year, and best of the season to you!

LET’S GET CRACKIN’ WITH SOME HEALTHY SNACKIN’ There’s Green Moustache Organic Café (this year’s Best Healthy Eatery, now in North Van, Squamish and Whistler), maybe for some morning glory oatmeal or a Zappa smoothie. There’s Purebread Bakery

FOODIE FAVOURITES Glenda Bartosh highlights the best in food from the year that was, with an emphasis on health and sustainability.

GETTY IMAGES

60 DECEMBER 30, 2021

(two locations in Whistler plus three in Vancouver) with cakes and goodies so amazing they topped Pique’s Best Desserts list again for 2021. (Personally, I’ll still take my Old Stumpie rye with jam anytime.)

Then there’s Moguls Coffee House in the heart of the village, with its homemade muffins, great views and loyal support, along with Zog’s Dogs, for WAG, the local animal shelter.

No doubt, there’s a lot of great snackin’ for the askin’ around Whistler, but what’s up when you browse store shelves for a little something to take home? That’s when things often fall apart, or at least back onto old habits or stuff you learned as a kid.

I don’t know about you, but snacks fuel lots of my day, especially when I’m working, writing. I remember one time when Paul Burrows walked into my office after he’d hired me as cub reporter at the Whistler Question in the early 1980s.

“Looks like a bloody snack bar,” he said, laughing at the half-empty bags of chips, crinkled chocolate bar wrappers— you name it—piled on my desk. Something about a fast metabolism.

It’s taken me a while, but since the pandemic has slowed us down and a trip to the grocery store is like the best entertainment ever, I’ve finally figured out some tasty, almost-good-for-you snacks, or at least ones that won’t send you into immediate cardiac arrest.

THE TOP CONTENDERS

Nothing But cheese snacks: Now these I couldn’t have discovered back in the Question days because they were only launched this year. A product of Ivanhoe and

Gay Lea Foods, a dairy cooperative started in Ontario in 1870 that supports 1,400-plus Canadian dairy families, these are about as bonafide a Canadian cheese snack as it gets.

Something like Hawkins Cheezies, another Ontario “cheesy” favourite, but Nothing But is nothing but… cheese, Canadian cheese that’s been air-dried ‘til it’s puffy yet crunchy, with all the protein and calcium of the real deal. Hard to come up with a better snack for the Sea to Sky—it’s so targeting the healthy, lightweight, snacking outdoorsy types’ favour, and the bright packaging variously boasts a mountain biker, a canoeist, and a jogger.

Hippie Snacks: Made in Burnaby, Hippie Snacks make you smile just seeing the name. If you haven’t discovered them, rest assured they’re perfect for original hippies (put up your wrinkled hand!), neohippies and Whistler’s perennial hippie jocks. Hippie Snacks are a local fave with good reason—the ingredient list is a dream.

Avocado, not filler or flour, is the first ingredient in my favourite, the avocado crisps, and the lime juice and cayenne give them a nice zip. Twelve crisps deliver five grams of protein and 10 per cent of your daily iron. Plus, the company is one of Canada’s first certified B Corporations, which is all about sustainability. Available at just about every grocery store in Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton. How can you lose?

Three Farmers Roasted Lentils and more: Offering clean, plant-based snacks out of Saskatoon, Sask., Three Farmers (and two sisters, actually) are all about roasting, not frying, pulses like lentils and chickpeas. They’re careful to use high oleic sunflower oil, and seasoning can be as simple as sea salt. (They offer several different flavours, but the simple ones

are my faves). Bonus: the supply chain is totally traceable, so you know where your snacks have been.

Gone Crackers: These Vancouvermade crackers were a hit when West Coasters first discovered them 20 years ago. Available at Nester’s Market, Whole Foods and more, the delicious, well-crafted Gone Crackers are made with no sugars, no yeast and no trans fats from ingredients found in a good pantry. They’re almost a meal unto themselves, like something from Gone Eatery in Whistler Village, this year’s winner of Pique’s Best Lunch category.

If you need more good, easy-peasy food picks, think delivery. Luckily, you don’t have to let go of “sustainable.” Livlite delivers quality groceries and gifts with roots in the Sea to Sky, like Pemberton’s Two Rivers meat and North Arm Farm produce, and Whistler Chocolate’s organic bars. Plus it’s virtually zero-waste. As well, Whistler Cooks will cater, but via Fridge Full they can also deliver to your door everything from groceries to delicious, wholesome meals in eco packaging.

Finally, one last “Best of Whistler” worth noting, and not only for 2021. You’ll read elsewhere in Pique about the departure of our trusty and trusted editor, Clare Ogilvie, who’s certainly been the best, most thoughtful person possible to have occupied that demanding chair since co-founder Bob Barnett’s departure. Gone from Pique, but not from Whistler, she’ll continue to be one of the best things about the community for years to come.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who’s going to really miss working with Clare, Keeper of the Crown Jewels. n

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

Proof of vaccination and government photo ID required for entry

By order of the Provincial Health Officer, the fitness centre will be closed and all group fitness classes cancelled until January 18, 2022.

The pool, arena and squash/basketball courts remain open.

All passes will be extended for the full duration of the closure.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to adapt to changing public health orders.

Visit whistler.ca/notices for further details.

ARENA SCHEDULE THU 30

FRI 31

Family Stick & Puck 12:45-1:45 p.m.

Drop-In Hockey 8-9:30 a.m.

Public Skate 2-6 p.m.

Public Skate 12-4 p.m.

SAT 1

SUN 2

MON 3

TUE 4

WED 5

Women & Oldtimers DIH

Drop-In Hockey 10-11:30 a.m.

Drop-In Hockey 10-11:30 a.m.

Public Skate 12-2 p.m.

Public Skate 12-3 p.m.

8:15-9:45 a.m.

Public Skate 12-3 p.m.

Public Skate 12-3 p.m.

Drop-In Hockey 6:30-8 p.m.

Public Skate 6:30-8 p.m.

POOL SCHEDULE

Please see whistler.ca/recreation for daily pool hours

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

@rmwhistler |

@rmowhistler

Winter has arrived.

Lost Lake Nordic Trails are now open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. *Holiday hours apply December 31 - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

January 1 - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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

ARTS SCENE

Nine-year-old’s Whistler take on classic board game is flying off the shelves DREAMED UP BY RIO MACDONALD, LIFTS AND RUNS IS A WHISTLER BLACKCOMB VERSION OF SNAKES AND LADDERS

BY BRANDON BARRETT IT’S FUN TO IMAGINE a world where a five-year-old’s every whim and idea has been ushered from the realm of imagination into reality. Fountains that spout the sweetest chocolate milk. Magic wands and pixie dust. Dinosaurs on hoverboards. Fun? Sure.

Practical? Not exactly.

But when then-five-year-old Whistlerite Rio MacDonald had a light-bulb moment during a rousing game of Snakes and Ladders a few years back, it was too good for the family to pass up.

“We were playing Snakes and Ladders and my grandma wanted to make [a version of it] with different things and then I thought of Lifts and Runs first,” says Rio, now nine. “It was winter and we like skiing.”

A localized take on a classic board game, Lifts and Runs replaces Snakes and Ladders

BOOMING BOARD GAME Nine-year-old Whistlerite Rio MacDonald replaced the Snakes and Ladders of the classic board game with Lifts and Runs from Whistler Blackcomb, and since launching recently, the game has sold hundreds of copies.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

62 DECEMBER 30, 2021

with some of Rio’s personal favourite Whistler Blackcomb routes. Inspired by Rio’s original drawings, Revelstoke artist Jess Leahey applied her clean, graphic aesthetic to a design that feels contemporary while still playing homage to the centuriesold game that originated out of India.

“I’ve been dabbling in commercial ski

this fall, a post Rio’s mom Josie made to the Whistler Winter Facebook page last week has, at press time, garnered almost 1,000 likes and more than 300 sales (with 1,000 more on order), along with several gift shops that have inquired about carrying the game.

“It feels really cool and I like it,” Rio says

“Part of what we were trying to do is work with Rio and hopefully there is some form of lessons by colloborating with different people ...”

- SCOTT MACDONALD

industry illustrative work for a few years, and I think they felt that the styles I work in could really complement their product,” says Leahey. “[Rio’s parents] had tried one of those quick online graphic designers to start but I think it was clear pretty quickly they needed a skier to capture the right idiosyncrasies.”

And evidently, Whistlerites like what they see so far. First available for purchase

of the response so far. “A lot of my friends, I told them before it came out and I also got them shirts with [the Lifts and Runs logo] on it.”

Rio is clearly in good company, with his family no strangers to entrepreneurial endeavours.

“Let’s just say it runs in the family,” Josie says. “There are a lot of entrepreneurs in the MacDonalds: the uncle sells toques

and T-shirts out of his house. His grandpa MacDonald has invented a few things. His grandma writes books.”

Turning what began as a seed in Rio’s head into a fully fleshed-out business plan is no easy feat, particularly for a kid in elementary school, and his parents saw it as an opportunity to learn a few valuable lessons along the way, both for their son and themselves.

“Part of what we were trying to do is work with Rio and hopefully there is some form of lessons by collaborating with different people and learning a bit about e-commerce as well,” says Rio’s dad, Scott. “What a good way to learn this stuff by actually getting your hands dirty and getting into it.”

As for the burgeoning board game maven, Rio has no plans of stopping just yet. There has already been talk about miniaturizing the game into a suitcasefriendly version for tourists, as well as applying the Lifts and Runs concept to other iconic ski mountains. And let’s not forget Whistler’s other signature sport.

“I’m gonna make a biking one next time,” Rio assures.

Visit liftsandruns.com to buy your copy.

The game retails for $35. n

We’ve got you covered.

Catch all the sports down at Roland’s Pub!

ROLAND’S B&W STORE IS OPEN UNTIL 11pm ON NEW YEAR’S EVE! Shop early to avoid line-ups

World Juniors Hockey, NFL, College football and more!

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Pick up the latest issue of your favourite read on stands and in hotel rooms throughout Whistler.

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OUR LADY OF THE MOUNTAINS WHISTLER CATHOLIC CHURCH 6299 Lorimer Road, Whistler, BC V8E 0C5 • Phone: (604) 905-4781 www.whistlercatholicchurch.ca • Email: whistlercatholicchurch@telus.net

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2021 Christmas & New Year’s Mass Schedule Registration is required: online at www.whistlercatholicchurch.ca by email to whistlercatholicchurch@telus.net or by telephone: 604-905-4781 All Mass attendees in the Diocese of Kamloops are required to wear masks Vigil of Christmas

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Christmas Day:

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New Year’s Eve:

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Wishing you a Merry Christmas, May the Gift of God’s only Son fill your heart with great peace.

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LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION Whistler’s Alex Philip and Ivan Ackery helped produce one of the first talking movies in Canada.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER MUSEUM

Whistler’s connection to Canada’s first talking picture

BY BRAD NICHOLS WHISTLER

HAS LONG had a connection to the film industry in Canada, from the long-running Whistler Film Festival to film productions like the campy Ski School comedy films of the 1990s and countless Hallmark Christmas movies to the worldrenowned action sports films by Anthill Films and Sherpas Cinema.

Whistler is also a part of our nation’s earlier film history in that Canada’s first talking picture, or “talkie”—a film produced with synchronized sound, as opposed to the silent films that were prevalent prior to the 1930s—was based off a novel written by Alta Lake resident Alex Philip.

Alex Philip was one of Whistler’s most well known residents during the first part of the 20th century. In 1915, he and his wife Myrtle opened Rainbow Lodge, Alta Lake’s first summer getaway, and were quintessential in bringing tourism to the valley.

Alex was also an author and went on to pen three novels while operating Rainbow Lodge. The first of his three novels, The Crimson West, was published in 1925. This novel would be adapted into a film called The Crimson Paradise (or Fighting Playboy in the U.S.) in 1933. Shot in Victoria and the surrounding area of Oak Bay and Cowichan Valley, this was Canada’s first talkie.

The screenplay for The Crimson Paradise was written by Arthur Hoerl, who later wrote the screenplay for Reefer Madness (1936), the now-infamous American propaganda film about the dangers of the consumption of marijuana.

The director of The Crimson Paradise, Robert F. Hill, was one of the directors of Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars, a 15-episode serial film released in 1938. Lucile Browne, who had a leading role in the Crimson Paradise, went on to star opposite John

Wayne in two films in 1935: Texas Terror and Rainbow Valley.

The filmmakers hoped that The Crimson Paradise would help to position Victoria as “Hollywood North,” and also hoped to take advantage of new rules on limiting importation of foreign and Hollywood films into the U.K. The producers incorrectly believed that Canada, as part of the British Commonwealth, would not be subjected to the importation rule and could take advantage of a guaranteed audience by being labelled British instead of “foreign.”

This turned out to be incorrect, much to the chagrin of the producers.

The Crimson Paradise premiered at the Capitol Theatre in Victoria on Thursday, Dec. 14, 1933. Ivan Ackery, manager of the Capitol Theater and good friend of Alex Philip, stated, “We only played The Crimson Paradise a week, as I recall, but we did sensational business … It was a real turkey.

So lousy it was good. Everyone wanted to see the local people and local scenes.”

The premiere was a major event in Victoria, attracting a few Hollywood stars along with the Premier and Lieutenant Governor of B.C. The film played in Victoria for a week before moving to Vancouver for another weeklong engagement. Despite its successful premiere, the film ended up being a major financial disaster and bankrupted one of the financial backers, Kathleen Dunsmuir. The film was estimated to cost between $50,000 and $60,000.

Alex Philip and Capital Theatre operator Ivan Ackery remained good friends and would look back fondly on their mutual brush with the film industry. The Whistler Museum collection contains copies of all of Alex’s novels, which we hope to have digitized and available for public viewing in the near future. Sadly, The Crimson Paradise is considered a lost film, meaning that no known copies exist. n

PARTIAL RECALL

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RETIREMENT PARTY Longtime Pique editor Clare Ogilvie celebrated her last day on the job with some well-deserved treats at home. A preview into her post-Pique plans, perhaps? We’ll miss you, Clare! PHOTO SUBMITTED. 2 HOLIDAY CHEER Heidi Rode and Bea Gonzales played tourists in their own town with a festive stroll down the Village Stroll. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 3 MERRY DOGMAS Senior dog Jinx and young puppy Marley (right) enjoyed opening their stockings in Creekside on Christmas morning. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 4 SANTA’S SLEIGH A Whistler Fire Rescue Service truck made the perfect stand-in for Santa’s sleigh during a pre-Christmas visit to Whistler neighbourhoods last week. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 5 CHRISTMAS ELVES Chantel Clayden and Jesslyn Gates get into the holiday spirit at the Westin. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 1

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

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Resort Municipality of Whistler

Accessibility and Inclusion Committee Membership The Resort Municipality of Whistler is seeking qualified applicants to serve in a voluntary capacity on the Accessibility and Inclusion Committee for the 2022 Resort Municipality of Whistler to 2024 term. Applications are being sought for two community members.

Recreation and Leisure Advisory Committee Membership

The Accessibility and Inclusion Committee is a volunteer committee appointed by Council to advise on matters concerning accessibility and inclusion in Whistler. The Committee’s Terms of Reference can be viewed at: whistler.ca/AIC Nominees may include: with disabilities; The• Persons Resort Municipality of Whistler is seeking qualified applicants to serve in a voluntary • Caregivers; and capacity on the Recreation and Leisure Advisory Committee for the 2020 to 2022 term.or tourism sectors whose roles • Professionals in the accommodation This include committee is to provide an objective view in the public interest inclusion and accessibility. to municipal staff and Council on the provision and delivery of indoor Apply submitting a brief statement reflects your services interest inand issues. and by outdoor recreation and leisurethat opportunities, Download terms of reference for this committee participating on this Committee to the Planning Department: at whistler. ca/committees.

ByApply mail: Planning Department by submitting a resume and brief statement that reflects your interest in participating on this committee in PDF format to Resort Municipality of Whistler resortexperience@whistler.ca.

Include ‘RLAC 4325 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, BC V8E 0X5 Membership’ in the subject line.

ByPhone email: planning@whistler.ca 604-935-8180 for more information.

Phone: 604-935-8170 Submission deadline: Monday January 27, 2020 at 4 p.m.

Submission deadline: Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.

ASTROLOGY

Free Will Astrology WEEK OF DECEMBER 30 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Historians disagree about the legacy of Jimmy Carter, who was President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Was he effective or not? Opinions differ. But there’s no ambiguity about a project he pursued after his presidency. He led a global effort to eliminate a pernicious disease caused by the guinea worm parasite. When Carter began his work, 3.5 million people per year suffered from the parasite’s debilitating effects. Today, there are close to zero victims. Will 2022 bring an equivalent boon to your life, Aries? The banishment of an old bugaboo? A monumental healing? I suspect so.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 2022, I hope you will express more praise than ever before. I hope you’ll be a beacon of support and inspiration for the people you care for. The astrological omens suggest this could be a record-breaking year for the blessings you bestow.

Don’t underestimate your power to heal and instigate beneficial transformations. Yes, of course, it’s a kind and generous strategy for you to carry out. But it will also lead to unforeseen rewards that will support and inspire and heal you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): If you search Google, you’ll be told that the longest biography ever written is the 24-volume set about British political leader Winston Churchill. But my research shows there’s an even more extensive biography: about Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, who lived from 1901 to 1989. His story consists of 61 volumes. In the spirit of these expansive tales, and in accordance with 2022’s astrological aspects, I encourage you to create an abundance of noteworthy events that will deserve inclusion in your biography.

Make this the year that warrants the longest and most interesting chapter in that masterpiece.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): One of the 20th century’s most famous works of art was Fountain.

It was scandalous when it appeared in 1917, since it consisted entirely of a white porcelain urinal.

Marcel Duchamp, the artist who presented it, was a critic of the art market and loved mocking conventional thought. Years later, however, evidence emerged suggesting that Fountain may not have been Duchamp’s idea—that in fact he “borrowed” it from Cancerian artist and poet Baroness Elsa von FreytagLoringhoven. There’s still disagreement among art scholars about what the facts are. But if definitive proof ever arrives that von Freytag-Loringhoven was the originator, it will be in 2022. This will be the year many Cancerians finally get the credit they deserve.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Carson McCullers wrote the novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Early in the story, the character named Mick Kelly has a crisis of yearning.

McCullers describes it: “The feeling was a whole lot worse than being hungry for any dinner, yet it was like that. I want—I want—I want—was all that she could think about—but just what this real want was she did not know.” If you have ever had experiences resembling Mick’s, Leo, 2022 will be your year to fix that glitch in your passion. You will receive substantial assistance from life whenever you work on the intention to clarify and define the specific longings that are most essential to you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): After careful research, I have concluded that one of your important missions in 2022 will be to embody a perspective articulated by poet Rand Howells: “If I could have but one wish granted, it would be to live in a universe like this one at a time like the present with friends like the ones I have now and be myself.” In other words, Virgo, I’m encouraging you to do whatever’s necessary to love your life exactly as it is—without comparing it unfavourably to anyone else’s life or to some imaginary life you don’t actually have.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If your quest for spiritual enlightenment doesn’t enhance your ability to witness and heal the suffering of others, then it’s fake enlightenment.

If your quest for enlightenment encourages you to imagine that expressing personal freedom exempts you from caring for the well-being of your fellow humans, it’s fake. If your quest for enlightenment allows you to ignore racism, bigotry, plutocracy, misogyny, and LGBTQIA-phobia, it’s fake. Everything I just said about enlightenment is equally true about your quest for personal success. If it doesn’t involve serving others, it’s meaningless. In this spirit, Libra, and in accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to make 2022 the year you take your compassion and empathy to the highest level ever.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Two mating rabbits could theoretically engender 11 million relatives within a year’s time. Although I suspect that in 2022 you will be as metaphorically fertile as those two hypothetical rabbits, I’m hoping you’ll aim more for quality than quantity. To get started, identify two projects you could pursue in the coming months that will elicit your most liberated creativity. Write a vow in which you state your intention to be intensely focused as you express your fecundity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A blogger named Soracities writes, “The more I read, the more I feel that a good mark of an intelligent book is simply that the author is having fun with it.” Sagittarian author George Saunders adds that at its best, “Literature is a form of fondness-for-life. It is love for life taking a verbal form.”

I will expand these analyses to evaluate everything that humans make and do. In my opinion, the supreme sign of intelligence and value is whether the creators had fun and felt love in doing it. My proposal to you, Sagittarius, is to evaluate your experiences in that spirit. If you are doing things with meager amounts of fun and love, what can you do in 2022 to raise the fun and love quotient?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. It was later described as “the single greatest victory ever achieved over disease”—an antidote to dangerous infections caused by bacteria. But there’s more to the story. Fleming’s strain of penicillin could only be produced in tiny amounts—not nearly enough to become a widespread medicine. It wasn’t until 1943 that a different strain of penicillin was found—one that could be mass-produced. The genius who made this possible was Mary Hunt, a humble researcher without a college degree. By 1944, the new drug was saving thousands of lives. I mention Hunt because she’s a good role model for you in 2022. I believe you’ll have chances to improve on the work of others, generating excellent results. You may also improve on work you’ve done in the past.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Catherine Pugh wrote a series of children’s books collectively known as Healthy Holly. Later, when she became mayor of the city of Baltimore, she carried out a scheme to sell 100,000 copies to hospitals and schools that did business with the city. Uh-oh. Corruption! She was forced to resign from her office and was arrested. I’d love for you to be aggressive and imaginative in promoting yourself in 2022, but only if you can find ethical ways to do so. I’d love for you to make money from doing what you do best, but always with high integrity and impeccability.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean Vaslav Nijinsky is regarded by many as the 20th century’s most brilliant dancer. He had a robust relationship with beauty, and I want you to know about it. Hopefully, this will inspire you to enjoy prolonged periods of Beauty Worship in 2022. To do so will be good for your health. Memorize this passage from Nijinsky: “Beauty is God. God is beauty with feeling.

Beauty is in feeling. I love beauty because I feel it and therefore understand it. I flaunt my beauty. I feel love for beauty.”

Homework: Name your greatest hope for the person you love best. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com.

In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates

Resort Municipality of Whistler whistler.ca/AIC

66 DECEMBER 30, 2021

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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• Corporate Coordinator • Skate Host - Meadow Parks Sports Centre • Equipment Operator II – Roads • Deputy Corporate Officer • Accounting Clerk • Volunteer Opportunity: Lost Lake Nordic Trails Trail Host • Volunteer Opportunity: Lost Lake Nordic Trails Patrol/Trail Crew

We offer competitive wages, a unique environment, seasonal bonuses, staff discounts and benefits.

Ask about accommodation.

Come Grow Sport with us at our Whistler Olympic Legacy Venues

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Job duration: 32 weeks Jan 1st-Aug 31st -or- March 3rd-November 3rd 2022 Applicants can mail, or email resumes to North Arm Farm PO BOX 165, Pemberton, BC V0N 2L0 Email: info@northarmfarm.com

Currently seeking:

APPRENTICES AND JOURNEYWOMEN/JOURNEYMEN Come work with us! We value strong communication skills, ability to work independently, and motivation to learn and grow with our company. We offer benefits and a healthy work-life balance; we’re here for a good time and hopefully some powder days. Wages are negotiable, based on experience and knowledge of electrical code.

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WE ARE

HIRING

Human Resources Advisor - Regular Full-Time Legislative Services Clerk 4 - Regular Full-Time Economic Development Coordinator - Temporary Full-Time Plan Checker - Regular Full-Time

EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, APPLY TODAY! Diamond Resorts Canada Ltd., Whistler, BC

Chief Operator Waste Water Treatment Plant - Regular Full-Time

Currently seeking a full time Quality Assurance Representative to explain contracts to potential & existing Embarc Members at time of purchase.

Eligible successful candidates may receive*:

Financial Services Specialist - Temporary Full-Time

• Extensive benefits package which may include; ski pass or wellness allowance, disability coverage, travel insurance and extended health and dental.

Utility Operator 2 - Regular Full-Time

• Discounted employee rates at any Diamond Resort International resort.

• Full-time work year round and a FUN work environment. *eligibility and conditions based on DRCL policies and practices set out in general terms and conditions of employment.

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Sally John Physiotherapy

squamish.ca/careers

Email your resume with the position you wish to apply for to: embarc_hr@diamondresorts.com

In business for 37 years going strong, we're hiring motivated individuals to join our thriving team with a family atmosphere.

Exciting Career Opportunities APPLY TODAY!

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS TAKEN PRIOR TO APPOINTMENT DOUBLE VACCINATION REQUIRED

REGISTERED PHYSIOTHERAPIST

IN HOME PHYSIOTHERAPY AVAILABLE CUSTOM-MADE ORTHOTICS at competitive prices for ski boots & shoes, including training shoes.

17 years of making orthotics

‘Sally John Physiotherapy’ 2997 Alpine Cresent (Alta Vista)

(604) 698-6661

www.sallyjohnphysiotherapy.com

SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

2 Positions Available • Glazier • Manager’s Assistant

Diamond Resorts Canada Ltd., Whistler, BC

SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Eligible successful candidates may receive*: • Extensive benefits package that may include: ski pass or wellness allowance, disability coverage, travel insurance and extended health and dental

• New hire bonus up to $1,000 • Discounted employee rates at any Diamond Resorts property • Full-time work year-round and a FUN work environment

Email your resume with the position you wish to apply for to:

embarc_hr@diamondresorts.com

To apply email randy@whistlerglass.com

Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) acquired Diamond Resorts International (DRI), and its subsidiary companies, such as Diamond Resorts Canada, Ltd. (DRCL), as of August 02, 2021. If you apply to work at Embarc, you will be an applicant of a subsidiary of HGV. A transition to HGV will occur as we integrate technology, systems and branding, but it will take time until our separate operating systems, employment policies and benefits are fully integrated. As a result, for a period of time, employees will receive correspondence and messaging from Embarc as well as from HGV and related entities. *Eligibility and conditions based on DRCL policies and practices set out in general terms and conditions of employment. 2112-1001

CLASSES CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. The Pinnacle Hotel Whistler has the following positions available:

See our full page schedule ad in this issue of Pique for details

HOUSEKEEPING SUPERVISOR STARTING RATE $25 P/H

piquenewsmagazine.com/ local-events/

Please reply by email: parmstrong@pinnaclehotels.ca

The Pinnacle Hotel Whistler has the following positions available:

ROOM ATTENDANTS AND MAINTENANCE POSITIONS Starting rate of $23 p/h

Please reply by email: parmstrong@pinnaclehotels.ca DECEMBER 30, 2021

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES PIQUENEWSMAGAZINE.COM/JOBS

NOTICES GENERAL NOTICES

THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

We’re looking for kind, compassionate people to join our team of incredible Caregivers.

You are Unique, empathetic and love working with people.

Great at building relationships.

Reliable and follow through with commitments.

You see solutions and possibility.

We offer Competitive wages.

Flexible hours that fit your busy schedule.

Opportunity to connect with people in our community.

Commitment to making lives better.

Curious?

Call: 604-747-2847 or email your resume to: shannon.kirkwood@nursenextdoor.com

ROTARY CLUBS OF WHISTLER The Rotary Clubs of Whistler are now meeting virtually.

The Whistler Club Tuesdays at 3.

The Millennium Club Thursdays at 12:15.

Contact us at info@Whistler-rotary.org for log in info. All welcome.

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

Meet people, make connections, volunteer, build your communication skills in English.

Multicultural Meet Up every Friday 9.30-12pm.604-698-5960 info@welcomewhistler.com FB: WhistlerWelcomeCentre

VOLUNTEERS Big Brothers, Big Sisters Sea to Sky - Volunteer to Mentor- just 1hr/week and make a difference in a child's life.

Call 604-892-3125.

is now hiring for

Maintenance Person This dynamic role includes the following Perks and Benefits:

• Full-Time, Year-Round position • Competitive Wages and Health Benefits • Supportive Management Team • Wages Starting From $21 per hour

Whistler Athletes’ Centre

Please reply with a cover letter and resume to hr@listelhotel.com

Thank you for your interest. Only those applicants being considered for an interview will be contacted.

(High-Performance Training & Accommodation) Guest Service Agent/Lodge Attendant

Whistler Olympic Park

(Nordic Skiing, Snowshoeing & Outdoor Activities) Nordic Sport Instructor Maintenance & Operations Worker Guest Service Rep Snow Clearing Operator

Whistler Sliding Centre (Bobsleigh, Luge & Skeleton) Track Worker Control & Timing Operator Lead, Sport and Guest Services Facility Operations - Snow Clearing

Come Grow Sport with us at our Whistler Olympic Legacy Venues

We offer competitive wages, a unique environment, seasonal bonuses, staff discounts and benefits.

Ask about accommodation.

We offer competitive wages, a unique environment, seasonal bonuses, staff discounts and benefits.

Ask about accommodation.

Come Grow Sport with us at our Whistler Olympic Legacy Venues

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ***Local Automotive*** Automotive technician for year round position in Whistler. 604-905-9109 steve@localautomotive.com Now Hiring - Eagle Pass Heliski Eagle Pass Heliski is hiring for the following positions: - Lunch Program Chef - Sous Chef - Breakfast Chef - Kitchen Porter - Housekeeper - Night Auditor - Client Relations Specialist For further information please visit www.eaglepassheliskiing.com/jobs

Incentive Bonus and Spirit Pass Financing Available

For seasonal full time roles (Restrictions may apply)

Check our website for seasonal opportunities at our 3 venues

Visit our website to view current postings and to apply:

Visit our website to view current postings and to apply:

www.whistlersportlegacies.com/careers

www.whistlersportlegacies.com/careers

70 DECEMBER 30, 2021

EMPLOYMENT

Dirty Doggy?

Drop by the shelter and give your dog a bath in one of WAG’S do-it-yourself waist level tubs. Each bath is by $15 donation to WAG. Please call ahead to book a time.

www.whistlerwag.com

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are hiring a

Office Administrator

Youth Case Worker to help us end youth homelessness

Whistler’s premier visitor magazine is on stands now!

PICK UP YOUR COPY TODAY!

GENERAL LABOURER REQUIRED: • General clean up and organize site materials, tools etc.

• Organize deliveries at arrival

Look for our Winter 2022 Issue!

Find it on select stands and in Whistler hotel rooms.

• Must be hardworking and enthusiastic • Complete tasks in a timely and efficient manner • Physically fit, mobile and able to work outdoors • Friendly, hard-working and happy to pitch in • Must have STEEL TOED BOOTS. WDC offers competitive wages and this is a long term position with room for growth and for the right candidate training to use site equipment such as Telehandler, Forklift and Bobcat.

Immediate Start Email your resume to: projects@WDC2020corp.com

Join a fun, locally owned and operated Lodge that puts people first and offers you the opportunity to thrive at work!

NOW HIRING: • Guest Service Agent • Night Audit • Chef de Partie • First Cooks • Second Cooks • Steward • Room Attendant • House Attendant To apply email your resume to: careers@nitalakelodge.com

Scan Here to View Current Opportunities at Nita!

DECEMBER 30, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

Whistler Premier Resorts, Whistler’s leading property management firm is currently recruiting!

What We Offer You:

• Full Time Positions • Competitive Wages • • Discounted Ski Pass • Discounted Employee Rates • • Supportive Team Environment • Staff Housing • • Opportunities for growth & more • • Signing Bonus •

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ROOM ATTENDANT GUEST SERVICE AGENT ROOM •ATTENDANT NIGHT AUDIT HOUSEMAN/INSPECTOR GUEST• SERVICE AGENT FULLNIGHT TIME MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN AUDIT • HOUSEMAN APPLY TODAY AT PEOPLE@WHISTLERPREMIER.COM

Domino’s Pizza in Whistler is

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604-932-0410

MAEGAN@BCDOMINOS.COM

We’re Hiring!

Labourers, Carpenters, Foreman, Project Managers

We are currently interviewing: Tile Setters - and Labourers Please submit your resume to: office@burkinshawtile.com

Whistler’s Premier Tile Setters

Red Door Bistro is looking for line cooks.

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72 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Email resume to info@reddoorbistro.ca or apply in person at 2129 Lake Placid Road

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Full job descriptions at: Full job descriptions at: www.canadianwilderness.com/employment/ CRYSTAL HUT FONDUE – FOH (SUPERVISOR / SERVER) www.canadianwilderness.com/employment/

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IN IN RESORT RESORT MARKETING MARKETING PERKS INCLUDE: PERKS INCLUDE: TOP INDUSTRY PAY – SPIRIT PASS PROGRAM – TOP INDUSTRY PAY – SPIRIT PASS PROGRAM – FLEXIBLE FREE ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES –– FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE SCHEDULE –– FREE FRIENDS DISCOUNTS FRIENDS & & FAMILY FAMILY DISCOUNTS

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UNLIMITED SEASON SKI PASS Included in your HIRING PACKAGE! we also provide our staff with: Competitive Wages, Health Benefits, Gratuities, Employee Discounts and Staff Housing

JOIN OUR TEAM Cooks, Dishwashers, Expeditors, Server Assistants, Hosts, Servers, Bartenders Restaurant Manager

Submit your resume to: elle.boutilier@araxi.com We've Got You Covered VISITORS’ GUIDE 2017-2018 FREE

STEP INTO THE SOUL OF WHISTLER

www.whistlerexcavations.com

The Sea to Sky corridor’s top civil construction company.

We are currently recruiting professionally minded people to join our team.

Required: Class 1 Truck Drivers Please send resume to: Email: info@whistlerexcavations.com

Crystal Lodge is recruiting fun and friendly individuals to join our team in the following roles: • • • • • • •

Reservations Coordinator Reservations Agent Manager on Duty Front Desk Agent Housekeeper Night Janitor Maintenance Technician

IT’S EASY TO APPLY VIA OUR WEBSITE: WWW.CRYSTAL-LODGE.COM/CAREERS

DECEMBER 30, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

Become part of a creative team and surround yourself with art The Audain Art Museum is currently seeking:

Marketing Coordinator full-time, permanent

The successful candidate will be creative, collaborative, and forward-thinking, offering both technical knowledge and relevant experience to allow the AAM to excel in marketing and communications efforts.

Responsibilities include administration of advertising, digital engagement, content marketing, social media, special events, Museum tours, and public relations.

Application deadline is January 7, 2022 For complete job description visit audainartmuseum.com/employment

We are the Spa for you If you are looking for a new place to call home: • We manifest positive energy • We have a long term and loyal team • We treat you fairly and look out for your wellness • You are listened to • We give you proper breaks and time to set up between services • We offer extended medical benefits • You can enjoy $5.00 cafeteria meals • You have the opportunity to work for other Vida locations in slow season • Staff Housing Available We are here for you.

Vida Spa at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler is currently recruiting: REGISTERED MASSAGE THERAPIST (signing bonus applicable) ESTHETICIAN GUEST SERVICE AGENT SPA PRACTITIONER SPA SUPERVISOR ASSISTANT To join our unique Vida family, email Bonnie@vidaspas.com Vida Spas - Vancouver & Whistler Live well. Live long. vidaspas.com Thank You for applying Only those considered will be contacted.

EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, APPLY TODAY! Diamond Resorts Canada Ltd., Whistler, BC

Full Time & Part Time Housekeepers Full Time Front Desk Agent Eligible successful candidates may receive* • $750.00 Hiring Bonus for successful full time candidates! $375.00 Hiring Bonus for successful part time candidates!

• Extensive benefits package which may include; ski pass or wellness allowance, disability coverage, travel insurance and extended health and dental.

• Travel Allowance and discounted employee rates at any Diamond Resort International resort.

• Full-time work year round and a FUN work environment. *eligibility and conditions based on DRCL policies and practices set out in general terms and conditions of employment. Please note that Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) acquired Diamond Resorts International (DRI) as of August 02, 2021. If you apply to work at a Diamond Resorts company you will be an applicant of a subsidiary of HGV. A transition to HGV will occur as we integrate technology, systems and branding but it will take time until our separate operating systems, employment policies and benefits are fully integrated. As a result, for a period of time, employees will receive correspondence and messaging from Diamond Resorts as well as from HGV and related entities.

Email your resume with the position you wish to apply for to: Jerome.Boye@hgv.com

74 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Vacasa Whistler is currently hiring: • Room attendants and houseperson Wages starting from $21.75 to $23.00 • Housekeeping Assistant Manager $50K and Housekeeping Coordinator $21.00 • Maintenance Tech $23.50 Flexible schedule, variable shifts available including possible night shift • Travel allowance for Squamish and Pemberton based employees OR activity/ski pass allowance. Signing bonus of $500.

Extended medical and dental coverage.

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

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

THE PAN PACIFIC IS WHISTLER IS IMMEDIATELY HIRING FOR THE FOLLOWING MANAGEMENT POSITIONS:

Director of Engineering/Technical Services and Manager of Human Capital and Development (HR Manager).

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO: careers.ppwhi@panpacific.com to apply*.

The duties of our Director of Engineering/Technical Services include, but are not limited to, the following: • Coaches and educates Maintenance Team members to deliver the service standards required and develops a team that is multi-functional and self-directed, while identifying and implementing improvement plans as needed • Provides leadership for the implementation of efficient procedures in Energy Management, Environment Management, Emergency Procedures, and Risk Management • Conducts preventative maintenance audits regularly with other departments • Organizes weekly and monthly inspections and meetings to cover all areas (i.e. Fire & Safety, OH&S, rooms and associates’ facilities, grounds, recreation facilities, etc.) and ensures that all required standards are met • Conducts feasibility studies and implements capital improvement projects to ensure that the Hotel’s facilities retain their intended functional capabilities and aesthetic value • Oversees maintenance time and billing and communicates and coordinates with the Strata Property Manager as required, while adhering to the Strata Property’s contractual terms

The duties of our Manager of Human Capital and Development include, but are not limited to, the following: • Manage and deliver learning & development activities for associates; ensure that training and certifications are tracked and up to date • Manages full-cycle recruitment, recruitment planning, and onboarding • Provides guidance and direction to managers and supervisors as it relates to leadership, performance management, progressive discipline, and general associate relations • Handles employee complaints and conducts investigations as required • Manages and administers the company’s benefits programs • Oversees the company’s internal recognition programs • Manages the oversight of employee housing • Processes and oversees WorkSafe BC claims SALARIES FOR THESE ROLES ARE COMMENSURATE WITH EXPERIENCE. COME WORK FOR AN AWARD-WINNING HOTEL IN WHISTLER! WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU! Note: only qualified applicants will be contacted for interviews. *These positions are also advertised on Indeed.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group is a member of Singapore-listed UOL Group Limited, one of Asia’s most established hotel and property companies with an outstanding portfolio of investment and development properties.

CALL THE EXPERTS

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BLINDS ETC.

BLINDS ETC.

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WINDOW COVERINGS

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Whistler’s Source for Blinds since 1989

Custom Blinds • Shades • Draperies

• BLINDS • SHADES

• SHUTTERS • DRAPERY

Connie Griffiths Tel: 604-935-2101 Email: windowcov@shaw.ca www.whistlerwindowcoverings.ca

Custom Window Treatments Contact us today for a free quote or consultation info@suncrestwindowcoverings.com

CARPET CLEANING

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604-966-1437

coastmountaincleaning@gmail.com

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BLACK BEAR CARPET CLEANING LTD. • Carpets • Upholstery • Tiles • Car Interiors

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We use tea tree oil based cleaning products.

FURNITURE

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GENERAL MAINTENANCE

• Carpentry • Tiling • Drywall Repairs • Texture Finishing • Renovations • Installation • Painting • Plumbing • Snow Removal • Appliance Repairs Ask Us About • Mine Sweeping Your Home ROB PIDGEON • 604-932-7707 • Bonded & Insured

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76 DECEMBER 30, 2021

Western Technical System Inc Residential/Commercial Heat Pumps Boilers-Furnaces-Chillers Design Build Call us today! 778-994-3159 www.westerntechnical.net

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72 74 75 77 78 79 81 82 83 84 86 90 92 93 96 98 99 101 102 103 105 106 108 109 111 112 113 115 116 117 118 120 121 122 125 127 129 133 134

136 138 140 141 143 145 147 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156

It’s north of Java River in Asia Seek old haunts Almost-grads Paved way Seagal or Jobs Expunge Endorse a check Climbs a rope Eye part Brother of Artemis Llama cousin Skedaddle Indent key Glossy fabrics Pac-12 team Dashing Color Attractive one Not prohibited Peeved Frat letter “Grand -- Opry” Feather Eva or Zsa Zsa Sped Pool cover Love, in Madrid Turn color, maybe Kangaroos Lure Peevish Hair tint At a discount (2 wds.)

Pick Bring cheer Plod heavily 13th Hebrew letter JAMA readers

35 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 51 52 53 54 55

-- -craftsy Impatient Virtuoso Rapidly Houston pro Debussy music Privileged few Nimbuses Gainesville fan Henry VIII’s house Central sections Ration Common abrasive Inventory list Swiftness

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 31 33

“Hedda Gabler” author Recently Snow crystal Annex Whiskey grains Rubbed against Emergency Support a church WSW opposite Escritoire Ear parts Heckle Destroy a tape Be under the weather Audition tape Well-thrown pigskin Kesey or Russell In a foul mood More delicate Canine pests Puts cargo on board In a hostile manner

57 58 59 61 63 66 67 68 70 73 74 76 79 80 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 91 92 93 94

Part of a shoe Durable fabric Familiar with (2 wds.)

Conductor’s stick Peace gesture Wing it (hyph.)

Docs prescribe them Abbot’s underling Track events Clear sky Makes dirty Welded “South Pacific” Frenchman Entertainer Della -Catch on (2 wds.)

Chase the puck Yellow fruit Roof parts Common amphibian Skybox locale Dallas NHLers Diamond -Hunter constellation City near Syracuse Prepares for print “-- We Dance?”

Whinny Catch some z’s Pet-adoption org.

Invade English racetrack Zahn or Abdul Web-toed mammal Flower adornment German pistol Drawing room Student’s paper Drill

95 97 99 100 104 105 107 110 111 112 114 116 117 119 120 121 122

Hippie wear Decline Steak cut (hyph.)

Cagers’ goals Steal the scene Enthralled Is gloomy Weaker, as an excuse Central points Regions Grade school org.

Minister’s house Bat swingers Firstborn Naughty kid Accidental Nebraska city

123 124 126 128 130 131 132 135 137 139 142 144 146 148

Mountain kingdom Petite Starbucks order Summa cum -Animals’ homes Vocal group Formation flyers Dry plains shrub Hairy humanoid “Ugh!” Pigeon talk Malone of “Cheers” Egyptian boy-king, briefly Hawaii’s Mauna --

LAST WEEKS’ ANSWERS

Enter a digit from 1 through 9 in each cell, in such a way that: • Each horizontal row contains each digit exactly once • Each vertical column contains each digit exactly once • Each 3x3 box contains each digit exactly once Solving a sudoku puzzle does not require any mathematics; simple logic suffices.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM

6 9 4 1

1 5 6 2

8

9 2 8 7

5 7

1 6

8 4 3 9

2

4 5 6 2

9 3 2 8 5

MEDIUM Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com # 5

1 5

3 4 MEDIUM

2 4 1 7

1

6

4

5

2 6 7 8 1

9 7

3 7

8 4

7 6

#6

ANSWERS ON PAGE 68

DECEMBER 30, 2021

77

MAXED OUT

It’s time for the 2021 Maxie Awards AFTER A YEAR’S COVID hiatus, back with no popular demand at all, the annual Maxie Awards once again offer a highly selective view of things requiring, well, notice, if not notoriety, that transpired over the past very weird year. As usual, but perhaps with added emphasis this year, subjectivity is the byword, there being only a judging panel of one—me. So without further ado, the envelopes please.

MOUNTAIN CULTURE AWARDS

Best On-Mountain Development: They’re open. The mountains. Sort of. For now.

BY G.D. MAXWELL Yeah, the grooming is eclectic. Which lifts are operating is a crapshoot. Safety is the No. (?) priority. And the smart money isn’t on spring skiing again this year. But live for the moment, eh?

Least Best On-Mountain Development: Wow, we have a tie. Vail Resorts’ announcement to spend oodles of money on a new Creekside Gondola and Red Chair six-pack only seem like a good idea until you compare it to the company’s silence about a long-promised, 240-bed addition to staff housing. Hard to imagine how new lifts trump staff to run them but then, that incident Monday at the Creek gondy may shed a different light on this outcome. Garnering far more votes but far less response, was the mulish decision to ignore the thousands of people who have besieged the Broomfieldians to make riding gondolas at least as safe as eating Epic burgers by adopting a vaccine requirement.

Give Us More: Staff. Having built a juggernaut of a resort, Whistler’s Achilles heel has the town finally limping... badly. The machine doesn’t run without the workerbees to run it and, like almost everywhere else in the world, they’re staying away in droves.

Give Us Less: Another tie? Really? Yes, it’s a toss-up. The thing(s) Whistlerites would most like to see leave town forever are, in no particular order: COVID; and Vail Resorts.

GOVERNMENT IN ACTION AWARDS

Déja vu All Over Again: What do you get to celebrate a needless federal election? More or less the same Parliament you had before the election. Oh well, at least the S-to-S, et al., riding avoided the potential zombie apocalypse and returned our sitting MP... like most of the rest of the country.

Surf’s Up: On the heels of his election victory (?) Justin Trudeau celebrates the first national Truth and Recreation Day by going surfing in Tofino instead of making a token appearance at Kamloops’

78 DECEMBER 30, 2021

GETTYIMAGES.CA

remembrance of Indigenous children plowed into unmarked graves. Oh, was that another apology, JT? Logic Schmogic—Just Do What I Say: Working hand in hand, the provincial Ministry of Health and the Public Health Officer magically make Whistler Vancouver’s local ski hill, leading inevitably to Whistler becoming Canada’s Italy in terms of a COVID outbreak.

And the logic of the province’s vaccine passport—encouraging reluctant people to get vaccinated—ends at the doors of resort gondolas. There’s either science or a pony under here somewhere.

Time for a New Crystal Ball: In April, the BC Wildfire Service announced it was anticipating a “normal” fire season for the coming summer. The one that became the third worst on record, wiped Lytton off the map and choked much of the province... until the unprecedented floods of autumn drowned everything.

Ready, Aim...: In response to a ransomware attack that shut down the RMOW—oh, you didn’t notice?—the muni sues Pique for reporting what is widely

municipalities to, among other things, enact bans on plastics without provincial approval. The RMOW announces it is planning to ban plastic bags and other items early in 2023. Meanwhile, in its left hand, it rolls out the Climate Action BIG MOVES Strategies... none of which make a dent in things until 2030.

Stop Picking On Us: OK, it’s not all bad.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler rolled out pay parking at four of the town’s popular parks this summer. It finally announced a cannabis strategy. Suggested it might start dealing with the tacky sandwich signs polluting the Village Stroll and had harsh words for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for making Highway 99 impassable much of the summer by scheduling all roadwork during the busiest times of day. All those were good things.

OH, THE HUMANITY AWARDS

The Five Rings of Hell: It’s baaaaack.

Provincial and municipal leaders, joined or spurred on by a number of Indigenous nations, are making serious noises about bringing the Olympic™ Games back to

The thing(s) Whistlerites would most like to see leave town forever are, in no particular order: COVID; and Vail Resorts. known.

You Take the High Road: After imploring both the provincial government and Vail Resorts to institute a vaccine mandate for mountain access, the RMOW finally decides to implement one for its own employees... next March... maybe.

Watch My Right Hand: Changes to the Local Government Act empowered

Vancouver/Whistler in 2030. Fool me once, shame on you...

A Hero Ain’t Just a Sandwich: The rescue of the year goes to the Whistler firefighters who, defying all medical odds, managed to fish a local senior out of Alta Lake when his skinny-ski adventure turned into watersports early last January. One firefighter jumped into the freezing water

to help pull the potential personsicle out before his core temperature dipped below, yer kidding, 30 C! Inspiring.

Chill Out; Or Go Home: To those visitors, locals and zombies who feel compelled to take out their self-righteousness and/or racist rants on hard-working locals because they can’t get a table, reservation, food, or other stuff quickly enough or at all, just do everyone a favour and go away. We’re all working as hard as we can and there simply aren’t enough of us.

LIFE IN OUR BUBBLE AWARDS

Does This Make Me Look Fat?: How do you handle a hungry bear? If you’re a privileged, ignorant Kadenwood resident, you buy bushels of carrots and apples and feed them. And be sure to save enough to pay the $60,000 fine when your neighbours turn you in.

Taking One, er, 40 For the Team: Dog, Big Rich and Stinky spent two years eating their way through all the burgers in town to prove Dog’s hypothesis that Caramba made the best burger in town, maybe the world.

That’s the kind of dedication that made Whistler great.

Wow. Just Wow: Michael, Yoshi, the Audain Museum and Foundation gifted Whistler the Watchman totem, created by James Hart, Xwalacktun and Levi Nelson.

You can’t, and shouldn’t miss it; it’s the biggest thing on Blackcomb Way. Big Hearts, Deep Pockets: Whistler has ‘em; Whistler showed ‘em all year long with donations to Whistler Community Services Society, Whistler Community Foundation, Whistler Health Care Foundation and other groups in town who do good deeds. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Changing of the Guard: There’ll be a new name after the title Editor in next week’s Pique. After a long run as only the second editor ever, Clare Ogilvie is retiring to embark on new ways to make Tiny Town an even better place to live.

Best wishes. ■

HAPPY NEW YEAR NEW TO MARKET

BAYSHORE Unit 4A or 6D-2561 Tricouni Place Seasons is the ideal property for those who want to enjoy a week every beautiful season in Whistler without having to commit to full ownership. Townhome with three bedrooms, two baths plus sauna for a fraction of the cost!. $49,000

Sherry Boyd

VILLAGE NORTH 211-4369 Main Street Alpenglow Lodge in Village North.

2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms plus a full kitchen and bright living area. Close to everything Whistler provides. Phase II property. $809,000

778-834-2002 Allyson Sutton

604-902-7220 Ruby Jiang

WEDGEWOODS 9055 Armchair Place Great new build on 1.4 acres. 10‘ ceilings, radiant heating, 8BR, 8BA, 1100SF covered deck space, 4-car garage and auxiliary 2BR suite for family, friends or rental. Ready for your finishing touches. $4,190,000

RAINBOW 8428 Ski Jump Rise Set against a hillside that truly emphasizes the mountain experience with breathtaking mountain views & incredible light. $2,100,000

604-935-9172 Maggi Thornhill *PREC

Rob Boyd NEW TO MARKET

WHITE GOLD 7453 Ambassador Crescent Amazingly bright, open and versatile property that sleeps 22, enough room for the entire family, completely reno’d in 2014. Turn-key property and is ready for your entire family to all have space to enjoy their Whistler Sanctuary, making this a hidden gem! $5,800,000

604-932-7609

RAINBOW 8975 Highway 99 14.09 acres Panoramic mountain and lake views! Opportunity to develop a unique & private family estate just 10 minutes north of Whistler village. $7,500,000

604-905-8199 Bob Daniels

604-932-7997

SOLD

SQUAMISH 39241 Falcon Crescent Ravenswood Home! 3 bed & 3 bath close to Brennan Park rec centre. Lovely open plan, lots of upgrades: kitchen aid appliances, window blinds, custom closets & many more! Close to all hiking & biking trails. $1,689,000

Angie Vazquez *PREC

SQUAMISH 612-38362 Buckley Ave Gorgeous 6th floor 1 bed + flex room in Jumar! Featuring stunning mountain views, a huge storage locker (about 50 sq ft), high-end/modern finishes, building is only 1 yr old! Easy commute to Whistler & Vancouver! $578,000

778-318-5900 Kerry Batt *PREC

NORTH VANCOUVER 112-649 East 3rd Street This is 1405 sq.ft. of LEED Gold certified luxury living. Open concept design. Gourmet kitchen with high-end Bosch appliances. 2 BR, 1.5 bath, 3 decks, AC, UG parking, close to everything. $1,249,000

604-902-5422 Ken Achenbach

Whistler Village Shop

Whistler Creekside Shop

Squamish Station Shop

36-4314 Main Street · Whistler BC V8E 1A8 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

325-2063 Lake Placid Road · Whistler BC V8E 0B6 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

150-1200 Hunter Place · Squamish BC V8B 0G8 · Phone +1 778-733-0611

whistler.evrealestate.com

whistler.evrealestate.com

whistler.evrealestate.com

Engel & Völkers Whistler *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION ©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated.

Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers.

604-966-7640

3D Tour - rem.ax/1565khyber

1565 Khyber Lane

$3,850,000

This One-Of-A-Kind Mountain Home is located in the exclusive Spring Creek residential neighborhood and shows off its quality with soaring vaulted ceilings accented with large heatsaving low e windows. The open floor plan and large deck invite you to enjoy a cozy feeling while entertaining or just relaxing at home.

Bruce Watt

4

604.905.0737

3D Tour - rem.ax/305fourseasons

9024 Riverside Drive

$1,395,000

#117 - 2050 Lake Placid Road

$24,900

Privacy and convenience at Wedgewooods! Build your dream home up to 4,628 square feet plus a separate auxiliary building of 2,152 on this 1.88 acre property. Lot 7 on Riverside Drive in Phase 1 of Wedgewoods is a short drive from all that Whistler Village has to offer. The large estate lots of Wedgewoods offer you the freedom to design and create your own vision.

OWN this ultra rare 2 bedroom 2 bath condo at the base of Whistler mountain. At Lake Placid Lodge you are steps away from the Gondola. Lake Placid lodge has it all, pool, hot tub and a giant great room to gather in. Your family will never pay rent again once you own this 1/51 st interest.

Dave Beattie*

Dave Sharpe

604.905.8855

2

604.902.2779

Sea to Sky Real Estate

Wishes Everyone a Very #305/306 - 4591 Blackcomb Way $1,625,000

Happy New Year

#301 - 4280 Mountain Square

Offering you the ultimate layout, this luxurious 2 bedroom suite is an end unit featuring two spacious, ensuited master bedrooms. Two private patios to enjoy a main living area with a pull-out sofa. Enjoy the Four Seasons Resort Whistler including 9000 square foot spa, outdoor pool, health club, in-house restaurant and lounge, room service, and ski concierge.

Doug Treleaven

99 Highway 99

Carleton Lodge – one of Whistler’s most iconic buildings – a small boutique condo. Located at the base of both Whistler/Blackcomb gondolas you can’t get any closer to ski-in/ski-out. Unit 301 is an end unit, 2 bed/2 bath facing the slope. This unit is in the absolute centre of it all.

2

604.905.8626

$2,500,000

Laura Barkman

#3 - 7001 Nesters Road

$4,500,000

2

604.905.8777

$599,000

A very rare, once in a lifetime opportunity to own a legacy estate property within the RMOW. This 26.2 acre parcel along the Cheakamus River is for sale for the first time ever. Bring your vision for the future, because this large property is the perfect place for your dream home. The location is just off the Maguire Service Road right off Highway 99 across from the Callaghan.

A centrally located one-bedroom Whistler condominium, just steps from grocery, coffee shop, restaurants, and professional services. This lovely residential property is 530 sq ft, has low strata fees, and overlooks a semi-private pond area with dock. This is currently the only one-bedroom with a residential covenant on the market, so act fast!

Madison Perry

Matt Chiasson

778.919.7653

3D Tour - rem.ax/2038garibaldi

9329 Warbler Way

$1,275,000

2038 Garibaldi Way

3D Tour - rem.ax/32greens

$3,750,000

Welcome to Wedgewoods, a master planned community of 108 beautiful properties. Phase Six includes the final 19 estate lots which allow for luxury homes plus a carriage house. Stunning mountain views and sunshine make Phase 6 a very special offering. Only 12 minutes north of Whistler with hiking, and biking trails at right at your door and snowmobiling close by.

Situated midway between Village and Creekside, SE facing overlooking a quiet cul de sac Home has been lovingly built and renovated over the years. Total approximately 3100+ square feet on 3 floors - Main house 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms + 1 bedroom suite with bathroom - 1 double garage off Garibaldi Way, single garage off Helm Place.

Meg McLean

Michael d’Artois

604.907.2223

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

604.905.9337

1

604.935.9171

5

#32 - 4644 Blackcomb Way

$3,150,000

Spectacular 3 bedroom townhome located in Blackcomb Greens – alongside the 1st hole of the Chateau Whistler Golf course. Completely renovated throughout designed by award winning interior designers Beyond Beige from North Vancouver.

This 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhome offers amazing fairway and mountain views.

Sally Warner*

604.905.6326

3

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