Pique Newsmagazine 2943

Pique’s Halloween spooktacular

Katherine Fawcett, Sara Marrocco, Robert Wisla and Angie

& Columns

STROTHER

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BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com

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AMIR SHAHRESTANI - ashahrestani@wplpmedia.com

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MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com

ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

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G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ANDREW MITCHELL, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON

President,

LP SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

DID YOU FEEL IT?

The subtle shift in the air on the morning of Monday, Oct. 24?

Maybe it’s just me. But as I sat down to write this week’s Opening Remarks, it was almost as if I was doing so on an altogether new plane of existence.

One defined less by unseasonable October warmth and more by grey skies and crisp, cold air—the kind you expect from

BY BRADEN DUPUIS

the fall months, which urges the snowline hurriedly down from the alpine.

Maybe it’s the effect of the leaves all dropping like big, crunchy, off-coloured snowflakes in recent days, or Monday morning bringing with it the first signs of snow on the valley floor (however briefly).

But mostly, I suspect, it’s a feeling inspired by my calendar, which for the first time in months lies empty of events for the immediate future—a development I’m finding somewhat hard to reconcile.

Here we are, post election, but preinauguration. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park is closed for the fall; Whistler Blackcomb’s ski runs still a month away from opening for the winter.

The general tone outside is drab and wet, and inside the office dogs are all donning sweaters.

A sticky, seasonal sludge seems to be clogging the inside of my skull, weighing down the backs of my eyelids. Aside from pouring another coffee, I can’t be bothered to fight it.

And all at once I come to the understanding that this must be it—those fabled, frostbitten weeks spoken of in recent years only in hushed tones.

The days so many Whistler locals worked so hard to dispel forever.

Dead season.

The doldrums won’t last, I know. What used to be several weeks of zero visitation, closed businesses and laid-off staff is now a week or two of relative quiet on the local events calendar, if it slows down at all.

Indeed, by this time next week, we’ll be talking about the swearing-in of Whistler’s new mayor and council; the beginning of the beloved Cornucopia food and drink festival; the Remembrance Day ceremony in Whistler Olympic Plaza; and eyeing a littleknown event some Whistler locals refer to as opening day at Whistler Blackcomb.

Call me crazy, but I much prefer the busyness and animation to dead season depression. So I’m holding out hope that the early winter months are not derailed by apocalyptic weather events or another COVID resurgence, as we’ve seen in recent years.

And yet, even as I write this, a growing chorus of experts warns us of another incoming torpedo, this time in the form of a recession.

Earlier this month, federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland warned of

collective cuts will be, or where they will hit the hardest, Freeland isn’t mincing words about the difficult days ahead.

“To say otherwise would be misleading,” she said.

The Bank of Canada, meanwhile, again raised interest rates on Wednesday, Oct. 26, to 3.75 per cent—the sixth consecutive increase this year.

An interest rate slash isn’t likely in 2023, either, according to BMO economist Sal Guatieri, who noted in an interview with Global News this month that the Bank of Canada has made it clear that it will continue to raise rates until it can rein in inflation, which remains well above the bank’s two-per-cent target.

As for how a recession might impact the labour market, Guatieri told Global that, in a mild recession, widespread layoffs are unlikely, and much of the contraction will be in job vacancies. If the economy moves into a more traditional recession, however, layoffs will go up more significantly.

though some markets are still showing signs of hesitancy due to a variety of factors: inflation, the war in Ukraine, and gasoline prices chief among them.

“West Coast U.S. has shown strength, but national U.S. has been a bit slower to return than expected, while Canada is expected to show continued strength,” said TW’s president and CEO Barrett Fisher, in an emailed statement.

“That said, labour challenges may still cap our capacity, which in turn impacts closer-in bookings from regional markets.”

Rising interest rates and a potential recession are two factors that could further impact travel, Fisher added.

“We are therefore anticipating the upcoming winter to be stronger than the past two, but it will still fall below prepandemic levels,” she said.

As for Whistler’s hotels, members of the resort’s hotel association are also reporting strong winter bookings, said chair Saad Hasan, noting that TW’s most recent 120Day booking pace for Whistler is 39 per cent ahead of last year and one per cent ahead of three years ago.

So the resort hums along even as financial bellwethers ring in the background.

And interestingly enough, if a recession does come to fruition, its impact on Whistler might be similar to what we saw during the pandemic, Fisher noted.

“difficult days ahead,” shifting her tone from her trademark economic optimism to one of elevated caution.

“Our economy will slow. There will be people whose mortgage rates will rise. Business will no longer be booming,” Freeland said at an auto industry conference in Windsor, Ont. on Oct. 19.

“Our unemployment rate will no longer be at its record low. That’s going to be the case in Canada. That will be the case in the U.S. and that will be the case in economies big and small around the world.”

While it’s not clear just how deep the

In any recession, it’s the creature comforts that are first to go—things like restaurant meals or shopping excursions.

Or, say, expensive ski vacations to destination resorts.

But so far, it would seem, fears of a recession are not impacting Whistler’s bookings (knocking on all the wood in my little office, as I kiss my lucky rabbit’s foot and toss a generous handful of salt over my shoulder for good measure).

Early holiday bookings from international markets are still strong, according to Tourism Whistler (TW),

“During recessions, travellers typically stay closer to home, so not unlike what we saw during the pandemic, we would likely see stronger visitation from our loyal regional and national markets, who choose not to travel further afield,” she said.

“As well, the U.S. exchange rate is a strong incentive for U.S. visitors to come to Canada and specifically Whistler, as their dollar goes 30- to 40-per-cent further.”

But we shall cross that bridge when we come to it.

In the meantime, I suppose I’ll stop sulking and savour the

moments of our

season— business is about to pick up again.

Photo credit: Reuben Krabbe

Pemberton doctor shares his gratitude

As some of you may already be aware, my family and I made the tough decision to leave Pemberton and relocate back to Australia at the end of this year to be closer to both our families. It certainly was not an easy choice for us to make given how much we have loved our lives here, especially when reflecting on all the wonderful friendships and opportunities this valley has provided us.

I wanted to take this opportunity to convey what an honour it has been over these years to be a doctor in your community and provide care to those in Pemberton and the communities of the Lil’wat and Southern Stl’atl’imx Nations. Throughout my time here, I’ve been fortunate enough to bear witness to some extraordinary examples of courage, selflessness and strength from the patients under my care, often in times of great adversity and hardship—Incredible triumphs which I will continue to take inspiration from for years to come. They say the practice of medicine is a privileged invitation into the lives of those who are sick, vulnerable or injured, afforded by those who come to us seeking an answer to their ailments, seeking counsel or to simply find comfort. For this privilege, I am extremely grateful.

While it will be a sad day when I hang up my stethoscope for the last time in Pemberton, I am buoyed by the knowledge that my patients will

continue to receive exemplary care by the team at the Pemberton Medical Clinic and Pemberton Health Centre. The role of a rural physician, while very rewarding, can be at times challenging due to the unique nature of providing care within tightly-knit communities, to patients you often have a personal connection with and sometimes in resource-limited circumstances. Our ability to overcome these difficulties is significantly improved working as part of a supportive and cohesive team. I can say without reservation, after years of being part of such a team, that the doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and medical office assistants here in Pemberton are some

of the best I’ve had the distinction of working alongside. Their dedication to the care of others and the community-focused culture displayed by all my colleagues is something I’ve long admired and something I will continue to admire from afar. It is for these reasons that I am confident my patients will continue to be well looked after, even while I step away from being their doctor with a heavy heart.

Finally, special mention must also go to Raven and her amazing team at the Blackbird Bakery. Thanks for always keeping me fed and adequately caffeinated!

Dr. Will Ho // Pemberton

Why are there numerous empty suites in Whistler?

In the Oct. 6 edition of Pique there was an article by Brandon Barrett titled, “What could David Eby’s housing plan mean for Whistler?”

Why are there numerous empty suites in Whistler? If a landlord (suite owner) has a bad experience with a tenant and doesn’t need the money and doesn’t want another bad experience, he or she leaves the suite vacant. Until the Landlord and Tenant Act is balanced, numerous suites in Whistler will remain empty.

There must be incentives for developers to take risk to develop rental housing in B.C. Currently, there are disincentives.

Cuthbert Huckvale // Whistler

Half measures won’t cut it on B.C.’s coastal salmon farms

This letter was sent to MP Patrick Weiler, and shared with Pique.

British Columbia’s wild salmon drive recreational fishing industries and wilderness tourism. They’re integral to aboriginal culture. Ocean-based factory fish farms threaten wild salmon and everyone that depends on them. Open-net salmon farms amplify parasites, viruses and bacteria and spread them to wild salmon, according to numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies published in independent journals. I want all salmon farms removed from B.C. coastal waters as soon as possible, and no later than 2025.

The current federal government committed to transitioning open-net salmon farms by 2025.

I expect them to do so without delay or half measures. In recent DFO communications, semiclosed containment salmon farms have been mentioned as a possible solution or avenue for the transition despite any publicly available evidence that shows this technology is viable. Progressively minimizing or eliminating interactions between farm and wild salmon has also been touted by the federal government as a solution. We don’t have time for a protracted transition period. The open-net salmon farming industry had decades to clean up its act. It’s time for the industry to transition completely

Whistler Mountain Ski Club kickoff a success

The Whistler Mountain Ski Club would like to gratefully thank everyone who supported and came out for our Season Kickoff fundraiser event hosted by Gibbons and the Longhorn Saloon.

The club was raising money for a new timing hut, which will be located at the bottom of the Dave Murray National Training Centre starting this season. We are pleased to report that we were successful in reaching the evening’s fundraising goal, thanks in

- JIM HORNER

out of coastal B.C. waters.

Another half measure being touted by DFO as a solution is known as area-based aquaculture management. This vague term suggests some unknown level of communication or coordination among open-net salmon farms in a region will protect wild salmon. The time for stalling is over. All open-net salmon farms must be removed by no later than 2025.

In addition, the open-net salmon farm transition should not just focus on shifting fish farm workers to another form of aquaculture. The transition should include shifting workers to other fields of employment that are currently in great need in British Columbia.

Wild salmon do not have time to spare. I call on you to do everything you can to remove factory fish farms from B.C. coastal waters by 2025 and keep your government’s promise to Canadians.

Jim Horner // Whistler

large part to the Whistler Weasel Workers and their magical fund-matching promise, which they committed to prior to the kickoff. This sparked a generosity and giving spirit to which many then participated in.

We would also like to share a big thank you to our wonderful funding partners in this project: Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, Wheaton Precious Metals and the Dave Murray National Training Centre. This is a legacy piece that will ensure our ability to host local, national, and international ski races and events for years to come, starting this season with the return of the NorAm Cup finals in March and the 30th Whistler Cup in April.

Here’s to a great winter full of fun and development.

•Unique, iconic Whistler cabin

tree top living

•High above the quiet

neighborhood with amazing views

•Main House 3bdrms + Studio suites

•Sunny decks, modern heated garage

Michael Janyk // Executive Director, Whistler Mountain Ski Club. n

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Welcome to Whistler

WELCOME ONE and all, and to the One who is Many! We hope you will love it in Whistler because you can never really leave. It is in the small print.

Nestled between mountain ranges, where the wind howls and wild animals once prowled trails paved with bone dust, you will find a resort like no other—fortunately

BY ANDREW MITCHELL

for you and those you care about. Its peaks are cold and sharp, its forests damp and dark, its waters deep and murky.

Fun fact: Whistler was nearly called “Howler,” but that name had already been claimed by Howler, Saskatchewan, a sandpaper grit mining town flattened by the Great Chinook of 1935 and never rebuilt. The town was instead named “Whistler” after the alarmed whistling sound that marmots make as they are hunted by carnivorous birds.

The earliest settlers to the town came to fish Alta Lake, where trout were abundant and the great tentacled creature that lurks in the inky depths hardly ever pulled their boats under.

There was also mining in the early days, although Whistler does not like to

talk about that or the ghosts of prospectors that pursue one around the mountains with their sharpened picks. Nobody really knows what they were looking for, just that the survivors ran screaming down the bone-dust trail to Squamish where they were promptly arrested and committed to various asylums. It may have been gold or silver, or possibly alien artifacts. There is no proof it was a Passage to the Underworld.

There are lights on the southern flank of Whistler Mountain. Red ones.

One of those blinking lights belongs to the railway and our local radio stations. The other belongs to a secret underground research facility that started out conducting market research on Whistler’s transient youth, then graduated to the more lucrative field of inductive mind control. Again, it is top secret, so we would all do well to pretend it does not exis—even as the red lights flash ominously through the night and we find ourselves strangely compelled to do and to buy things. We are mostly sure it’s nothing to worry about. In fact, forget that I mentioned the lights at all.

This is a Happy Town, for the most part, full of happy, sentient beings since the Great Truce of 1983 between local vampires, werewolves, and protestants. The various cults that have been drawn to this place by telluric energy currents and documented rifts in relativistic spacetime are also mostly

friendly despite differences in their dogma.

For example, Targul the Everlasting Society, which worships the many-tentacled creature that lurks in the depths of the lake, gets along surprisingly well with the New Necrophorians, who believe that the tentacled creature is actually a dozen ancient horrors with nine tentacles each. The Order of the Solar Temple, which renounced human sacrifice last year after their annual solstice barbecue, hosts a picnic every year with the Raelists where they discuss pan dimensional travel, the latest in human cloning and the occult rites of the Rotarians.

There are helicopters that fly over the valley day and night. Do not acknowledge them or look in their direction while you are being observed. Some lights and sounds in the sky are not helicopters and should also be avoided until you hear the all-clear signal. You will never hear the all-clear signal.

If you do happen to hear a helicopter landing somewhere nearby, late in the evening after you’ve hung fairy-repelling iron over your doors and windows, it is probably just indigestion. This is a transient town, after all—people move in and out all the time, sometimes in the dead of night. If it helps, tell yourself that the Smiths have always lived next door, that the Munsons and their annual Winnowing Day parties are a figment of your imagination (or a possible side effect of mind control experiments that, as previously

noted, are probably nothing to worry about).

People come to Whistler from all over the world. Many of them will make it back home with only minor side effects and gaps in their memories.

So come! That’s an Order! See the Sights! Shop in Shopping Stores! Eat at Eating Places! And be sure to leave a deposit in our wondrous new public washrooms and DNA collection facilities. It is both convenient and mandatory!

Please also stop by the new Welcome Centre, which replaced the old centre mistakenly built on a quantum rift that exists in all points in time. Sadly, we can no longer offer tours of the Great Volcanic Eruption of 2024, “Dinosaur Days,” or Greyhound tickets.

Please be aware of the people-shaped figures walking along the side of the highway after dark. Some of them are people and the others—well, you do not want to hit them either, for your own safety.

Enjoy your time in the dark and narrow confines of our dark valley, whether you have come to visit or cannot escape stay for a while. Join a cult. Make an offering of a cell phone or sunglasses to the many-tentacled creature(s) in the lake. Watch the antennas blink through the night. Feel small and insignificant in the shadows of our cold, grey mountains.

You will always be welcome here! You can never really leave.

(With apologies to Welcome to Night Vale.) n

Unable to find new hire, Whistler Options for Sexual Health Clinic closing temporarily

CLINIC’S STRUGGLE TO FIND ADMINISTRATOR INDICATIVE OF WHISTLER’S ONGOING STAFF SHORTAGE BY MEGAN LALONDE

WHISTLER’S OPTIONS for Sexual Health Clinic is shutting down as of Oct. 31 due to a staff shortage, but Options’ executive director Michelle Fortin wants to make one thing clear.

“We’re not closing,” she said.

The clinic’s doors will ideally only stay shut short-term, with Options (the nonprofit medical health service provider formerly known as Planned Parenthood Association of B.C.) planning to reopen once it hires a new administrator.

Whistler’s Options for Sexual Health Clinic is currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:45 to 7:30 p.m. at the Whistler Health Care Centre, offering services like birth control counselling, lowcost contraceptives, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, cervical screening, pregnancy testing and pro-choice options counselling, as well as general sexual health education and referrals to about 25 patients each week. It’s one of 45 pop-up style clinics Options operates across the province.

“We have been trying for about five months now to replace our receptionist,” Fortin explained. “They gave us lots of [notice] and we’ve got lots of clinicians like nurses and doctors that absolutely want to continue to deliver STI care and contraceptive care in Whistler, through the Options clinic, but … we’ve had a hard time finding people to replace our receptionist, and without administration, we can’t run the clinic.”

Beyond the standard medical intake forms and clerical work that comes with

the job, she added, “Happily, there’s lots of people having sex in Whistler, but it also means there’s more STI testing in Whistler, so it’s really important that we’ve got administrators that can respond to and receive the lab work for people, so that we can ensure we get [patients] in if they need a follow-up appointment.”

Fortin said she hopes one of the applicants who recently expressed interest in the part-time administration position “will come on board very quickly,” allowing the clinic to get back up and running before ski season.

Asked where Whistlerites can access similar services in the meantime, a spokesperson for Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) said in an email the health authority “is committed to providing comprehensive health-care services and support to residents of the Sea to Sky corridor.”

While VCH is currently working with B.C.’s Ministry of Health and a Primary Care Networks (PCN) steering committee to establish more PCNs in the region—possibly including the Sea to Sky corridor—“VCH is also in the process of freeing up some space in the Whistler Health Care Centre (WHCC) to accommodate more primary care providers,” the spokesperson added.

The statement also highlighted the WHCC’s Youth Services program, offering confidential drop-in appointments— including for free or low-cost contraception, STI testing, pregnancy testing and counselling and mental health services—to youth aged 19 or under.

Meanwhile, an Options for Sexual Health Clinic operates in Squamish on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m., while the nonprofit’s province-wide team of registered nurses, counsellors, and sex educators are available to offer information through its Sex Sense program at 1-800-739-7367.

The local clinic’s temporary closure

is just one more example of the ongoing labour shortage challenging Whistler employers ahead of what’s expected to be a busy ski season.

“It’s not just the tourism and hospitality industry that’s being affected, it’s all industries,” said Cindy Conti, an HR consultant focused on the Lower Mainland, Coast and Mountains region for go2HR, B.C.’s tourism and hospitality human resource and health and safety association.

According to the most recent data available from Statistics Canada, B.C. had 169,280 total job vacancies in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022. Of those, 10,260 were health-care occupations, offering an average hourly wage of $32.85, while 60,200 were in the sales and service industry (up from 39,920 vacancies in Q2 2021), which provided an average hourly wage of $17.85. There were 4,200 vacant positions among art, culture, recreation and sport occupations (well above the 2,235 vacancies recorded in the same period a year prior) which paid employees $29.80 per hour on average.

Not all statistics painted a negative picture: according to go2HR’s BC Tourism and Hospitality Employment Tracker, employment in the province’s Tourism and Hospitality sector grew by 0.14 per cent from 353,500 in August 2022 to 354,000 in September 2022, surpassing pre-COVID levels with 17,000 more jobs compared to September 2019.

Still, the province’s Tourism and Hospitality labour force—meaning people working in the Tourism and Hospitality sector and unemployed individuals seeking work whose last job was in the sector— decreased by two per cent to 361,000 in September 2022, about 6,000 less than August’s total.

Some regions are having more difficulty recruiting workers to the industry than others, Conti acknowledged, with factors

like baby boomers retiring en masse, employees pivoting away from hospitality amid pandemic restrictions, affordability, and housing challenges all contributing to the labour crunch.

B.C.’s employment landscape is prompting employers to take a step back and assess how their business functions, Conti said, whether that means melding two positions into one or changing policies in an effort to prioritize employee well-being.

Her advice? “You want to be able to keep the good employees that come to you as well,” she said, “Review what you’re already doing and if it’s working, and if it isn’t, find a better way to do it. Reach out to your fellow employers, other businesses, and find out if they’re doing something better than you are—share ideas, best practices, especially in smaller communities. What works for one might not work for another, but really just be open to different ideas … be innovative, and if something’s not working, then fix it.”

For Fortin, adjusting Options’ recruitment strategy in Whistler means shelling out precious funds to advertise the receptionist job beyond free platforms like Indeed and Craigslist; offering a higherthan-usual starting wage for the part-time gig; and investigating whether any extra incentives, like a ski pass, can be obtained to “sweeten the pot,” she said.

Though Whistler’s Options clinic has begun interviews, Fortin still encouraged interested candidates who are “engaging, comfortable talking about sex and reproductive health, and … organized” to apply for the position.

Plus, “it’s an evening job that’s not in a bar,” she said. “It’s a really fulfilling role— people walk in anxious and they walk out smiling because whatever was ailing them, they know how to manage it when they leave.

“There’s a lot of joy in it.” n

OUT OF OPTIONS Whistler’s Options for Sexual Health Clinic will close temporarily due to staffing.

Stella Harvey named Whistler’s Citizen of the Year

HUNDREDS GATHERED AT THE FAIRMONT TO CELEBRATE WHISTLER’S BUSINESS COMMUNITY ON OCT. 20

BY MEGAN LALONDE

AUTHOR AND WHISTLER Writers Festival founder Stella Harvey is Whistler’s newest Citizen of the Year.

“I don’t think anything is possible by yourself,” she said, after thanking the crowd gathered in the Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s ballroom for the 2022 Whistler Excellence Awards on Thursday night, Oct. 20. “I think that it takes a community and it takes people behind you. No one succeeds alone, I say this all the time.”

Harvey’s well-deserved Citizen of the Year win was the final award presented during Thursday night’s ceremony, emceed by Heather Paul, executive director of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre and a past Citizen of the Year winner herself in 2017. It marked the first Whistler Excellence Awards to take place in-person since 2019.

Also nominated for Citizen of the Year were Dave Williamson, a dedicated community volunteer who currently serves as chair of the Whistler Institute’s board of directors, and Carol Leacy, chair of the Whistler Health Care Foundation and co-founder of Whistler 360 Health.

The honour comes seven years after Harvey was named the Whistler Champion of Arts and Culture at the same event, hosted annually by the Whistler Chamber of Commerce. Created in 1969, the prestigious Citizen of the Year award aims to celebrate “an outstanding community member who contributes significant volunteer time to enhancing the quality of life in Whistler,” according to the Chamber. The award recognizes recipients for their “extraordinary leadership and community service” outside of their regular working hours. The Whistler Community Foundation is tasked with selecting a new recipient each year.

Harvey started the Writers Fest two decades ago, when she welcomed about 20 people and one guest author to her living room for its first iteration in 2002, two years after she moved to the resort. Today, the literary event

has grown into a massive, multi-day festival that in 2019 drew 2,000 people and some 70 authors, and spurred several community programs that take place throughout the year. Of those initiatives, Harvey—who is retiring this year—said she’s proudest of the school program, where, with support from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, the Writers Fest provides books to 20 schools across the district.

“The kids read the books and then we invite the authors to the schools so that [students] can see what is possible for them and that they can find ways to tell their story,” Harvey explained.

She has also helped mentor hundreds of local writers through the Writer-inResidence program, devoting countless hours to Whistler’s arts community.

As a whole, the Whistler Excellence Awards—hosted by the Chamber in partnership with the Whistler Community Foundation, Arts Whistler and AWARE and presented by BlueShore Financial— are dedicated to honouring the resort’s most excellent in the areas of service, innovation, sustainability, and outstanding leadership in business, community service and the arts.

The approximately 400 people gathered in the Fairmont’s ballroom for the gala did just that on Thursday night, offering loud support for the evening’s winners and nominees across the nine award categories.

The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) in particular brought some hardware home from the Excellence Awards, with manager of operations Moody Dan, from Lil’wat Nation, named Rising Star of the Year and the entire institution earning top honours for Service Excellence - Large Business.

The SLCC was also a finalist in a third category, the 2022 Whistler Champion of Arts & Culture.

“The SLCC’s presence in our community—as a venue, as a cultural experience, as a centre for learning—has had a profound impact,” noted Christopher Vick, vice-chair of the Whistler Chamber’s

THE WRITE STUFF Whistler Writers Festival founder Stella Harvey, Whistler’s 2022 Citizen of the Year, has mentored hundreds of local writers and devoted countless hours to the local arts community.

PHOTO BY JOERN ROHDE / COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER CHAMBER

board of directors, in his opening remarks on Thursday night.

The other 2022 Excellence Award winners are:

Business Person of the Year: Norm Mastalir – Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Nominees: Jackie Dickinson, Whistler Community Services Society; Ian Ritz, Chromag, Whistler’s only mountain bike manufacturer.

“For those of you who don’t know, when you get nominated for an award, you then have to accept the idea that you’re nominated,” Mastalir said during his acceptance speech. “They did a lot of arm-twisting to actually get me to accept to come here, because there’s so many amazing people in Whistler who deserve to be standing up on this stage.”

To that end, the hotel’s longtime general manager—he’s been at its helm since 2011, to be exact—took the opportunity to praise his fellow nominees Dickinson and Ritz. He called Dickinson “a leader among leaders and a giant among giants,” for her work getting Whistler’s community through the pandemic, while to Ritz, he said, “I feel like you are a person who embodies that true entrepreneurial spirit and mountain culture of Whistler.”

Rising Star of the Year: Moody Dan, Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.

Nominees: Shea Emry, Whistler Racket Club; Alistair Cray, Whistler Cooks, Hunter

Gather, Fridge Full, and Cranked.

“The process that I follow is to really work collectively with everyone,” said Dan during his introductory video. “It helps us reach our end goal a lot easier.”

Emerging Business of the Year: Picnic Whistler, the Main Street deli and caterer renowned for its charcuterie boards and owned by Amy Mac.

Nominees: Alpine Learning (a team of educators providing students with one-on-one or small group tutoring in literacy and numeracy, founded by Robyn Akehurst); Creekside Health (an integrative clinic founded by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Acupuncture practitioner Dr. Dominique Vallée.)

“My creativity this past year has been completely driven by our expansion,” said Mac during her introductory video. “When I was not able to continue renting our commercial kitchen, I took a leap of faith on myself and opened our first storefront this May … I feel like I’ve created my wildest dreams.”

Innovative Business of the Year: Stinger Boards & Foils, the newest venture from Kahuna Paddleboards founder Steve Legge.

Nominees: Alpine Learning; Whistle! Ride, a locally-based ride hailing service owned and operated by Andrew Bacon.

“Holy f***, really?!” is how Legge started his acceptance speech, to the crowd’s delight, before thanking his family and the staff that keep his Function Junction headquarters running smoothly.

“My inspiration comes from a lot of

energy from this world of Whistler,” he explained in his finalist video. “Everybody doing things, wanting to do a sport, wanting to create the sport—you feel like you’re on the leading cusp, and truly Whistler does that, whether its skiing or biking, so why not with our watersports?”

Sustainability in Action Business:  Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Nominees: Moguls Coffee House, owned by Diana Chan; Velvet Underground, a vintage clothing shop founded by Amy Rafferty.

“We’ve gotten creative by redefining the way we approach sustainability, by focusing on smaller aspects of a much larger goal,” said the Fairmont’s Robyn Gallagher in the finalist video. “Each small piece is not enough to finish it, but put it all together and you have a finished puzzle.”

Whistler Champion of Arts & Culture, Business: Audain Art Museum.

Nominees: Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, Sushi Village.

Audain Art Museum director and chief curator Curtis Collins took the opportunity to thank everyone from the museum’s staff to its founders, trustees, volunteers and sponsors, as well as its fellow finalists.

“The fact that we’ve won this award means that we are firmly planted in Whistler, and that is really the strength of where we do everything from,” he said.

Service Excellence - Small Business: Slope Side Supply.

Nominees: Coast Mountain Brewing, Cutting Edge Signs.

“Customer service is kind of what makes Slope Side tick, that’s what we’ve always prided ourselves with,” owner Tony Horn told the crowd following Slope Side’s win.

“People can’t believe when all of a sudden a box is at their business and they just ordered it, and that’s what we’re always trying to do … we just try to be on it, so this really means a lot.” Especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Horn pointed out. “If anyone’s noticed there’s been a supply problem, and for us to win this award this year seems like a weird thing.”

Horn also highlighted Slope Side’s fellow nominees as “awesome pillars of customer service that I respect a lot—and they’re also from Function Junction.” To that end, he wrapped up his acceptance speech by presenting a few T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Function Wonction” to the Coast Mountain and Cutting Edge teams.

Service Excellence - Large Business: Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.

Nominees: BlueShore Financial, Quattro Restaurant.

Cultural Ambassador Georgina Dan took to the stage to accept the award, thanking her fellow SLCC staff members— or “family,” as she described them—95 per cent of whom are Indigenous.

“I also want to thank the Whistler community for allowing us the space and making room for us to be able to really learn and share our stories in such a beautiful space, in our home here on our traditional unceded territory,” she added. n

LALOR

Whistler RCMP investigating after art stolen from local business’ gallery

POLICE BRIEFS: WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER PUNCHING MAN; RCMP, RMOW TEAM UP ON PURPLE LIGHT NIGHTS CAMPAIGN

BY MEGAN LALONDE

WHISTLER POLICE are investigating after an art heist was caught on camera at a local business last week.

As Whistler RCMP explained in a release, cameras captured two men taking three small paintings from the business’ gallery walls, located in the 4300 block of Blackcomb Way, on Saturday morning, Oct. 22, at about 9 a.m. The paintings had already been purchased and were to remain on display until their new owner took possession of the art.

“Each of the paintings is about the size of a photo, sizes that could easily fit into coat or shirt-type pockets,” police said in the release. The three pieces are valued at a total of $80.

Whistler RCMP said police will continue to follow up on the alleged art theft.

It was one of 85 total files that came through the Whistler RCMP detachment during the week of Oct. 18 to 25.

WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER ALTERCATION TURNS VIOLENT

A woman was arrested after a night out

in Whistler Village took a violent turn on Thursday, Oct. 20.

According to a police release, members of Whistler’s RCMP detachment were patrolling on foot in the 4300 Main St. area when they witnessed “a group of people having a verbal confrontation.” The group was made up entirely of visitors who had been drinking, police explained.

That verbal altercation reportedly turned physical when a woman in the group punched a man in the face.

Police arrested the woman, who was subsequently released with a future court date.

MOTORIST ISSUED THREE-DAY DRIVING PROHIBITION AFTER ROADSIDE STOP

Whistler RCMP’s efforts to keep impaired drivers off the resort’s roads continue this fall.

On Friday, Oct. 21, one of those drivers was identified while police conducted a traffic stop at about 3:30 a.m.

According to Whistler RCMP, the driver, from out of the area, provided breath samples that prompted “WARN readings” to appear on the screening device, “meaning he should not have been driving,” police explained.

A member of the local RCMP detachment determined the driver was impaired and subsequently seized the driver’s licence and issued a three-day notice of driving prohibition.

RCMP, RMOW TO LIGHT THE NIGHT PURPLE

If you spot Whistler Village’s Fitzsimmons Bridge lit up in purple this week, this is why.

As police explained in a release, Whistler RCMP are joining forces with the Resort Municipality of Whistler to coordinate a local Purple Light Nights Campaign event, intended to raise awareness about intimate partner violence and domestic violence (IPV/DV) and send the message that neither are acceptable in the Whistler community.

October’s Purple Light Nights Campaign began in 2006 in Covington, Wash., to honour those who lost their lives to IPV/DV, support survivors, and give hope to victims who continue to suffer abuse.

“There is no discrimination in IPV/DV, it can affect people of any culture, sexual orientation, economic background, or age,” said Const. Guneet

Pannu, the Sea to Sky–Whistler RCMP detachment’s new domestic violence and sexual assault investigator, in the release. Pannu is tasked with overseeing all the detachment’s IPV/DV investigations, in addition to working with community partners and bringing local awareness to the issue.

“Of 6,296 files we investigated last year, 45 were IPV/DV related, and that’s 45 too many,” she added.

Local and area supports are available to victims through Victim Services, the Howe Sound Women’s Centre, or the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia.

In the release, RCMP reminded locals that victims can make anonymous and third-party reports that are for police information only, if they desire, but can also submit a full report if their preferred outcome includes a police investigation and recommended charges. “Support workers can provide detailed information about reporting options,” police added in the release.

The Fitzsimmons Bridge will be lit up purple from Oct. 26 to 30. For information about IPV/DV supports, reach Whistler Victim Services at 604-905-1969, or go to hswc.ca or endingviolence.org. n

Another black bear killed after entering Whistler home; sow and cubs released CONSERVATION OFFICERS URGE LOCALS TO SECURE ATTRACTANTS AS BEARS PREP FOR HIBERNATION

BY MEGAN LALONDE

TEMPERATURES MIGHT have finally dropped, but Whistler’s black bears aren’t settled in their dens for the winter just yet.

October got off to a particularly hectic start for local conservation officers, beginning with complaints about a bear breaking into “several” homes in the Nordic area and accessing meals from freezers and fridges, said Tim Schumacher with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service (COS).

Ultimately, that behaviour earned the bear a death sentence. “It was seeking food inside of homes, and damaging homes and forcing entry to get that food, so unfortunately that bear had to be destroyed,” Schumacher said.

Conservation officers trapped and killed the animal on Oct. 6. It marked the fourth black bear lost to conflict within Whistler’s municipal boundaries this year.

The same day, a sow and two cubs similarly found their way into a Whistler home, causing damage to the property and retrieving food from the kitchen. Conservation officers were alerted to the incident after it was reported to 911.

Though it typically only takes a bear

entering one home on one occasion for conservation officers to deem that animal a public safety risk, “In this instance, she was tagged and released,” Schumacher said. “She was basically given a second chance.”

Cubs add a layer of complexity to humanwildlife conflict—and to conservation officers’ response. Essentially, if the sow was killed, “you’d be orphaning those two cubs and they would have to go to a care facility,” Schumacher explained. “Nature can always do better than what we can as far as [a] mom teaching her cubs how to find food and how to go about their life processes.”

Finally, conservation officers rounded out their Oct. 6 shift—“a very long, busy day,” as Schumacher recalled—by trapping and relocating a third black bear that had been frequenting Whistler Village, an area the Sea to Sky’s COS team considers “a no-go bear zone.”

The bear was one of at least three that had been regularly observed in Whistler Village throughout the summer, said Schumacher. “Given the amount of people that are frequenting the village on a regular basis, we consider it a confined area and we move bears out of that area either through hazing—basically scaring them away using different tactics and tools that we have—or by relocation,” he explained.

Relocation entails moving the animal a short distance away, usually no further than about 10 kilometres, Schumacher said. “We’re just trying to get them out of the wrong place at the wrong time— we don’t want to take the bear out of its … home range,” he explained. “Through consultation with our biologist, keeping bears within their home range is the most humane thing to do.”

Even after temperatures fell to more seasonal norms late last week, black bears remain active throughout the resort, Schumacher said. Conservation officers were still working to deter bears from the village and the nearby Glacier Reach complex as recently as Monday, Oct. 24.

Whistler locals and visitors are reminded to properly manage attractants— for example, storing garbage out of reach, keeping barbecues and grease traps clean and managing mountain ash trees near residential properties—in addition to keeping home and vehicle windows closed, doors locked, and most importantly, ensuring all food waste is properly discarded in the village’s bear-safe waste bins, even amid the cooler weather.

“If [bins] are left ajar throughout the day … or if it’s overflowing, then a bear will end up getting a food reward, and

that keeps them coming back into these confined areas,” said Schumacher, adding that the animals are particularly “persistent because it’s a higher-calorie meal that they can get, especially at this time of year when they’re going into hyperphagia.”

According to the Get Bear Smart Society, hyperphagia is the period before hibernation where bears’ appetites grow, “driven by a biological need to fatten up” before they head into their dens. That, in turn, results in increased feeding activity— upwards of 20 hours a day—with some bears “going to some pretty extreme measures” to earn their pre-winter calories.

Sightings of bears near properties can be reported to the COS at 1-877-9527277—that allows the COS to respond with non-lethal hazing in an effort to deter the animals from the area before their behaviour escalates—while unsecured animal attractants should be reported to Whistler’s Bylaw Services at 604-935-8280 or bylawservices@whistler.ca.

“If there’s no food source for the bear, then the bear’s either going to pass through or not be there in the first place,” said Schumacher. Securing attractants is “the best way we can manage bears within our community to keep them and people safe,” he added. n

Whistler, Squamish to host ‘Good Food Gatherings’

HOW CAN WE GET MORE LOCAL FOOD ON LOCAL TABLES?

BY ROBERT WISLA

HOW CAN WE GET MORE local food on local tables?

On Nov. 8 and 23, the Squamish Food Policy Council (SFPC) will host events that explore that question in-depth.

The Good Food Gatherings, as they’re called, aim to bring more local food to the tables of the restaurants and institutions of the Sea to Sky by connecting local farmers with food-purchasing institutions, policymakers and restaurants.

Attendees of the gatherings will learn about the regional food system and some of its challenges and gaps.

“What we’re trying to do in these workshops is unpack some of the barriers we’re hearing and start to problem-solve together and map out a vision of what we want our food system to look like across the region,” said Gaby Barnes, food systems manager with SFPC.

The first event, hosted at the Raven Room in Whistler from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 8, is designed to offer an opportunity for local farmers to network with local restaurants and food buyers throughout the Sea to Sky region.

According to the SFPC, there are currently 138 farms in operation between Furry Creek and Lillooet. Squamish residents are estimated to collectively spend $96 million on food annually, while Whistler’s annual consumer spending at restaurants is estimated at more than $400 million.

outside the community, and there is an opportunity to shift some of that spending to the local economy.

“The ripple effects of buying food grown locally are felt throughout our region with more opportunities to eat local, opportunities to showcase what our region

“The main challenges we’re hearing in our region around the barriers to being able to purchase local foods have to do with being able to meet volume requirements, distribution, price points and accessibility, and within accessibility, also time to go out and meet farmers and build new relationships,” Barnes added.

The second event, held at Squamish Public Library from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 23, will focus on policymakers, local government and larger institutions. The SFPC has gained good food pledges from all five regional local governments and wants to turn those pledges into action.

The workshop focuses on the region’s institutional food consumers, purchasing managers, policymakers from local government, health-care and postsecondary, and the hotel industry.

These events encourage consumers and producers to recirculate food spending into the local economy. A 2019 study by non-profit LOCO BC determined that for every $100 spent with a B.C. business, $63 is recirculated back into the B.C. economy, compared to $14 for multinational corporations.

According to Barnes, the region spends a significant amount of capital on agriculture and agri-food businesses

has to offer, more job opportunities, and the ability to establish a more resilient food supply that can withstand impacts from climate change, extreme weather events and supply chains,” Barnes said.

The workshops and networking are essential to helping solve one of the barriers SFPC has heard from purchasers, mainly creating a space for restaurants and farmers to build new relationships.

Due to limited seating, attendees must register on Eventbrite ahead of time. Head to squamishfoodpolicycouncil.com for more info.

For those that can’t make it to the events, the Squamish Climate Action Network has a food asset map where you can find local farms and community garden locations, along with information on the local food system. Find it at squamishcan.net. n

“What

-

New Whistler Chamber director Louise Walker brings distinct perspective to role

IN OTHER CHAMBER NEWS, THE WHISTLER SPIRIT PASS AND EXPERIENCE PROGRAM SET TO LAUNCH

BY BRANDON BARRETT

LOUISE WALKER HAD a busy first week on the job as the Whistler Chamber of Commerce’s new executive director. Between attending the Chamber-hosted Whistler Excellence Awards and helping to launch this year’s revamped Spirit Pass and Whistler Experience program, on top of all the other responsibilities that come with taking over the resort’s largest business network, she’s barely had a moment to catch her breath.

“I’ve got a lot of files to catch up on,” she quipped in an interview Friday, Oct. 21, the morning after the Excellence Awards.

But if there’s a person well suited to take the reins, it’s Walker. A longtime Tourism Whistler staffer, she spent years working her way up the ranks of the destination marketing organization, eventually serving as its VP of marketing and strategic planning, before joining the Squamish Chamber of Commerce in 2016 as its newest executive director. For a resort town that is still rebounding from the pandemic, Walker’s experience on both the tourism side and business side of the Sea to Sky

should serve her and the Chamber well.

“I think having the background in both is an advantage, definitely,” she said. “I certainly come in with a bit more insights into some things, but I know for sure that things have changed over the last six years. These first few weeks, I’m reaching out to old contacts and meeting new people and just listening and learning and understanding the dynamic and the environment that Whistler is in right now.”

That environment is a challenging one at the moment. COVID-19 only exacerbated Whistler’s longstanding staffing shortage, and between housing and unaffordability, there’s no question the resort’s reputation has taken a hit in the eyes of the young, foreign workers considering whether or not to spend a season or more here. Add to that the financial squeeze local businesses are already feeling—everything from rising inflation to supply-chain disruptions and Whistler’s sky-high commercial real estate—and it’s clear the Chamber has its work cut out for it in the coming years.

The continued challenges help to explain the new direction the Chamber has taken in recent years, as the organization looks to play a more active role in both

employee recruitment and retention, and business advocacy.

On the former, the Chamber is putting the finishing touches on its new Whistler Community Talent Plan, a kind of go-to guide to assist employers across a range of areas, with the ultimate goal of retaining staff for longer and decreasing turnover.

On the latter, the Chamber is hoping to position itself as not just a voice for its members on the issues that relate directly to business, but to secondary contributors as well, like housing, transit and affordability.

“There’s a really good opportunity for the Chamber to represent its 700 members so that we can help with the data piece, so we can really demonstrate the impact and create really thorough, evidence-based actions and recommendations,” said Walker.

The Chamber is also set to launch its Whistler Experience Program ahead of the busy winter season, a customer service training program that comes with a number of perks for participants, including the Whistler Blackcomb (WB) Spirit Pass and a discounted transit pass.

The only pass product available for purchase throughout the winter 2022-23 season, the Spirit Pass offers the same perks as

WB’s Unlimited Pass, including access to halfoff lift tickets at other Vail Resorts ski areas.

On top of the Spirit Pass, program participants are eligible for exclusive discounts such as a Spirit Transit Pass, membership deals at the Meadow Park Sports Centre, and special pricing at Ski Callaghan and Canadian Wilderness Adventures.

“Retention and employee engagement are important components of the Whistler Talent Plan,” said Diana Chan, chair of the Chamber board, in a release. “The Chamber continues to innovate new benefits, and the WB and Transit Spirit Pass are staples that employers rely on every year.”

New this year, the Chamber has made efforts to streamline the Whistler Experience registration process for both employers and staff. All training courses will be available online and on-demand year-round, giving participants the chance to complete the training on their own time.

“The combination of access to the WB Spirit Pass, professional development courses and a suite of local discounts and deals around town serves to elevate any business or organization’s retention package,” Chan said. Learn more and register at go.whistlerchamber.com/spirit. n

Mental Health and wellness priority health

Newspaper Toolbox

What’s the best way to wake up?

Does it take you several minutes, or even hours, before your brain starts working in the morning?

This phenomenon, known as sleep inertia, was recently studied by researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. They found that the sound you wake up to may play a role in how long this state lasts.

WHAT IS SLEEP INERTIA?

Sleep inertia pertains to the transition phase between sleep and wakefulness. Depending on the person, this state of drowsiness can last up to four hours, although it typically lasts somewhere between 15 and 60 minutes.

The state is characterized by inattentiveness, slow reaction times and an overall lack of alertness. These symptoms result in a higher risk of mistakes, which can be a problem if someone needs to operate machinery or make crucial decisions.

WHAT DO ALARMS HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

The study found that people who woke up to music reported feeling more alert than those who woke up to classic alarm sounds, such as a beeping noise.

Researchers hypothesize this is because the rhythmic and melodic nature of music isn’t as disruptive as the harsh noises of an alarm. If you suffer from persistent sleep problems, make an appointment with your doctor to discuss them.

Over time, poor sleep can increase your risk of developing serious health issues.

The impact of stress and how to manage it

Stress can impact your health and well-being. Understanding where it comes from and how it can affect you is crucial to remaining mentally and physically fit. Here’s what you need to know

WARNING SIGNS

It’s important to be able to recognize if stress has become a problem. The symptoms below are common and not a cause for alarm when they occur occasionally. However, if they get worse or become ongoing, this could indicate that something’s wrong. Watch out for:

• Increase or decrease in appetite

• General fatigue

• Mood swings

• Difficulty concentrating

• Headaches

• Irritability or aggressiveness

• Sleep problems

POSSIBLE SOURCES

If you realize you’re living with too much stress, you need to identify its source. Think about your relationships, both personal and professional, your home life, your job and how busy you are. You should also identify daily irritants such as a long commute, as these tend to add up and can impact your mental health.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Once you have an idea of where your stress comes from, you’ll be in a position to take steps to improve your situation and health. In some cases, it’s a matter of adjusting an aspect of your life, such as how much work you’ve taken on, or working out a problem in a relationship. Importantly, things like meditation and therapy can help as well.

Whatever you do, don’t let stress take over your life. Over time, it can cause you to develop serious health issues and poor coping mechanisms like consumption of fatty foods, alcohol and drugs.

Dr. Richard

Dr. Mark

Lynne

Arrya Kuiper

Pemberton

Lisa Dan Carla

Jono Izumi

Pemberton SOFI report highlights top earners for 2021

VILLAGE’S PAYROLL TOPPED $3M LAST YEAR; TOTAL OF 14 EMPLOYEES BROUGHT IN MORE THAN $75K

BY ALYSSA NOEL

BOTH SPENDING and revenue were up at the Village of Pemberton in 2021.

Council received the village’s annual Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report at its Oct. 18 meeting.

The report highlights that there were 14 employees with a total remuneration of more than $75,000 last year, for a total of $1,409,200—almost half of the Village’s $3-million payroll, and up from 12 employees in 2020.

The top five earners were: outgoing CAO Nikki Gilmore ($149,914); Sheena Fraser, manager of corporate services, ($115,130); Tom Csima, manager of operations,

($111,104); deputy fire chief Cameron Adams ($108,023); and fire chief Robert Grossman ($106,769).

Mayor Mike Richman earned $31,776, up slightly from $29,733 the previous year, while Pemberton’s four councillors each earned $15,718, up from $14,743.

Total wages for the village, meanwhile, added up to $3,075,177.

Expenses for staff in 2021 tallied $29,092.

The report also details that the village paid a total of $11,531,492 to suppliers with payments over $25,000. That’s up from 2020, when that number was $8.2 million, but down significantly from 2019, when it was reported at $17 million.

The top payments went to the Minister of Finance for school taxes ($2,084,944), the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District ($1,644,495), Cedar Crest Lands (BC) Ltd. ($1,552,244), Receiver General for Canada ($893,411), and Sunstone Ridge Developments ($805,477).

Revenue, meanwhile, came in at $11.6 million in 2021, compared to $8.3 million in 2020. Expenses rose to $8.6 million from $7.1 million in that same timeframe. To that end, the accumulated surplus increased to $33,951,749 million from $30,997,616 in 2020.

Elizabeth Tracy, who became the village’s new CAO in June, says from her vantage point, she sees some financial wins last year.

“If I take my 10,000-foot view, what I see is a year where we had some major wins in terms of grants,” she said. “We had some major capital initiatives that were seeded and began—like soccer field two and the Bike Skills Park. These are great new assets to the community—and a testament to the team that made it happen.”

Her goals, looking ahead to next year, are to focus on employee retention and “becoming more service-focused, which I’m always keen to do,” Tracy added.

“[I want to] work with the team to find

efficiencies and continue to elevate service to the community,” she said. “A significant one as well: [we’ve] been working on the area of asset management, so fully implementing that plan to help support aging infrastructure and understand what it means when we bring these new assets online.”

In the end, it worked out well to be an incoming employee as council welcomes its newly elected members, Tracy added.

“There’s opportunity in that,” she said. “The organization itself had a lot of change over last year, and so while it’s hard to say goodbye to the folks that actually hired me and had the faith to bring me on board, they were kind enough to help me along with giving me some good feedback going forward.”

SOFI reports are typically presented in June. The Village of Pemberton would not elaborate on why its SOFI report is so late to be presented this year, other than to say the delay was due to “several factors.” n

GOING UP The Village of Pemberton’s annual SOFI report highlights spending and revenues for 2021.

FILE

Pemberton Valley Trails Association reports successful year

NEW BOARD ELECTED AT OCT. 15 AGM

BY ROBERT WISLA

TRAILS HAVE ALWAYS been a part of Spud Valley’s personality, from time immemorial to the modern day. The Pemberton trail network is one of the features that genuinely connects people across the valley (both literally and figuratively).

On Oct. 15, the Pemberton Valley Trails Association (PVTA) held its annual general meeting (AGM) in-person for the first time in two years. About 37 people came to the meeting, where a new PVTA board was elected followed by a group trail-building event.

“The PVTA has been around for quite a long time, which is cool. It’s our original trail association in Pemberton,” said PVTA president Emily Slaco.

“We’re a bit different than some of the other associations in the corridor. We represent all users, be they ground bikers, horseback riders, hikers, runners, or anyone using the trail.”

The newly-elected board consists of Aimee Fishman, Caleb Smith, Madison Perry, Thea Sturdy, Julia Poetschke and Mark Beaton. Slaco will continue on as PVTA president.

The trails association is one of the larger organizations in the Pemberton region, with nearly 700 paying members through PVTA and Pemberton Valley Off Road Cycling Association (PORCA) memberships.

According to Slaco, it was a very successful year for the PVTA, as several grants helped fund trail-improvement projects and the organization hired a new executive director.

The PVTA did 900 hours of paid trail maintenance in 2022, including fixing up equestrian trails such as Bob’s Loop, Side Saddle and Riverside Trail, along with completing the Mission Impossible 3 trail rerouting project in partnership with

Stewardship Pemberton to help preserve the sharp-tailed snake habitat.

Along with those achievements, the PVTA also did a rebranding campaign, creating a new logo, website, Facebook and Instagram, and developed new guidelines for commercial operators to donate back to the trails.

“Another one of the larger projects underway is putting up more signage in the Mackenzie Trail area where the bulk of the trail network is currently,” Slaco said.

“It was a bit of a maze before, but lots of signage has gone up in the last couple of years, and now we’re going to focus our attention on the One Mile [area]. So signage will start going up there through the fall and spring of next year.”

In addition to the signage in the Mackenzie Basin area, the PVTA is working on a cultural signage project with the Lil’wat Nation to increase knowledge of Lil’wat cultural sites.

The PVTA also plans to continue working on the goals of the Pemberton Valley Trails Master Plan; create a trail sponsorship program; and host more trail days sponsored by local businesses in the spring and fall.

Slaco encourages anyone interested in the trails to become a member of the PVTA and volunteer on upcoming trail days.

“We encourage everyone to become a member because your membership goes directly back into the trails and the trail association. It’s only $20 per membership, so really, that’s a bargain to use the trails in Pemberton year-round,” Slaco said.

“Even though we are so close to Whistler, and we get a lot of traffic from Whistler, being so small, we don’t get the same kind of funding that they get for trails, and we rely hugely on volunteers and donations. We appreciate people becoming members, donating either through Trailforks or through our website, and supporting us by coming out to trail days.”

Read more at pembertontrails.com. n

Whistler Valley

Society’s

of

HAPPY TRAILS

The Pemberton Valley Trails Association held its AGM on Oct. 15.

PHOTO

Testing the waters of packrafting

A RECURRING THEME I’ve had in this column is how one can maximize their outdoor experience by gaining distance from crowds. After all, the backcountry of British Columbia is about connecting to the mountainous landscape, not vibing with hundreds of other people like at a music festival.

BY VINCE SHULEY

There are a few traditional ways you can avoid crowds at popular backcountry destinations. Getting up in the wee dark hours and being first on the trail is one way. Opting for an occupation that allows days off mid-week is another. But as I’m sure you’ve noticed, these traditional techniques have also picked up in popularity as everyone vies for their own bit of backcountry solitude.

The next step involves some investment. A four-by-four vehicle with ample ground clearance unlocks B.C.’s vast network of logging roads, letting you burn right past the Evo carshares that litter parking pullouts metres from the highway. A snowmobile unlocks the same logging roads in the winter, allowing an express ride to backcountry ski zones not yet overwhelmed by members of the South Coast Touring Facebook group. If you are lucky enough to have friends with access to sailboats or fixed-wing aircraft, the possibilities really do become endless.

I’ve invested in the truck and snowmobile, and believe both spends to be very much worth it. The map of places I can now access within an hour’s drive of my house has probably quadrupled in size, not unlike progressing in an open-world video game. But my partner and I were curious about how else we could make the most of backcountry zones close to home, ones we’ve more or less given up on given the weekend crowds. The answer came with a unique piece of outdoor equipment: the packraft.

As the name suggests, packrafts blend the outdoor activities of backpacking and rafting. Built to be durable, portable and (most importantly) light, packrafts are inflatable watercraft that can access backcountry lakes and waterways. Depending on your paddling experience and

While the Kokopelli website will show the Twain rolled down to the size of a large sleeping bag, I’ve never managed to roll it up that small. But I can squeeze it into a 65-litre backpack and fit all the seat cushions, back bands, the removable fin and two collapsible kayak paddles. I also stuff one of the backpack compartments with a couple of dry bags, an emergency repair kit, and a compact, rechargeable pump. All are essential bits of kit to make the system work, and the whole package weighs about 7.5kg (16.5lbs) before I start adding things like food and water to the pack. So the package is bulky, but not nearly as heavy or unwieldy as an inflatable standup paddleboard. As long as you have a quality lightweight pack to move it around (I use an Arcteryx Altra 65 I already had

setting any speed records, but the boat felt stable and was able to handle a payload of two humans with their overnight gear. Where the Twain started to feel a little sketchy was on larger lakes when the late afternoon wind picked up. Given how flexible the boat is with weight on both ends, a small swell meant we started taking on water and made us retreat to the shoreline—so not particularly seaworthy.

The best part of owning our packraft has been the ability to hike into popular backcountry lakes and then embark on our own exploratory adventure away from other hikers. We seek out our own shoreline “beaches” for picnics, and scope out trails and camping spots for future adventures. Our trip-planning now seeks opportunities to link up several alpine lakes in a row, much like portaging canoes without having to carry a whole canoe on your shoulders.

PHOTO BY FRANCES DEMONTIGNY

motivation, there are self-bailing models built specifically for whitewater (complete with spraydecks) all the way down to models made to haul cargo on flat water. Not being whitewater enthusiasts, my partner and I opted for the two-person Kokopelli Twain, more of an inflatable canoe and one of the few two-person packrafts available in North America. Motivated couples could opt for two single-person packrafts, but we decided the Twain was more conducive to our style of mellow paddling.

kicking around the gear closet), getting the Twain up steep hiking trails or biking along double-tracks wasn’t really an issue. I relied on my partner to carry some of my key clothing items and anything else that I couldn’t squeeze into my pack.

Once we arrived at the water’s edge, with the palm-sized USB-rechargeable Feather pump, I could get the Twain ready to paddle in about 10 to 12 minutes. On calm water, the Twain paddles as well as expected for a lightweight, two-person inflatable. You’re not

You might think, “I can just carry in an Explorer 200 and float around on a lake if I want.” Sure you can. But I wouldn’t trust an Explorer to safely paddle the distance of Cheakamus Lake or Garibaldi Lake, especially not with gear. If you want a technical packraft built for the purpose, be prepared to pay for it. The retail price of the Twain in Canada is $1,860, and that’s before you add on the paddles and other essential accessories. But if you’re looking for yet another way to leave the crowds behind on your backcountry weekend, a packraft might be the piece of kit you didn’t know you were looking for.

Vince Shuley’s favourite quote from Eric Pehota: “I like people, but I like them most when they’re not around.” For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider email vince.shuley@gmail.com or Instagram @whis_vince. ■

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Halloween spooktacular

raucous Halloween parties that dot our neighbourhoods and village ever year.

We hope our annual selection of spooky short stories contributes in its own small way to that feeling. All penned by local (or, at least, formerly local) writers, this year’s collection of tales seemed to hew to that love of storytelling that we here at witch straining under the labour of her teacher’s homework assignment. There’s a disillusioned young woman yearning to disappear—at an unimaginable cost. There’s an old, leatherbound sketchbook found in an abandoned cabin in the woods filled with images of strange beasts. And, finally, there’s a writer following in the footsteps of a literary icon who discovers the true cost of genius.

A big thanks to all four submitting writers this year, a mix of familiar names for anyone who has read frightening tales as much as we did, and who knows, maybe you’ll find a scary story of your own this Halloween, somewhere out there in the deep, dark woods...

A One-Thousand-Word Essay On Why WeShould Not Cast Spells Upon Classmates

by Katherine Fawcett

My teacher Mrs. McInnister told me to sit quietly at this small, light brown desk in the back corner of the English Nine room and write a thousandword essay on why we must not cast spells upon our classmates, such as Luke. I believe this assignment is a good opportunity for me to contemplate what I have done while also working on my skills as a writer and not causing any more trouble. There is definitely a great deal to say about the whys and why nots of casting spells, but one thousand words is a very large number of words. More words, perhaps, than I have ever written on one subject, until now.

In my opinion, Mrs. McInnister was correct in her decision to send the other children outdoors for Early Recess, while she attempted to figure out how to “unfreeze” Luke. Presumably, Mrs. McInnister would like Luke, who, everyone knows is an excellent student, and recently received an A+ for his work on our MacBeth Partner Presentation, for which I was his partner, and, for the record, did all the work, to be able to raise and lower his right arm up into the air vigorously and repeatedly to provide answers to the questions that Mrs. McInnister asks our class about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and Banquo and MacDuff and The Three Witches and King Duncan, etc., etc., etc.

But first, I would like to take a few sentences to point out how curious it is that while Luke was given the highest grade possible, I received a B- for the same MacBeth Partner Presentation. Since Luke did all of the talking during the presentation, I suppose it is understandable that an English Nine teacher such as Mrs. McInnister might be swept away by his confident public speaking and charming demeanour. But I digress.

can only see him from behind, but his tanned arm is lifted slightly off the desk, and his long fingers are arched upwards, as if they are reaching for the sky. In retrospect, I think I cast that spell on Luke more out of frustration than anger or any wish to cause harm. He was about to answer another question that I knew the answer to. I simply lacked the courage to raise my own hand. Is Luke to blame for that? Perhaps not. Perhaps we, Luke and I, would actually make a good team. A partnership, per se. But now, his answer is stuck inside him, as are all of his words, thoughts and actions. His golden curls sparkle in the sunlight that streams through the classroom window, and the motionless outline of the muscles of his back and shoulders are visible through his light green T-shirt.

Perhaps Mrs. McInnister was correct: maybe it is wrong to cast spells upon our classmates. Maybe it’s the teacher instead—the one who assigns partner projects and doesn’t recognize the individual strengths and skills that each of the partners in the group bring to the project—who needs to be taught a lesson in fairness. Maybe it’s the teacher who needs to spend some time cast into a frozen state, and maybe while she is under the spell, I should unfreeze Luke and thank him for doing the public speaking part of the presentation, since that really isn’t my strength.

Back in a sec…

hand,

So now I will return to the subject at hand, which is: “Why We Should Not Cast Spells Upon Classmates.” As I stated earlier in this one-thousand-word essay, this is an important topic, even though it could be argued there are times when casting a spell is better than, say, resorting to violence. For the record, most spells can be reversed quite easily by whoever did the casting, and generally speaking, the subject of the spell will have no recollection of the time when he or she was under the spell.

OK, well, it is likely that Mrs. McInnister is currently second-guessing her chosen form of discipline with me. I assume she’s happy that Luke is OK and moving around freely again. Perhaps she’s wondering how many words I have completed on this one-thousand-word essay. I bet she’s wishing she didn’t leave her computer open with the Grade Nine English Marks spreadsheet on the screen so anyone could alter their mark on a particular assignment, especially a student who was unfairly given a B+ when they deserved so much higher, as even Luke agrees.

But if everyone were to run around willy-nilly, casting spells upon each other all the time, then yes, I could see how this would be problematic, in school and actually in society as a whole. Having spells such as invisibility, silence, blindness, falling asleep, becoming stone, becoming a frog, becoming a puff of smoke, becoming an old woman or becoming frozen being cast all over the place means things wouldn’t get done. And, obviously, in order for society to work, things do need to get done. For example, things such as doing all the research and the whole write-up for an English Nine MacBeth Partner Presentation.

falling

I’ll admit, seeing Luke sitting like that now, frozen stiff at his small, light brown desk in the front row of the English Nine classroom, does make me feel a little sorry for him. I

But it’s hard to gauge Mrs McInnister’s emotions, since she’s currently frozen solid, her mouth open wide, a red pen gripped between her long, wrinkled fingers, and a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very cold snarl curled upon her face.

Katherine Fawcett is a Squamish-based author, playwright, teacher and musician. Her newest play, “Blustery Ever After,” a follow-up to last year’s “Once Upon a Cold Snap” will be staged in Squamish by Between Shifts Theatre starting on Nov. 30.

In case you haven’t noticed, we here at like sharing stories. And not just the headline-grabbing hard news that is a community newspaper’s bread and butter. has, for years now, endeavoured to tell stories that go beyond the weekly news-cycle hamster wheel, be it our longform cover features, our irreverent, highly opinionated columnists (looking at you, Max), or the longstanding annual tradition of publishing a batch of short stories to mark that most hair-raising of holidays, Halloween.

Maybe it’s the awe-inspiring force of the wilderness around us, or maybe it’s Whistler’s natural tendency towards escapism, but Halloween just seems to hit different here. You see it in the looks on the kids’ faces when they’re excitedly trick-or-treating through Tapley’s Farm, and you see it in the

The Disappearing

By Sara Marrocco

Iwish I could disappear. Not forever. Just for a little while. People wouldn’t bother me and I wouldn’t bother them. I could just rest and relax and do my own thing. I could use this invisibility to check up on friends, maybe even prank them. I could make things levitate and slam doors and do all those things you see in scary movies. I could steal all the imported cheese I’d like; I wouldn’t have to pay rent; I could go see my favourite bands for free. Maybe not existing in the flesh would make the heartache go away, too.

I didn’t think I’d ever get an opportunity to actually disappear, but there it was—an ad on my social media feed. It said, “Holistic Pain-Relief,” and like the good consumer I am, I clicked on it. It didn’t take long for them to call me after that, knowing that I was somewhat interested. I won’t lie, it sounded very appealing. These scientists have found a way to isolate the human personality, or soul, if you will, giving you a vacation from the pain inside your body. Your soul would exist in the world as it normally would, yet without the body, you’d essentially be invisible. You choose the length of time you want to be pain-free and when your time is up, you’re put safely back into your body.

That was the plan anyway.

They were honest in explaining that it was experimental, although they’d successfully conducted more than a thousand extractions. I even got to chat to someone who’d gone through it to ask them any questions. It was quick, painless, reasonably priced, and for a limited time, they were offering a free, one-hour therapy session afterwards. The idea of being unburdened for even a week was too good of an offer to pass up.

It’s not like I had anything to lose. Nathan and I were pretty much done. Our final argument was last week and we’d both reached our limit. It wasn’t working. Another relationship failure to add to my collection. I’d lost my job as well and hadn’t found anything permanent since. My mum was being so obnoxious, constantly calling me to ask what I’m doing with my life and tell me how concerned she was. She mentions how much she likes Nathan, as if I don’t and as if I haven’t been trying my arse off to make things work.

I’m also losing my dog Loki because he seems to like Nathan more than me, so it looks like they’ll be leaving together to a new apartment. The icing on the cake is that the only houseplant I’ve ever owned is struggling and probably going to die. I’ve either watered it too much, too little or too inconsistently. Who knows with these things. They’re like avocados— sensitive, temperamental and the timing needs to be perfect for you to enjoy them.

No, what I needed was a vacation from myself and a vacation from others. So I went for it. I signed the dotted line, paid up and booked the procedure. It was a surprisingly basic process. They had me lie in this tunnel like you would for a CT scan, with these pads and electrodes attached to my body. There was about five of them working on me all in white scrubs and medical masks. I couldn’t tell any of them apart unless they spoke. The man in charge had a high-pitched, monotonous voice and pronounced my name wrong. I hate it when people do that.

The machines made a series of noises and I had to stay as still as I possibly could. It felt like about an hour before there was a loud, deep buzzing and the whole room was vibrating. I got a flashback to the EDM festival I went to last summer. The bass shook the whole grounds then, just like it was now in this metal tomb.

Then, a sound like an old-school camera flash bulb, followed by silence.

It was a strange feeling. I was weightless—what I imagined being in space would feel like. As I sat up and turned around, I saw my lifeless body behind me and I felt free. I felt

like the weight of the world was off my shoulders. I was invincible. I walked the streets without being judged. I went for a midnight walk through the city’s biggest park without fearing for my safety. I sat at cafés and stared at beautiful people just because I could. I went to my favourite ice cream shop to get a giant scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough, but that’s where I learned that I can’t eat. I guess I don’t need to. I also don’t require sleep. I’ll just have to find ways to keep myself busy.

I went back to my apartment. All of Nathan’s stuff was gone including his couch and all the dining room furniture. The space was lifeless and sad. Loki’s dog bed was gone, but his fur was still scattered in little tufts in the corners of the room. I could still smell his soft little ears. I’d have to mention this to the scientists—I was meant to be pain-free in this existence. And yet I could still feel. There was a tension in me; a tightening where my throat would be and a clenching at my chest. There was still a deep sadness in me.

What a rip-off. I was supposed to not feel anything. Frustrated, I turned to leave and go somewhere, anywhere but here. Then I noticed my houseplant on the windowsill. Nathan must have moved it. The little sun we had that day was poking through the curtains, illuminating the last few leaves the poor thing had. And at the root, a new leaf had emerged. A tiny, frail, springy green leaf poking up from the soil. Well, how about that.

After the initial excitement of not being seen, I must say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I did everything imaginable: jumped off a building and flew; got hit by a train; walked through fire; went to the bottom of the ocean; ran naked through the main city square… It was fun, but it was lonely. I was ready after that week to get back in my body, so I excitedly made my way back to the clinic at the required time.

I got there early just to be sure. I walked into the high-rise building lobby and through to the elevator where I noticed the company name wasn’t listed on the same floor. In fact, it wasn’t listed anywhere. I clearly remembered that it was on the 21st floor, because that’s my birthday. I made my way to the 21st floor anyway, and it was completely different. It looked like it was becoming some sort of law office. There were movers arranging office furniture and people in suits with clipboards instructing them. No. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real. I went to every floor in the building running, screaming, asking people where the clinic went, but of course no one could hear me. I went to every building in the block, to every floor and there was no sign of it anywhere. I spent hours, days, weeks retracing my steps. Nothing.

It’s been two years since that day. I never found my body or the clinic or anyone else who succumbed to the temptation to live a pain-free existence. I sat with my mother as she called the police to report me missing. I followed Nathan as he drove around the province trying to get answers to my disappearance. I slept beside Loki wishing I could feel his soft fur on my palm. And I was witness to the arrangements that were made to honour my life with a memorial.

And now here I am. Sitting here at the church watching the people who loved me mourn me. Nathan is here. He looks defeated and betrayed. I never got to tell him that I’m sorry, that I wish things were different, that I truly do love him and would do anything to feel his hands on my face again. My mother sits in a pew lifelessly, empty, abandoned. She didn’t deserve this.

They’ll never know that this was a stupid mistake I made or that I’m still here watching, screaming, wailing, pounding my fists on my coffin begging it to make a sound, for anything I do to be noticed. But nobody hears me. Nobody sees me. They don’t even feel my presence like they do sometimes in the movies when someone just knows that their love is sitting right next to them. No. I don’t exist. Not even to Loki.

This is what I wanted, right? People don’t bother me and I don’t bother them. I can just rest and relax on my own for the rest of time.

Sara Marrocco is an actor, writer and musician based in Squamish, B.C. When she’s not hogging the microphone, she’s trying to perfect her Nonna’s biscotti recipe.

Sketchbook

By Robert Wisla

It was a nippy fall day. The sun was piercing through parted grey clouds, and the birds were few and far between as Hallows Eve was nearly upon us.

I decided to go on a walk through a nearby forest, having heard rumours of a beautiful trail that threaded through towering old trees and led to an abandoned cabin from days long past.

Hopping in my vehicle, I made my way down some winding roads. It was eerily quiet, without a soul in sight, a road so solitary I wondered if I had taken a wrong turn.

When I arrived at the trailhead, the air was musty and damp. The forest floor was caked with brown, red and gold crumbling leaves. The rain that recently came through awoke the towns of toadstools along the snaking trail, an unwary forager’s perilous delight.

I scoffed when I heard the trail was long and challenging, with dozens of twists, turns, hills and cliffs. As I began to huff and puff along, I discovered all the rumours I had heard of the trail were true. It was a twisting path through ancient forests. I began to realize that my pounding heart was fuelled not just by the steep and rocky path, but by a tingling sense of adrenaline, warning my body to be on high alert.

The days were growing shorter, so I had limited time to make it up to the abandoned cabin and back to my vehicle in the warming light of day before night wound her creeping tendrils around me. The race was on.

After three hours of hiking, I finally reached the abandoned cabin. Decades ago, the house served as the base for a lonely trapper, a forest hermit that kept to himself, surviving off foraged food and the viscera of the woods.

No one knows what happened to that trapper. There are whispers that his ghostly form has been spotted defending his ruined domain—town gossip intended to scare would-be miscreants away.

The cabin was more significant than I expected. The forest had nearly enveloped it, and the tree canopy helped the aging roof survive. I pushed tentatively on the door, which groaned open with a slight resistance as if to warn me not to proceed.

Spiderwebs covered every windowsill. Dust coated the worn wooden floor, and the single small room held a metal stove, a lone rusted kettle, and an old cedar table.

Casting menacing shadows in the waning light, sharp long hooks adorned the walls. The lowering sun deepened the shadows over the scratches gouging the cabin’s frame.

As I stepped through the door, I noticed an old notebook propping up one of the table legs. My curiosity got the better of me, and I wrenched it out. What was this old trapper reading by himself in the woods?

There was no title on the front of the book; it was wrapped in a homemade leather dust jacket. I opened it to find nothing but sketches of wildlife: deer, birds, mountain goats. Then, after about 20 pages, the illustrations suddenly turned into a weird-looking creature I had never seen.

It was a bear-like beast, with fangs and long, bat-like ears. A hundred pages in a row featured this creature, each sketch more detailed than the last. As I flipped through the pages documenting the mysterious animal, a blast of wind came through the window and

slapped the cabin door shut.

The loud bang brought me out of my trance, and I realized I should be getting back to my car. Daylight was going to be leaving soon, and the cabin was not one I would wish to stay at deep into the night.

I began heading back to my car, taking the sketchbook with me. As I journeyed back down the difficult path, the sunset drew near.

Unfortunately, after two hours of hiking back to my car, it grew dark, and the rough trail became difficult to see. I knew I had an hour still to go, but it might have to be in the dark. I had to use my cell phone’s flashlight to light the path; it was barely bright enough to see the gnarled roots in front of me, and it quickly drained my battery. If it were to run out, I would have to find my way through the deep, dark forest without a guiding light, I feared. Twenty per cent remained.

I picked up the pace, walking quickly through the creaking forest, mindful of every spindly root and tree along the path. That old sinking feeling of fear began to claw its way to the front of my mind. What happens when my battery dies? How will I find my way back to the road?

The forest began to feel eerie in a way words can’t quite describe. As if the trees grew eyes and began to watch me clamber through their home. A breeze picked up and shook the branches, rocking back and forth as the forest moved around me.

I didn’t have long before my phone would die. My pace grew faster as I made my way through the cavernous forest. Ten per cent left.

I went faster now, running along the difficult-to-follow trail, branches scratching me as I flurried through the forest.

Cold beads of sweat trickled down my back, and I was terrified that it would soon be pitch black. I gripped my dying light and the sketchbook tightly. Its rough leather pressed tightly in my hand. Then I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.

Straight ahead of me on the trail, a colossal creature, black as night, stood hunched over in the middle of the track with glowing, beady red eyes and long, jagged white fangs. It was the creature from the sketchbook.

Spattered and matted, the creature grumbled and sauntered on its two back feet. Its long arms protruded from its sides and swayed in front of it with a dozen claws protruding from clublike paws. I immediately froze. It was unlike any creature I had seen, as if a bat and a grizzly had merged.

The creature turned its mangled body toward me and glared at me with its ruby-red eyes, fangs reflecting in the moonlight above. I didn’t know what to do. As it moved closer, I could hear its growl grow louder.

I was left terrified, my cold hands shaking. Could this even be the same creature from the sketch? I stood there, frozen to the ground. My legs couldn’t move even if they wanted to. I was rooted in the forest like the towering trees around me.

Given its size, I had little hope of outrunning this thing. Was this the end? In defiant terror, I threw the leatherbound sketchbook at the creature. It landed right in front of it. To my surprise, the beast stopped.

It stretched out its long arms, clasped the book between its razor-sharp claws, and let out a blood-curdling scream. My phone died. And there I stood in the pitch black, barely able to see the shadowy creature before me, terrified at what would happen next.

Robert Wisla is a reporter with Pique Newsmagazine. When he’s not working, you can usually find him hiking, going for wine tastings or travelling around the world.

The Scribe of Samhain

By Angie Nolan

The craggy tread down to Anam Cottage had always been a challenge for Cathrain Morrigan, but now, in her 82nd year, it seems damn near impossible. With each step, her wheezy respirations drown out the chill of Glencolumbkille’s coastal winds as they whip and twist around her fragile frame. Still, the impending Hallows Eve storm is no match for Cathrain, a woman not easily dissuaded.

Continuing down the harrowing descent, Cathrain death-grips the cold of a tempest battered railing. She stops three quarters of the way down to take in the view. Something in the cinereous skies and silvery slate of the angry Donegal sea brings great comfort to her. There is no other place in the world that knows the bones of her better.

It has been almost 50 years since Cathrain bought the cottage on a whim after her second novel, The Bread and the Blood, was a bestseller. It was a success that afforded the writer the kind of life only young novelists dream about. She’s always known it isn’t her best work. Even after six relatively successful books, she still finds herself in an endless pursuit of the perfected word and the characters who long to inhabit them. Both of which she can never seem to catch.

All the same, Ms. C.S. Morrigan of Cnoc Na Naomh is determined to be remembered.

A kelly-green, paint-chipped post box greets Cathrain at the bottom of the stairs. Her lank fingers feel their way around the unit until locating a secret slot underneath. In it, she finds a rust-tarnished skeleton key. She clumsily plucks it out of its hiding place and laboriously shuffles along the wooden slat path leading to the front door.

The key click-clacks in Cathrain’s feeble hands until the lock releases and the creak of the weighty portal welcomes her in. The smell of soot, sea-salt mold and dried lavender swiftly greet her. One look around and the author knows this night is going to be something quite different.

Cathrain immediately gets to work dusting off a full season of human inactivity. She stumbles around the thatched dwelling for an arduous two hours, sweeping, wiping, fixing and moving things into place; creating a writer’s sanctuary. The final ritual is uncovering the lightly cobwebbed 1930’s Imperial Good Companion vintage, manual portable typewriter that sits upon the same desk it always has for over 50 years. It was a posthumous gift that came with the place, left behind by the writer who died while plucking away on its keys.

The town has long whispered a tale of a promising young writer, Thomas Anam, who tortuously scrawled in a carnal hunt for the impeccable word. He would go days without sleeping or eating; hammering away until his fingers bled. His sanity went first and then his heart; leaving him lifeless at the desk with an unfinished work of art. “Dead” was the very last word he typed.

Cathrain’s memory flickers back to her 32-year-old self and to the real estate agent mumbling something about frightful cries and unnerving activity in the dark. At the time, she remembers scraping a dried red substance off the “D” key of the typewriter and telling the agent she wasn’t afraid of a little haunting. Heck, it might even help her creative process.

Amidst the discovery of a few unfinished drafts of Thomas’ work, Cathrain has often felt his presence here. The inexplicable slamming of doors, the fire lighting itself and the wanting wails from the typewriter at night are all things she has learned to accept. As if that, in some primordial sense, living with such horrors will eventually be her gateway to greatness.

A knock on the door breaks Cathrain’s foggy reminiscence. Her ragged body has been pushed too far today. She faintly beckons for the caller to let themselves in and a bouncy

young woman enters. It’s the neighbours’ teenage daughter Tally, dressed as a druid queen. She’s been instructed to drop off a plethora of celebratory treats before the Halloween festivities begin. A thermos of tea and cream, soda drop biscuits wrapped in wax paper and two plates of roast dinner. One is to be used as an offering to a spirit of Cathrain’s choosing. After a smattering of small talk, Tally takes her leave with a promise to pop by later. She’ll bring back an ember from the bonfire for Cathrain’s hearth. The writer is not sure she will be up that late but promises to try.

Cathrain lights the flat wick kerosene lamp in her window; watching Tally and her friends rollick down the beach toward the furthest point, where a handful of bonfires begin to blaze. Carefully unwrapping one of the dinner plates and placing it in the window next to the lamp, she contemplates her next move. Her strength is waning and she has important things to write. In the window, her spectral reflection exposes a woman not long for this world and yet her greatest masterpiece still must be completed.

Cathrain feebly reaches into the only bag she brought with her, pulling out a halffinished manuscript and a totable pharmacy with it. ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptors, neprilysin inhibitors, sacubitril, valsartan, beta-blockers all fall to the floor. She ignores the mess of heart meds and focuses on the pages in front of her. Sliding a blank piece of bond paper off the top of its pile, she places it delicately in the feed lever, rolling and clamping it into place. Methodically tearing a strip of the title page of her manuscript, Cathrain tenuously scribbles the last note she’ll ever pen.

It reads: Dear Thomas, I’m ready now. Let’s write.

Hands shaking, she slips the note under the plate of food. As she calls out for Thomas, the crackle in her voice frightens her a little. Outside, the skies swoon to the swelling bonfire down the beach. Spirits are rising. A guttural gust smashes up against the cottage window as the shutters bash and bang in morse code. A perilous screech exhales from the belly of the 1930’s Imperial Good Companion vintage as it jumps across the desk toward Cathrain. The lamplight flickers and an ominous shadow oozes out from the ribbon strand and floats to the table beside her. Unshook, Cathrain remains stalwart to the cause. “I’m not afraid.”

Her fingers involuntarily thrust themselves upon the carriage and the skin of her osseous digits stick like spider scapulae to the keys. The creative contract is signed. For hours, Cathrain’s body jolts, reels and writhes in tune to the songs of the unveiled. Lost souls arrive one by one at her window, asking for directions. She can only answer in words she does not know. Words that travel through her. She is all but a vessel now with sweatfevered skin and moulting fingertips. In frenzied flashes, the author catches small glimpses of the text before her. It’s genius at work.

With each new page Cathrain feels her heart failing. A part of her wants to stop; wants to see another day; wants to see her family again but she knows that’s a fool’s wish. She plods away through the next few pages until she reaches the end. As dawn sneaks a peek into the horizon, the apparition wraps its billow around the writer and helps push her through apneic chokes. A flash of Thomas Anam’s face flutters in the window then withers away in the wind. Cathrain’s shredded flesh sticks to the very last key of her masterpiece like flypaper and won’t move. That damn “D” key.

Cathlain’s slumped corpse was discovered at 5 a.m. by Tally and her friends. They expeditiously put the promised ember in the hearth as a burning assurance that the author’s spirit will travel well.

Two years later to the day, Lilly Morrigan accepted the Booker Prize on behalf of her late mother, for what was to be considered the greatest work of fiction in modern times.

Angie Nolan is a Vancouver-based writer, director, actor, educator and awardwinning filmmaker ■

Local riders wrap summer with enduro nationals

JUNIOR PHENOM HO CLAIMS FASTEST TIME OF THE DAY

BY DAN FALLOON

WHISTLER’S WEI TIEN HO defended home turf last month at the Norco Canadian Enduro Championships.

Though he was competing in the U21 men’s division on Sept. 24 and 25, Ho posted the event’s fastest time by more than 18 seconds. However, with the pro men’s field lacking Enduro World Series champ Jesse Melamed and other local heavy hitters, he’s not reading too much into the result.

“I was really happy to end the season off with the win, and I’m happy with my riding,” he said. “There were no EWS people there, like Jesse, so I’m definitely happy to have the fastest time, but there should have been some pros there.

“It’s a half-win.”

Still, Ho could only beat the riders who signed up, and the fact he outraced them all just weeks after breaking his ribs is all the more impressive. The injury kept Ho, primarily a downhiller, out of the UCI World Championships and the final Junior World Cup of the season.

“I was pretty much fully recovered. It was more that my fitness wasn’t necessarily there, and I hadn’t been on a trail bike for

awhile,” he said, noting that he only started riding again just over a week before the race following a layoff of nearly three weeks. “I’ve just got to be ready to suffer.”

While Ho ages out of the junior division for downhill in 2023, he is still eligible to compete against his U21 peers in enduro, which he plans to race more of next year.

“I decided to focus on downhill since it’s my last year in junior, just to see what I can do,” he said. “Next year, because I’ll be in elite downhill, I’ll definitely dabble

back in a silver-level performance.

“It was a little last-minute decision to race the enduro nationals in Whistler. I had a lot of fun with my friends and it went well,” Cruz said.

With a primary focus on downhill, Cruz will recall the summer of 2022 fondly, as he claimed his first UCI Junior World Cup podium at Vallnord, Andorra in July.

The following weekend, he earned the junior men’s downhill title at Kicking Horse with a time that would have put him on

in the pro women’s category.

“It was more just a day for me to have fun. I feel like I did put a bit of pressure on myself, so I was just trying to stay humble. I didn’t look at the results all day, I just had fun riding with friends,” the University of Victoria kinesiology student said. “It was just coming home for the weekend and enjoying the Whistler trails.”

The highlight of Long’s day was riding Micro Climate, a trail she knows well.

“I really tried to charge on it, and tried to go full gas on the whole thing,” she said. “I made a few mistakes, but that’s all a part of enduro.”

Long competed in six of eight Enduro World Series events in the pro women’s division, gaining momentum as the year went on—she finished in the top 20 in her final three races, including a season-high 18th in Whistler.

“It was almost my first full season, so I’m really stoked on that,” said Long, who comes from a cross-country background.

in it, gain some experience and learn some things, but I’m going to focus more on enduro next year.”

Ho is also an accomplished freeskier, and having graduated high school, he’s taking a gap year to allow himself both pursuits this winter, including competing in some Freeride World Qualifier events and serving as a forerunner for Freeride World Tour competitions at Kicking Horse and Andorra.

Just behind Ho in the division was Pemberton’s Tegan Cruz, who rebounded from a rough first stage to finish 24 seconds

the elite men’s podium with older brother Lucas, who placed second.

“I’m really happy to be the Canadian champion moving into next season and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going,” he said.

LONG CLAIMS SECOND IN PRO WOMEN’S

Meanwhile, Whistler’s Julia Long won a stage and finished 4.8 seconds back of Kamloops’ Jennifer Jackson to take second

Other Whistlerites who excelled at national champs included: Riley King (second in pro men’s); Tristan Sanders (third in pro men’s); Natalia Sisolakova (first in open women’s); Tom Webb (first in 30-39 men’s); Billy Marnane (second in 30-39 men’s); Will Leverton (second in 21-29 men’s); Shane Gayton (first in 40-49 men’s); Flavio Kodato (third in 40-49 men’s); Sion Gwynn (first in expert men’s); Alvaro Sanchez (third in expert men’s); and Peta Gascoigne (second in short course adult).

Full results are at zone4.ca. n

TOP SPOTS Whistler’s Wei Tien Ho (centre) and Pemberton’s Tegan Cruz (left) on the U21 men’s podium at the Norco Canadian Enduro Championships in September.

“I was really happy to end the season off with the win, and I’m happy with my riding.”

- WEI TIEN HO

New head coach for Whistler Nordics

NICOLAS PIGEON LOOKS TO JUMP START HIGHPERFORMANCE PROGRAM

BY DAN FALLOON

WHISTLER NORDICS has a new head coach.

Former NorAm Cup-level racer Nicolas Pigeon, who hails from Gatineau, Que., is excited to head west to join the club.

Pigeon reconnected with an old friend, Cross Country BC provincial coach Chris Manhard, when he was in town for the Canadian National XC Championships last spring. He picked Manhard’s brain for opportunities and was looped in with Whistler Nordics.

Whistler held some appeal to Pigeon, as he hopes to dabble in alpine skiing while he’s in the resort.

“I can work anywhere in Canada, so I wanted to go to the best place in the world for skiing,” he said.

As a coach, Pigeon took inspiration from some of those who led him in the past, and will carry on their torch of creating well-rounded humans.

“We’re not just making good athletes, but we’re making good people,” he said, highlighting virtues such as responsibility and hard work.

Pigeon also said caring for athletes’ mental health will be at the forefront of his approach.

With many of the registered athletes skewing younger, Pigeon said the club plans to attend some BC Cup and regional events, but will potentially look at higher-level competition in the years to come.

Club president Tony Peiffer is excited to fill the head coaching position, which had been vacant in recent seasons, and hopes Pigeon’s arrival will draw athletes in the corridor to racing. While there was a wave of local Nordics skiers that moved on to higher levels, such as Joe Davies joining the British

Cross Country Ski Team, Michael Murdoch racing at the University of British Columbia and Peiffer’s daughter Benita cracking the national biathlon team, there hasn’t been a sustained interest in high-level competition in recent years.

“We’re trying to rebuild that racing component,” Peiffer said, noting six athletes are currently registered. “This year, we see that program as a building year. We’ll see how Nick does in that environment. We’ve got to get some kids out to races.

“It just takes a little time and some committed parents to come along with

N ils DEggert augulis

August 29, 1947 - October 6, 2022

them, and hopefully that generates enough interest to get the thing going.”

In addition to Pigeon’s focus on developing the club’s community race program for younger athletes, Peiffer said Pigeon will also provide guidance to masters-level racers.

“We’ve had lots of interest in masters over the years, but never enough coaches,” he said.

The club has filled the head coach position in the past with Jessica Aldighieri and current vice president Maria Lundgren, and figured offering the role as a part-time position was the best way to go.

“A club our size, it’s tough to support a head coach financially, but we’re going to give it a try,” Peiffer said.

For more, visit whistlernordics.com. n

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Nils Daugulis Nils lef t us peacefully and on his own terms, surrounded by his loving family

Nils is sur vived by his wife of 40 years, Susan Gayle Daugulis (nee Mighton), his sons Michael and John Daugulis, their partners T ina Daugulis and Tesa Drew and 2 grandsons Hudson and L eo Daugulis Nils is also sur vived by his beloved sister Merete Teisen and many Danish cousins scattered around the wor ld

Nils was born in Denmark and emigrated with his parents to Ft St John in 1950 Nils grew up at their farm outside of Ft St John where he spent many happy hours The farm was a ver y important part of his entire life

Nils had a long and prestigious career as a Maritime Lawyer with Bull, Housser & Tupper, where he also ser ved as Managing Partner

In 2005, Nils and his wife Sue purchased Venue West Conference Ser vices which is now a thriving family business

Nils excelled in many sports and particular ly loved skiing He was on the BC Ski Racing team and taught skiing in Austria for a winter during university He also loved to go heliskiing with friends whenever he could He loved tennis, golfing, biking and taking craz y trips out to sea in his beloved Zodiac

W histler was a huge part of Nil’s life and he loved spending as much time as he could at the chalet Nils was a wonderful husband and father and truly one of a kind He always tried to do the right thing and worked hard to make the wor ld a better place He of ten said that the greatest gif t he could give his sons was a moral compass to help them navigate their lives He lived a full and productive life as a husband, father, son, farmer, lawyer, managing partner, a great stor yteller (with a dr y humour) and a successful businessman Most of all Nils was a human being who lived life to the fullest

We are sorr y that he has lef t us but he has lef t us all better off for knowing him and having him in our lives

He will be dear ly missed by his family, many cherished friends and extended family

A ser vice and reception will be held for Nils on Thursday October 27th at 3 PM at St Mar y ’ s Church in Vancouver In lieu of flowers, please consider giving to his favorite charit y Covenant House

“We’re trying to rebuild that racing component.”

- TONY PEIFFER

Ross

Specializing

BY MEGAN LALONDE

AHEAD OF WHISTLER’S annual celebration of all things food and drink, Cornucopia executive director Sue Eckersley wants to clarify one point about the festival’s educational seminars in particular.

Regardless of whether your palate favours a vintage varietal with a three-figure price tag or an inexpensive screw-top rosé, “there’ll be something there for somebody who’s very educated in wines, and there’ll be things there for people that are new to it,” she explained.

“We want people to know whether you are a master sommelier or whether you’re a complete neophyte in wines, you’re welcome at those seminars, and that our seminar presenters are ready for that.”

With the sheer amount of events slated to take place when the festival returns next month, Cornucopia is truly offering something for everyone this year—yes, even non-wine drinkers. The festival’s 26th iteration is scheduled to run across an expanded, 22-day period beginning Friday, Nov. 4 and wrapping up on Sunday, Nov. 27.

“We just can’t get enough, apparently,” said Eckersley, president of Watermark Communications, the event management powerhouse that has helmed Cornucopia for the last 13 years.

“We learned some good [lessons] during

COVID, which ended up being some good events that we didn’t want to give up on,” she added. “And then there were just some other ones we brought back from pre-pandemic, so when they were all put together it was quite a large event [overall].”

Eckersley’s advice to locals looking to cross a few titles off the schedule? “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said with a laugh.

Kicking off the festival is a four-course murder mystery dinner at the Bearfoot

best caesar interpretation into the ring. For those who prefer to get the revelries rolling early, a brunch featuring some of Canada’s top drag queens is similarly returning to Cornucopia this year.

Also scattered among the schedule are new and returning drink seminars with titles like Top Value Wines, Ciders of the World, The Fine Art of Japanese Whisky, Must-Havé Agave, and Tour de France; winemakers dinners hosted by a range of

In other words, it “is like being in the audience of a live cooking show, and you get to enjoy the food creations,” as per Cornucopia’s website.

One constant theme tends to run through Cornucopia’s entire event calendar, “whether it’s in the seminars or at the Culinary Stage, at the House Party, at Crush,” said Eckersley, “is that it’s a celebration, pure and simple. Yes, there is this educational side of it, but it’s fun.”

After a couple of years spent planning mostly seated, socially-distanced events, Cornucopia organizers are also looking forward to seeing that celebratory atmosphere enhanced as guests get back to mingling with friends. But while organizers are no longer beholden to pandemic-induced provincial health orders and capacity limits, Eckersley said her team is still taking care to make Cornucopia a safe, comfortable event by capping the number of tickets for many events at a slightly lower level compared to pre-pandemic headcounts.

Bistro on Friday night—a highlight of the 2021 festival when it was first introduced last year, explained Eckersley—while a fall feast at the Squamish Lil’wat Culture Centre on Nov. 26 will anchor the celebrations.

Among the longstanding, locallybeloved bashes back on Cornucopia’s calendar after a pandemic-induced hiatus are signature tasting events like House Party, Crush, the With a Twist Silent Disco, the slightly-more-upscale Cellar Door, and, of course, the action-packed Bearfoot Bistro World Oyster Invitational & Bloody Caesar Battle, which this year features eight participating bartenders throwing their

local restaurants; and culinary stage events featuring renowned chefs from Whistler and beyond.

“One of the things that people don’t realize is that there is as much, if not more, food that goes on at Cornucopia these days than just drinking—I mean it’s always paired with drinking—but when everybody says, ‘Sue, what’s the best thing at Cornucopia?’ I would say it’s culinary stages,” Eckersley said. “We have some really impressive chefs who are both teaching and delivering threeto-five tasters of what they’re preparing in front of you, plus it’s paired with some sort of beverage.”

With the number of available tickets dwindling by the day, Eckersley encouraged anyone interested in attending to lock in their purchases sooner rather than later. “I am concerned a little bit for locals because they like to wait to the last minute,” she added with a laugh.

If you’d rather be a part of the festival without paying the price of admission, Cornucopia—which has operated as a nonprofit since its inception, raising funds to support the BC Hospitality Foundation—is also looking for more volunteers to join its dedicated team ahead of this year’s festival.

Visit whistlercornucopia.com for tickets or for more information. n

‘Something there for everybody’: Cornucopia welcomes crowds back to Whistler with signature events, seminars and more

THE 26TH ANNUAL FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL KICKS OFF NOV. 4 AND RUNS FOR 22 DAYS

Age is just a number in Magic Hour

LATEST TGR OFFERING SET TO SCREEN IN WHISTLER ON NOV. 5

BY ALYSSA NOEL

THE AGE OF A professional skier might be akin to dog years, but Ian McIntosh is proof it doesn’t have to be that way.

“To have a long career doing what you love, it doesn’t get any better,” the 41-yearold Whistlerite says. “For me, being able to make money doing what I love for so long now, I feel very fortunate.”

Still, there’s no getting around it: he and Sage Cattabriga-Alosa are officially both senior members of the Teton Gravity Research (TGR) roster. So, McIntosh thought, why not poke fun at that—while still showing off their top-tier chops?

“This is an idea I had for a few years,” he says. “Sage and I were chatting one day and we were like, ‘We’ve watched other athletes come along after our careers were wellestablished, have great careers and then retire—yet, we’re still doing it.’ We wanted to make fun of the fact that we’re the senior citizens of the TGR crew—all the while showing that we’re still relevant and got it.” And that was how the narrative thread

in TGR’s latest film, Magic Hour, was conceived. Technically, the film gleans its name from the first hours following sunrise and the last before sunset, but it’s woven together with (spoiler alert) McIntosh and Cattabriga-Alosa dressed up as old men.

The pair were fitted for prosthetics by a Hollywood makeup artist, and spent four hours in the makeup chair.

Essentially, the pair has to act throughout the entire film.

“Sage and I are not actors—not even close—but the makeup does it for you,” McIntosh says. “When you get into the makeup and see yourself in the mirror, it puts you into that character.”

Of course, the production also follows several other skiers and snowboarders—

and snowboard movie, those guys also get their moment of glory.

“We got the coveted closing segment,” McIntosh says. “I got the closing shot. The final impression and the opening are really important, so to be able to get that reaffirms to me as an athlete that I am still very much doing it.”

Looking ahead to this season, he’s in the midst of planning a trip to Alaska with Cattabriga-Alosa and some younger athletes.

“It’s more a mentor-style trip,” he says. “Sage and I learned from one of the gurus of our sport: Jeremy Jones. He passed us so much knowledge. We feel we need to pass that knowledge we gained from him, and our experience in the mountains, to the new generation.”

But don’t get the wrong idea.

PHOTO BY JEREMY ALLEN

“We wanted it to be super convincing,” McIntosh says. “We wanted a little bit of confusion.”

The story starts with the two skiers hobbling their way to Kaslo—home to some ski lines that, in real life, McIntosh had his eye on for some time—to wait out the weather for the perfect ski day.

“Is there an age limit to pursuing our dreams?” a narrator asks. “To pursuing that fleeting feeling we all know and love?”

including Amy Jane David, Bode Merrill, Christina Lustenberger, Griffin Post, Jake Hopfinger, Jeremy Jones, Jim Ryan, KC Deane, Kai Jones, McRae Williams, Michelle Parker, Nat Murphy, Nick McNutt, Parkin Costain, Sam Smoothy, Simon Hillis, Tim Durtschi, Veronica Paulsen—in locations ranging from around B.C., to Alaska and Montana.

But sandwiching the winter stoke is the two “old men.” Of course, this being a ski

“All of this makes it look like I’m getting ready to retire,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not. But if I got hurt and was forced into retirement, I want to make sure I passed on the knowledge and passed the torch.”

Catch a screening of Magic Hour on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Maury Young Arts Centre.

The first screening is all ages with doors at 6 p.m., followed by a 19-plus screening at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth under 16.

Get them at showpass.com/tgrmagichour. n

STILL KICKIN Professional skiers Ian McIntosh (with walker) and Sage Cattabriga-Alosa might be seniors on the TGR roster, but it took a lot of prosthetics to truly turn them into old men for Magic Hour

“I got the closing shot. The final impression and the opening are really important, so to be able to get that reaffirms to me as an athlete that I am still very much doing it.”

- IAN MCINTOSH

What’s up, witches: here’s what’s happening in Whistler this Halloween

FREAKY FESTIVITIES KICK OFF ON FRIDAY, OCT. 28, AND RUN THROUGH OCT. 31

BY ALYSSA NOEL

SPOOKY SEASON IS officially upon us.

Whether you’re an adult primed for a good party, a kid donning your trick-or-treat finest or you fall somewhere in between, this year it seems Whistler’s Halloween offerings have something for everyone.

HALLOWEEN AT TAPLEY’S FARM

Let’s start with a classic. Tapley’s Farm has been the centre of Halloween fun for Whistler’s tiny ghosts and goblins for the last 39 years. That means you probably know the drill by now: the neighbourhood will be closed to traffic starting at 4 p.m., with trickor-treating set for 5:30 p.m.

There will be little parking, so hop on the free “Park and Spook” shuttle running between Tapley’s and Marketplace.

About 1,000 kids are expected, with fireworks set for 7:30 p.m.

Participants are simply asked to bring a cash or food donation for the Whistler Food Bank to drop off at the entrance of the neighbourhood.

And, if you’re reading this before Oct. 31, you can also help out the event by dropping off candy donations at collection boxes around town.

FAMILY HALLOWEEN PARTY

The weekend before Halloween is fair game for all spooky events. Myrtle Philip Community School is hosting its Family Halloween Party on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium with costumes, dancing, and games.

Tickets are $25 for a family with one kid and $40 for a family with two or more kids. If you have an extra friend tagging along, their admission will cost $15.

All profits go towards Whistler’s elementary school PACs.

Get tickets at eventbrite.ca/e/familyhalloween-party-tickets-432905360587

CHEAKAMUS ZOMBIE WALK

In the market to see some teeny tiny zombies roam around the Cheakamus neighbourhood?

Well, of course you are. Head down to Bayly Park on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. dressed in your favourite undead garb to enjoy some treats (you’re welcome to bring some to share too) and saunter around.

FAMILY PUMPKIN CARVING

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?

Staff at the Whistler Public Library are

inviting you into their space to slice and dice alongside other families (ages four and up).

Their event is set for Oct. 30 from 2:30 until 3:30 p.m. Costumes are welcome. Sign up at publicservices@whistlerlibrary.ca.

SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN

If you’re up for a little weekend trip in search of some Halloween fun, you might be interested in heading to the Britannia Mine Museum on Oct. 29 and 30 for Spooktacular Halloween: Treasures of the Deep.

The event is a “remix” of the mine’s regular underground tour with a spooky twist that includes a Sunken Machine Shop with a shipwreck, exploration of the seafloor, and the Terror Lab where you can assemble a real whale skeleton.

Pre-booking is suggested. Find out more at britanniaminemuseum.ca/pages/spooook-tacular-treasures-of-the-deep-halloween.

SURF ROCK HALLOWEEN PARTY

Nothing says “spooky” like an indie surfrock band, right?

OK, that might not be entirely true, but Surf Hat’s Halloween-themed show sounds like a good time.

Head to Pangea Pod Hotel on Friday, Oct. 28 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. for costumes, pumpkin carving and—duh—guitar solos.

Tickets are $16.93 at eventbrite.com/e/ surf-hats-surf-rock-halloween-partytickets-436224458097.

GO TO THE BAR

At the risk of leaving anyone out, we’re phoning it in.

Nearly every bar and club in Whistler has some spooktacular plans starting on Friday, Oct. 28 and running straight through to Oct. 31.

Dress in your finest (or just, like, throw something together, if that’s your vibe), drink responsi-boo-ly, and have a good time. n

SWEET TOOTH Halloween in Whistler means tricks, treats, and parties for revelers big and small.

PHOTO BY JO HAWKINS / TOURISM WHISTLER

ARTISAN MARKET

604-935-8433

KMAN & THE 45S AT THE DUBH LINN GATE

K-Man & The 45s—where ska meets rock ‘n’ roll. This Canadian five-piece band from downtown Montreal is as heavily influenced by old-school ska as it is by classic rock ‘n’ roll. With a fantastic horn section playing catchy melodic lines and blazing solos over an energetic rhythm section, they switch naturally from ska to rock and punk, with surf sounds often not far behind.

> Sun., Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.

COMMUNITY WHISTLER ARTISAN MARKET

A brand-new

by

local artists featuring creatives from the Sea to Sky and across B.C. This two-day event will feature up to 40 vendors in Whistler’s biggest indoor market since 2019.

> Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Frontenac Foyer and Ballroom

> Nov. 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

> Entry by can or coin donation to Whistler Community Services Society

Truth be told.

Our

PHOTO BY MIKE CRANE / TOURISM WHISTLER

Spine of the Mother makes its mountain debut

RAVEN SPIRIT DANCE’S CONTEMPORARY DANCE PRODUCTION ABOUT ANDEAN RANGE

BY ALYSSA NOEL

STARR MURANKO has been visiting Peru, where her partner is from, over the last 20 years.

During earlier trips, she remembers hearing elders share stories about the “spine of Mother Earth,” referring to the Andean mountain range that spans from the base of South America up through North America.

“I thought, ‘That would be a good research project or dance piece,’” Muranko says. “It kept coming back to me.”

With that idea percolating, 10 years ago, Muranko, who is co-artistic director of Raven Spirit Dance, began working with two artists in Peru to choreograph a contemporary dance piece.

The Vancouver-based dance company focuses on creating and producing contemporary dance rooted in Indigenous worldviews.

“I really wanted the process to be with artists in Canada and Peru—this idea of sharing between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, particularly women sharing our stories,” she says.

While it might seem “so quaint now”

after two years of nonstop Zoom, the artists worked together over Skype, each collaborator occasionally flying to the other’s country.

“We are still connected with the artists in Peru, but because of logistics, we adapted it here to perform in Canada with two dancers,” Muranko says.

And that’s the long journey Spine of the Mother took ahead of its Whistler showcase at the Maury Young Arts Centre on Friday, Oct. 28.

“This is the first time it will be performed in the mountains, which is significant,” Muranko adds.

The show first premiered in Vancouver back in 2015. It features two dancers— which, at the Whistler show, will be Tasha Faye Evans and Sarah Formosa— conveying both the creation of landscape and “the desire for human connection” through contemporary dance.

“[The audience] will definitely see the landscape moving through the dancers’ bodies,” Muranko says. “They may experience the building of the mountain ranges and how that goes through a dancer’s body as she goes up to standing. They may experience the energy of plates shifting; how bodies move when they have that energy moving through them.”

The set, meanwhile, features bright, powerful projections created by Sammy Chien. But it also incorporates stones.

“We have actual stones that have been

WHISTLER

with us through the last 10 years—from Peru, Canada, and places where we’ve performed the work,” Muranko says. “Each dancer who performs the piece brings a stone.”

While the dancers performed recently at the Dance Studies Association conference at Simon Fraser University, Whistler will mark the second show since its remounting.

“We’re feeling there’s still something there that we want to share with this work,” Muranko says. “I think this will be the launch of being able to tour it around B.C. and Canada.”

But first, the production will share the stage in Whistler with guest performers from Australia’s Wagana Aboriginal Dancers. The evening will offer a double bill.

“We’re so excited,” Muranko says. “We’ve worked with them in different ways over quite a few years. We’ve done some work online with them … Jo [Clancy], who is the director of the company, was planning to come up to Canada. It was going to be a time to reconnect, but it just worked out with a performance.”

Catch Raven Spirit Dance with special guests Wagana Aboriginal Dancers on Friday, Oct. 28. Tickets are $25 at showpass.com/aw-live-raven. n

MOVING MOUNTAINS Raven Spirit Dance’s production, Spine of the Mother, will be performed at the Maury Young Arts Centre on Friday, Oct. 28.

PHOTO BY CHRIS RANDLE

Having a blast

BY JILLIAN ROBERTS

WHEN TALKING to people from Alta Lake and Whistler, there are many stories that are almost universal—people come to Whistler for a visit and stay for life, and along that journey most people have experienced housing woes. One experience that I did not expect to be shared among so many locals was working in drilling and blasting. While the rocky, mountainous landscape draws people to Whistler from around the world, it also creates additional engineering challenges. Lots of rock needed to be moved for the rapid growth of Whistler, and blasting was a relatively well-paying summer job.

The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), also known as the “Province’s Great Expense,” arrived in Alta Lake in 1914, bringing tourism as well as an increase in mining and forestry. The earliest known commercial mining in the area was on Whistler Mountain around 1910, with Green Lake Mining and Milling Company running 10 small claims between 1,000 and 1,300 metres elevation.

Many other small operations opened and closed over the years, but none struck it rich. As a word of caution, after finding an abandoned mine shaft in the mountains, some early mountaineers were pushing rocks down the shaft and set off unexploded dynamite. Nobody was hurt, but it is worth giving abandoned mines a wide berth for the many hazards they pose.

It was a logging company that gave Andy Petersen dynamite in the 1960s to help put a water line to Alta Lake Road for running water. Petersen and Dick Fairhurst, owner of Cypress Lodge, had never used dynamite before. “We drilled about 27 holes and put three sticks of dynamite in each hole,” Petersen recalled. “Well, this thing went off. Three of them went off and boulders came up over our heads and hit the power lines. We thought we were going to take the power down. That was our experience with dynamite, but we learned.”

When skiing arrived, Whistler became a tourist destination in the winter, but

remained very quiet in summer. Many locals who worked on the mountain in the winter would have summer jobs in construction and blasting, including Murray Coates, who was in ski patrol and had a blasting company. Fellow patrollers Brian Leighton and Bruce Watt also worked some summers blasting. “There were no safety precautions,” Watt recalled on his podcast, Whistler Stories That Need to be Told. “It was just get out there and don’t be a wimp.”

Leighton had a similar experience. “I was way over my head in what I was doing. But no one died, no one was hurt,” he said. One memorable moment occurred after loading some explosives into the drill holes while creating Whistler’s sewage system. “I said to Murray, ‘I think the truck’s parked a little close here.’ He said, ‘No, no, no, it’s fine.’ So we get underneath the truck and he hits the blasting machine. Sure enough, a rock the size of a soccer ball goes through the rear window of the truck. I mean, we were safe, but the truck not so much.”

Before she became a lawyer and later the mayor of Whistler, Nancy WilhelmMorden also worked as a driller and blaster for the Ministry of Highways. She wasn’t so worried about rocks landing on her, but as her boss watched closely to make sure she was setting the dynamite correctly, “I was always worried that he was going to spit this horrible chewing tobacco on the back of my head,” she recalled.

The Whistler Museum has more stories about drilling and blasting than will fit in one article, but nowadays we are much more familiar with the sound of avalanche bombs. Hopefully they are ringing throughout the valley again soon! n

BLAST OFF Some of the first blasting in the valley was for mining. Here a horse is laden with dynamite bound for Jimmy Fitzsimmons’ copper mine on the north flank of Whistler Mountain, circa 1919. Rainbow Lodge can be seen in the background.

PHILIP COLLECTION

“I was way over my head in what I was doing. But no one died, no one was hurt.”

- BRIAN LEIGHTON

floor, fuelled by the sounds of Jenna Mae and the Groove Section. For a full list of winners from this year’s awards, flip

PHOTO BY JOERN ROHDE / COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2 WRITE ON The 2022 Whistler Writers Festival hosted a packed house for a Crime Writers Panel on Saturday, Oct. 15. PHOTO BY JOERN ROHDE / COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER WRITERS FESTIVAL 3 MOVIE MOGULS Dane Tudor,

Tonje

of

at Whistler’s iF3 Festival Movie Awards, held at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler on Saturday, Oct. 22. Over the course

PHOTO BY BY OISIN MCHUGH / COURTESY OF IF3 4 FIELD OF SCREAMS

Crow

WELL

Whistler Independent Supported Housing Society, or WISH,

PHOTO BY MEGAN LALONDE

Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Of all the rich philanthropists in the world, Aries author MacKenzie Scott is the most generous. During a recent 12-month period, she gave away $8.5 billion. Her focus is on crucial issues: racial equality, LGBTQ+ rights, pandemic relief, upholding and promoting democracy, and addressing the climate emergency. She disburses her donations quickly and without strings attached, and prefers to avoid hoopla and ego aggrandizement. I suggest we make her your inspirational role model in the coming weeks. May she motivate you to gleefully share your unique gifts and blessings. I think you will reap selfish benefits by exploring the perks of generosity. Halloween costume suggestion: philanthropist, Santa Claus, compassion freak.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): What animal best represents your soul? Which species do you love the most? Now would be a good time to try this imaginative exercise. You’re in a phase when you’ll thrive by nurturing your inner wild thing. You will give yourself blessings by stoking your creature intelligence. All of us are partbeast, and this is your special time to foster the beauty of your beast. Halloween costume suggestion: your favourite animal or the animal that symbolizes your soul.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): During the tyrannical reign of Spain’s fascist government in the 1930s, Gemini poet Federico García Lorca creatively resisted and revolted with great courage. One critic said Lorca “was all freedom inside, abandon and wildness. A tulip, growing at the foot of a concrete bulwark.” I invite you to be inspired by Lorca’s untamed, heartfelt beauty in the coming weeks, Gemini. It’s a favourable time to rebel with exuberance against the thing that bothers you most, whether that’s bigotry, injustice, misogyny, creeping authoritarianism, or anything else. Halloween costume suggestion: a high-spirited protestor.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If the trickster god Mercury gave you permission to do one mischievous thing today and a naughty thing tomorrow and a rascally thing two days from now, what would you choose? Now is the perfect time for you Cancerians to engage in roguish, playful, puckish actions. You are especially likely to get away with them, karma-free—and probably even benefit from them—especially if they are motivated by love. Are you interested in taking advantage of this weird grace period? Halloween costume suggestion: prankster, joker, fairy, elf.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Everyone’s mind constantly chatters with agitated fervour—what I call the everflickering flux. We might as well accept this as a fundamental element of being human. It’s a main feature, not a bug. Yet there are ways to tone down the inner commotion. Meditation can help. Communing with nature often works. Doing housework sometimes quells the clamour for me. The good news for you, Leo, is that you’re in a phase when it should be easier than usual to cultivate mental calm. Halloween costume suggestion: meditation champion; tranquility superstar; gold medallist in the relaxation tournament.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Education is an admirable thing,” said author Oscar Wilde. “But it is well to remember that nothing worth knowing can be taught.” What?! That’s an exasperating theory. I don’t like it. In fact, I protest it. I reject it. I am especially opposed to it right now as I contemplate your enhanced power to learn amazing lessons and useful knowledge and lifechanging wisdom. So here’s my message for you, Virgo: What Oscar Wilde said DOES NOT APPLY to you these days. Now get out there and soak up all the inspiring teachings that are available to you. Halloween costume suggestion: top student.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): To celebrate Halloween, I suggest you costume yourself as a character you were in a past life. A jeweller in first-century Rome? A midwife in 11th-century China? A salt trader in 14th-century Timbuktu?

If you don’t have any intuitions about your past lives, be playful and invent one. Who knows? You might make an accurate guess. Why am I inviting you to try this fun exercise? Because now is an excellent time to re-access resources and powers and potentials you possessed long ago—even as far back as your previous incarnations.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I guess it would be difficult to create a practical snake costume for Halloween. How would you move around? You’d have to slither across the floor and the ground everywhere you go. So maybe instead you could be a snake priest or snake priestess—a magic conjurer wearing snake-themed jewelry and clothes and crown. Maybe your wand could be a caduceus. I’m nudging you in this direction because I think you will benefit from embodying the mythic attributes of a snake. As you know, the creature sheds its old skin to let new skin emerge. That’s a perfect symbol for rebirth, fertility, transformation, and healing. I’d love those themes to be your specialties in the coming weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “I need my sleep,” proclaimed Sagittarian comedian Bill Hicks. “I need about eight hours a day and about 10 at night.” I don’t think you will need as much slumber as Hicks in the coming nights, Sagittarius. On the other hand, I hope you won’t scrimp on your travels in the land of dreams. Your decisions in the waking world will improve as you give yourself maximum rest. The teachings you will be given while dreaming will make you extra smart and responsive to the transformations unfolding in your waking life. Halloween costume suggestion: dancing sleepwalker; snoozing genius; angel banishing a nightmare; fantastic dream creature.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Recently, my mom told me my dad only spoke the Slovakian language, never English, until he started first grade in a school near Detroit, Mich. Both of his parents had grown up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but immigrated to the United States in their youth. When I related this story to my Slovakian cousin Robert Brežny, he assured me it’s not true. He met my dad’s mother several times, and he says she could not speak Slovakian. He thinks she was Hungarian, in fact. So it’s unlikely my dad spoke Slovakian as a child. I guess all families have odd secrets and mysteries and illusions, and this is one of mine. How about you, Capricorn? I’m happy to say that the coming months will be a favourable time to dig down to the roots of your family’s secrets and mysteries and illusions. Get started! Halloween costume suggestion: your most fascinating ancestor.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): My Aquarian friend Allie told me, “If a demon turned me into a monster who had to devour human beings to get my necessary protein, I would only eat evil billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.” What about you, Aquarius? If you woke up one morning and found you had transformed into a giant wolf-dragon that ate people, who would you put on your menu? I think it’s a good time to meditate on this hypothetical question. You’re primed to activate more ferocity as you decide how you want to fight the world’s evil in the months and years to come. Halloween costume suggestion: a giant wolf-dragon that eats bad people.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Do you value the feeling of wildness? Is that an experience you seek and cultivate? If so, what conditions rouse it? How does it feel? When it visits you, does it have a healthy impact? Are you motivated by your pleasurable brushes with wildness to reconfigure the unsatisfying and unwild parts of your life? These are questions I hope you will contemplate in the coming weeks. The astrological omens suggest you have more power than usual to access wildness. Halloween costume suggestion: whatever makes you feel wild.

Homework: Here’s another Halloween costume suggestion: Be the opposite of yourself. Newsletter. FreeWillAstrology.com

In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES

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

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A brief history of the Witch Games, just in time for Halloween

OH SURE , they’ve been reduced to cartoonish characters, social stereotypes and the de rigueur butt of mother-in-law jokes, but there was a time, boys and girls, when witches—real witches—were both powerful and organized. In those days, witches were not a counterculture to be snickered at and marginalized. They were, if anything, a more enlightened, stronger, parallel culture to the often atomized, ill-managed, largely illiterate world of mere mortals.

But that was then. Let me, on this eve of Halloween, tell you a story of the cultural height of witchery, a little-known

BY G.D. MAXWELL

quadrennial gathering of the clans, a chance for witches from around the world to come together in spirited camaraderie to showcase their skills and powers against others who, like them, believed they were the best at their particular craft.

The time was long ago; in Christian time, perhaps the mid-700s. While witchcraft was practised with zeal around the world, the true hotbed was in the Tyrol area of central Europe. Europe wasn’t really Europe then, of course. For most of the world’s inhabitants, it was as unknown as parts of Africa were a mere 150 years ago. Peoples’ own concept of place rarely expanded beyond a day’s walk; their fealty and loyalty stopped at the physical boundaries of whatever petty noble they laboured to keep in the style of the day, their own life coming nowhere near anything that could be called style.

In a word, they were ignorant peasants.

Witches, on the other hand, possessed knowledge and powers unfathomable to those they, by necessity, lived among. They could, if not read, remember the wisdom of those who lived before them. Hence, their neighbours often came to them for help with whatever tribulations were visited upon them by lives lived in filth and darkness. Witches were valued for their ability to heal the sick, both human and animal. This was naturally a double-edged sword. Heal the cow and a witch was treated like a true saviour. But if the ministrations and incantations were unsuccessful, the vengeful, unlearned peasants were liable to turn against the witch, fearful the very malady they’d sought help in healing was actually the doing of the very witch who proved powerless to remedy it.

And so, witches cautiously withdrew from the rest of society, such as it was. They became insular and seemingly obsessed with perfecting their powers. They spent long days and weeks and lifetimes practicing their craft, repeating their incantations over and over, conjuring

for days on end, raising the dead until they emptied the graveyards, becoming… elite.

In the natural course of things, it became only logical for them to seek out others who, like themselves, were totally committed to a witchy life. At first, their gatherings were informal. They’d meet in safe places and boast of their skills. Now, boasting among gifted performers naturally leads to challenges, and it wasn’t long before one witch would challenge another witch to prove the skill of which she—and occasionally he—boasted. Rising to the taunt, a witch would display her ability at, say, invoking spirits or flying or souring milk. “Ha,” another witch would inevitably mock. “You call that conjuring? Watch this.” And the other witch would one-up the first.

Things went on like this for centuries; gatherings were loosely organized at best, and contests of skill took a backseat to the general camaraderie of just getting down and being witchy. Being only human,

the Witches Organizing Committee, laid down some organizing principles, elected a president for life, and hammered out events at which they’d compete for personal glory. The earliest Witch Games, held in a Tyrolean village whose name has been lost to history, took place around 1340. Events included sorcery, magic, spells, conjuring, invoking of spirits, shape-shifting, clairvoyance, flying, astral projection, and killing at a distance. It is reported one of the most popular events, becoming invisible, was dropped after the first Games because it was both impossible to judge and because at least one contestant claimed she’d “won” even though it was proven later she wasn’t even in attendance.

According to legend, the Games were a success. So much so the WOC president proclaimed them “The best Games ever!” Alas, the witches’ timing was not as prescient as their highly vaunted ability to see the future. A few short years later,

and Jacob Sprenger, two of the meanest, torch-wielding Inquisitors ever spawned by the One True Religion, published their treatise on persecuting witches, Malleus Maleficarum. With a codified rulebook on identifying, trying and executing witches, that part of Europe became highly hostile and the Games were once again disbanded.

Oddly enough, though, the book gave rise to what would become one of the premiere events when the modern Witch Games were started up again in the late 18th century in Coventry, England: crying. Malleus was adamant that, in prosecuting witch trials, women who did not cry were automatically assumed to be witches. Crying became a natural defense to a charge of witchery, and in an ironic tweaking of the nose, witches morphed it into an esteemed practice.

Sadly, the modern Games were a mere shadow of their ancient forebears. They fell into steep decline with the advent of strong nation states. Witches who were happy to compete on their own suddenly became representatives of their respective countries. Nations sought false honour in the successes of their resident witches. Seeking an edge, some resorted to subsidizing witches so they could spend all their time training for the games instead of going about their witchy ways and training in their spare time.

despite what the Inquisitors charged, the challenges grew and grew and the contests became spirited, no pun intended. It wasn’t long before the witches realized they were on to something and needed to organize these gatherings not just to show off their skills—acts sure to dazzle and awe the peasantry—but to answer the burning question: Which witch is best?

So a few of them got together, formed

Europe was plunged into the Black Plague, killing upwards of half the population. Naturally, the witches were blamed for it.

The Games were resurrected in 1480, held again in the Tyrol, considered by then the permanent home of the Witch Games. Again, they were quintessentially successes in individual triumph. And, sadly, again they were ill-timed. It was only six years later that Heinrich Kramer

But the real downfall came when the Witch Games caught the eye and imagination of early transnational businessmen. “Hey, we can make a pretty pound off this,” they cried. And soon, the Witch Games were more about national pride and money than about the ever popular sport of, for example, baking children.

And so it goes, witches today reduced to mere Halloween props and cheesy decorations.

were valued for their ability to heal the sick, both human and animal.

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