Pique Newsmagazine 3027

Welcome to the Three to Sky

Think the Knee Knacker without the joint pain. - By Laura Barron

14

BEST

IN FEST

The Resort Municipality of Whistler’s annual Festivals, Events & Animation budget includes more than $3 million for local events this year.

15 FIRE BRIGADE The discussion around proper wildfire treatment continues in Whistler, as more people speak out about impacts to local forests.

20 LOOKING BACH Remembering one of Whistler’s pioneer mountaineers, Werner Himmelsbach, who passed away June 16 at the age of 91.

30 LIFE SAVER

Pemberton’s Lennox Davies is being honoured by BC Emergency Health Services for his life-saving actions last year.

38

ON Whistler fan favourite Jesse Melamed is still riding high (with new sponsorship) after a world championship season in 2022.

ROLL

42 SEE RED Vancouver’s Dear Rouge brings the grit and gloss to Whistler’s free Summer Concert Series on July 7.

COVER I love this. I recently made a not-so-epic challenge of my own while on the coast to try and catch a wave at all of the beaches from Ukee to Tofino in one day. I did not succeed. So much wind, such tiny arms. - By Jon Parris // @jon.parris.art

Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT

Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

Editor BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com

Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com

Production Manager AMIR SHAHRESTANI - ashahrestani@wplpmedia.com

Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com

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Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com

Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com

Arts Editor ALYSSA NOEL - arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

Social Media Editor MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com

Reporters

BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com

MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com

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Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, LESLIE ANTHONY, ANDREW MITCHELL, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY

President, Whistler Publishing LP

SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com

08 OPENING REMARKS Editor Braden Dupuis slows things down with some people watching on Whistler’s Village Stroll.

10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This week’s letter writers weigh in on the legacy of Werner Himmelsbach, and share thanks for successful community events.

13 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST Where do journalists find their stories? Reporter and columnist Megan Lalonde shows how the proverbial sausage is made.

62 MAXED OUT After flunking Pique’s annual Canada Day Quiz yet again, Max devises a quiz of his own to boost his self-esteem—and possibly yours!

Environment & Adventure

33 THE OUTSIDER With riders like Jackson Goldstone and Finn Iles doing the Sea to Sky proud on the world stage, Whistler is well-positioned to host a UCI World Cup race of its own, writes Vince Shuley.

Lifestyle & Arts

40 FORK IN THE ROAD Big inflation, little competition, and no price tags—it all adds up to consumer confusion, writes Glenda Bartosh.

46 MUSEUM MUSINGS Looking back at a long-forgotten favourite fundraiser in the resort: Whistler’s Annual Chili Cook-off.

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Sonder on the Village Stroll

THERE’S A TERM WORTH revisiting when the weight of life and the universe gets to be too heavy (as it must for all of us, from time to time).

Though it has grown in popularity since it first started popping up more than a decade ago, you won’t find it in most normal dictionaries—it was made famous by author John Koenig in his New York Times bestseller The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The word is sonder, and it refers to the realization that each random passerby

BY BRADEN DUPUIS

is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—one filled with their own unique problems and worries, triumphs and tribulations, loves and losses.

As defined in a TED Talk profile of Koenig, sonder refers to the countless, epic stories that “continue invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

After all, we are each the main character of our own stories, feeling our way through them at our own pace. Sonder reaches for a deeper understanding of existence.

It can be an expansive, mind-altering exercise—if you take the time to slow down and embrace it every now and again.

And so it was that I made my way to Whistler Village this Canada Day, hoping to ward off that other, potentially more dangerous philosophical theory that begins

with S—solipsism, or the idea that only one’s mind is sure to reliably exist.

I sat with my coffee, watching the scores of people trundle past.

Whistler Village is one of the best spots for people watching, as you often get the full range of humanity flowing past in the course of an hour or two.

An older lady walks a heavy-duty mountain bike, alone (is she coming or going? Which trails is she riding and how hard does she send it? What was her last injury, and how long did it take to rehab?), while a younger mom goes the other way, with a baby in a stroller and an impossibly happy-looking dog (is she content in these maternal moments, or is this morning stroll with the baby and the dog as stressful as I’m perceiving it? I decide it’s likely a bit of everything all at once, and leave it at that).

But sonder is not inherently a passive exercise—it requires effort, and a depth of empathy not always deployed when we’re

worked at a bank).

Suddenly, two large, Canadian men with big bellies interrupt that thought, as they come parading up the middle of the stroll, clad in their Canada Day best—all red and white, with funny hats and Canadian flags attached to hockey sticks—followed shortly after by a man in a black T-shirt that says only “SHIT SHOW SUPERVISOR” in large, white lettering (the less time spent sondering on this fellow the better, I decide—but it is reassuring to know the supervisor is on hand should things really go sideways).

Directly in front of me, a small child stops to pick up a dropped hotel key—then throws it on the ground after being admonished by his mother. I imagine a hapless hotel guest standing outside their room, fumbling through their pockets, then shaking both fists at the sky in comical frustration.

A man in an “I stand with woman of Iran” T-shirt passes by—a stark reminder of political instability, civil unrest, and the conflicts of all

imagined thoughts of others, heart probing the impossible depths of our collective humanity and the human experience.

I stop to watch a Treeline Aerial performance, and local artists like Taka Sudo doing live paintings in Village Square.

Further up the Stroll, Monty Biggins, Kostaman and their crew entertain a crowd of Canada Day visitors in Mountain Square.

Like many, I was disappointed in the lack of a traditional Canada Day parade again this year, but I appreciated my time exploring the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s People’s Parade, and the sense of local community I found there.

That said, I still hope Whistler’s traditional parade returns next year.

According to Statistics Canada, our country’s population hit 40 million for the first time ever in mid-June—40 million main characters, all of them navigating their complex narratives at their own pace.

All of them hoping for peace and prosperity; a fulfilling job and a good home

sweating from task to daily task. You have to be simultaneously patient and thinking with a sense of curious urgency for it to really take its full effect.

A young couple passes by, both covered in tattoos (which are their favourite, and what stories would they tell if asked to explain their meaning?), followed closely by an elderly couple holding hands (what was their last big argument about? I bet he

stripes still taking place far beyond Whistler’s comfortable, insulated boundaries.

I consider the intricacies of mass protest in Iran for several minutes, until the fluffiest Corgi I have ever seen saunters past, and I make a mental note to search “fluffy corgi” when I get home (highly recommend).

By 11:30 a.m., the foot traffic is picking up considerably, so I make my way up the Village Stroll, head full of the

to call their own.

In the years ahead, Canada must come to terms with a growing list of challenges around things like inflation, cost of living, housing, food security… the list goes on.

The answers will never be readily apparent, or agreeable to all.

But starting from a place of empathy and understanding is never a bad thing—even if it takes a little more work from each of us. ■

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[S]onder is not inherently a passive exercise— it requires effort, and a depth of empathy not always deployed when we’re sweating from task to daily task.

You’re going to lose access to local news on Facebook and Google.

Dear readers,

Your access to local, provincial and national news is going to be revoked on Google, Facebook and Instagram. And it’s not because of anything we’ve done.

Recently, Canada passed the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, which has led to a standoff between the government, Google and Meta — the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram.

Both Google and Meta have said they plan to cut ties with the news industry in Canada as a result.

This means Meta will block the posting and sharing of our news articles on Facebook and Instagram. Google will also remove links to our sites and articles in Google News, Discover and search results. They’ll also cancel significant content licensing agreements already in place with our parent company, Glacier Media.

Undoubtedly, this will have a huge impact not solely on us but, more importantly, on people like yourself who may use these platforms to discover what’s happening in your community and to get context to events happening in your own backyard.

We’re not planning on going anywhere, but here’s how you can help:

1. Sign up for our free daily newsletter by scanning the QR code. (And encourage your family and friends to do the same.)

2. Follow us on Twitter.

3. Bookmark our website as the homepage on your devices.

4. Consider becoming a member if you aren’t already. Your support will help us continue to cover local stories, by locals.

5. If you own/operate a local business, consider supporting local by placing ads with 100% Canadianowned media outlets, like us.

With your help, more people will be able to get their local news from a trusted source. In today’s age of misinformation, that’s more important than ever.

Thank you. We appreciate you.

Sincerely,

The Pique Newsmagazine team

Remembering a true Whistler pioneer

Werner Himmelsbach passed away on June 16. My condolences to his family on their loss. Werner was a private fellow that I came to know over the many years he lived in Whistler. He would come into our store regularly, beginning in the early ‘90s, either just before or after returning from some hike. Being retired, he was hiking four or five days a week. He did the same thing skiing in the winter, doing 80-plus days when he was more than 80 years old. Werner was a passionate outdoorsman and mountain man, in particular. A lifelong enthusiast of the first degree (see related story on page 20).

Born in Baden-Baden, Germany, as a young man he emigrated to Canada as an engineer, and quickly became a fixture in the burgeoning and very active mountaineering and climbing community in Vancouver. It was Werner, Don MacLaurin, Karl Ricker, Bert Port, and others, all active as part of the BC Mountaineering Club or UBC’s Varsity Outdoor Club, who were crashing the mountains in Southwest B.C. to big adventures whenever they got free from work and responsibilities.

It was Werner and Don who built the first hut at Russet Lake. It was their vision, and that of others, to build a system of

huts in the Spearhead Range, back in 1965, before Whistler was built. They knew the skiing terrain was world-class and thought huts would be the natural amenity to get people out. They only built one hut, and as Werner said, got sidetracked by building No. 2 up at Wedgemount Lake, since Wedge Mountain and environs had better mountaineering.

He was also a member of the first Canadian ascent of Denali (now Mount McKinley) in Alaska. They had an epic climb with bad cold storms, and it was touch-and-go. One of the members lost a

bunch of toes. Reading his journal from that climb, you know that they were WAY out there on one of the world’s most fierce mountains. Though it was a very different thing, climbing Denali back then versus now, he was always very humble about the achievement.

In fact, Werner was very humble about all his climbing accomplishments. And when Don MacLaurin insisted they name their hut at Russet Lake the Himmelsbach Hut, Werner told me, “I didn’t think it was a good idea because I wasn’t dead yet and you don’t name a hut after

someone who is still alive.”

I told him one day that I was way more impressed by someone who can ski more days than their age, (especially at 80, when he was still skiing more days than that each year), than someone who can shoot a golf score lower than their age. He just laughed and said he never thought much of golf. The mountains are where he liked to play.

He was very supportive and excited when we started the campaign to finish the hut system in the Spearhead. After all, he witnessed the incredible interest and growth in backcountry skiing, and thought it was way overdue to provide backcountry infrastructure. He donated his time and money to the cause, which was so appreciated. He attended just about every fundraiser we had, too.

Werner was an inspiration and never ceased his desire to get out and push himself in the mountains. He did his first waterfall ice climb on his 70th birthday on Shannon Falls. He lived for the mountains and the outdoors, which he always said was all he ever needed to be happy. I know for many of us in the outdoor community in Southwest B.C., he was a wonderful mentor and pioneer. We were so very lucky to have had him and his peers in our lives to share their stories and their contributions to our mountain community. Speaking with me about his peers shortly before he passed, he sighed and said, “Yes, you know I am the last one, the last one alive. And I have had a good life. I am ready to go.”

Jayson Faulkner // Whistler

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Proud Canadian(s)

Congratulations to the Pemberton community organizers, participants and the hundreds of locals that turned out for the Canada Day Parade in Spud Valley!

With our First Nations proudly leading the parade, the event, together with all of the other activities on the day, made this the perfect small-town salute to the greatest country in the world.

Not sure how the organizers were possibly able to make this happen, but well done.

Brian Buchholz // Whistler

Thanks for another successful minor ball season

Wow, another successful minor ball season is in the books! We had great weather, an amazing player turnout, and huge support from parents across the corridor in pulling off our third and best season to date! Starting with 50 players in our first year under COVID, we have grown to include upwards of 120 players, from both Pemberton and Whistler, with five age divisions, eight teams, and countless memories.

Our program is wholly dependent on volunteers, and without their patience and love for the game, we would not be where we are today. Our 13U Dingers and 11U Ravens both won their divisions and made it to the championship games at the end of June, unfortunately coming up short against two great Squamish teams. Congratulations to the Highlighters and Big Hitters! You played like champions!

We have seen a strong and vibrant 9U program develop, with several of the players having progressed from tee-ball all the way to playing summer ball against the best teams in the Lower Mainland. Our tee-ball 6 and 7U players, many of whom have never swung a bat, thrown or caught a ball, are learning the ropes of the game, all doing so with joy in their hearts and smiles on their faces. We could not be more thrilled in

seeing them develop and find their love for the game.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Resort Municipality of Whistler, in particular Allison Kehoe and Melissa Kish, for providing us the opportunity to play at Meadow Park, and for providing us opportunities for spring training at Myrtle Philip Community School. We are hopeful that Whistler Minor Ball can continue utilizing the great facilities we have in our communities.

Thank you to all the parents and coaches who volunteered their time to lead and teach their children how to play ball. A special thank you goes to Kirk Patterson for leading the way with our 6 and 7U program. A huge thank you to Micah Cianca, Brock Wilson, Paul Van Den Berg, Scott Macdonald, Paul Shore, Nate McIntyre, RJ Pearce, Todd Williamson, Mac Lowry and many others, for volunteering to be our team coaches, and for our volunteers, including Matt Woods and Oliver Clegg, as great mentors for our children as well.

We would like to extend an immense thank you as well to our senior umpire, Aidan Lunny, who helped guide us through our first year of play, all the way into this year, where he has helped mentor and develop five youth umpires. We could not have done this without you!

Thanks also to Whistler Slo Pitch. We look forward to partnering with you in 2024 and are excited to share our love of the game with your program as well.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to Howe Sound Minor Ball, especially Kevin Read and Jeff Babuin, for enabling our program to happen here in Whistler.

We are beyond thankful for all participating and strengthening this program. Please follow us on Facebook, @ whistlerminorbaseball for updates on next season. Registration will be held in fall of 2023 closing January 2024 so we can focus on sport development. Thank you for your support — and see you next spring!

Jennie and Michael Kyle // on behalf of Whistler Minor Baseball

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A heartfelt thanks from Alzheimer’s walk organizers

A big shout-out of heartfelt thanks to all those who participated in the 2023 Whistler Walk for Alzheimer’s on May 28! It was a beautiful day to walk, talk and honour all the special caregivers in our community. The caregivers’ stories were an inspiration to all attendees. Chantal Jackson and our photographer, Cliff Jennings, shared their experiences with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Special thanks to all these very generous people who made the day a success!

Cathy Clark of the Clark Family Foundation for their matching gift of $10,000; Bruce Stewart of Nesters for their very generous donation of food for the barbecue and grocery gift cards; the many Whistler businesses who contributed to our online auction; volunteers who set up and took down the venue, and registered the walkers and donors; the Rotary Club of Whistler members who “manned” the food tent; our location host, Father Andrew of Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church; Mayor Jack Crompton and Councillor Cathy Jewett for participating in our program and the walk; the Whistler Fire Rescue Service, who lead off the walk with a fire engine; the Whistler Walk steering committee, for the countless hours and months of planning to make it all happen; and the many members of the Whistler community for their participation in the

Whistler Walk for Alzheimer’s and their generous donations.

You are all so awesome!

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Bring back BC Rail—but electric

Recent closures of Highway 99 remind us that we could, and should, re-activate the BC Rail from North Vancouver to Lillooet. This time, however, it should be electrified using local hydro-turbines and power sources.

It will give truckers and travellers an alternative. Sure, it would take time to re-integrate it into our behaviour, but all the other signals tell us we’ve got to think more quickly and adapt.

Kathy Mezei // Whistler

Pemberton Women’s Institute says thanks

On behalf of the Pemberton Women’s Institute, I would like to express our gratitude to our community of Pemberton for supporting our annual Blueberry Tea. First and foremost, the Pemberton Valley Supermarket, which is always behind every event in this town with its generous donations. A special thank you to the museum and staff and committee for the use of its grounds and help, as well as all of our friends who came to lend a hand.

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What is news, and where do we find it?

WHENEVER MY JOB comes up in conversation, the most common followup question I get—from friends, family, strangers—is some variation of, “How do you find stories to write about?”

Sometimes it’s a press release or an email that lands in your inbox, or your editor assigning you to cover an event that happens every year. Sometimes it’s a

BY MEGAN LALONDE

familiar name on publicly-available court dockets, a Facebook post getting locals riled up, a conversation with a friend, or a news article from another outlet that has me wondering how a broader, global issue—inflation, for example—is impacting Whistler’s community on a local scale—in this case, more visits to the food bank.

But all of that boils down to a bigger question: what constitutes news in the first place?

Every publication has its own slightly differing definition depending on what its audience cares about, but as the federal government’s recently-passed Online News Act defines it, news, in part, “means content—in any format, including an audio

or audiovisual format—that reports on, investigates or explains current issues or events of public interest.” But more on that legislation in a sec.

Just as often as I hear that first question, I see comments on Pique’s Facebook page that read something like, “How is this relevant to Whistler?” or the snarkier, “Slow news day?”

It’s worthwhile if unnecessarily sarcastic feedback that, alongside digital metrics, helps us gauge what our audience wants to read about. Indulge me for a hot sec while I point out the obvious: just because something isn’t important to you personally, doesn’t mean it’s not of interest to others.

Unless you’re a dedicated follower of Pique in all its forms, it’s easy to assume our reporters or columnists write every single story that appears on our Facebook feed. We don’t. The community publication you’re reading is owned by a larger corporation, Glacier Media. We have sister news outlets across B.C. we share content from on our website, which is also automatically populated with stories from the Canadian Press wire service and even the Globe and Mail. We try to highlight stories we think are of interest to Sea to Sky locals, even if they’re not always explicitly relevant to Whistler, but Pique’s four full-time reporters and editorin-chief still exclusively focus on what’s happening in Whistler and Pemberton. It’s what you’ll find in the free print edition that hits newsstands every week.

Most people who read an article on Pique’s website find their way to our corner of the internet through a Google search or by clicking on a social media post. All of that content-sharing and Facebook-posting is part of a wider strategy aimed at helping smaller, community-oriented publications like Pique keep up in the fast-paced battle for eyeballs and advertising dollars.

That uneven fight is something the federal government is trying to address with Bill C-18, a.k.a. the Online News Act, which passed on June 22. The law obliges major tech companies like Facebook and Google (or rather their parent companies, Meta and Alphabet) to compensate Canadian news outlets for content shared on those sites.

In response, both companies have since promised to wipe any and all Canadian news links from their platforms before that law goes into effect later this year. Meta is already blocking news for about five per cent of its Canadian users.

That means you won’t be able to ask Google “Is there a shooting in Whistler Village?” and expect to find Pique’ s—or the CBC, or Global’s, or any other Canadian outlet’s—coverage pop up in response. (You’d still be able to access links from international news outlets like the BBC or the Washington Post .) It means you couldn’t learn that Rainbow Park would be closing for the better part of a year during a scroll through Facebook. You’d

need to visit Pique’ s website directly to find the corresponding news article, or use a different search engine.

If that sounds as frustrating to you as it does to me, you might be tempted to pick up your pitchfork right about now. But hold your horses: Canada’s Online News Act was inspired by similar legislation Australia passed in 2021, which was met by even more dramatic responses. Google threatened to entirely suspend its service Down Under, in fact.

Aussies never lost the ability to use Google. Facebook’s news ban in the country lasted eight days. More importantly, Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code reportedly resulted in more than $200 million AUD flowing to news organizations from tech companies’ coffers in the year after the legislation went into effect.

The sky is darkening, but it hasn’t fallen just yet.

In the meantime, I’m going to throw the same questions I answer on a weekly basis right back at you: Where do you find news? What do you consider news in the first place? What would change if you couldn’t access it, from a publication you trust, in the same way you usually do?

Like Pique’ s editor wrote earlier this month, there’s “no sense dwelling on things beyond our control. We adapt, as we have always done.” But we can still question what that adaptation could look like. ■

RMOW’s FE&A budget surpasses $3M in 2023

SEVENTEEN EVENTS TO RECEIVE TOURISM FUNDS, WITH CRANKWORX, WSSF AND CORNUCOPIA TOPPING THE LIST

BY BRANDON BARRETT

THE RESORT MUNICIPALITY of Whistler (RMOW) has publicized its funding allotments through the Festivals, Events and Animation (FE&A) program, aimed at boosting tourism and supporting banner events.

Paid for through the B.C. government’s Municipal and Regional District Tax, a threeper-cent tax applied to short-term tourist accommodation in specific areas of B.C., the FE&A program’s total budget for Whistler this year is $3,030,000. That’s down slightly from last year’s $3,160,000 budget.

In 2023, the program will see 17 thirdparty events receive FE&A funds, totalling $756,000. Topping that list is Crankworx, Whistler’s beloved summer mountain bike festival, which will get $152,000, and the World Ski & Snowboard Festival (WSSF), with $110,000, both the only events to crack the six-figure mark and both produced by Whistler Blackcomb’s in-house event producer, Crankworx Inc. (WSSF is also co-produced by Gibbons Whistler.)

Rounding out the list of events to receive

funds are:

• Cornucopia: $90,000 for its signature food and drink festival, held in the fall, as well as a further $25,000 for its Nourish Spring Series;

• The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre: $72,500 for its “Sister Poles” carving project;

• GranFondo Whistler: $60,000;

• Whistler Pride & Ski Festival: $47,500;

• Whistler Film Festival: $45,000;

• The Audain Art Museum: $30,000 for its exhibit, The Collectors’ Cosmos: The Meakins–McClaran Print Collection;

• Whistler Children’s Festival: $30,000;

• Whistler Half Marathon: $24,000;

• Whistler Village Beer Festival: $20,000;

• Whistler 50 Relay & Ultra: $15,000;

• Whistler Writers Festival: $15,000;

• Flag Stop Theatre & Arts Festival: $10,000;

• XFondo Gravel Bike Race, an all-roads bike race from the creators of GranFondo Whistler: $5,000;

• XTERRA Off-road Triathlon: $5,000.

The annual FE&A funds are especially a boon for smaller-scale local events, particularly after a few lean pandemic years when producers had to get creative to keep their programs on the schedule.

“It is so great to see so many locally run events being supported with this funding.

I see Whistler’s mountain culture being shared in a greater way through many locally managed events that receive this support,” said Dave Clark, race director for the Whistler

Half Marathon, in an email.

“Investments like these are a wonderful example of this evolution in tourism—they have a benefit to Whistler’s economic tourism model while reviving culture, language and traditions that were stolen from history and providing meaningful employment to Indigenous peoples,” said Heather Paul, executive director of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, in an email.

Several local event organizers have recently completed surveys and interviews on ways to improve the FE&A process, said the Whistler Writers Festival’s artistic and executive director, Rebecca Wood Barrett, who added that she has appreciated the RMOW listening to feedback and adjusting the process over the years, which can be burdensome for small non-profits.

“Our organization has been extremely nimble over the last three years, and we greatly appreciate the RMOW’s efforts in listening to the industry challenges experienced by the live performance events community—and our recommendations for revitalizing the tourism sector from the event organizer’s perspective,” she said.

The RMOW has also committed $1,495,000 for its own original programming, which includes the popular Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performance at Olympic Plaza on June 29; Canada Day celebrations (which did not include a parade this year, to the dismay of many locals);

as well as winter programming such as WinterSphere and New Year’s Eve.

The funding also applies to animation around the community, such as tobagganning at Olympic Plaza, support for the Fire & Ice Show, movie nights in the village, and other programming around the village and in local parks.

A further $779,000 will be invested in technical equipment required for Olympic Plaza stage programming, the municipality said, as well as event marketing and staffing and services associated with events coordination, programming, and operations.

This year’s FE&A program flew under the radar to some degree, with the events receiving funds only publicized on the RMOW website last month, after Pique began requesting information. Prior to 2022, municipal staff would typically present an overview of the program to elected officials and the public at a regular council meeting.

“Given FE&A’s work is always part of the RMOW budget approval process and overseen by the Festivals, Events and Amination Oversight Committee of Council—which includes a council representative alongside an RMOW rep, Tourism Whistler rep and a member at large from the public—a decision was made last year to not do the delegation to Council. This is revisited every year.”

The FE&A Oversight Committee’s meetings are closed to the public. n

ON THE RUN The Whistler Half Marathon is one of 17 events receiving Festivals, Events and Animation funding from the municipality this year.

ROB SHAER / COURTESY OF THE WHISTLER HALF MARATHON

Whistler residents speak out about impacts of fire mitigation work

‘IF WE’RE THINKING ABOUT HAVING HEALTHY FORESTS FOR THE FUTURE, THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO GO’

BY ROBERT WISLA

WHILE WALKING THROUGH the Whistler Interpretive Forest on the Discovery Loop Trail last month, Kristina Swerhun noticed something that concerned her—a swath of recent fire-thinning work had left the forest in rough condition.

“Almost every spot on the forest floor was torn up; there was zero moss left,” Swerhun said. “Granted, there wasn’t a lot of moss there in the first place, but there was some that was starting to come back, and after the fuelthinning … everything’s been disturbed. And it just doesn’t have to be like that.”

Swerhun, who sits on the board of directors of the Whistler Naturalists, is concerned that the way the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and its contractors are undertaking fuel-thinning prescriptions is resulting in ecological harm to the forest, particularly to the forest floor, by using logging machines.

Swerhun believes there is a disconnect between the mitigation process on paper and what is happening on the ground in Whistler’s forests. She wants to see more thought put into potential ecological outcomes while thinning is taking place, and a reassessment of the use of thinning by hand.

“I just think we need to pay more attention to the ecological outcomes, not just the fuelthinning outcomes,” she said.

Fuel-thinning in Whistler’s forests has been a long-standing concern for many in the community. With the growing risk of wildfires due to climate change, properly managing fuel treatments is more crucial than ever. In 2022, the RMOW received $10.1 million from the federal government to undertake fuel mitigation in several areas across the municipality. Following recommendations from the RMOW’s Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan, the funding will pay for treatments in 12 high-risk areas such as Rainbow, Emerald and 16 Mile Creek.

Forest ecologist Rhonda Millikin, co-chair of the RMOW’s Forest and Wildland Advisory Committee, shares Swerhun’s concerns, and

advocates for the municipality to reconsider its mitigation strategies to improve forest resilience.

“We have to stop killing the microbial community with ultraviolet light and tilling, and we have to stop removing sources of nutrients in wood debris and ground cover,” Millikin said. “We’re just reducing our forest’s natural resilience.”

Millikin has spent considerable time researching the effects of fuel-thinning on Coastal forests, and argues the RMOW’s current practices are having adverse effects on the ecology of the forest, increasing the rate at which the forest floor is drying out.

“What we’re doing is we’re increasing fire risk,” Millikin said.

“If we’re thinking about having healthy forests for the future, this is not the way to go.”

The RMOW has long enlisted forester and biologist Bruce Blackwell, of B.A. Blackwell and Associates, to build its fire mitigation plans.

According to RMOW environmental stewardship manager Louisa Burhenne, the municipality is careful about how it approaches fuel-thinning work, and regularly listens to stakeholders in developing treatment plans.

“When we do these prescriptions with these plans, we look at all factors: environment, access, how steep the area is, and also economics—like hand-cutting is way more expensive and less effective,” Burhenne said.

“We really take all of these factors and plan out what makes sense.”

Burhenne said the RMOW looks at all angles of a project, including ecological values, and works closely with consultants to ensure the detailed plans are “followed to the tee.” However, she acknowledged that the process is not perfect, and the RMOW appreciates community feedback.

“We do our fuel management differently than we did many years ago; it’s way less intrusive. And because we listen to the community, we have heard those kinds of concerns before and take them seriously,” Burhenne said, adding that the RMOW developed a monitoring plan and is working to understand the effects of different approaches to fuel mitigation in the resort. n

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Whistler restaurateurs Mike and Karen Roland inducted into BC Restaurant Hall of Fame

OWNERS OF ROLAND’S CREEKSIDE PUB, RED DOOR BISTRO NAMED UNDER ‘LOCAL CHAMPION’ CATEGORY

BY MEGAN LALONDE

IN A TOWN —and hospitality scene—built for tourists, Karen Roland has built a reputation for taking care of locals.

But she doesn’t take all the credit.

She attributes it to the legacy Ron “Hoz” Hosner started when the pub owner opened up shop in 1988 in the Creekside space where Roland’s and Red Door Bistro now operate.

Nestled between Nita Lake Lodge and the Co-op gas station on the west side of Highway 99, “You’re nowhere near the mountains, you’re nowhere near the Village Stroll, so you don’t have [pedestrian] traffic walking by you constantly,” Roland explained. “You have to get the loyalty of the locals.”

Roland started working for Hoz as a host in 1993, eventually working her way up to serving, supervising and bookkeeping before taking over the entire operation in 2008. Her brother, Mike, took charge of Roland’s Beer and Wine Store, and is still responsible for everything from staffing and inventory to orders and accounting.

“It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, and I’d been working there for 14-and-a-half

years, so I knew the good, the bad, and the ugly of the place,” she recalled. “I thought I could take it over and improve on it.”

That reputation is now being recognized by her peers across the province. Roland and her brother are among the 2023 BC Restaurant Hall of Fame inductees in the “Local Champion” category, the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) announced on June 27.

It might seem like an obvious accolade for a business owner known for baking hundreds of shortbread cookies and butter tarts for her regulars every Christmas, but the honour “was completely unexpected,” Roland said. “[We’re] pretty happy, a little blown away, because there’s a lot of great restaurants in Whistler that could take that title. It’s very, very humbling, and we’re all very excited—very proud.”

While Roland’s is generally regarded as a welcoming place south of the village to grab a beer, some pub food, watch the game and throw a few darts—or, pick up a bottle of wine or a six-pack long after BC Liquor shuts for the day—the fine-dining eatery next door has maintained its status as the hottest reservation in town since it opened nearly a decade ago.

The quaint-but-bustling, 36-seat Red Door Bistro routinely fills up promptly after opening its reservation books three months ahead of time. That’s how long Roland recommends diners book in advance in order to snag their preferred date and time, though she encourages any locals looking to experience celebrated chef RD Stewart’s West Coast-take on French cuisine to seek out a midweek reservation during shoulder season.

The eatery will celebrate a milestone anniversary in December, 10 years after opening its kitchen with Stewart at its helm and restaurant manager Sarah Chapple running front-of-house operations.

“When I initially met with RD, he asked me, ‘What kind of concept, what kind of menu are you thinking?’ and I said, ‘Whatever you want. You are the chef and one of the best,’” Roland recalled.

“I feel very, very fortunate that he agreed to create a new concept in that space,” she added. “He deserves just as much of the credit for creating the Red Door as I do, if not more.”

In speaking with Roland, it’s obvious the pub, liquor store and bistro is a family business in every sense of the word. Not only

because Roland “won the family lottery,” she said—she, her mom, dad and brother make up a close-knit family unit that “always gets through [any challenges] because we have each other to support each other,” she explained—but because that support extends to the atmosphere Roland and Stewart aim to cultivate within their team.

“You can’t do it by yourself,” Roland acknowledged. “You can’t just work for yourself and not have help from others, so I absolutely encourage that whole team and family vibe. If you’re willing to support your family, then things will go really well—if I’m not willing to do it, I shouldn’t expect my staff to be willing to do it.”

Roland, her brother and their 23 fellow inductees this year join other esteemed Whistler restaurateurs already listed among B.C.’s Hall of Fame ranks, including Bearfoot Bistro’s Andre St. Jacques; Jack Evrensel of Araxi and Top Table Restaurant Group, and Il Caminetto founder Umberto Menghi. The Rolands will officially receive the honour at the 19th Annual BC Restaurant Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony, set to take place in October at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver. The event marks the ceremony’s return after a pandemic-induced hiatus. n

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CARLEIGH HOFMAN – RENNIE ADVISOR - WHISTLER

Remembering one of Whistler’s pioneer mountaineers

WERNER HIMMELSBACH DIED ON JUNE 16 AT THE AGE OF 91

BY MEGAN LALONDE

ONE SUMMER DAY a few decades back, Werner Himmelsbach headed on a solo hike up Singing Pass to Russet Lake.

When he arrived at the small, red hut near the alpine lake’s shores where he planned to spend the night, he found it already occupied by a pair of young couples. “Somehow or another I felt I wasn’t very welcome, you know, but I couldn’t hike back home again,” he recalled in his lilting German accent, during a 2015 oral history interview with the Whistler Museum. “But at the front righthand side, there was a little cavity underneath the cabin.” He grabbed his sleeping bag and mat and crawled underneath.

Werner woke up early, headed into the cabin to quietly make his breakfast and sign his name in the hut’s visitor book, before climbing up Oboe Ridge and back down to the valley.

There, he found the two couples from the hut parked nearby. “This one gentleman came over and said, ‘Is this your name on the hut? … I apologize that you had to sleep underneath,’” Werner remembered with a laugh.

The distinctive cabin Werner called the Russet Lake Hut was better known to most others as the Himmelsbach Hut. It’s one

of several backcountry structures around the Sea to Sky he helped build as a member of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC).

The Himmelsbach Hut stood proudly beside Russet Lake from 1968 until a few years ago, a few metres downhill from where the spacious, state-of-the-art Kees and Claire Hut stands today. The first of three huts planned for the iconic Spearhead Traverse opened in September 2019, carrying on Himmelsbach’s vision of a hut-to-hut route, allowing adventurers to travel deeper into the Coast Mountains.

Where most of the backpackers visiting the Kees and Claire Hut today carry ultralight camping gear, satellite communicators, and beacons in the winter, Werner was one of the last remaining trailblazers from a generation that helped shape British Columbia’s mountaineering community.

The longtime Whistler local died peacefully at home, on his own terms and surrounded by his family on June 16, four days after heading up Whistler Mountain for one last visit to its peak. He was 91.

At Tuesday, July 4’s council meeting, Whistler Councillor Cathy Jewett recalled her visit with Werner shortly before he passed away. From high-stakes long-line rescues to mountaineering trips with iconic crews, “Some of the stories that I heard from him are

legendary,” she said.

“He was definitely a pioneer in the mountains here, and a very interesting person to be able to speak to and to listen to his stories.”

HIGHLY-SKILLED WORKER

Werner grew up in southwestern Germany, in a town called Baden-Baden near the Black Forest and the French border.

“He was 14 at the end of the war and he wanted to leave Germany,” his daughter Sherillynne Himmelsbach explained. So, in the mid-1950s, when Werner was in his early20s, “he caught a boat to Montreal, got on a train in Montreal and showed up at the train station in Vancouver with, I think he said, $67. He didn’t know anybody and he didn’t know any English.”

He soon met his wife, Marie, who introduced him to Vancouver’s fast-growing climbing community. He joined the BCMC, continuing the passion for climbing he started honing as a teen in Germany, and then in the Swiss Alps. “We had a heck of a good time,” Werner told the museum, “because we had the whole coastlines to ourselves to do hiking and so on.”

However, that freedom led to a few accidents in Vancouver’s local mountains. Werner put the mountain rescue skills he learned in Europe to use, helping found a fledgling Mountain Rescue Group that would serve as the basis for the existing North Shore Rescue. He came to B.C. “with an expertise that they didn’t have in Canada at that time,” Sherillynne said.

SEE PAGE 22 >>

MOUNTAIN MAN Legendary Whistler mountaineer Werner Himmelsbach pictured on June 12, during a final visit to Whistler Mountain’s peak.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

It was a BCMC friend, Don MacLaurin, who tipped Werner off about the last remaining lot available to lease on Alta Lake Road. A ski resort was due to open the next year. Werner drove his family to Whistler to the lot where he eventually built a cabin, and would later buy, in December 1965. “Spent the first Christmas up here, and every Christmas since then,” he said in 2015.

Werner trained as a high-end cabinet and furnituremaker in Germany, but ended up working most of his career in the construction industry when those professions didn’t prove to be quite as lucrative in Vancouver. They did, however, equip Werner with a set of skills that would prove to be priceless to his backcountry hutbuilding efforts.

HUT LIFE

In the mid-’60s, the BCMC’s bank balance was healthier than usual after selling off a pair of cabins on Grouse and Seymour mountains. Werner had the idea to use those funds to build a series of new huts in the Coastal range.

“Dad came from an area where mountain huts were very common, and it was a very common thing to hike from hut-to-hut in …. the German Alps and Swiss Alps,” said Sherillynne. “He just thought it would be a natural thing to have it here, so people could hike beyond where they could go for a weekend, and

then they would have a shelter so they wouldn’t be in a tent while they hiked the peaks around that area. So I think it’s kind of neat that people sort of saw the value in that and carried it forward.”

He helped develop the design for the Gothic Arch structure, with curved walls that could withstand the heavy coastal snow load, even making models to scale. Russet Lake, then a solid day’s hike from the valley, seemed to be a good spot for one.

Sherillynne recalled those cabins being built in her Burnaby backyard. “He’d prefab them, take them down and put them up,” she explained.

But the Himmelsbach Hut construction at Russet Lake didn’t exactly go to plan when it began in 1967. The crew was caught in a fall snowstorm. The first load carried up in a forestry helicopter made it up just fine, but the second load of materials came crashing down somewhere over Whistler Mountain’s slopes. So, Werner and his BCMC mates hiked in, salvaged whatever lumber they could, and bushwhacked their way back up to the Russet Lake build site.

Werner and his colleagues would go on to apply a similar design to the Wedgemount Lake, Mountain Lake, and Wendy Thompson Huts across the corridor, plus the Plummer Hut in the Waddington Range.

Following the construction of the Kees and Claire Hut, BC Parks disassembled the Himmelsbach Hut and flew it up Mount Sproatt, where it was rebuilt at the top of Into The Mystic trail.

“He was really happy to find out that it

was being relocated and had a new purpose in life,” Sherillynne said.

ASCENDING STATUS

Werner is as well known in the mountaineering community for his impressive roster of ascents as he is for his more tangible contributions to the backcountry.

He led the first ascent by an all-Canadian party up Denali, then known as Mount McKinley, in Alaska in 1961, the same year his son Dwayne was born. At 6,190 metres, it’s the highest peak in North America.

Werner recalled encountering -38 C temperatures on Denali that May, resulting in two of the four group members losing nearly all of their toes to frostbite.

He was also a member of the Alpine Club of Canada’s legendary Centennial expedition to the Yukon in 1967, joining about 60 of the country’s most skilled mountaineers in the Saint Elias Range. It’s home to Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan. Werner led a small group up Mount Newfoundland that July, but a summit cornice prompted the climbers to turn around about 18 metres from the peak.

“I remember him saying something about, ‘Only the fact that we are home with our families proves that was the right decision to make,’” his daughter recalled. “When you’re up there, there’s a lot of adrenaline and a lot of drive to try and get to the peak, and it’s often harder to turn around.”

To date, that summit has never been climbed, said Sherillynne.

LEAVING A LEGACY, EVEN IN HIS LATER YEARS

Closer to home, Werner was known for being among the first skiers on the mountain every morning. “If he wasn’t first in the ski-lift lineup, or going up at the very beginning of the day, it wasn’t worth going,” Sherillynne explained.

He was a proud season pass holder every winter since Whistler opened for business, clocking more than 100 days on the slopes some years. That feat got easier after he retired to the resort full-time in 1987.

He was involved in the ski racing community, helping prep courses and participating in the Dave Murray ski camps, and still enjoyed those solo hikes long into his 80s, even as they started getting slower and shorter. His favorite hike in the last year or two was the walk up the Lost Lake trails, according to his daughter.

Still, ever a thrill seeker, he celebrated his 90th birthday by riding the Sasquatch Zipline almost two years ago, and was due to celebrate his 91st with a paragliding trip last summer, until his co-pilot was injured in an ATV accident.

Asked how he might like to be remembered by the community, “He’d probably say he wouldn’t want to be,” said Sherillynn with a laugh.

“But I guess it would be as a role model for people to get out and use the mountains to overcome their adversity—when they’ve come from bad places, that they can find solitude in the mountains,” she added.

“Certainly, it was his saviour in life to be able to go to the mountains.” n

Whistlerite wants more answers on supposed ‘black goo’ in Meadow Park hot tub

VCH UNABLE TO COLLECT SAMPLE, BUT FOUND HOT TUB TO BE ‘CLEAN, WELL-MAINTAINED, AND IN COMPLIANCE’ WITH REGULATIONS

BY BRANDON BARRETT

A WHISTLER LOCAL who lodged a complaint last year with health authorities wants more answers on a supposed black buildup he said he has regularly observed in the Meadow Park Sports Centre (MPSC) hot tub—despite health authorities assuring the facility to be in clean and safe condition.

A regular visitor to the MPSC since 1997, Bill Duff said he first noticed what he called a “black goo”-like substance sticking to the side of the hot tub walls about two years ago. More recently, he has documented the material—which he said is thick and spreads in one’s fingers “like grease”—in photos he later provided to Pique.

“It’s abnormal and it shouldn’t be there,” he said. “If these black dots are sticking on the side of the pool, they’re sticking to people’s clothing and they’re going into their skin. I’ve experienced itchiness, and I wonder why I’m so itchy, and figure maybe it’s this black stuff.”

Duff said he raised the issue initially with MPSC staff, before lodging his complaint to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), in the fall. The health authority said it conducted “a thorough inspection and investigation” in November, on top of a regular inspection of the hot tub in February of this year.

“On both occasions, the [Environmental Health Officer] found the hot tub to be clean, well-maintained, and in compliance with regulatory requirements. Water sampling for potential microbial contamination found none,” a VCH statement read, in part.

In its own statement, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), which operates the MPSC, said it independently chose to continue monitoring the situation

after the health authority said it was satisfied with its cleaning procedures. The RMOW also carries out regular inspections of the pool and hot tub, per the BC Public Health Act.

“We put considerable focus on cleaning to ensure every patron is comfortable with our quality of service and we are very conscious to remain current with all VCH processes and take any public complaints or concerns seriously,” the statement said.

Both the RMOW and VCH said they were unable to collect samples of the black substance during their inspections, with the attending health officer noting the issue “may have resolved prior to his visit,” VCH said.

The municipality, meanwhile, said although it was unable to replicate the substance seen in Duff’s photos, “we do know body oils and dirt” can cause a black sheen.

“As noted on the pool signage, we do also ask that swimmers always do their part by showering properly before entering the pool as this assists us in keeping it clean,” the RMOW said. “The health and safety of our pool patrons is our primary focus at all times and we want to ensure this individual, and everyone coming into the pool, [is] comfortable and confident we are doing our part to keep them safe.”

Those assurances aren’t enough to put Duff’s mind at ease, who questioned how the municipality and health authority were

unable to collect samples of the buildup when he claims to have noticed it “almost 100 per cent of the time” he’s there. He also wonders if the substance is neoprene, a synthetic rubber used for gaskets and seals, among other uses, that had been emulsified by a pump impeller.

“Body oils and stuff that’s excreted from the skin are either translucent, white, yellow or brown, not black,” Duff said. “I’ve been in a thousand hot tubs, and one place you do see black is in this hot tub [at MPSC]. I’ve never seen that in any other hot tub.”

In response, VCH said pump impellers are “unable to ‘emulsify’ a material like neoprene or rubber, however, if the black substance was from a degraded seal, most bulk material would be taken up by the filter in less than 30 minutes, and any other particles would be removed during routine cleaning.”

VCH went on to say that nitrile rubber, a material used for gaskets, o-rings and seals, “is not toxic in a hot tub environment. The material is the same as that used in nitrile gloves, which does not typically cause skin irritation, except in rare cases where an individual is sensitized to it.” Chlorine and other chemicals used to clean pools and hot tubs can cause skin irritation, however, VCH added. “It’s important to take a shower after using a hot tub to rinse those chemicals off the skin. Extended use of a hot tub can also lead to dry, itchy skin.”n

DON’T PASS GOO Black spotting photographed on the walls of the Meadow Park Sports Centre hot tub.

PHOTO BY BILL DUFF

Burnt Stew, Whistler’s only authorized Apple shop, to close after 27 years

FOUNDER KENDRA MAZZEI WILL TRANSITION INTO BURNT STEW CONSULTING SERVICES IN SEPTEMBER

BY BRANDON BARRETT

KENDRA MAZZEI is no fortune teller, although you wouldn’t know it from her decision to set up Whistler’s first authorized Apple retail store in early 1996, back when the company was headed towards the brink of bankruptcy and light-years away from becoming the global tech giant it is today.

“I just knew the timing was right and I knew what was happening at Apple with Steve Jobs coming back [as CEO], so when my contract finished at the muni, I launched Burnt Stew,” she said.

For close to 30 years, Mazzei and her team of technicians have helped Whistlerites with their Apple products out of her Function Junction retail store. At the end of July, Burnt Stew, the Sea to Sky’s only authorized Apple reseller and service provider, will close the doors to its brick-and-mortar space, before Mazzei transitions to Burnt Stew Consulting Service in the fall.

“For me, it’s all about the people,” Mazzei said of her nearly three decades at Burnt Stew. “It’s about working with all the people I have now and in the past and making something easier for somebody, making something work better, making systems work in the situation.”

To say that Mazzei and her team’s work

has evolved since the mid-’90s would be a vast understatement. In those early days, Mazzei was a one-woman show, and, more often than not, her job entailed teaching basic computer skills to her clientele just as much or more than actual IT support.

“In the early days of computers, there was

just not a lot of public knowledge of things because, of course, the internet wasn’t readily available, so all people knew in those days was how to sit in front of a computer and type; they really didn’t have the background at all to set things up, to network a computer, to set up a printer, to connect a modem,” she recalled. “I had a background in technology, so

I was knowledgeable. I also have a bachelor of education, so I had a teaching degree as well and I had come from a teaching background, having taught graphic design at Sheridan College in Ontario, so it was kind of a perfect storm.”

Through it all, Mazzei had the backing of the community, even when Whistlerites weren’t the most tech-savvy bunch.

“It’s always been collaborative and supportive and the community has grown with us and we have grown with the community,” she said. “It’s just been my total pleasure to be a part of it right from the beginning.”

Mazzei also looks back fondly on the staff who have come through the Burnt Stew doors

over the years, from certified technicians to bookkeepers, front-of-house retail staff and even local high schoolers, a couple of whom have gone on to launch their own web development companies, she said.

“So amazing, every single person that I worked with. A lot of them are still in town and a lot of them have stayed in the tech industry,” added Mazzei.

Staffing is one of the main factors pushing Mazzei to move away from the retail space. Like so many small businesses in Whistler, Burnt Stew has struggled to attract and retain qualified employees in recent years. “The biggest challenge we’ve seen in the last five years is the staffing. To work with Apple, you have to be a certified Apple technician and you have to go through their certified training program, and in the last five years it’s just been increasingly difficult to staff—and the timing is just good. We want to go out on a high note. We are so happy we’ve had this opportunity,” she said.

After some deserved time off, Mazzei plans to move Burnt Stew into an online-based consulting and IT training company—meaning the closest certified Apple repair and reseller shop will be in North Vancouver. “It’s going to be a big deal,” Mazzei said.

Burnt Stew Consulting Services will maintain the same website going forward: burntstew.bc.ca. n

APPLE A DAY Kendra Mazzei, founder and owner of Burnt Stew, Whistler’s only certified Apple reseller and repair shop, which will be closing at the end of the month after 27 years.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

“It’s always been collaborative and supportive and the community has grown with us and we have grown with the community.”

- KENDRA MAZZEI

‘If you get it, you’re pretty much going to die’

PEMBERTONIAN WHO NEARLY DIED FROM RARE HANTAVIRUS WANTS TO WARN OTHERS

BY BRANDON BARRETT

A PEMBERTON MAN who counts himself lucky to be alive after contracting a rare virus this winter linked to rodent droppings is sharing his near-death experience in the hopes of keeping others safe.

Lorne Warburton, 54, said he began to feel tired, with body aches and headaches, in midMarch, prior to a planned vacation to Mexico with his wife and kids. Testing negative for COVID, he decided to go on the trip, and said he felt fine until he returned home and his symptoms worsened.

Warburton said he still can’t remember the two days leading up to his admittance to the Pemberton Medical Clinic on March 25.

“I called in sick one of the days. I don’t remember calling in sick. Blackout,” he said. “I was on autopilot doing normal life. Feeding the kids. Daily life.”

On the morning of March 25, Warburton said he woke up short of breath after struggling to sleep the night before. “I woke up and my hands were purple. It took all my energy just to get out of bed and into the bathroom, and that’s when I noticed my face was purple, too. I was struggling to breathe,” he said.

Now understanding the urgency of his condition, Warburton told his wife they

needed to go to the clinic immediately. “It took all the strength I had in my life to get to that vehicle, to get to the clinic,” he added.

Once there, Dr. Jim Fuller, a local GP who was covering the ER that day, said he was surprised Warburton was still conscious, given his rapidly deteriorating condition.

“When he came through the door of emergency, his oxygen saturation was 65 per cent, his head was purple, his body was mottled, and he was in severe septic shock,” Fuller said. “One of the strange things for me about the case is that even though his oxygen saturations were so low (anything below 70 per cent is considered life-threatening), he was still conscious and able to carry on a conversation with me.”

Although he didn’t recognize Warburton’s illness at the time—he had contracted the rare hantavirus, caused by exposure to the urine and fecal matter of infected deer mice (and two other wild rodents common in the southern U.S.)—he knew his patient required more care than what the Pemberton clinic could offer. He made a call, and within two hours, an air ambulance had arrived to transport Warburton to Lion’s Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, a fast response time the doctor believes saved the Pembertonian’s life.

“His oxygen levels were barely compatible with life,” he explained. “Let’s say he’d been on a backcountry trip or in an area where sophisticated medical care wasn’t available,

he would have died, for sure.”

But Warburton’s ordeal was far from over. After being intubated and ventilated at the Pemberton clinic, he was transferred to Lion’s Gate, where, as he later learned, his heart stopped for roughly 11 minutes.

“I pretty much died,” he said.

Fortunately, Warburton’s condition eventually stabilized, and a decision was made to transfer him again, this time to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), where he could access an ECMO machine, which pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside their body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. The attending doctor at Lions Gate was apparently so concerned about his condition, she followed the ambulance to VGH in her own vehicle, with extra equipment

“in case I didn’t make it,” Warburton said. Another stroke of luck for Warburton was the fact there was a sepsis specialist among the army of medical professionals who cared for him. Poring over the bloodwork, the specialist recognized the hantavirus, which is typically only recorded in a handful of cases across Canada each year and comes with a 30to 38-per-cent mortality rate.

“If you get it, you are pretty much lucky if you survive—and I survived,” Warburton said.

In all, Warburton spent about 10 days in the ICU and five days in a recovery ward, and he has worked closely with a physiotherapist since to slowly rebuild his strength. Described by Fuller as a “very, very healthy 54-year-old,” Warburton said, prior to his diagnosis, he could do 150 push-ups in under 10 minutes. Now, he’s lucky to do two at a time.

“If I wasn’t strong as I was, I might not have made it,” he said. “Somebody older or with a weaker immune system might not have.”

Joking he was “the talk of the medical town” because of how uncommon his condition is, Warburton said he has been interviewed by numerous medical professionals about his illness. The best guess is that he contracted the virus while tidying up his attic prior to his family vacation. “We live in Pemberton on five acres, there are mice

SEE PAGE 27 >>

SURVIVOR Pemberton’s Lorne Warburton, pictured several years ago with his wife Anna and daughter Mya. PHOTO SUBMITTED

B.C. court finds man guilty of possessing child pornography in Whistler

RCMP BRIEFS: UP TO $20K WORTH OF TOOLS STOLEN FROM CONSTRUCTION SITE

BY MEGAN LALONDE

A MAN WHO pleaded guilty to child porn offences that occurred in Whistler will spend the rest of his summer awaiting the outcome of his court case.

According to court records, Nicholas Kyle David Symons, born in 1994, pleaded guilty to two counts of importing and/or distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography when he appeared in North Vancouver Provincial Court on Jan. 26 of this year. Symons was ultimately found guilty of the single count of possessing child pornography. He now awaits sentencing, and his next court date is scheduled for Sept. 15.

The criminal charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in jail for individuals convicted of an indictable offence.

Sea to Sky RCMP media relations officer Cst. Katrina Boehmer confirmed Whistler’s detachment received information from B.C. RCMP’s Integrated Child Exploitation Team (ICE) in July of 2021 about an individual in Whistler who was caught “uploading child exploitation materials” between October 2020 and September 2021.

“The Whistler General Investigation Section took [charge] of the investigation

and forwarded a Report to the BC Prosecution Service for charge assessment,” she explained in an email.

Whistler RCMP did not release details about the nature of the content in question, in an effort to prevent the re-victimization of any child involved.

“The RCMP takes reports of child exploitation very seriously, and individuals who prey on young children should be aware that as a result of closer working relationships between law enforcement agencies around the world, perpetrators will be apprehended and held accountable for their actions,” Boehmer added.

B.C. ICE is the provincial unit that works with the RCMP’s National Exploitation Crime Centre to coordinate law enforcement’s response to online child abuse crimes.

UP TO $20K WORTH OF TOOLS STOLEN FROM WHISTLER CONSTRUCTION SITE

In more recent RCMP news, police in Whistler responded to a local construction site on Tuesday morning, June 27, after receiving reports of an overnight break-and-enter resulting in thousands of dollars worth of

SURVIVOR’S STORY FROM PAGE 26

everywhere, and we have an attic,” he said. “I did some sweeping there for a minute, so I might have aerated the mouse feces.”

Canada’s National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases says the hantavirus’ incubation period is between two to four weeks, and between 14 and 17 days for Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. The Sin Nombre strain carried by the deer mouse is the most common in Canada, and is typically transmitted through inhaling virus particles from feces, dust or any organic matter infected with the virus. Transmission can

also occur through touching or eating food contaminated from urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents, and direct contact through cutaneous injuries or mucous membranes with the virus. The Public Health Agency of Canada says the key to avoiding the virus is preventing rodent infestations and properly cleaning and disinfecting areas contaminated by rodent droppings. It’s also good practice to wear an N95 or equivalent mask in areas where rodents could be present.

“Be aware of going into confined spaces with no airflow, like a crawlspace, attic, garage or tool

missing materials.

In a release, Sea to Sky RCMP estimated thieves stole between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of tools and miscellaneous items from the job site.

Police ask any locals or visitors who may have “noticed anything suspicious” between 6 p.m. on Monday, June 26 and 6 a.m. the following morning to get in touch with Whistler’s RCMP detachment at 604932-3044.

The break-in and theft was one of 150 total files police in Whistler opened during the week spanning Tuesday, June 27 to Monday, July 3. n

shed,” Warburton said. “If you’re moving around there, wear a mask. All it takes is you to breath that in for a moment from a deer mouse, and if you get it, you’re pretty much going to die.”

As for Warburton, who thanked his wife, Anna, and two daughters, who are five and nine, for all their support, he believes there’s a reason he survived his brush with death, beyond sharing his story with others.

“I’ve said this a lot: ‘Wow, I must have come back for a reason,’ and I think it’s just to be the best person I can be and the best father and husband I can be.” n

SLRD delays proposed South Britannia surf park

DIRECTORS SEEK CLARITY ON HOUSING, TRANSIT, WATER USAGE AND MORE

BY ROBERT WISLA

A SURF PARK and mixed-use development proposed for South Britannia Beach near Squamish is headed back to its proponents to address several unanswered questions.

On June 28, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District’s (SLRD) board of directors considered second reading of a rezoning application for the Tiger Bay South Britannia development, a large-scale community planned for an area along Howe Sound, about 14 kilometres south of Squamish. Creating a community at South Britannia has been in the works for over a decade, with the latest version of the project coming to the board a year and a half after a rezoning for the revised project received first reading in December 2021.

Following first reading, the proponents received input from Sk_wx_wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), the District of Squamish (DOS), the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, BC Transit, School District No. 48, and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).

According to planning consultant Eric Vance, the year-plus delay was due mainly to issues raised by VCH around the availability and quality of water at the site. Following the input from VCH, Tiger Bay and the SLRD’s engineering consultants conducted further

analysis of the water situation, which revealed that, while there is enough water supply at the site, there is a risk of saltwater intrusion.

“There’s the possible risk, very low they think, of occasional saltwater intrusion,” Vance said in a presentation to the board. “They don’t think it will happen, but if it does, it can be addressed through a fairly simple reverse osmosis system, [though that] probably won’t be needed.”

The developers plan to create a local service area within the SLRD to fund and maintain the water system, and are committed to an extensive water monitoring program to ensure the community is at the forefront of water sustainability and climate change resilience.

DEVELOPMENT PLANS

The planned development will include 1,050 housing units, with 150 units (14 per cent) reserved for affordable housing. The majority of the homes will be in low-rise apartments and duplexes.

In addition to the surf park (the first of its kind in B.C.), there will be 1,800 square metres of commercial area, 190 units of tourism accommodation, and a child-care centre with at least 78 spaces with room to expand for growing families.

The developers plan to construct multiuse paths throughout the development, including connections to North Britannia Beach, a skate park, and at least 28.5 acres of green space, 12.7 acres of which will be an

oceanfront park at Minaty Bay.

Construction is planned in four phases, starting with essential utility infrastructure, such as connections to the North Britannia sewer plant, then building the surf park and some commercial buildings.

Following the completion of utility work and the surf park, the second phase will require the regional district’s adoption of a housing agreement bylaw. If all goes well with CN Rail, the third phase will include the construction of a pedestrian overpass over the railway to the waterfront park. After residents move into the development, the fourth and final phase includes building the community centre.

SLRD board members raised several concerns about the proposed project, including the timing of the construction phases and the housing agreement; financial contributions for transit; the aforementioned water issues; and safe access to Minaty Bay Park.

Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford raised concern about creating the waterfront park before the planned railway overpass is complete.

Vance said CN Rail wouldn’t provide any input on the planned overpass, citing capacity challenges to review the current proposal. Still, it is open to discussing it in more detail after the SLRD approves the development.

SURF’S UP An artist’s rendering of a proposed development at South Britannia.

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE SLRD

HOUSING STILL A CONCERN

Housing and the forms it might take remains one of the main pieces of concern for SLRD directors.

Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman said discussions on creating a housing agreement with the proponent should begin earlier than the second development phase, so the SLRD can secure affordable housing.

“I know that there’s no housing being built in Phase 1. For me, it’s more about securing what the board is looking for within the housing agreement before we get too far down the road,” Richman said.

“I know we don’t need to have an agreement in place for [housing] being constructed in Phase 1, but being that it is a priority of the board to supply affordable housing under certain terms, I would like to be having those conversations sooner than later. I don’t think we need to wait too long.”

Vance stated that the developers set the housing agreements’ timing in Phase 2 to work around the community’s evolving needs as the surf park and commercial services come online, and employee demands become clearer. Tiger Bay estimates that the development will create about 600 full-time permanent jobs once complete.

Vance also noted funding programs for affordable housing are constantly changing, and housing organizations like BC Housing cannot make commitments with construction still so far away.

The number of housing agreements also needs to be worked out, as all 150 units could

be part of a single housing agreement or, as the board has previously discussed, can be more dispersed.

The DOS also raised concerns, particularly on the proposed housing forms in the development, and advised the SLRD to secure a minimum percentage of two- and threebedroom apartment and townhouse units as affordable housing in addition to a minimum number of units to ensure the provision of larger affordable units.

Squamish also recommended the SLRD secure a commitment from the developer to create workforce rental housing for the construction workers who will build the community.

Vance speculated the developers could obtain temporary use permits to set up trailers on the site, which would help address some of the employee construction challenges, but said they need more information on worker needs before that happens.

“We just don’t know until we get to that point and know who the companies are constructing this, where they’re drawing workers from, how they see them being accommodated,” Vance said. “But certainly, the site is big enough that if there’s some need for some temporary workforce housing down there, it could be accommodated.”

SQUAMISH NATION WEIGHS IN

The Squamish Nation’s preliminary recommendations include having proper place names and signage that respects the Nation’s culture and history throughout the

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development, as well as a commitment to sustainability.

The Nation wants to see substantial setbacks for shoreline developments, buffers of at least 30 metres established from fishbearing streams, and building construction to net-zero carbon emissions standards.

The commitment to sustainability must include post-construction impact studies and monitoring for at least 10 years, with the requirement to mitigate identified environmental degradation and impacts on wildlife and water quality.

Hurford raised questions about the developers contributing funding for transit, and indicated a desire to see a mechanism put in place to establish a local service area for funding future transit services in the rezoning process.

The proposal did not include direct funding or community amenity contributions for local or regional transit. However, Tiger Bay is committed to building a $950,000 transit hub in Phase 2 that can serve as a stop for local and regional buses.

According to the report to the SLRD board, Tiger Bay has been in talks with the Squamish Connector shuttle service to offer transportation options for residents who work off-site and to transport individuals to the surf park.

‘EVERY MONTH WE DELAY INCREASES THE COST…’

Instead of approving second reading of the rezoning application, which would send it to

a public hearing, SLRD Area B Director Vivian Birch-Jones put forward a motion to delay consideration of second reading until a future board meeting, with a request for further information from the developers on some of the project’s details.

The areas on which the board desired more information included: phasing; quantity and form of housing options for workforce accommodation during early phases; transit provisions; the reserve osmosis water system; and options to mitigate the risk of overpass timing.

Area D Director Tony Rainbow, Lillooet Mayor Laurie Hopfl, Area C Director Russell Mack and Area A Director Sal DeMare opposed the motion.

Rainbow, who represents the proposed development area, cited the need to move faster on delivering housing as a reason for his opposition to further delays, as increased waits result in elevated costs for construction.

“Every month we delay increases the cost of the affordable housing, no question about that,” Rainbow said.

Richman said his desire to get more answers from the developers is not about delaying the project, but getting it right.

“This is not about blocking it. It’s not about slowing it down. We need housing,” Richman said. “I look forward to seeing this development come to fruition, but I want to get it right for the community, and for my own pride, I want to get it right. So that’s what’s motivating me to flush some of these things out in advance.” n

Pemberton student honoured with BC Emergency Health Services award after saving friend’s life

LENNOX DAVIES PERFORMED CPR WHEN FRIEND OLIVER RICHMAN SUDDENLY WENT INTO CARDIAC ARREST LAST OCTOBER

BY MEGAN LALONDE

A LONGTIME PEMBERTON local was honoured with a BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) Vital Link Award on Tuesday, July 4, after jumping into action to save his friend’s life last October.

Lennox Davies and Oliver Richman, both 18 at the time, were playing video games at Richman’s home in New Westminster that Friday night when Davies decided to abandon his plans to drive back home to Pemberton in favour of a few more rounds of FIFA.

Earlier that day, the Capilano University student had been packing up to hit the Sea to Sky Highway when Richman, who Davies grew up with in Pemberton, called to invite him over.

The pals had just put down the controllers and turned on the TV when, all of a sudden, Richman started making an unusual snoring sound. “I stood up and tried to talk to him, and there was no response at all,” Davies told Pique last fall. “He didn’t respond to touch, didn’t respond to sound.”

Richman was in full-blown cardiac arrest. Quickly realizing things weren’t looking

good, Davies followed his instincts: call 911, move Richman to the ground, and start chest compressions like he learned in the outdoor program at Pemberton Secondary School.

It worked.

Richman joined about 25 family members, friends and BCEHS staff to watch Davies accept the Vital Link Award in an emotional ceremony on the lawn outside the Pemberton ambulance station on July 4.

medical call taker who answered Davies’ 911 call that night, when she was only about one month into the job. She travelled from Victoria to help present Davies with the award Tuesday.

Davies “did an amazing job,” she said. “I remember counting out to him, and he was counting back. He did that for a few minutes.”

She only learned Richman survived when she received an email about the Vital Link ceremony last month.

already close prior to that October Friday night. The two grew up skiing and playing sports in Pemberton—often coached by Richman’s dad Mike, who also happens to be Pemberton’s mayor. One paramedic told Davies the connection “is so different” when the incident leading to a Vital Link Award involves friends versus strangers, but since, their friendship is “kind of just back to how it was,” said Davies.

Still, Davies said he can “play that day back, every second by second” in his head. “There’s always the thought in the back of my head, like, ‘What if it happens again?’”

While Richman doesn’t have any memory of the traumatic event, “The best I can do is be there for the people that do remember it,” he said.

BCEHS presents the award to quickthinking bystanders who skilfully perform CPR during a cardiac emergency, with or without the help of an automated external defibrillator. Award recipients “represent the vital link to a patient’s survival,” explained Kelly Budway, paramedic unit chief at BCEHS’ Pemberton station.

“Lennox gave Oliver the chance of survival because he acted quickly and courageously,” Budway said through tears. “As paramedics and dispatchers, we rarely have the opportunity to reunite with our patients, so this is an honour, to be gathered here today to do this.”

Tayah McKinnon is the emergency

“This call was one of the more memorable calls I’ve ever taken, so I’ve always wondered what the outcome was,” she said following the ceremony. “[Call takers] usually don’t get to know, so being asked to be a part of this was really cool. I read what the call was about and it clicked right away. I knew exactly what it was.”

A little over eight months later, Richman is doing well. Since doctors equipped the otherwise-healthy 18-year-old with an internal defibrillator to regulate any irregular heart rhythms, he’s working full-time and playing soccer while spending the summer at home in Pemberton, and hoping to rejoin Douglas College’s basketball team next fall.

Davies, Richman and their families were

“Obviously, it sucks what happened to me, but honestly I think it’s worse to be in a situation where you see that happening to a friend,” Richman continued. “I think this award is huge. Hopefully it shows other people why CPR is so important, especially for around friends, because you never know who it can happen to.”

As the two friends pointed out, Davies learned the CPR skills that helped him save Richman’s life in an elective course only offered to about 30 students at a time. Pemberton Secondary students need to apply for a spot in the outdoor education program.

“I feel like it should slowly become a necessity in schools, or just in the community to learn CPR,” said Richman. “It’s such an important thing and it can save so many lives.” n

LIFE SAVERS Vital Link Award recipient Lennox Davies, middle left, smiles next to the BC Emergency Health Services staff who responded when Davies witnessed friend Oliver Richman, middle right, suffer a cardiac arrest last October.

PHOTO BY MEGAN LALONDE

“Lennox gave Oliver the chance of survival because he acted quickly and courageously.”

- KELLY BUDWAY

Transport Canada reviewing reports after plane seen flying at ultra-low altitudes in Pemberton

BY MEGAN LALONDE

TRANSPORT CANADA is looking into reports about a plane some Pemberton residents say they saw flying at a dangerously low altitude last month.

Pemberton local David Gilman said he was at home on Thursday evening, June 1 at about 8 p.m. when he noticed a small plane “flying pretty much over top” of his property.

He thought the aircraft was in distress until its pilot conducted “five low-level passes—and by low-level I mean [they were] just above the treetops”—over the Village of Pemberton over a span of about five or six minutes, before climbing out of the valley.

Gilman said he, his children and his tenants exited their home for safety. “You don’t want to be in a structure if it gets hit by a plane, you want to be outside,” he said.

“It was just so scary to have a plane flying over your house, like within 100 to 200 feet, with no explanation as to why that was necessary.”

In an email, Transport Canada senior communications advisor Hicham Ayoun confirmed the event Gilman described has been reported to the federal department. “We are aware of the incident and are following up to review the circumstances,” the spokesperson said. “Transport Canada reviews all complaints and reports of possible violations involving any aircraft to determine if an investigation is warranted and whether an offense has occurred under the Canadian Aviation Regulations. Local police may also be involved if other laws were broken.”

Cst. Katrina Boehmer of the Sea to Sky RCMP said the local detachment “received a call about an aircraft flying dangerously,” but said the matter was referred to the independent Transportation Safety Board.

“Investigations involving Aeronautics Act violations fall under the Transportation Safety Board’s mandate, and any violations would be investigated by them,” she explained.

Transport Canada is responsible for regulating the country’s federal aviation laws. That includes the Canadian Aviation Regulations, which lays out minimum altitudes and distances pilots must adhere to while operating an aircraft.

According to those regulations, except when taking off or landing, aircrafts operating “over a built-up area” must fly at a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal distance of 2,000 feet from the plane. However, when not operating over a built-up area, pilots only need to keep at least 500 feet of distance between their aircraft and any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.

Whenever Transport Canada hears a complaint containing enough information to identify the pilot and verify that individual contravened the Canadian Aviation Regulations, the department could issue an administrative

fine of up to $5,000, “or, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, the pilot’s license may be suspended,” Ayoun wrote.

Transport Canada also publishes online lists of both Corporate Offenders and Non-Corporate Offenders “to both serve as a deterrent and to increase public awareness and education concerning aviation safety,” according to its website. Those lists are updated on a monthly basis, but don’t include names of or other personal information that could identify the individuals involved. All five penalties served to non-corporate offenders in May 2023 were for violations that took place between May and July last year.

The section of the Canadian Aviation Regulations encompassing altitude limits does lay out a few scenarios where low-altitude flights are permitted—for example, where aircrafts are carrying out fire-fighting or search-and-rescue operations, fixing infrastructure like power lines, conducting flight training, or for special events like airshows.

The legislation is less clear about what exactly constitutes a built-up area.

No formal investigation has since been launched, and any allegations of unsafe aircraft operations or aviation regulation violations have yet to be proven.

Transport Canada encourages anyone who witnesses unsafe or illegal flying activity to contact the department through its online portal, wwwaps.tc.gc.ca, and include as much information as possible, like clear photos or videos, dates and times, aircraft registration, and other identifying marks. ■

‘IT WAS JUST SO SCARY TO HAVE A PLANE FLYING OVER YOUR HOUSE, LIKE WITHIN 100 TO 200 FEET’

LOW BLOW Some Pemberton residents filed reports to Transport Canada after this low-flying aircraft prompted safety concerns last month.

SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF KEVIN GOODMAN

WILLS&ESTATES BUSINESSLAW REALESTATELAW

Big Oil secretly sponsors anti-woke movement

WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS in the world, from massive inequality to the climate crisis, you’d think voluntary guidelines to improve corporate environmental and social practices would be a no-brainer. After all, addressing those critical issues can also boost a company’s bottom line.

Specializinginaccounting andtaxservicesforcorporations andtheirshareholders. Pleasecontactmefor aninitialno-charge confidentialconsultation.

But for companies with business models based on activities that harm the air, water and soil and create greater inequalities, ESG (environmental, social and governance) investor policies are a threat. That’s why Big Oil is fighting back. Much of the “antiwoke” rhetoric you hear from right-wing politicians and media is funded by fossil fuel interests.

BY DAVID

Given what we know about the industry’s decades-long efforts to stall action on climate change by sowing doubt and confusion regarding the clear scientific evidence, it’s no surprise that the same people are putting enormous amounts of money and resources into obstructing efforts to introduce greater corporate responsibility. ESG encourages investors to consider criteria such as environmental risk, pay equity and transparency in accounting.

7390CottonwoodStreet,Pemberton,BC

ThePembertonValleyDykingDistrict(PVDD)willbeholdingits76thAnnualGeneral Meeting,andyouareinvitedtoattendthisevent.Youwillgainagreatoverviewof whatthePVDDdoes,seewhatprojectshavebeencompletedandwhatprojectsarein progressfor2023/2024.

AttheThursday,July13,2023AGM,thePVDDwillbeelectingoneTrusteetotheBoard foratermofapproximately3years–termsendonthedateoftheelectionheldinthe 3rdyear.LandownerstoalsoapproveTrusteehonorariumatthismeeting.

VoterEligibility:(IDmustbepresented)

Onlypersonsattendingtheelectionandmeetingthefollowingeligibility requirementsareentitledtovote:

•ACanadianCitizen.

•Eighteenyearsofage,orolder.

•AnowneroflandwithinthePembertonValleyDykingDistrictboundaries.

•AresidentoftheprovinceofBritishColumbiaforthepriorsixmonths.

•LegalrepresentativeofanowneroflandwithinthePembertonValleyDykingDistrict boundaries.

•AuthorizedagentofacorporationorboardthatownslandwithinthePemberton ValleyDykingDistrictboundaries.Theauthorizedagentmustdeliveraletterin writingoncompanyletterheadbeforetheelectionbegins.Thatauthorizedagent mustsignaStatutoryDeclarationFormpriortovoting.

TrusteeEligibility:

•EverypersonwhoisqualifiedtobeanelectorisalsoqualifiedtobeaTrustee.

•ThespouseofaqualifiedelectormayalsoholdtheofficeofTrustee. Forfurtherdetails,pleasegoontothePembertonValleyDykingDistrict’swebsite: www.pvdd.ca

PembertonValleyDykingDistrict

POBox235•Pemberton,B.C.•V0N2L0

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Email:trustees@pvdd.ca

A report from U.S.-based Pleiades Strategy found that in 2023, fossil fuel money was behind 165 pieces of legislation introduced in 37 states “to weaponize government funds, contracts, and pensions to prevent companies and investors from considering commonplace risk factors in making responsible, risk-

Some have worked to get laws passed to severely punish people protesting pipelines.

The study found the groups had limited success, getting only 22 of the proposed 165 anti-ESG laws passed, thanks to opposition from business, labour and environmental advocates, but laws that did pass—even those that were watered down—could affect climate and other policies to protect people and the planet.

Report co-author Connor Gibson warned that lack of success isn’t likely to deter oil interests. “We think this is the latest iteration of climate denial and obstruction and delay,” he told the Guardian

It’s astounding that people would put their short-term economic interests ahead of human health, well-being and survival, but that’s what they’re doing with greenwashing, furtive propaganda campaigns and influence over politicians, governments and media.

The fossil fuel economy is about more than just money, though. It’s also about consolidating power and wealth, which creates greater inequality. It’s far more difficult for a small number of people and companies to control access to energy and the wealth it generates when it comes from sun and wind rather than coal, oil and gas.

Numerous studies show the clean energy transition would save enormous amounts of money in everything from health-care to energy expenses and that continuing to use coal, oil and gas will become increasingly costly and deadly.

Leaving fossil fuels behind won’t even be that hard on investors, according to a recent study published in Joule. It found that in high-income countries, the richest 10 per cent would bear two-thirds of investment losses from scaling back fossil fuel production, with the wealthiest one per cent taking half

adjusted investment decisions.”

Most of the legislation, aimed at restricting the use of ESG investment criteria, was based on “model bills circulated by right-wing organizations that targeted diverse aspects of state financial regulation…”

Those organizations get much of their support from fossil fuel interests. They include four of the country’s most influential thinktanks: the American Legislative Exchange Council, Heritage Foundation, Heartland Institute and Foundation for Government Accountability. All are affiliated with the State Policy Network, which receives funding from the fossil fuel billionaire Koch family, the Guardian reports.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (which gets money from Koch-supported organizations, as well as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron) and oil and gas lobbyist the American Petroleum Institute have also been involved.

that hit. Because most moneyed people have diverse portfolios, the study found, losses would only make up about one per cent of their net wealth.

Researchers also found it would be costeffective for governments to compensate those less well off for any losses.

We have every reason to switch rapidly from fossil fuels to renewable sources—and to conserve energy and improve efficiency. We’re also increasingly finding that the corporate, political and media justifications for avoiding or delaying the necessary shift are brought to you by the industry itself, often clandestinely.

It’s time to get fossil fuel money out of politics and leave the oil in the ground.

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

It’s time to get fossil fuel money out of politics and leave the oil in the ground.

SUZUKI

The new age of Canadian downhill racing

IF YOU DIDN’T GET the news yet, Canada is kicking ass at the UCI World Cup Downhill this year. Not only were the men’s top two podium steps at Val di Sole, Italy last weekend held by Canadians (on Canada Day!), the two riders are Sea to Sky locals.

In second place at Val di Sole was Finn Iles, who was born in Banff, Alta. Iles and his family moved to Whistler when he was 10, where he got into hockey, as well as ski- and

BY VINCE SHULEY

mountain-bike racing. Bikes eventually won the contest for his athletic dedication, and he quickly shot up as a young downhill racer, cementing himself on the world stage after winning the Junior World Championship in 2016. His performance in the World Cup Elite category has been getting more and more consistent since his Elite debut in 2017, with his finest performance to date coming at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que. in August 2022—a race he won with a broken chain in front of a fervent Canadian crowd.

In first place at Val di Sole last weekend was Jackson Goldstone, his first World Cup win at the Elite level. If you’ve spent any time at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park or its weekly Phat Wednesdays races over the last decade, you’ve probably witnessed Goldstone’s speed and ability to boost jumps

into the stratosphere. Many thought he would go the freeride route, but a few years ago he decided to go all in on racing.

The decision paid off. Like Iles, Goldstone also chalked up a Junior World Championship in 2022, and the same year was the youngest rider to win Red Bull Hardline, a race with some of the biggest jumps you’ve ever seen. The 19-year-old lives in Squamish, but just like with Brandon Semenuk, the town of Whistler adopted Goldstone as a local given his many years of riding and racing in the bike park.

a respectable seventh in Val di Sole—with a sizable crash—and currently holds the rank of seventh in the world.

Jakob Jewett and Mark Wallace are a bit further back in the men’s field, but are still in the starting gate for the Finals run (after making it through qualifying and semi-final stages), which is no easy task. Pemberton brothers Lucas and Tegan Cruz and Rossland junior Bodhi Kuhn are also regular fixtures on the results sheets.

The old guard in Whistler has always reflected on Rob Boyd’s World Cup (alpine ski)

now. Whistler has hosted one of the world’s largest mountain bike festivals—Crankworx— many times over, not to mention the 2010 Olympics. The bike park is bigger and better than it’s ever been. The 1199 DH track in Creekside (named after Stevie Smith’s World Cup points total in 2013) is getting a proper test run at the Canadian Open Downhill at Crankworx next month, and even has fibre optic cable right next to the course, ready for broadcasting live across the world. With all that in place, Whistler’s bid for a UCI World Cup downhill race—and perhaps even World Championships one day—seems less a matter of “if” and more a matter of “when.”

Mont-Sainte-Anne is the only Canadian stop currently on the World Cup DH circuit, but the only advantage I see of that location is that racers and crews have to travel less distance to or from the U.S.’s only World Cup stop in Snowshoe, W. Va. So Whistler’s bid may be stronger in conjunction with another West Coast bike park in the U.S., if only to reduce the travel stress on athletes and teams.

Iles and Goldstone are the second and third Canadians, respectively, to win an Elite World Cup downhill race. The first was the Chainsaw himself, Stevie Smith, in Leogang, Austria in 2013. Both the younger Canadians credit Smith—and that history-making run— as inspiration for their own racing.

Seeing the results of these two young Sea to Sky riders on Canada Day not only made me proud to be a Canadian, but it also got me thinking that we are getting to a point where our country can consistently hold top spots on the downhill world stage. Iles and Goldstone aren’t the only Canadians performing. Sechelt’s Gracey Hemstreet is making her mark in the Elite women’s field, managing

win at the bottom of Dave Murray Downhill as a watershed moment. “Quite simply, anyone who was in Whistler on Feb. 25, 1989, has a memory—or at least a blurred one of Boyd’s win,” wrote Pique in 2014 in an article celebrating the 25-year anniversary.

So why can’t Whistler host a UCI World Cup Downhill event? Well, it almost did back in 2001-2003, but the event fell apart due to organizers not being able to negotiate viable funding with Whistler Blackcomb, Tourism Whistler, and the Resort Municipality of Whistler. The UCI also contributed to the breakdown by changing contract rules months ahead of the first race. But all those failed negotiations were more than 20 years ago

Can we all imagine for a second, Iles or Goldstone—or any current or future Canadian rider—winning a World Cup downhill in Creekside? My guess is it would be on par with Boyd’s 1989 win, and another reason to celebrate Whistler as the world’s unofficial capital of mountain biking.

We have the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. We have some of the world’s fastest riders who grew up riding it. Now all we need is a successful bid to the UCI. Proponents, let me know how I can help with the campaign.

An eight-year-old Jackson Goldstone was faster than a 31-year-old Vince Shuley on B-Line. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider, email vince.shuley@gmail.com or Instagram @whis_vince. ■

We have the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. We have some of the world’s fastest riders who grew up riding it. Now all we need is a successful bid to the UCI.

JACK OF ALL TRADES Jackson Goldstone on his way to his first World Cup win as an Elite racer in Val di Sole, Italy on July 1.

KAROLINA KRASINSKA/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

THREE TO

THINK THE KNEE KNACKER WITHOUT THE JOINT PAIN

WELCOME TO YOUR NEWEST ADVENTURE DAY TREK

BY LAURA BARRON

ne can hardly visit a Whistler coffee shop without eavesdropping on some uberathlete’s tale of epic proportion. Up and down the Sea to Sky corridor, whether people traverse treacherous new backcountry ski routes, slackline across an 1,000-foot abyss, or forge new mountain bike lines that look more like cliffs than trails, there is always someone out there who is far more visionary, strong, and bold. But what is left for those of us who hear accounts of these grand outdoor adventures and think, That sounds incredible — except for all that pain and suffering?

This describes my relationship to extreme sport. I’m drawn to a notable number of people who have accomplished astounding physical feats. But I admire them only vicariously. An ex-boyfriend of mine once canoed across Canada. Or, I should say, he dragged a 40-pound shell of fiberglass across our nation’s swamps and forests, in between the occasional paddle. There’s a name for this type of activity, coined by the climbing community: Type 2 fun.

“Miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect,” particularly once you later regale people with the stories of your struggle, describes U.S.based outdoor retailer, Recreational Equipment, Inc. “It usually begins with the best intentions, and then things get carried away. Conversely, Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun.”

Most of us would never even consider attempting as punishing an effort as my ex-boyfriend’s crosscountry paddle. Yet the desire to push our personal limits is universal. “Human beings have an inherent drive for self-improvement and growth,” concluded renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow, along with many other scientists who’ve studied motivation.

Perhaps it was this intrinsic drive that brought me to the top of North Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain on a perfectly sunny bluebird day last July, my belly full of well-earned fries and beer, with far more smiles than sweat to show for the almost 10,000 feet of elevation I had gained since breakfast. Grouse was the last of three summits — including Blackcomb Mountain and the Sea to Sky Gondola — I completed that day, along with my partner Geoff Cross and our friend Craig Cameron.

Averse to both competing and risk, I had only once ever participated in a running race before pursuing this epic triple hike

I had been scheming for years. In 2011, I completed the Vancouver Half Marathon, driven by the singular goal to finish without pain. Luckily, thanks to disciplined training with a friend, I succeeded.

Yet my subsequent effort to run and hike the 52-kilometre Baden Powell trail solo in a day did not end so well. The shin splints and three weeks of crutches I endured as a result left me cursing myself for such self-inflicted injuries. It’s no wonder the route is referred to as the Knee Knacker. This having fallen squarely into the category of Type 2 Fun, my original intentions were certainly pure enough. With a deep passion for the mountains, I had simply wished to get to know the peaks that make up the canvas of my beautiful city more intimately. However, after that debacle, I knew there must be a way to do it that felt more like Type 1 fun. The strategic combination of factors that made up our so-called “Three to Sky Hike” proved to be just the challenge I was looking for.

All wordplay lovers, Geoff, Craig and I spent months coming up with the name for our epic trek. KneeSaver, TriplePeak, and 3G (for the three gondolas we rode on) were early cuts. But when Craig came up with Three to Sky, we were sold.

BLAZING A TRAIL

Since completing this goal, I’ve spoken with several local athletes — from extreme adventurers to race directors — about what drives them. I’ve learned that, at the heart of most newly designed hiking routes, is a similar origin story. Living amidst the grandiose backdrop that B.C. is blessed with, there is a natural pull to know the lay of this land more closely.

“Adventure and challenge is all around us,” says champion adventure racer Jen Segger.

An endurance athlete, ultra-runner, mountain biker, and paddler with podium finishes in over 20 countries, Segger’s achievements are far too many to mention. Having lived in Squamish for years, the classic Stawamus Chief hike was her regular training run. So, given her inclination towards what many would consider extreme pursuits, she naturally wondered how many times she could repeat the feat in a day. The answer? Seventeen — roughly equivalent to the same elevation gain as an Everest ascent! With her personal goal, Segger set out to raise $5,000 for a local nonprofit, Girl in the Wild, and easily tripled her original target.

Though an avid racer, Segger often sets personal adventure goals for herself, too. In 2018, she created the Vancouver Island Quest, connecting many of the island’s iconic trails and logging roads to bike 750 kilometres from its northern to southern tip. She did it alone, in only four days.

My husband Geoff is his own sort of crazy ultra-athlete. I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at his backside while I’ve tried to keep up on bike, foot or board. (Fortunately, the view is pretty great.) Despite his preternaturally high endurance skills, he has raced very little as an adult, preferring self-driven endeavours.

An early adopter of the exercise tracking app, Strava, he is actually so competitive, he recognized that focusing on the quantitative stats would compromise the joy he could experience while adventuring — so he ditched it. He needs nothing more than his own optimistic ambition to motivate his many lengthy outdoor activities. “Thatsdoable” begins the email address he has had for a quarter century — a nickname that came from several friends he’s either encouraged to mountain bike some insurmountable route with 14 km of elevation gain, roped into a fourday, 130-km paddleboard trip along the Sunshine Coast, or asked to join a “casual” run across the entire Howe Sound Crest Trail, which he completed on his last birthday.

Birthday celebrations for me are quite different from this, as is my idea of adventure. They usually involve sunshine, balloons, long breaks, and plenty of refreshments. But they have

Craig Cameron, left, Laura Barron, and Geoff Cross start their trek on Blackcomb’s Ascent Trail. PHOTO BY GEOFF CROSS

their own type of ambition. For one birthday, I arranged a 25-km urban cruiser ride with friends to try five different dumpling houses around Vancouver. For another, we shuttled bikes and cars to arrange a Vancouver downwinder on paddleboards, from Jericho Beach to Olympic Village, ending with hazy IPAs at Tap & Barrel.

A hedonist at heart, drawn to sensory pleasures of all sorts, I wanted to ensure that our Three to Sky hike echoed this same fun-to-effort ratio. Something a bit different from the recent Facebook post of another uber-adventurous friend showing him on a Baffin Island ski tour, grinning ear to ear with his front tooth conspicuously absent, having chipped it during breakfast because the -50 C weather had made it so brittle! He’s clearly far heartier than I.

LEG 1: BLACKCOMB ASCENT

We began our Blackcomb ascent on a balmy, 18-degree morning, around 7 a.m., with no one around but the three of us and an adorable bear cub. We’d deliberately scheduled our hike close to the longest day of the year to enable a leisurely pace, and for the likely warm, dry weather. I requested to lead since I expected to be the slowest — another conscious choice I made so I could listen more to my own body. My biggest concern was the left hip pain that had been an unfortunate legacy of my Baden Powell run. But a little pre-hike stretching and a pair of excellent new shoes had me bounding past 600-year-old cedars and even older Douglas Firs with ease. This underutilized trail boasts some of Whistler’s most pristine old growth, with interpretive didactics along the way that we were gratefully relaxed enough to read. Several corny jokes, 117 minutes, 1,200 m and 6.5 km later, the Little Burn, Big Burn, and Heart Burn segments of our first peak were behind us far more quickly than expected. And this initial achievement was all the easier to savour knowing the wisely-planned gondola descent ahead would save my knees for the next two summits. So, as I took time to revel in the pristine glacier views, and deeply inhaled the mountain air, I felt my body tingle with bliss. Much like I’ve experienced so many times in my 30-year career as a performing flutist, I had reached that coveted flow state, which psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains only occurs when “one is stretched to their limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

Of course, while I’m certainly a joy seeker, I am also no stranger to hard work. Like so many people striving towards excellence at anything, I was practising five hours per day by the time I was 14. I’d reached my 10,000 hours by the time I was old enough to vote. I am incredibly grateful this single-minded determination brought me to Carnegie Hall and concert halls on five continents. It led to life-long friendships and allowed me to collaborate with world-class artists who inspired me to be better every day. But, like many extreme athletes, the intensity of my training and performance schedule eventually led to chronic overuse injuries, resulting in a major career pivot in my late 40’s It has now become paramount that I pursue activities that do not harm my body — professionally and recreationally.

LEG 2: SEA TO SKY GONDOLA

Enjoying a weekday, traffic-free drive south, we coasted into the Sea to Sky Gondola parking lot before noon, well ahead of schedule. After the loamy switchbacks of Blackcomb, this leg was sure to be the most difficult, but we welcomed the change of pace. The steep, gnarly terrain and loose rocks along the evac route provide a technical but fun challenge. No gear is required. But a few planted ropes and convenient root handholds were much needed. With wonky shoulders, knee and hip injuries to manage between the three of us (I may have failed to mention our collective age is north of 150), we had some concerns. However, we were confident that climbing would be far less impactful than the descent we would once again be able to avoid.

Jen Segger hiking the Chief.

PHOTO BY NIKKEY DAWN

HIKING STATS

Blackcomb Ascent: 117 minutes, 3,937 feet and 6.5 kilometres, 7:41 a.m. start

Sea to Sky Evacuation Route: 85 minutes, 3,031 feet, 3.35 kilometres, 11:39 a.m. start

BCMC Trail: 68 minutes, 2,599 feet, 2.65 kilometres, 3:33 p.m. start

CHERRY ON TOP: 15 minutes, 433 feet, 1 kilometre

GONDOLA INFO

BLACKCOMB GONDOLA: $15

SUMMER HOURS: 9:30 a.m. -4 p.m.

SEA TO SKY GONDOLA: Ride Down Only ticket. $20

SUMMER HOURS: Mon-Thur, 9 a.m. -6 p.m. (last download: 7 p.m.), Fri-Sun, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. (last download 9 p.m.)

GROUSE GONDOLA: $20

SUMMER HOURS: 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

RECOMMENDED SUMMIT TREATS

Veggie breakfast burrito AT THE RENDEZVOUS LODGE

Vegan tacos AT SKY PILOT EATERY

Poutine AT LUPINS CAFÉ

Fortunately, as intended, we all summitted pain-free, though after talking to Segger, I now know how to better navigate any discomfort that might arise in the future.

Segger is driven by a thirst to see the world, explore her own physical limits and have fun, yet no doubt there is still plenty of suffering along the way. In 2005, she finished 10th in the Marathon de Sables, a six-day, 251-km run across the Sahara Desert, in mostly 30-plus C weather—a feat most would consider a slog. But she has managed to take on such challenges quite creatively. For every blistered foot or throbbing hip, she mentally stores this sensation in her imaginary “pain box,” telling herself she cannot access the key until the race is done—testimony to her fierce mental fortitude.

So far, our Type 1 adventure had required no such grit. Two-thirds of the way towards completing our goal, we soaked in miles of crystal-clear views from the spacious patio of the Sea to Sky Summit Lodge’s Sky Pilot Eatery, feeling so leisurely that we even indulged in a mid-hike beer. Our faster-thanintended ascents left us downright giddy as we drove towards our final leg, optimistic that not only we, but many average outdoor enthusiasts would eventually be able to follow in our footsteps. Amongst mountain lovers, we are far from alone in wishing to design new accessible routes that may inspire others to do the same.

“I’m in the business of designing people’s finish lines,” Dean Payne says of his 27-year race directing career.

The founder of several successful events across the region, including the Sea to Summit, Five Peaks Adventures trail-running series, and the BC Bike Race, Payne has, in these last years, reflected on his own motivations, particularly as his livelihood was threatened during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the races he’s started have entailed hundreds of kilometres of difficult bike, foot or kayak travel, he emphasizes he has “never been interested in creating humiliating experiences.”

Payne’s good friend, Marc Campbell, who has started several of his own sporting events, like the Yeti Snowshoe Series, also works with Dean on the BC Bike Race and shares his value of accessibility as a key factor driving how he designs courses for all body types. When I speak to Campbell, he tears up relaying stories of grateful racers, like the one who shared how training for one of his events led to them losing 70 pounds, or another who raced in honour of a loved one who had been passionate about the backcountry. He says he started the Yeti “to put on

something that was literally for everybody. We had Olympic athletes competing and people walking the 5k at the same time.”

What was clear from our conversation is the empathy he has for the racers. “I have been that super-green person who has never done the sport. I have been overweight doing a sport I love. I have been super fit and a competitor,” he says.

Consistent in the philosophies of all the athletes I interviewed is a belief that “the body is trainable,” as Segger puts it. With dedication, determination, and persistence, they all feel that anyone can succeed in the pursuit of great physical achievements, as long as they instinctively listen to their needs, set realistic goals, and start the process. “The wilderness is everyone’s. Make it your own,” Campbell says.

LEG 3: THE BCMC TRAIL

We arrive at the Grouse Grind trailhead and quickly veer right onto the much-less travelled, though slightly longer BCMC Trail to avoid the throngs of people that hike the famed route daily. Our early morning Blackcomb start, the Squamish evac route, and this final alternative were all strategic choices that allowed us nearly complete solitude for all three hikes, rarely found in mountains so close to urban areas I’ll admit, I still revel in one annual Grind attempt — nowhere close to the 29-minute record held by the fastest woman — but very satisfied just to finish in less time than my age. The BCMC took a bit longer. Sixty-seven is still a few years away for me, but it felt amazing when that summit came into view. One amongst us was, however, not content until he completed the “Cherry on Top” leg, up the backcountry access road that extends from the gondola to the top of the Peak Chair. He shall remain unnamed. But this extra effort rounded his achievement to a solid 10,000 feet of elevation gain, next to our paltry 9,567.

Either way, we were all elated to have made our vision a reality and had proved this to be the perfect accessible epic that can be done in a single day. The only thing that might make it even sweeter is the idea that we might be planting seeds of possibility for others. So, what do you say? Might you try the Three to Sky this summer? Or do you have your own new route you wish to forge? ■

PHOTO BY GEOFF CROSS

Jesse Melamed seeks more Crankworx glory with new team

THE WHISTLER FAN FAVOURITE SIGNED WITH CANYON CLLCTV THIS WINTER AND IS RIDING HIGH AFTER A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON IN 2022

BY DAVID SONG

JESSE MELAMED has become a familiar and beloved sight at Crankworx Whistler’s enduro events over the years. This July will be a bit different: the hometown hero is defending his turf with new backers in tow.

Melamed tested free agency earlier this year, signing on with Canyon CLLCTV, joining riders like Dimitri Tordo and Jose Borges. In so doing, the Whistler-based icon leaves behind a career full of highs, lows and treasured memories with Rocky Mountain Race Face (RMRF), the team that kick-started his journey to the top of enduro mountain biking.

“It just felt right,” Melamed said of the change. “I’ve spent so long with [RMRF] and I’ve done everything I wanted to—it was a familiar feeling. I just wanted to try out a new challenge, and Canyon was offering some really great things that really aligned with my passion for racing.

“Winning the title with [RMRF] felt like a great ending to what was almost a perfect 10-year journey. It was hard to leave something good behind, but it was really exciting to go to something new.”

The team may have changed, but the goal

remains the same: ride fast, ride for the win, and have fun doing it.

JOURNEY TO THE TOP

On Aug. 11, 2012, Melamed had his first taste of Crankworx action, placing 19th as French mountain biker Jerome Clementz took victory. At that time, the Whistlerite was five years removed from his first EWS win and a full decade away from the overall EWS championship he earned in 2022. It was a key chapter in what has turned out to be an illustrious career.

“Just living in Whistler and having raced bikes growing up, it was just kind of natural for me to do a local event like that,” Melamed said.

His first enduro win as a pro came a year later at a Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA) contest. Then in 2014, he ripped off five victories, including three in a row, on the Sea to Sky circuit. Yet the early stages of Melamed’s EWS career were up and down: he struggled to make the top 10, and at times the top 30, in contention against the world’s best.

Even so, the talent was there—and just as importantly, so was the inner drive. Melamed continued to hone his craft, gaining experience with each and every race, until he finished second at the 2016 Canadian Open Enduro. That August, he proved he could hang with the cream of the crop—but it’s not the reason the event sticks out in his mind.

“That was the year my mom was at the finish line,” Melamed explained. “She’d just

won her battle with some form of cancer, and that was a pretty special one. I just really wanted to finish the race strong.”

For many years, Melamed knew that he was capable of greatness on home soil. He knows the Sea to Sky’s trails as well as anyone, and he’s always had the athletic ability, but ill-timed crashes or mechanical failures held him back time and again— until 2017.

That year, Melamed finally broke through at Crankworx Whistler. He was the only man to conquer the 44-minute mark that day, besting Australian enduro legend Sam Hill and British rider Mark Scott. It was, to Melamed, “nothing short of a fairy tale.”

Speaking of fairy tales, local Crankworx fans got to witness another such moment in 2022 as their hometown favourite triumphed at EWS Whistler. It was one of many podium finishes in a groundbreaking season that culminated in the first overall EWS title ever achieved by a Canadian (outside of the pandemic-truncated 2020 campaign, when Melamed also prevailed).

SOLVING THE PUZZLE

Melamed’s magnum opus was a long time in the making. Despite his skills and experience, the veteran had consistently been falling short of benchmarks set by his fastest rivals—most notably Jack Moir of Australia and Richie Rude of the United States. That changed at last year’s EWS Whistler race, where Melamed bested runner-up Moir by 16 seconds and 44th-place Rude by more than three minutes.

He also got to stand on the podium next to former RMRF teammate Remi Gauvin, who finished third.

When it was all said and done, Melamed amassed 3,870 EWS points—just ahead of runner-up Rude with 3,345. It’s a rare achievement, and one that has only gotten sweeter with time.

“When the chance was given and I had the opportunity, I’m glad that I was able to persevere and come away with the win, because it’s not going to be every year that you’re battling for the title,” said Melamed. “Everything just came together. For so many years, I’ve been doing this, and I’ve been building all the little pieces of the puzzle … and in 2022 it was just a culmination of all of that.

“It just really shows that I was a wellrounded, consistent rider.”

Now with an overall title on his increasingly decorated resume, Melamed doesn’t feel he has anything left to prove. He simply wants to keep riding to the best of his ability, enjoying the process each day. The Whistlerite was mainly a cross-country rider before the 2010s, but he feels much more at home in enduro.

“I think it really came about from what mountain biking generally is,” Melamed said. “I always just like going for big rides with my friends and family … and that’s what enduro is: a big day that we get to ride around with friends and other competitors. You’re social on the way up and you attack on the way down. It’s a really fun discipline to train for.” n

ON A ROLL Now racing for Canyon CLLCTV, Jesse Melamed has his sights set on another Crankworx victory on home soil.

PHOTO BY CHRIS PILLING

Whistler Gymnastics coach Catou Tyler named 2022 Community Coach of the Year

TYLER RECEIVED THE AWARD AT THE WHISTLER GYMNASTICS CLUB’S SUMMER CLASSIC

BY DAVID SONG

CATOU TYLER has been involved with gymnastics for more than 30 years—more if you count her heyday as an athlete. Serving as a club manager and coach at Whistler Gymnastics, she’s a familiar face and an experienced mentor in the community. viaSport has acknowledged Tyler’s contributions to the Sea to Sky by naming her the 2022 Community Coach of the Year.

“As a coach, Catou has made an impact on countless peoples’ lives. She is unwaveringly committed to her sport, and proves it consistently through her efforts to enhance the gymnastics program,” said Whistler Gymnastics Club executive director Marc Davidson in a media statement.

“Catou excels at what she does. Those who have worked beside her during her coaching career have described her as a creative person, one who is easily able to solve problems on the spot. She is also caring and filled with abundant kindness.”

For her part, Tyler was somewhat surprised to receive the award.

“It’s obviously something pretty special,” she said. “I feel special, I feel honoured, and it means all the hard work and long hours have paid off a little bit.”

Tyler began her gymnastics journey as a young athlete in Ottawa, Ont. She competed until the age of 18, but elected not to continue upon beginning post-secondary. After earning a physical education degree from Laurentian University, Tyler found herself choosing between careers as a teacher or a coach.

Having coached since the age of 14, Tyler decided that she wanted to work with children and youth outside the confines of a classroom. The rest is history.

Davidson describes Tyler as not merely a gymnastics coach, but a life coach. Such an assessment dovetails with Tyler’s own philosophy: she treats sport as just one part of a young girl or boy’s life. She knows how to deal with various age groups, knowing that each faces different obstacles.

“Gymnastics is just one part of it,” she said. “I like to teach the child as a whole. [Sport] is a way for me to help them learn what hard work is, what a challenge is and how to overcome challenges.”

LAYING A FOUNDATION

One particular challenge is getting youngsters in an individual sport to buy into a team dynamic. Tyler emphasizes teaching her athletes how to work towards a united goal and see past their individual routines—as important as those may be. Group challenges are commonplace at each practice.

While snow sports and mountain biking take so much of the Sea to Sky’s athletic

spotlight, gymnastics can be a valuable foundation for anyone who desires to live an active lifestyle. Tyler said (albeit facetiously) that she’s tumbled off a mountain bike many times without being hurt because she knows how to tuck and roll. A number of her athletes cross-train for different sports such as skiing and figure skating.

Over the years, Tyler has impacted numerous young lives. Sometimes, her former pupils end up becoming world-class athletes, such as Simon d’Artois and Yuki Tsubota: both two-time Olympic freestyle skiers. Others, such as 23-year-old Tansy Powell and 19-year-old Anna Prohaska, have themselves begun coaching gymnastics in Whistler and in their mutual hometown of Pemberton. Many have bright futures in various realms.

“I remember one time, these kids were like: ‘Are you mad when people quit gymnastics?’ I said, ‘No, never,’” recalled Tyler. “The only time I’m slightly disappointed is if they tell me they’re doing nothing afterwards. I just want to know that they’re doing something … and that they’re staying active.”

Coaches, much like their athletes, can be a transient bunch—especially in this part of British Columbia. Tyler has worked with all sorts of people, from fellow professionals to eager moms hoping to help out for a season or two. Stability has come in the form of Whistler Gymnastics head coach Karin Jarratt, plus fellow veterans Cathy Benns and Tami Mitchell.

“Tami, Cathy, Karin and I have been working for many, many years together—I think over 20 years,” Tyler said. “It’s really nice to have a supportive coaching community. We’re super lucky.” n

WELL-BALANCED Whistler Gymnastics coach Catou Tyler was named by viaSport as the 2022 Community Coach of the Year.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Is that melon really a good buy?

BIG INFLATION, LITTLE COMPETITION, NO PRICE TAGS—IT ALL ADDS UP TO CONSUMER CONFUSION

"HEY, THIS HONEYDEW MELON is only $5.99—and it's huge!" I said to myself grabbing the biggest one in sight. One that also happened to have scabby scars all over its pretty green skin, so good chance no one would buy it and it would just end up at the local composting facility. (See "Fast food facts" below.)

Then I wondered, is that really a good price? A tough question to answer lately for a ton of reasons.

Inflation has boosted grocery prices

BY GLENDA BARTOSH

nine per cent over the past year alone. The Competition Bureau has just released its report concluding there's so little competition amongst Canadian grocery stores, we shoppers are pretty much left in the lurch. Plus, no price tags on items since the chunk-a-chunk sound of stock boys manually pricing goods started fading from grocery store aisles 50 years ago, when retailers went for bar codes, means you can't recall how much that last bag of chips you dragged home cost because you don't see the price every time you handle it. All in, you have to be a wizard, or at least make a spreadsheet, to track your grocery buying power lately.

Factor in the pandemic-related supply

chain disruptions that nuked our shopping habits—from the stores we frequented to the products we loved but couldn't find— and you're not the only shopper scratching their head over food prices. (To maybe feel better, check out the YouTube video of Bill Gates trying to guess grocery prices on Ellen DeGeneres' show a while back. At least you'll laugh.)

So what can we do to be savvy food shoppers and get the best bang for our bucks?

NO. 1: STOP WASTING FOOD!

The numbers vary, but no getting around it— we Canucks waste an embarrassing amount of food. So no matter how good a deal you think you're getting at the grocery store check-out, it all adds up to nada if you end up dumping perfectly good food down the drain, so to speak.

One UN report says the average Canadian wastes about 79 kilograms of food a year. In sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, that number is only about six to 11 kg.

Toronto determined the average singlefamily household there wastes some 200 kg a year. Meanwhile, Love Food Hate Waste, a website run by Metro Vancouver's National Zero Waste Council, says the average Canadian household wastes about 140 kg a year.

I won't even try to put a price on any of those figures because it will change by next week anyway. Let's just say that you know how much food you waste, from cooking too much, buying too much or just not storing it right. So start treating every food item you drag home, whether from garden or store, like the treasure it is.

I was a kid, probably watching my parents or grandparents in Edmonton working hard in their big gardens, when I

FAST FOOD FACTS

• Since opening in 2008, the Whistler Compost Facility has added more than 100,000 yards of compost to the Sea to Sky corridor. Most of Whistler’s food waste goes to Sea to Sky Soils in Pemberton, which makes three different kinds of quality soil amenders you can buy at the Waste Transfer Station on Callaghan Road, south of Function Junction.

• In 2021 alone, Metro Vancouver generated about 140,000 tonnes of compost. From 2015—when food scraps were banned from garbage—until 2021, Metro Vancouverites saved about 1.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases by putting their food waste into the compost stream. That’s like taking 250,000 cars off the road.

first realized, holy cow! Look at all that work, all that precious water and stuff it takes! But mostly, look at how amazing those plants— and animals—are that "magically" make the food we eat.

You have to admit, whatever age you are, it is pretty amazing. After all that effort, the least we can do is use every last bit. So stop wasting food!

Love Food Hate Waste says that about two thirds of the food we throw out is actually edible. Eat those broccoli stems, and radish greens; even the green leaves on your head of cauliflower. They taste great! Plus they're good for your gut microbiome. Save your "pot liquor"—the water left from cooking pasta or veggies—and use it for soups or stir fries. It's delicious! Transform stale bread into cookies. The list goes on.

A quick search around the internet

shows tons of ways to make your food bucks go further, including all those electronic coupons some people love.

Another big food waster is unrealistic expiry dates—but that's a topic for another time.

KNOW YOUR LIMIT— STAY WITHIN IT

It might be depressing, but it's still a good idea to understand the impacts of inflation on your buying power and budget. Anyone lucky enough to have some kind of regular income, whether from social assistance or a 9-to-5 job, can figure out your buying power today versus as far back as 1914 (!) with this inflation calculator from CUPE, which uses data from Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index: cupe.ca/cpi-calculator. For instance, what cost $1,000 in 2018 will now cost you $1,168.15.

Another helpful tool I once benefitted from when a bar code price was wrong is the Scanner Price Accuracy Code. This voluntary regulation (meaning not all stores opt in) was implemented by the Retail Council of Canada to ensure accurately scanned prices for consumers. It means you might get your item for free if the check-out price is wrong, like I did.

In the end, it's like Francis Bacon said: knowledge is power. Today that's doubly true when you shop for anything, including knowing how much you'll really use and not dragging more home, even when it's "on sale."

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who reminds you to watch for your grocery rebate from the federal government in the mail. It should be about double your January 2023 GST/HST credit amount. n

FOOD FOR ALL Have you weighed the impacts of inflation on your own grocery buying power?

PHOTO BY HANNAMARIAH / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

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Dear Rouge brings ‘grit and gloss’ to Whistler

FRONTED BY DREW AND DANIELLE MCTAGGART, THE VANCOUVER BAND PLAYS WHISTLER OLYMPIC PLAZA JULY 7

BY DAVID SONG

FOR THE SECOND TIME in as many weeks, a Juno Award-winning musical act is coming to Whistler.

Vancouver-based Dear Rouge will take the stage at Whistler Olympic Plaza on July 7 as part of the municipality’s continuing Summer Concert Series. Established by husband-andwife duo Drew and Danielle McTaggart, the band is known for hits like “Fake Fame,” “Live Through the Night,” “Black to Gold,” and “I Heard I Had.”

The couple describes their musical style with two words: grit and gloss.

“There’s this edge, and there’s this feistiness, this energy in our music,” explains Drew. “And then on the other side, there’s this gloss—we really like the music to sound good. Even though it’s edgy, it’s still accessible. [Danielle’s] really eccentric in her dress and her vibe and how she sings, and so that combo brings you this high-energy, synthrock band.”

Dear Rouge has been to Whistler a handful of times before, having played in both the village proper and Olympic Plaza. They love the scenery—much like anyone else that passes through—and appreciate how diverse the crowds often are. They say they’ve also

enjoyed staying in town overnight with their crew in the past.

“You have people who are visiting, you have the locals, and it’s fun for us because sometimes shows can be more onedimensional,” says Drew. “But I always feel like there’s a diverse crowd [in Whistler] and it brings a diverse response, which is really cool.”

30, 2015. It was the band’s first studio album, containing four songs that received considerable play on Canadian rock music charts (the titular single, “Black and Gold,” charted as high as No. 2). Shortly thereafter, in 2016, Dear Rouge was named Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards.

Looking back on her shared journey with

SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY

Drew compares live performance to going to the edge of a dock or the top of a mountain: it’s always fun, it’s always beautiful, and it’s not something you necessarily experience every day.

“You get to be together with a big group of people, listening to music created right there, and there’s this human element,” he elaborates. “It’s so valuable because you get to emotionally experience something with a bunch of your peers. It’s the same as if you’re doing a team sport: it’s a part of life that needs to be there, and if it’s missing, you definitely notice it.”

“It’s just a beautiful [place]—how could you not love those mountains as a backdrop?” Danielle adds.

‘ORGANIC GROWTH’

About 10 years ago, the McTaggarts started Dear Rouge for fun, and as an outlet to move forward from a previous unsuccessful venture of Danielle’s. Quickly, it became a project that brought and kept them together. In 2012, they pumped out two independently-released EPs: Heads Up! Watch Out! followed by Kids Wanna Know, laying a foundation for things to come.

Black and Gold came out on March

her spouse, Danielle is glad they forged on even when the going got tough.

“All people have these dreams kind of tucked away in their hearts and often put them to the wayside, and I think with Dear Rouge, the biggest thing was just that we didn’t stop doing what we liked,” she says. “I think, to encourage other people: just keep doing what you love and see what comes of it. Don’t stop just because it’s not a full-time thing, or because you hit roadblocks.

“We had a lot of things against us in certain phases of our careers, but we just [played music] because we liked it, and that organic growth came about because of it. I’m so thankful for that.”

With COVID-19 in our collective rearview mirror (hopefully for good), the McTaggarts are excited to join people in a lively, oldfashioned sort of celebration. They look forward to seeing families out in nature, sharing in a sense of having overcome a great hurdle together. It certainly took grit to come through a pandemic—now, Dear Rouge is bringing some well-earned gloss to the Sea to Sky.

In the meantime, fans can check out the band’s latest album, Spirit , described on its website as a “different avenue of sound” for Dear Rouge with more acoustic instrumentation. Drew and Danielle have been busy writing a bevy of new music, and teased that 2024 will be “a good year” for their supporters.

Catch their free show at Whistler Olympic Plaza at 7:30 p.m. on July 7, with opening act DJ LAZY FNGZ kicking things off at 6:30 p.m. n

RED SURGE Drew McTaggart (left) and his wife Danielle perform as Dear Rouge on July 22, 2022.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY BLANE

“It’s so valuable because you get to emotionally experience something with a bunch of your peers.”

- DREW MCTAGGART

Last Reminisced

Heroes

debut album July 14

ELPATIO THURSDAYS

releasing

THE SEA TO SKY PUNK BAND IS MARKING THE OCCASION WITH A SHOW AT APRÈS APRÈS IN WHISTLER

BY DAVID SONG

NEARLY 25 YEARS after they first came together in their native Philippines, the Last Reminisced Heroes (LRH) are releasing their first album, Too Much of a Good Thing, on July 14 at Après Après in partnership with Crabapple Hits Music.

LRH is a Sea to Sky-based punk rock band composed of vocalist and guitar player Andrew Alido, his younger brother Allan Alido on the drums, and their close friend Jonathan Rosales on bass. They describe their style as a form of melodic punk rock that hearkens back to the 1990s and early 2000s: the heyday of bands like Blink-182, MxPx and Alkaline Trio, whom they are inspired by.

All three band members hail from Batangas, a coastal city of roughly 350,000 where they attended college together. According to Andrew Alido, LRH first formed in 1999 and experienced a modest level of success—to the point where Filipino fans began clamouring for an album.

Financial constraints prevented Andrew and his mates from satisfying that demand back home. At long last, their dream is about to come true.

“This album is really huge for us because it’s going to be the first one ever,” says Andrew. “It’s really a big part of our lives and we don’t know if it’s going to be the last one, too.”

Music has played a vital role in the Heroes’ lives. The elder Alido says he plays guitar and drums as a way to relieve stress. He, Allan and Rosales all became fathers relatively young, and they’ve walked a winding path in life that has taken them across the Pacific. The ups and downs have bonded them, and they view themselves as “brothers from different mothers.”

Andrew has been drumming nearly his whole life. He’s taken the stage with a number of local acts before, most notably Red Chair. Yet his love of punk rock motivated Andrew to learn the guitar, which in turn has rounded out his songwriting abilities and equipped him to contribute to LRH in new ways.

Just in case you’re wondering: there is no special significance to the band’s name. In fact, Andrew and company struggled to come up with a name, so they decided to each pick a word they felt strongly about. Andrew chose “Last” in tribute to his final dance with his ex-girlfriend at her debut (a traditional Filipino coming-of-age celebration). Rosales went with “Reminisced” simply because he liked the word, and Allan picked “Heroes” because he thought it was emblematic of the punk rock community.

LRH’s first local gig came courtesy of Squamish Punk Night and its organizer, Paul Matthew Hudson. The band had modest expectations going in. They were pleasantly surprised to find a lively punk rock scene, one that placed them onstage alongside established Vancouver acts like Big City Germs and Russian Tim and Pavel Bures.

“People were actually looking to listen to punk rock music,” says Andrew. “I thought most of the people in the Sea to Sky would just listen to country songs or typical old rock songs, but no—there are people here who listen to punk rock, heavy metal, hardcore. It’s really fun playing in the Sea to Sky.”

Though the bandmates remain as close as ever, they feel that their group has certainly evolved from its original form back in Batangas. They’re older, wiser and more mature in their creative process, and while they still block out unconstructive criticism, they are better now at considering how to make music that appeals to a variety of people.

Too Much of a Good Thing was recorded over a period of six months in the band’s home studio, affectionately named “Pamabahay Records” (which translates literally to “Domestic Records”). The eighttrack-long album will be available on all major streaming services and the distribution platform Bandcamp.

Of course, the Heroes hope you’ll join them at Après Après and check out their music in person. Who knows—you might even fall in love with a girl at the rock show.

Visit the LRH Facebook page at facebook. com/lrh043?mibextid=ZbWKwL to learn more about the band. ■

thespiritof Spanishgatherings

TIME FOR HEROES Last Reminisced Heroes band members Andrew Alido (middle), Allan Alido (left) and Jonathan Rosales.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

JUL 7-31

HEAR AND NOW: IN THE PARK

Join us for a live and local music series every Sunday from July 9 to Sept. 3 in Rebagliati Park*. Immerse yourself in diverse genres, connect with fellow music lovers, and let the melodies transport you to a world of sonic delight. Don’t miss this vibrant community experience where live music meets the beauty of nature. These concerts are free and everyone is welcome. *Due to grass maintenance in Rebagliati Park, the first two concerts will be at Lost Lake Park.

Catch Conquering Alexander on July 9, followed by JennaMae & The Groove Section on July 16 and Stephen Vogler & The West Coast Front on July 23.

> July 9 to Sept. 3

> Free

SAMANTHA WILLIAMSCHAPELSKY ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

We are thrilled to be showcasing a new collection from talented Alberta artist Samantha Williams-Chapelsky entitled “West Coast Wanderings.”

The artist spotlight will be available to view hanging at the Adele Campbell Fine Art Gallery from Friday, June 30 to Sunday, July 9. We hope you can stop by the gallery for a visit or browse the show online during this time.

> June 30 to July 9

> Adele Campbell Fine Art Gallery

> Free

EVOLVE CAMPS SKATEBOARD AND SCOOTER CAMP

Evolve’s Whistler Drop Off Skateboard and Scooter Camp Program is a drop-off only day camp operating out of the Whistler Skatepark located at 4330 Blackcomb Way in Whistler.

Campers are dropped off each morning at the park to receive personalized instruction and work side-by-side with our qualified coaches on their skateboarding skills!

Email info@evolvecamps.com or head to evolvecamps. com for more info.

> July 10 to Aug. 11

> Whistler Skate Park

>$395

MCGILL@WHISTLER IMPLANT SYMPOSIUM

Join McGill University’s Continuing Dental Education program for an August long-weekend symposium featuring a range of expert speakers. Topics to be covered include (but are not limited to): Implant planning and surgical principles; demystifying partial extraction therapies; and complex restorative treatment and implant surgery. Also available as a webinar. Email conted. dentistry@mcgill.ca for more info.

> Aug. 4 to 6

> Whistler Conference Centre

> Tickets starting at $999

PHOTO BY DAN WHEATE

Looking back at Whistler’s Annual Chili Cook-off

BY ALLYN PRINGLE

There are many different ways to fundraise, whether asking for donations, applying for grants, or hosting events. Though some of Whistler’s fundraiser events have continued for decades, others lasted only a few years, such as the Annual Chili Cook-off hosted by the Whistler Resort Association (WRA; today known as Tourism Whistler) and the Whistler Health Planning Society.

The Society formed in 1982 to fundraise for a dedicated medical facility in Whistler. The Whistler Medical Centre opened in a double-wide trailer in September 1982, but the Society continued to fundraise for a larger permanent facility and more equipment. Its Annual Chili Cook-off took place as part

the real secret was to surprise the judges by using 60 different spices. Nebbeling and teammates Susan Howard, Val Lang and Wendy Meredith were awarded a spot at the Canadian Chili Championship taking place at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver later that summer.

Chili cooking wasn’t the only activity on offer in Village Square. There were also games for spectators such as apple-bobbing, a fishing pond and a seed-spitting contest. By the end of the day, the first Annual Chili Cook-off raised almost $1,000 for the Whistler Health Planning Society.

The Annual Chili Cook-off was back in July 1984 to raise $700 for the purchase of medical equipment. The judging panel featured six Vancouver broadcasters, returning judges Angus and Sailer, and Canadian Chili Championship organizer Mike Murphy. Six teams competed with varying levels of skill. Angus described one entry as “like a spaghetti sauce” and another as resembling “a famous brand name of cat food.” The “Gambling Gourmez” won for the second year in a row, and went on to compete again at the Canadian Chili Championship.

of a larger program of events over the first weekend of July in the early 1980s.

The First Annual Chili Cook-off was held in Village Square on July 3, 1983. Teams were given five hours to cook enough chili to feed all the judges and some spectators. According to the Whistler Question, there were a lot of theories floating around Village Square about what made a good chili and how to win, including “bacon fat gives flavour,” “cubed beef is the meat to use,” and “beer is the secret ingredient.” The real answer, however, was probably to try to appeal to the six “celebrity” judges: Whistler Mayor Mark Angus, Monica Hayes of Westin Bayshores, Glen Tolling of Molson, restaurateur Umberto Menghi, summer ski coach Toni Sailer, and John Creelman.

According to Ted Nebbeling, head cook of the “Gourmez” team that took first place,

Making good chili wasn’t the only way to win a prize that year. There was also a prize for “best showmanship,” which went to the “Medics” team. Teams competed in costume and with props, each trying to outdo the other. As a fundraiser for the Whistler Medical Centre, the Medics fully embraced the cause and featured surgical gear, patients, and a puppet while creating their chili.

By the summer of 1985, the Whistler Health Planning Society had restructured as the Whistler Health Care Society and was continuing to fundraise for its 1986 move into the Municipal Hall basement. The third Annual Chili Cook-off raised $600 towards this goal, despite moving from Village Square to Myrtle Philip Community School. The event had a Gold Rush theme and featured can-can dancers, the Sweet Adeline Quartet, and gold-panning demonstrations. It appears this was the last Annual Chili Cook-off, as we can’t find any record of one in July 1986. However, the Whistler Health Care Society and now the Whistler Health Care Foundation continue to fundraise for health services in Whistler today. n

SPICE OF LIFE The “Medics” team at the Annual Chili Cook-off in 1984.

WHISTLER QUESTION COLLECTION

1 WHITE WEDDING Chantel Clayden and Nick Taylor invited their nearest and dearest from Ontario, Australia and the Sea to Sky to help kick off their wedding week festivities at Dusty’s on Sunday, July 2, before officially tying the knot on July 5. PHOTO SUBMITTED 2 FLAPJACK FUNDS Members of the Rotary Club of Whistler team flipped and served enough pancakes on Canada

to raise $3,285 for the Howe Sound Women’s Centre’s Whistler branch. PHOTO SUBMITTED 3 CANADIAN ART Artists took their talents to live audiences on the Village Stroll over the Canada Day long weekend. PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS. 4 BEAR HUG Berit Beattie and Michel Chartrand having a laugh with the bear outside Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory last week. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 5 FLYING HIGH An artist from Treeline Aerial got wrapped up in the long-weekend fun in Whistler Village on July 1. PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS. 6

from Circus Fungus engaged with Canada Day crowds on the Village Stroll on Saturday, July 1. PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS.

JULY9

LOSTLAKE

JULY16

LOSTLAKE

JULY23

REBAGLIATIPARK

JULY30

REBAGLIATIPARK

AUG6

REBAGLIATIPARK

AUG13

REBAGLIATIPARK

AUG20

REBAGLIATIPARK

AUG27

REBAGLIATIPARK

SEP3

REBAGLIATIPARK

CONQUERING ALEXANDER

JENNAMAE &THE GROOVESECTION

STEPHENVOGLER &THE WESTCOASTFRONT

INTRODUCEWOLVES

CATMADDEN

DAKOTAPEARL

THECOLDSMOKE

KOSTAMAN &THE GOODVIBRATIONS

THEBIGLOVEBAND

DON'TMISSTHISFREEVIBRANTCOMMUNITYEXPERIENCE

CHECKOUTTHEFULLLINEUP WWW.ARTSWHISTLER.COM/HEAR-NOW WHERELIVEMUSICMEETSTHEBEAUTYOFNATURE. We’ve got you covered. Pick up the latest issue of your favourite read on stands throughout Whistler every Friday

Free Will Astrology

WEEK OF JULY 6 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES March 21 - April 19 Genius physicist Albert Einstein said, “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old questions from new angles, requires creative imagination and makes real advances.” What he said here applies to our personal dilemmas, too. When we figure out the right questions to ask, we are more than halfway toward a clear resolution. This is always true, of course, but it will be an especially crucial principle for you in the coming weeks.

TAURUS April 20 - May 27 “Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” So said Taurus biologist and anthropologist Thomas Huxley (1825-1895). I don’t think you will have to be quite so forceful as that in the coming weeks. But I hope you’re willing to further your education by rebelling against what you already know. And I hope you will be boisterously skeptical about conventional wisdom and trendy ideas. Have fun cultivating a feisty approach to learning! The more time you spend exploring beyond the borders of your familiar world, the better.

GEMINI May 21 - June 20 Hooray and hallelujah! You’ve been experimenting with the perks of being pragmatic and well-grounded. You have been extra intent on translating your ideals into effective actions. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you so dedicated to enjoying the simple pleasures. I love that you’re investigating the wonders of being as down-to-earth as you dare. Congratulations! Keep doing this honourable work.

CANCER June 21-July 22 I wrote my horoscope column for more than 10 years before it began to get widely syndicated. What changed? I became a better writer and oracle, for one thing. My tenacity was inexhaustible. I was always striving to improve my craft, even when the rewards were meagre. Another important factor in my eventual success was my persistence in marketing. I did a lot of hard work to ensure the right publications knew about me. I suspect, fellow Cancerian, that 2024 is likely to bring you a comparable breakthrough in a labour of love you have been cultivating for a long time. And the coming months of 2023 will be key in setting the stage for that breakthrough. LEO July 23-Aug. 22 Maybe you wished you cared more deeply about a certain situation. Your lack of empathy and passion may feel like a hole in your soul. If so, I have good news. The coming weeks will be a favourable time to find the missing power; to tap into the warm, wet feelings that could motivate your quest for greater connection. Here’s a good way to begin the process: Forget everything you think you know about the situation with which you want more engagement. Arrive at an empty, still point that enables you to observe the situation as if you were seeing it for the first time.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22 You are in an astrological phase when you’ll be wise to wrangle with puzzles and enigmas. Whether or not you come up with crisp solutions isn’t as crucial as your earnest efforts to limber up your mind. For best results, don’t worry and sweat about it; have fun! Now I’ll provide a sample riddle to get you in the mood. It’s adapted from a text by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace. You are standing before two identical closed doors, one leading to grime and confusion, the other to revelation and joy. Before the doors stand two figures: an angel who always tells the truth and a demon who always lies. But they look alike, and you may ask only one question to help you choose what door to take. What do you do? (Possible answer: Ask either character what the other would say if you asked which door to take, then open the opposite door.)

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22 I found a study that concluded just 6.1. per cent of online horoscopes provide legitimate predictions about the future. Furthermore, the research indicated, 62.3 per cent of them consist of bland, generic

pablum of no value to the recipient. I disagree with these assessments. Chani Nicholas, Michael Lutin, Susan Miller, and Jessica Shepherd are a few of many regular horoscope writers whose work I find interesting. My own astrological oracles are useful, too. And by the way, how can anyone have the hubris to decide which horoscopes are helpful and which are not? This thing we do is a highly subjective art, not an objective science. In the spirit of my comments here, Libra, and in accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to declare your independence from so-called experts and authorities who tell you they know what’s valid and worthwhile for you. Here’s your motto: “I’m the authoritative boss of my own truth.”

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21 Is it a fact that our bodies are made of stardust? Absolutely true, says planetary scientist Dr. Ashley King. Nearly all the elements comprising our flesh, nerves, bones, and blood were originally forged in at least one star, maybe more. Some of the stuff we are made of lived a very long time in a star that eventually exploded: a supernova. Here’s another amazing revelation about you: You are composed of atoms that have existed for almost 14 billion years. I bring these startling realities to your attention, Scorpio, in honour of the most expansive phase of your astrological cycle. You have a mandate to deepen and broaden and enlarge your understanding of who you are and where you came from.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21 I foresee that August will be a time of experiments and explorations. Life will be in a generous mood toward you, tempting and teasing you with opportunities from beyond your circle of expectations. But let’s not get carried away until it makes cosmic sense to get carried away. I don’t want to urge you to embrace wild hope prematurely. Between now and the end of July, I advise you to enjoy sensible gambles and measured adventures. It’s OK to go deep and be rigorous, but save the full intensity for later.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19 Is there a crucial, halfconscious question lurking in the underside of your mind?

A smouldering doubt or muffled perplexity that’s important for you to address? I suspect there is. Now it’s time to coax it up to the surface of your awareness so you may deal with it forthrightly. You must not let it smoulder there in its hiding place. Here’s the good news, Capricorn: If you bring the dilemma or confusion or worry into the full light of your consciousness, it will ultimately lead you to unexpected treasure. Be brave!

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18 In Larry McMurtry’s novel Duane’s Depressed, the life of the main character has come to a standstill. He no longer enjoys his job. The fates of his kids are too complicated for him to know how to respond. He has a lot of feelings but has little skill in expressing them. At a loss about how to change his circumstances, he takes a small and basic step: He stops driving his pickup truck and instead walks everywhere he needs to go. Your current stasis is nowhere near as dire as Duane’s, Aquarius. But I do recommend you consider his approach to initiating transformation: Start small and basic.

PISCES Feb. 19-March 20 Author K. V. Patel writes, “As children, we laugh fully with the whole body. We laugh with everything we have.” In the coming weeks, Pisces, I would love for you to regularly indulge in just that: total delight and release. Furthermore, I predict you will be more able than usual to summon uproarious, life-affirming amusement from the depths of your enchanted soul. Further furthermore, I believe you will have more reasons than ever before to throw your head back and unleash your entire self in rippling bursts of healing hysterical hilarity. To get started, practise chuckling, giggling, and chortling for one minute right now.

Homework: What’s the smartest, safest gamble you could take? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates

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Quitesuitewithnolivingquarters aboveorbelow.Nopets/nosmoking Perfectforacouple AvailabletillNov15604-902-3900 rsproule@telus.net

MARKETPLACE PETS

SeekingfordoglovertolookafterourdoginAugandSep2023 Wewillbeoutoftownforfivedays inAugustand10daysinSeptember.Theexactdaysare:August14 to19,andSeptember15to24.

Weareseekingapassionatedog lovertolookafterour10yearold DutchShepherdwhileweare away.Heisanadorableblinddog. Wewillsupplyallhisfoodandofferaveryhandsomepayforanyonewhoiswillingtotakeonthis task.Acceptancebaseofboth partiesfacetofacemeeting.

Pleasetextto778-984-3336ifyou areinterested.778-984-3336 seatravelchase@gmail.com

WE ARE HIRING W H I S T L E R

• BUSSERS (evenings) $19/hr

• HOSTS (evenings) $19/hr

• PREP COOKS (PT) $ 22-25/hr for experience

Open interviews Mon.-Thurs. from 4-5 PM, or email your resume to schedule an alternate interview time at whistler@kegrestaurants.com

Environmental Coordinator

(Regular, Full-time)

Looking to contribute to your local community? Consider a career in local government. Join the SLRD’s team of dedicated staff who work together to make a difference in the region. Headquartered in Pemberton, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) delivers a wide range of regional, sub-regional and local services to its residents. The SLRD is a BC Regional District consisting of four member municipalities (Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Lillooet) and four electoral areas. Services include land use planning, solid waste management, building inspection, fire protection, emergency preparedness, 911 services, recreation, water and sewer utilities, regional transit, trails and open spaces as well as financial support for various community services. The region contains some of the most spectacular forests, waterways, and mountains in the province and affords an endless range of opportunities for outdoor adventure, making it an exceptional place to live, work and play.

The Environmental Services department provides water systems, sewer systems, solid waste management, street lighting systems, flood and debris flow structures, parks and trails development and services, building and facility management, and capital infrastructure projects for the four electoral areas of the Regional District.

The SLRD is seeking an organized, self-motivated individual with great interpersonal skills to fill the position of Environmental Coordinator. Reporting to the Director of Environmental Services, the Environmental Coordinator is responsible for the administration and coordination of activities that support the delivery of the SLRD’s utility and environmental services.

The ideal candidate will possess a degree or diploma in an environmental discipline or related field and a minimum of 3 years of recent administration experience in a local government or engineering environment. An equivalent combination of experience and education supplemented by business, computer and/or public administration courses may be considered. For further information, please refer to the full job description at www.slrd.bc.ca/employment. Salary will be determined commensurate with experience. This position also offers a comprehensive benefits package, participation in the Municipal Pension Plan, a compressed work week (9-day fortnight) and flexible work from home opportunities.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their cover letter and resume (preferably in pdf format) by email to careers@slrd.bc.ca. This posting will remain open until filled, with application review commencing on July 17, 2023.

We sincerely thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those shortlisted will be contacted.

ZeroCeilingiscommittedtoendingyouthhomelessnessbyprovidingyoungadultswith unconditionalsupport,advocacy,andopportunities.Weareworkingtowardsequityand justiceforyoungadultswhohavebeenmarginalized,includingIndigenous,2SLGBTQ+, andracializedyoungpeople.

Weareseekingacompassionate,relationship-centeredleader,responsibleforfundraising, communications,andcommunityengagementforZeroCeiling.Theybuildrelationships withfunders,donors,partners,andvolunteerstoprovidestablerevenueforZeroCeiling’s programsandmission

Youwill:

Leadrevenuedevelopmentactivitiesincludinggrants,majorgifts,events,and sponsorships

Secureandexecutegovernmentfundingcontracts

LeaddeliveryofZeroCeiling’scommunicationsstrategy

ProfessionalQualifications&Skills:

3-5yearsexperienceinnon-profitdevelopmentandfundraising,orequivalentexperience andeducation

Proventrackrecordofsuccessfullysecuringgifts,grants,andsponsorships.

Wageband:$30-35/hour(basedonexperience)

Benefits:3weeksvacationtostart,extendedhealthbenefits,RSPmatching,10sickdays, wellnessbenefit

Hours:Full-time(36hrs)MondaytoThursday,plus1Friday/month

Weenthusiasticallywelcomeapplicationsfromallqualifiedpeople,includingthosewithlived experience,racializedpeople,peopleofallsexualorientations,womenandtrans*people, Indigenouspeoples,thosewithdiverseabilities,mentalillness,andfromallsocialstrata.

Journalist

Pique Newsmagazine has a rare opportunity for an experienced and committed journalist to cover local news, politics and First Nations issues while working with a team based in North America’s premier mountain resort.

The successful candidate will be tasked with covering the Lil’wat Nation and the Village of Pemberton—neighbouring communities with a unique relationship, both of which are growing substantially year over year.

The candidate will produce 8-10 relevant news stories per week, as well as at least four cover features during an initial one-year term of employment. The role includes some evening and weekend coverage, and the successful candidate will be required to be in the Mount Currie and Pemberton area regularly.

You have a degree in journalism, are passionate about news and politics, and have a sense of what makes a compelling local news story. You seek to engage and inform your community in print and online platforms, and use social media effectively. You are self-motivated, efficient and deadline driven, with a curious, critical mind and an acute attention to detail. You are able to work well both on your own and with a team.

Ideally, you have experience in covering First Nations, municipal council, elections, and governments at all levels. Other relevant skills include copy editing, long-form feature writing, video editing, and Instagram posting and story creation.

The stories you produce will be shared on Pique Newsmagazine’s website and social channels, as well as those of our sister publications and through other news outlets as part of the federal government’s Local Journalism Initiative.

This is a 12-month position funded through the federal government’s Local Journalism Initiative.

Located in the mountain resort town of Whistler, British Columbia, Pique Newsmagazine is the unequivocal leader in reporting, interpreting and understanding the culture of the Coast Mountains and what it means to those who live, work and play in Whistler.

At 29 years young, we’ve established ourselves as the locals’ publication that is inquisitive and edgy, provoking conversation and building community. With our peers we’re acknowledged perennial winners at the BC & Yukon Community Newsmedia Awards (BCYCNA) and Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards (CCNA) for general excellence and reporting categories, as well as several Webster Awards honours over the years.

We’re known for our unique artsy design, weekly long-form features and comprehensive news coverage, but of course our reach is global, with loyal readers from all over the world who come to piquenewsmagazine.com daily for the best Whistler storytelling and news source.

To apply, send your resume, clippings, or other relevant materials, as well as a cover letter making the case for why we should hire you, by 4 p.m. on July 14 to: Braden Dupuis at bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com

Why

•

•

• Duties include prepping/portioning/cooking steaks, seafood and pan cooking.

• Imagine working in a well respected fine dining bistro which is well run, fun, and does 80 covers a night.

• Salary based on experience, plus tips. Medical & Dental benefits and staff discounts in Roland's Pub.

perks.

JOB POSTING:

BOBSLEIGH

Join our team and help deliver one of Whistler’s most unique activities this summer!

Summer bobsleigh enables public guests to experience the thrill of bobsleigh, in sleds on wheels, on the world’s fastest sliding track! The Whistler Sliding Centre is located just above Whistler Village.

Available roles:

What we offer:

APPLY NOW!

www.whistlerslidingcentre.com/careers

Position Title: Bookkeeper

Location: Mount Currie, BC (Virtual or Hybrid negotiable)

Type: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: $48,000 to $52,000 (Based on experience)

Other Benefits: SSHS offers a competitive benefits and employment package for full-time staff

Closing Date: July 31, 2023

About Us: SSHS is a non-profit Indigenous Health Organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Indigenous communities. Our organization provides culturally appropriate healthcare services, programs, and initiatives to support the holistic health of Indigenous individuals and families.

Position Overview: We are seeking a detail-oriented and experienced Bookkeeper to join our team. As the Bookkeeper, you will be responsible for helping manage the financial records and transactions of our organization, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and financial stability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and general ledger.

• Process invoices, receipts, payments, and other financial transactions in a timely manner.

• Assist in preparing and reconciling financial statements, conducting audits, and generating financial reports.

•Assist in budget preparation, monitoring, and financial analysis.

ADMINISTRATOR, SALES OPERATIONS

& FINANCE

Full Time, Year Round

Work, play, and grow a career in Whistler. With plenty of perks (benefits, anyone?) and a group of passionate people, Whistler.com is looking to expand its team.

The Administrator, Sales Operations & Finance is responsible for the daily administration tasks and sales fulfillment within the Whistler.com Sales Operations & Finance teams. This role requires an individual who is highly organized, has excellent communication skills, and the ability to develop and maintain working relationships.

What we offer: a flexible schedule offering work-life balance, a commitment to health and wellness, competitive compensation and benefits package, and a fun team environment.

We’re also recruiting for: Travel Consultant (Full Time, Year Round).

TO VIEW OUR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, AND TO APPLY, VISIT US ONLINE AT: WHISTLER.COM/CAREERS.

Looking to adopt?

For an updated list of who is available, check out our website.

www.whistlerwag.com

• Collaborate with the Health Director and team members to develop and implement effective financial processes and procedures.

•Ensure compliance with financial regulations and internal policies.

Qualifications:

• A degree, diploma or certificate in Accounting, Finance, or a related field is an asset but not required.

• Previous experience as a Bookkeeper or in a similar financial role, preferably in a non-profit organization or healthcare sector.

•Strong knowledge of accounting principles and financial regulations.

• Proficiency in accounting software (Sage50 an asset) and MS Office Suite, particularly Excel.

• Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, and time management.

•Satisfy requirements for a criminal record check.

For a list of all position responsibilities, qualifications and any other special requirements, please refer to www.sshs.ca for an exhaustive job description.

Please submit resume and cover letter by email to Julia Schneider, Executive Assistant to the Interim Health Director, at julia.schneider@ sshs.ca. Please include in the subject line your name and the position you are applying for.

Thank you for your interest!

We’re hiring for SUMMER

HIRING WE ARE

Why work for us?

Building Services

Bylaw

Enforcement & Animal Control

Economic Development

We offer competitive wages, comprehensive pension plan and health benefits, and we are driven by our passion to serve community.

• Plan Examiner 2 – Regular Full-Time

• Bylaw and Animal Control Officer – Regular Full-Time

• Community Patrol Officer – Casual/On-Call (multiple positions)

• Business Development Specialist – Regular Part-Time

• Utilities Technologist - Regular Full Time

• Labourer 1 – Temporary Full-Time (multiple positions)

• Labourer 2 – Temporary Full-Time (multiple positions)

Public Works

• Labourer 2 – Regular Full-Time

• Utilities Operator In Training – Temporary Full-Time (2 positions)

• Utility Operator 1 – Wastewater Collections – Regular Full-Time

RCMP

• Detachment Clerk – Casual/On-Call

• Lifeguard 1 – Regular Part-Time (20-30 hours)

• Recreation Program Leader- Biking - Temporary Part-Time (4 positions)

Recreation

• Recreation Program Instructor 1 – Biking – Temporary Part-Time 3 positions)

• Recreation Program Leader - Temporary Part-Time (multiple positions)

• Recreation Program Instructor 1 – Biking – Casual/On-Call (multiple positions)

Senior Management

• Director of Human Resources – Regular Full-Time

As an equitable and inclusive employer, we value diversity of people to best represent the community we serve and provide excellent services to our citizens. We strive to attract and retain passionate and talented individuals of all backgrounds, demographics, and life experiences.

squamish.ca/careers

Vacasa’s forward-thinking approach and industryleading technology help set us apart as the largest full-service vacation rental company in North America. We are seeking individuals with a passion for providing exceptional vacation experiences for our Owners and Guests. We offer competitive wages and benefits: Travel allowance for Squamish/Pemberton-based employees OR Ski Pass/Activity allowance, Extended Medical, RRSP match, Fun & Safe Work Environment-Great Team, opportunities to grow and more.

NOW HIRING

Deli, Bakery, Produce, Grocery and Meat Clerks.

Cashiers

Journeyman Meat Cutter Nutritionist

Full or Part Time

E-mail or drop in your resume to: rory_eunson@nestersmarket.com please cc bruce_stewart@nestersmarket.com or call us at 604-932-3545

PERKS

• Competitive wage – Depending on experience

• Flexible and set schedule

• Relative training

VISION PACIFIC CONTRACTING LTD. is hiring new team members: EXPERIENCED CARPENTERS

We offer:

• Immediate Whistler housing available

• Extended Health and Dental benefits for you and your family

• 20cm snow rule & mental-health bike days

• Flexible schedule & awesome staff parties!

• Work-life balance is as important to us as it is to you!

Send your resume to info@vispacific.com

JOB POSTING: PROGRAM AND CONTRACTS MANAGER

Position Title: Program and Contracts Manager

Location: Mount Currie, BC (Hybrid negotiable)

Type: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: $65,000 to $75,000 (Based on experience)

Other Benefits: SSHS offers a competitive benefits and employment package for full-time staff

Closing Date: July 31, 2023

About Us: SSHS is a non-profit Indigenous Health Organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Indigenous communities. Our organization provides culturally appropriate healthcare services, programs, and initiatives to support the holistic health of Indigenous individuals and families.

Position Overview: Southern Stl’atl’imx Health Society (SSHS) is seeking a highly motivated and skilled full-time Program and Contracts Manager to join our Indigenous non-profit health organization. The Program and Contracts Manager will play a pivotal role in overseeing and managing various programs and contracts and agreements aimed at improving the health and well-being of the four communities that SSHS serves: N’Quatqua, Samahquam, Skatin, and Xa’xtsa First Nations. This position requires exceptional organizational skills, strong leadership abilities, and an indepth understanding of Indigenous culture and health issues. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of programs, managing contracts, agreements, and partnerships, and supporting the organization's mission “to honour the health of The People by working together to deliver holistic health services”.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Management:

●Develop, implement, and monitor programs and initiatives focused on improving health outcomes for Indigenous communities.

●Collaborate with internal teams, community partners, and stakeholders and Rightsholders to en sure programs align with community health plans, community needs, and organizational goals.

●Establish and track program goals, objectives, and performance metrics to evaluate program effectiveness.

●Oversee project and program work plans, program budgets, resource allocation, and ensure compliance with funding requirements, including quantitative and qualitative reporting.

Contract Management:

●Lead the development, negotiation, and management of contracts with funders, government agencies, and other partners.

●Ensure compliance with contract terms, deliverables, and reporting requirements.

●Monitor contract performance, including budget management and tracking of key milestones.

● Collaborate with finance and legal teams to ensure contractual obligations and documentation are in place.

●Collaborate with team leads across the various programs to complete required reporting (financial and narrative).

● Maintain a reporting tracker that can be shared with the Health Director and board of directors as required.

Qualifications:

● Bachelor's degree in a related field (e.g., public health, Indigenous studies, business administration, social work) is preferred but not mandatory. Master's degree is an asset.

●Demonstrated experience in program/project management, contract management, or a related field (2+ years), preferably within the Indigenous health sector. Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate is an asset but not mandatory.

●In-depth understanding of Indigenous health issues, cultural sensitivity, and experience working with Indigenous communities.

●Strong project management skills, including the ability to develop and manage budgets, timelines, and deliverables.

●Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively engage with diverse stakeholders.

●Strong leadership and team management abilities, with a collaborative and inclusive approach.

●Proven ability to build and maintain partnerships with Indigenous organizations, community leaders, and funders.

● Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

● Proficiency in relevant computer applications and software.

For a list of all position responsibilities, qualifications and any other special requirements, please refer to www.sshs.ca for an exhaustive job description.

Please submit resume and cover letter by email to Julia Schneider, Executive Assistant to the Interim Health Director, at julia.schneider@sshs.ca. Please include in the subject line your name and the position you are applying for.

Thank you for your interest!

NESTERS MARKET & WELLNESS CENTRE

ACROSS

Bolster your self-esteem with Max's Morale-Booster Quiz

ONCE AGAIN, I'VE FAILED.

Nearly 20 years ago, I became Canadian. I'd been living in Canada more than 20 years at the time, and had immersed myself in the culture and history of my chosen home. To become a Canadian citizen, I had to eventually take and pass a test.

The material provided by the government consisted of a booklet containing, presumably, everything I need to know to pass the test and a description of what to expect. It was the latter that made me cringe.

It informed me I had to get what would, in an academic setting, be considered a

BY G.D. MAXWELL

passing grade, bell-curve style, but in large, bold, black lettering it warned there were a couple of questions that would wash me out if I answered them wrong, regardless of how many other right answers I got. Okay, how hard could they be?

But then it described the test: Multiple Choice?! Caramba!

I may be the only person I've ever met who both hated and did poorly on multiple choice exams. The problem was there were rarely multiple choice exams about things like math, where the answer was binary, either right or wrong. They were more used in touchy-feely topics like social science, history, things like that.

My difficulty is I rarely liked any of the answers. None seemed quite right. Some were obviously wrong, but all the others were shades of grey. I felt compelled to justify my choice and point out its shortcomings by writing notes in the margins of the tests. Teachers, and later instructors, hated that, the whole point of multiple choice exams being they were easy to grade.

But a multiple choice test with a hook—questions you had to answer right or flunk—amped up my discomfort level to new heights.

Everything got worse when the date for the test arrived. It was supposed to take up to six months to get a date. I timed my application to coincide with my autumn return to Whistler, a quick two-hour drive to Vancouver where the test would be administered. Instead, it only took two months and entailed a six-hour drive from the Cariboo.

After that grind, I entered the test room. It was filled with hopefuls from around the world. I knew the material, struggled with the various almost-right answers, sweated over the "Don't Miss" questions, and was done in about 10 minutes. Given we had an hour to do the test, my level of discomfort was high, and spiked when I finally gave up waiting and walked my test to the proctor.

"That was quick," he said. "Sure you don't want to check your answers?"

I knew better than to start secondguessing and declined. I passed. Became Canadian. Yippee.

But for as long as Pique has been publishing its Canada Day Quiz, I have never even come close to passing one. Diabolical. Nit-picky. Obscure. Maddening. I don't know why I even bother trying.

This year was no different. I got a couple of the political questions right, one of the sports questions—a milestone for me, but I did know Jarry Field—one food for thought, two arts. That's it.

But then, I never managed to pass Peter Vogler's Local's Test in the Whistler Question when he'd trot it out every year. And he at least used a lot of the same questions.

I wouldn't bother mentioning my abysmal performance, except I believe I'm not alone. I suspect there are a lot of you who, even assuming you got past the Canadiana questions, were somewhere on the uphill side of the bell curve, which is to say, not passing.

With all the crap going on in the world right now, with discord and discontent rampant everywhere in the country, with the Resort Municipality of Whistler picking our pockets in ever-more-frequent ways, our collective self-esteem is taking a kicking. Don't know about you, but I've had enough!

So I offer as an alternative the Max's Morale-Booster Quiz. Sure to make you feel like a winna. Ready? Here we go.

1. Whistler Mountain, formerly London Mountain, was named after:

a) The whistling marmot found on the mountain bearing its name.

b) Grizzly bears.

c) The opening bars of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ song “Home.”

d) A CN poster touting Whistler's Peak in Jasper National Park.

2. Which mountain-base bar was founded by Dick Gibbons and boasts reserved tables for up to $3,800?

a) The Longhorn

b) GLC

c) Dusty's

d) Merlin's

3. Which grocery store most recently changed its name? Bonus point if you remember the old name.

a) Fresh Street

b) Nesters

c) Creekside Market

d) The Whistler Grocery Store

4. Which of Whistler's five valley lakes has the greenest water? Bonus point if you know why.

a) Green Lake

b) Nita Lake

c) Lost Lake

d) Alta Lake

5. Where in Whistler Village will you find “freshly” brewed beer?

a) The Brewhouse

b) Tapley's

c) Caramba

d) Stinky's on the Stroll

Okay, put your pencils down. That's it. You all passed.

Answers:

Question 1. (a) Yes, Whistler was renamed after the whistling marmot. But see below.

Question 2. (a) The Longhorn. Give

yourself an extra point if you've booked one of the tables.

Question 3. (a) Fresh Street, which used to be IGA (extra point). Half point if you chose Nesters under the mistaken belief it's been renamed Save-On.

Question 4. (a) Green Lake. Bonus point if you knew it gets its green colour from the glacial till coming down Blackcomb Creek.

Question 5. (a) Which is not to say you can't get good beer everywhere in town, but fresh was the kicker.

I'm assuming everyone got 100 per cent, and you're all feeling better for acing it. But about that first question.

Shortly before the 2010 Olympics™, an older gent named Bud Ryckman told me a story about how Whistler got its name. Bud was a good friend of Franz Wilhelmsen, president of the mountain right up to the time of Franz' death.

He said he visited Franz in his office in the early 1960s. Franz had a large poster on his work table and told Bud to check it out. It was a CN Rail advertisement for Whistlers Peak in Jasper National Park.

“I said, ‘So what?’ And Franz told me he’d been talking to the CN people and he’d secured the right to rename London Mountain Whistler Mountain, since CN was going to advertise Whistlers Peak all over Europe and in North America. Franz thought he could get some free publicity,” Bud told me.

“I always used to ask Franz how come he never said anything when someone said Whistler was named after the marmots,” said Bud. “He’d just smile and hold his finger to his lips.”

Try as I might, I never found corroboration for that story. But who knows? ■

PHOTO BY HANNAMARIAH / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

NEWTOMARKET

4660-325 Blackcomb Way, Lost Lake Lodge : Move-in ready 2br end-suite in Lost Lake Lodge with a private deck. Amenities include a heated pool, hot tub, exercise room, and owner lockers. Conveniently located. Use it year-round or earn from nightly rentals. $1,625,000

Sam Surowy

604-902-9754

8047 Nicklaus North Blvd: Enjoy the tranquil views of the 15th Fairway of Nicklaus North Golf Course and picturesque Green Lake from the expansive deck of this chalet. 4 bdrm, 4 bath, 2,990 sq ft of golf and ski heaven! Bright and beautiful! $5,599,000

Connie Spear

604-910-1103

307 – 2109 Whistler Rd: Top floor end unit with multiple storage areas. Walking distance to Creekside Gondola. Zoned for full-time owner use or nightly rentals. Generate significant income through AirBnB or similar with no Tourism Whistler fees or GST! $583,000

Allyson Sutton PREC*

604-932-7609

2928 Big Timber Court: One of the last large lots over 27,000 sq ft / 2,500 sq m in this exclusive neighbourhood. Kadenwood offers Whistler mountain ski-in / ski-out trails and nearby access to private gondola. Build your legacy home or phase 1 nightly rental residence. $4,490,000 (GST exempt / sample homeplan)

Kathy White PREC*

604-616-6933

1360 Collins Rd: 10-Acre Country Retreat. Custom 4,404 sq ft home. Zoned for garden nursery, horse riding academy, green housing, brewery/cidery, agritourism, B&B, home business and limited weddings. Endless possibilities. $3,999,900

Carmyn Marcano

Suzanne Wilson PREC*

604-719-7646

604-966-8454

207-37808 Third Avenue: 2 bedroom corner suite in Lizzy Bay. Spacious 240 sq ft rooftop patio + two large balconies. High ceilings, kitchen island, open floor plan, all living downstairs, bedrooms on 2nd floor, gated parking. $798,000

Angie Vazquez PREC*

Carlo Gomez

778-318-5900

604-849-0880

205-39771 Government Road: Welcome to The Breeze! Built in 2022. 2 Bdrm + large loft, 2 bath, 2 storey, vaulted ceilings, huge windows with tons of natural light, south facing deck with panoramic views. C-10 Artisan Village Zoning allows for mixed uses. $885,000

Vallerie Phillipson

604-698-5899

604-902-9505

10-39758 Government Rd: 3 bdrm, 2.5 bath, 1/2 duplex. Centrally located in the Arbour Woods complex. Over 1,600 sq ft, open layout with post & beam features, high ceilings, fir staircase, hardwood floors, gas fireplace, huge double car garage and 3 decks with north & south views. $1,189,000 Kathryn Marsh

3 - 41333 Skyridge Place: High quality townhome with sweeping mountain views. Fully functional floorplans split over 3 storeys. Large walk-out rec room on lower level with a dedicated storage area, a roughed-in 4th bathroom and private south facing fenced-in backyard. $1,250,000

Carlo Gomez

604-849-0880