Blog

EDITORIAL: Squamish Nation power best Olympic legacy

Ask Squamish residents who lived here during the Olympic and Paralympic Games what they remember and the answers vary, but almost all memories are positive. Many remember the community spirit, meeting people from around the globe or attending world-class events.…

Whistler XC athletes off to Junior Worlds

Peiffer, Murdoch to compete in Germany from Feb. 28 to March 8

Whistler will be well represented at the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships later this month. Two Whistler Nordics grads, Michael Murdoch and Benita Peiffer, discovered that they had cracked the team when it was officially released on Feb. 3.…

The Extended Moment shows arc of photography

New exhibit borrowed from the National Gallery of Canada opens at the Audain Art Museum on Feb. 8

To make Direct Photograph of an Electric Positive Spark in 1888, early photographer Étienne Léopold Trouvelot created an electrical charge with a wand, transferred it to a photographic plate and created an exposure. The effect: a burst of electricity frozen in time—as if someone captured the pitch-black prairie night sky during a summer thunderstorm.…

Letters to the Editor for the week of February 6

Fossil-fuel companies need to be held accountable I am writing to say that I appreciate G.D. Maxwell raising the issue of climate change; however, I do not agree that the fossil-fuel companies should not be held to account (“Maxed Out,” Pique, Jan. 23).…

Stop the insanity…I want to get off

While it may not be fashionable in this populist era to admit it, I’m a capitalist. Not the rape and pillage, impoverish your employees while you enrich yourself, poison the consumers of your products, befoul the planet and focus on nothing but shareholder wealth kind of capitalist.…

Whistler Mountain Ski Club housing rezoning gets first two readings

Emerald infill housing application moves forward

A new building intended to house staff of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) is moving ahead after council gave a related rezoning first two readings at its Feb. 4 meeting. The four-unit building (two three-bedroom and two two-bedroom units) to be constructed next to the existing WMSC club house at 2028 Rob Boyd Way will also include common storage, laundry and parking.…

Whistler COO says Vail Resorts is listening to criticism

Whistler Blackcomb breaks down the challenging start to its season

While frustration towards Vail Resorts’ management of Whistler Blackcomb (WB) is nothing new, a recent petition calling on the resort behemoth to “address the problems they have created by idly neglecting the magic that once defined the unforgettable experience” that is WB appears to be gaining traction. The change.org petition—titled Vail Resorts: Make Whistler Great Again!—boasted more than 2,200 signatures by Feb. 5, just four days after it started, with a target of 2,500.…

Learning from your (extremely dumb) mistakes is part of skiing

If I had to rank the stupidest/scariest situations I’ve gotten myself into while snowboarding or skiing, getting lost in Khyber’s at the end of a long day would hands down land at the top. Unfamiliar with the terrain, I was following my friend, when we headed down a less-skied out section of the trees.…

Games evolution

It is hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Whistler hosted first the Olympic Games in February of 2010, then the Paralympic Games in March. Everyone has memories of the event, even those who chose to leave town rather than endure the thousands who came here to compete and celebrate at the biggest sporting event in the world.…

Free will astrology for the week of February 6

ARIES (March 21-April 19):
You now have the power to make connections that have not previously been possible. You can tap into an enhanced capacity to forge new alliances and strengthen your support system.…

Fairmont says tips were never withheld from banquet staff

Following worker complaint, Whistler hotel says changes in contract language led to non-compliance

the general manager of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler said the hotel agreed to retroactively pay thousands of dollars to banquet staff as a good-faith gesture following a complaint from an employee and the involvement of one of B.C.’s largest unions. The Fairmont said it agreed to the settlements after it became clear that, for several weeks last year, it was not in compliance with changes to the Employment Standards Act that went into effect in the spring.…

Dog rescued from edge of swollen Mosquito Creek in North Van

A border collie that got stranded on the edge of a fast-running Mosquito Creek Saturday afternoon was a lucky dog after District of North Vancouver firefighters stepped in to rescue the pooch. A hiker walking on a trail near Prospect Road in the Montroyal neighbourhood came across the dog perched on the edge of the high-running creek, late in the afternoon, said Jeremy Duncan, assistant chief of operations for District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.…

Squamish Search and Rescue welcomes a new president

Gerald Wolfe takes on role as recruits take 24-hour exam

The Squamish Search and Rescue unit could soon see an increase of up to 10 new members—once they pass a 24-hour exam. “They’ll live off whatever they bring in the morning,” Raz Peel, Squamish SAR vice-president, said.…

Naturespeak: Autumn birds finish year on an unexpected crescendo

The autumn migration did not disappoint. Sightings in September and October tallied 111 species and not too shabby volumes, but November’s quirky weather added nothing more.…

Marine clean-up requires coast-wide cooperation: report

Some 1,400 derelict boats litter shorelines

Cleaning up B.C’s abandoned vessels and marine debris will take coast-wide cooperation to be effective, says a report released Feb. 5 by Sheila Malcolmson, parliamentary secretary for the environment. Consultation participants who met with Malcolmson suggested that the province support development of ship-breaking and recycling businesses in coastal communities as well as improving plastic and battery recycling and garbage disposal options at small craft harbours; more options for disposal for gear found on beaches; and more options for fishers who have retrieved lost gear offshore to dispose of or recycle it.…