Blog

Whistler’s Kees and Claire Hut opens its doors

Volunteers, ‘giants’ of B.C. mountaineering, and lost loved ones recognized during emotional opening ceremony

Whistler’s backcountry scene hit a major milestone last weekend, with the grand opening of the Kees and Claire Hut, the first of three huts that will span the iconic Spearhead Traverse, connecting Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.…

Whistler joins global climate strike

Around 400 gather at Lost Lake Park to protest climate inaction; millions more march around the world

Hundreds of Whistlerites took to the streets today, joining millions around the world who participated in a Global Climate Strike.…

Revenue, visitation, pass sales up for Vail Resorts in fiscal 2019

Company experienced ‘relative weakness’ in international visitation, however—particularly at WB

Vail Resorts, parent company of Whistler Blackcomb (WB), reported a strong fiscal 2019, with revenue, visitation and pass sales up across the board, according to a Sept. 26 earnings report. For the fiscal year ending July 31, 2019, total net revenue for the Colorado-based company increased by 12.9 per cent, or US$260 million, to $2.27 billion.…

UBCM rejects ridehailing changes for rural areas

Towns without taxis, transit would benefit, Enderby councillor says

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) on September 27 rejected by 51.7% a motion to ask Victoria to amend the Passenger Transportation Act to establish area-based, tiered rules for ride-hailing services in small rural and remote communities outside of the Lower Mainland A resolution from the Interior community of Enderby said the province has created an onerous regulatory system that prohibits the establishment of ride-hailing services outside the Lower Mainland.…

Mountain News: Aspen leaves late to change, does this break new ground?

VAIL, Colo.— It’s a queer autumn so far in Colorado’s high country. The aspen leaves that nearly everywhere have started their dazzle by mid-September almost uniformly retain the deeper green of summer chlorophyll.…

Restore rural dividend fund, UBCM urges Victoria

Funds taken from one community pocket to be put in another, delegates told

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Sept. 27 called on Victoria to reconsider its decision to use Rural Dividend program funds to prop up support funding for workers displaced in the forestry downturn. Earlier in the week, Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said while Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson announced earlier this month a $69 million support package for workers displaced in the forestry sector downturn, $25 million was removed from the rural fund.…

Whistler’s longest-running bike race to return

Sports briefs: Thompson wins Canadian Sport Award

The Westside Wheel-Up is alive and kicking. Whistler’s longest-lasting bike race is set to run for a 27th time on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 12:30 p.m.…

The Spiritual Warriors earn award nominations

Also in arts news: Dakota Pearl makes the cut; Backcountry Brewing releases Suck it Cancer

Mount Currie-based band The Spiritual Warriors have been nominated for four awards at the Native American Music Awards. They’re up for new or debut duo/group of the year; song of the year; best historical/ linguistic/spoken word recording; and best world recording.…

Purging privilege from politics

Our national political arena often seems dominated by unproductive partisan potshots and misplaced accountability, with corporate interests prioritized over people’s.Behind the noisy partisan sniping, a quiet majority—70 to 75 per cent of Canadians—is largely disengaged from politics, according to McAllister Opinion Research. It’s not that people don’t care about climate change, affordability, equity and creating a healthier, more just and secure future for their children and grandchildren.…

Caring about climate change is a necessity, not a trend

A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting with family and friends in Ontario. I finished with the can I had been drinking from and looked around the hotel room for a spot I could discard it.…

Whistler Waldorf to double its daycare spaces

Non-profit to open satellite daycare in Spring Creek

New parents may be relieved to hear that Whistler is getting some new daycare spaces.…

500 words: One for each glacier gone

What counts when the house is on fire?

Since 1850, when my great-granddad was kicking around Austria as a youngster, Switzerland has lost at least 500 glaciers. Actually, they’re not lost.…

Climate crisis: Feeling is believing

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye, or a planet.
With the UN Climate Action Summit happening, and young climate activists like Sweden’s Greta Thunberg or Anishinabek Nation’s Autumn Peltier laying down cuttingly real talk for the world’s leaders, I’ve been asked to feature some climate crisis and environmental flicks this week.…

Whistler and Squamish RCMP use teamwork to catch impaired driver

A drunk driver from Florida was taken off B.C. roads last weekend, thanks to a combined effort from Whistler and Squamish police forces. On Sunday, Sept. 22 at approximately 7:30 p.m., Whistler RCMP received a report of a possibly impaired driver travelling southbound on Highway 99, close to Brandywine, according to a police release.…

Paradise found

Searching for the families that quietly waited out doomsday deep in the Cayoosh Range mountains

It seemed like a good place to wait out the end of the world. In the mid-1960s, Lloyd Forman, his brother Dave, and their families were living in Ucluelet when they began to make plans for the impending doomsday.…