Day in, day out, long weekend or not, frontline workers in Whistler make sure the resort wheels keep turning so visitors and residents alike can have a good time.
They help you find those just-right shorts for a lost day at Lost Lake; they can point out every hiking trail when Uncle Dave and Aunt Germaine visit; they run your eggs benedict to the table when the servers are overwhelmed. And they do it all with a genuine smile.
To salute these front-line workers, I asked a few of them to describe their idea of "fun," "food" and "summer" when they finally get off work and want to relax and chill out after dishing out our fun. Here are their stories.
From the boat method of barbecue to hangin' out at the lake
"I love summer barbecues," says Barb McLean, with a big emphasis on "love." Safe to say, she's speaking for a heck of a lot of people.
When Barb's not working as a full-time guest relations host at Whistler Blackcomb's gondola barn, there's a good chance you'll find her or her husband, Harry, on their deck barbecuing. Their kids, Ali and Liam, love it, too.
"Whether it's for friends or family, it's easy and a nice way to enjoy a nice evening outside," says Barb, who's called Whistler home for 20 years. "When I get off work, I can toss a salad together and everything else that goes along with it."
"It" could be fresh salmon or halibut, done up as simply as possible with maybe a marinade of soy sauce, ginger and maple syrup for the salmon, or a bit of butter for the halibut.
Barb's specialty: little barbecue boats made out of aluminum foil. Just make a boat-shape by folding up the sides and pinching the two ends. It's easy for veggies or fish (cook it until it's just tender to the touch; no turning needed), plus it holds the juices.
Add a fresh baguette, fresh asparagus with butter also done in a boat, some new baby potatoes or maybe corn on the cob - "that unbelievable summer fare" - and you've got it made in the shade, or sun.
It's also barbecue all the way for Kristi McMiken, an Ontario native who's lived for years in Australia and is spending her first summer at Whistler.
Kristi works at the Whistler Visitor Centre at Gateway Loop in the village. When she's done answering myriad questions and ensuring tourists don't get lost on their way to Harmony Meadows, it's all about grabbing a veggie burger or salad and heading over to a friend's place - anyone who has a big deck - or meeting up at Lakeside Park for a picnic and a swim.
Given her visitor centre job, Kristi's got an insider tip: check out Whistler Eco Tours' kayak or canoe trip from Alta Lake to Green Lake, ending with a barbecue at Edgewater Lodge.
"The River of Golden Dreams is stunning through the forest. On a clear day, you can see all the glaciers, the mountains and then coming out into the opening of the lake is beautiful. Enjoying your meal out on the dock is quintessential Whistler summer," she says.
For Alicia Moore, manager at The Beach on Main Street, summer means getting together with a group of friends at Lost Lake.
"You can hang out, swim, barbecue - do everything all in one spot," she says as she rings up some flip-flops for a happy customer.
Alicia is a veggie burger kind of gal, or she might go for a skewer of marinated, cooked prawns from Nesters. To round things out, everyone chips in, literally, and brings easy grab-and-go stuff like chips, pop and salad.
"We always go in the late afternoon after work, and because all of us have super-crazy schedules it's really just a time to hang out," says Alicia. She's originally from Vancouver and is working on her third year at Whistler.
"A lot of the time we'll just sit by the picnic tables and catch up. If we get there in time, we'll go swimming and people always end up playing volleyball. But it's pretty much just a time to regroup because we're all on different schedules, for sure."
No time for summer fun - yet
Jesse Goodman is one of those amiable clerks we all see as we wander the produce section of Nesters Food Market. There he is, five days a week, maintaining a low profile as he arranges the baskets of fresh berries and bunches of carrots; keeping things fresh on the ice shelf where the lettuce and broccoli hang out; and running to the back for this or that when we ask him to.
When he's not in the produce department, Jesse might have rung in your six-pack or delivered that bottle of chardonnay to your hotel room from Nesters Liquor Store, where he works two other days a week.
Yep, Jesse's a pretty busy guy this summer, working seven days straight, so he's definitely an exception to the summer-fun rule.
"I don't usually do much after work because I work the night shifts through the summer, so I don't finish work until 10:30. I'll go for a bike ride if I can, but I eat at home all the time so I can save some dollars in this expensive town," he says.
Every dollar counts for Jesse. In four short weeks, he's leaving for a tour of South America that will take him and his mates from the beaches and ski resorts of Chile to the most dangerous mountain bike road in the world just outside of La Paz, Bolivia.
So every couple of days he'll make something that will carry him over for a few days, like side ribs with barbecue sauce in the slow cooker for about eight hours, or a shepherd's pie he learned to make by trial and error after watching his mom make it at home on Australia's Gold Coast.
"I knew it had peas, carrots, corn and a bit of onion and some ground beef. So I just did that and put some diced tomatoes in it, then cook five or six potatoes, mash 'em up and grill it on top. That's a rough recipe," he says.
Yes, Jesse will be coming back to Whistler to spend at least one more winter (he's been here two). Like so many others, he's fallen in love with the snow.
In the meantime, he promises he'll be diving into a lot of new food experiences on his trip, including those amazing steaks in Argentina he's heard so much about.
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who's super glad all these people and gazillions more make our resorts work year-round.
