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Lost in Whistler

Tapping the wealthy resource of educated ski bums

They may be your barista, your cab driver, even your ski instructor. They are the ones who came to Whistler out of burning curiosity, pushing the pause buttons on their lives to sample B.C.'s finest — the powder, the trails, the lifestyle of a mountain town. Yes, here in Whistler we are blessed with some of the finest mountain recreation opportunities, all encapsulated in a transparent bubble that shields us from the realities of the outside world.

What you may not know is the story behind the local workforce in Whistler. They may speak with an accent or be from the other side of the country, but more often than not they are educated. They are lawyers, engineers, environmental scientists, teachers, geographers and computer programmers. If you needed a nuclear physicist in a pinch, you could probably find one tuning skis in a ski shop basement.

Thousands of educated seasonal workers circulate through Whistler every year and take the opportunity to enjoy all Whistler's outdoor pleasures year round. At the end of their allotted season, or year, or whenever their work visa expires most will return to their homes and begin their "real" jobs. But a percentage remain longer, transfixed by the lifestyle they have just experienced.

Outsiders may balk at such atrocities, "Why would you waste your education just to ski?" they cry. The outsiders are usually parents and relatives, friends from hometowns and former student peers. They ask how much money you are earning and reassure you of the job prospects at home, thousands of miles away where you can build a solid career using that expensive degree that took so long to pay off.

But Whistler has an invisible hook that snags the unsuspecting seasonaire. The kids who defer their tertiary enrolments to come out for a season after finishing school, what the British kids refer to as a "gap year."

"It was October 1999 when I came out and spent the year out here until the summer of 2000," said Dan Carr, a local professional ski photographer with a degree in aerospace engineering.

"That was my first taste of both Whistler and snow sports in general. I went back home to university and did my degree, but never really stopped thinking about Whistler. When I finished it I knew that I needed to go back to Whistler for one more year of fun. After that year out here I went back home and I think I lasted two or three weeks before I booked another flight back to Canada."

Carr's story is a familiar one around these parts — you come here for one season then you return to the career path that you spent years labouring for. But then every season that you return, the hook sinks deeper and the chance of leaving for good diminishes. It is usually between the second or the third season that the self-reflecting questions are raised: "Is Whistler where I want to make my new home?" And if the answer is yes, then next is always, "What the hell am I going to do for a living?"

The latter question may be deferred for a few more years. Most people when they finally make the decision to live in Whistler will be more than happy to float in their seasonal occupations, using the quiet months of the spring and fall to travel or relax. Carr had a vision of his career, one that could challenge him as much as those four long years of studying aerospace engineering.

"I was working tuning skis and I knew I didn't want to do that forever," said Carr.

"The first photo I had published ran on the cover of this little (local) magazine. I looked at that one day on the cover and I said, 'that's pretty cool actually, I could get used to that.'"

Seeing his own photo on a magazine cover inspired Dan to walk down an entrepreneurial path, slowly building a business and reputation as a professional ski photographer amongst the most respected names in the industry.

"When I told people, 'I'm going to try to be a professional ski photographer in Whistler,' everyone thought I was crazy," said Carr.

"At the time you had people like Blake (Jorgensen), Bryn (Hughes), Paul Morrison, Eric Berger here; these were all the biggest guys in the industry and they all live in this town. So you'd think it's the stupidest place to try to start (a photography) career really. The way I approached that problem of trying to make yourself known in a town that has such well-established (photographers) was definitely affected by what I learned at university. Engineering is all about having a goal, it's not easy to achieve it and there's lots of problems along the way. I definitely think that if I hadn't done the degree I wouldn't be here."

Four years of calculus and design projects may not have been applied directly toward Carr's new career path, but the tenacity which got him through those years of university has played a big part in the success of his new Whistler-based business. Studying engineering requires a strong work ethic and an ability to communicate technical information efficiently, both are traits which have helped Carr in his photography career.

"I'm fascinated by the progress of photographic technology and I'm sure that that has come from the engineering side of things. I really like to figure out how something works, not just from the manual but really understanding the process behind it. I think that's been a help to introduce a style in my work."

If an engineering degree can help build a successful entrepreneur in Whistler then surely there is a way to make the most out of an education, even if completely removed from a previous chosen field of study?

Whistler Blackcomb (WB) employs thousands of workers seasonally, and year-round, and a large number of those workers are overqualified for their current positions.

"We've got lawyers, astrophysicists and (people with) PhDs working as bussers in the Roundhouse," said Joel Chevalier, director of employee experience at WB.

"You can learn a lot from being here and working here, it's just a matter of are your eyes open enough to see whether you're in a learning situation or not," he said.

Picking up lunch trays in a busy cafeteria for a season may not sound like the most valuable career experience, but there are still plenty of interpersonal skills to be learned and there is a season's pass in it — perfect for a professional's break from urban rat race.

Those who return seasonally or enter year round positions at WB are also among those schooled in higher learning and after their first year they are usually looking for a position with more responsibility and subsequently, more pay. There are over 60 managers at WB, almost all of whom have grown through the ranks from lead hand to supervisor. With WB's preference of hiring internally, crossing over between departments is often how employees advance towards these managerial positions.

"In a lot of cases you see someone that's been through a formal education program, they tend to be quite open to shifting gears and they tend to have the intelligence and the flexibility to take the skills they learned in one program and apply it to an entirely different field," said Chevalier.

"That's where we see huge success and that's probably the single point where we see the most amount of growth in people."

That growth is not only measured financially, but also spiritually. While the time we dedicate to recreation has a tendency to relieve the frustrations of a difficult work day, being comfortable with one's career choice is important for long-term contentment — even in Whistler.

"My dream was to live somewhere that I love and be somewhere where I could contribute to the community and utilize my knowledge," said Ainslie Caldwell, front office manager at the Westin Resort and Spa. She holds a degree in science in the field of marine biology and also has a masters' degree in environmental management.

"There is a very intelligent population in our town and that's probably why its such a well-run (resort community)," she said

Caldwell spent five years working in her field in Australia before trying out life in Whistler and she now resides here permanently. While she draws from her Masters education on a daily basis in her managerial role (specifically with skills in policy development and resource management), her science background does not remain idle. Caldwell sits on the board of directors for AWARE (Association of Whistler Residents for the Environment) where her consulting experience and technical understanding of sustainable development has helped steer the organization when dealing with local land developers. Like many transplanted Whistler locals, it took Caldwell several years to find her niche in a busy resort town.

"I always wanted to have a job that is well-respected regardless of where I go," said Caldwell.

"Its quite hard in Whistler for someone to take you seriously when you come from Australia and they assume you're only staying for a year."

Caldwell persevered towards her goal of returning to management and soon got promoted to her current position of front office manager. With her contributions to local environment issues through AWARE she can now confidently answer the self-reflecting career questions:

"How can I make this be something that I'm going to enjoy?" and "What can I do in my day that gives me self satisfaction so that I am having an impact on someone else?"

There are few locals in Whistler that can say they are using their degrees to such potential, but the odd exception does exist. Anita Naidu is a consulting engineer who bases herself in Whistler and possesses degrees in electrical, chemical and environmental engineering. Between her relentless pursuit of the outdoors with mountain biking, climbing and snowboarding, she is heavily involved in social advocacy and political reform, having participated in humanitarian movements such as Engineers Without Borders and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). She also attended Occupy Wall Street last year.

"It's a profession that caters to great mobility," said Naidu.

"You don't have to be present all the time, it's as if the technology that I have worked with has returned the favour."

Naidu is in a unique position with her employment, being able to maintain a technical, professional career (often only found in cities) in a town that revolves around tourism and recreation. But while she is able to enjoy the best of both worlds, she is well aware of the number of people who make the career trade-off to come live and work in Whistler.

"It's always hard to separate where you live from who you are," she said.

"Trying to make it in a resort town is almost a greater achievement than making it in a city. It's not always about achieving goals here, but about setting them appropriately."

And these goals are different for almost everybody. For some, the fact that they get to live their lives in Whistler, play on their days off and immerse themselves in the closed, resort town atmosphere is sufficient fulfilment. Others seek to apply themselves for the betterment of the community and society as a whole, volunteering their own time for the greater good. Just like whether you choose to apply what you have learnt — it's all up to the individual.

So can the rest of us utilize our university degrees in Whistler? If you want a job with the same title as your degree it can prove difficult. The Whistler economy is based on tourism, not resources like in the days of yore. The jobs with practical backgrounds are more common; marketers, designers, managers, public relation specialists. Not all of these jobs require tertiary credentials, but the people that have them in their relevant field will usually have the edge over other applicants when those jobs open. There are a handful of lawyers in town (one is currently doubling as the mayor of Whistler) but the local population does not seem to have the highest demand for legal counsel. Sport science and medicine is relevant with the sheer number of athletes training for competition and injuring themselves, as well as everyone else in town who just wants uninterrupted recreation year-round. Jobs that fit the "telecommute" criteria (such as web development and graphic design) allow a headquarters in Whistler, but there are not many people making great money doing this.

Where the vacuum exists is in technical professions; engineers, physicists, biologists. Through her many years of education and experience, Naidu has managed it, but few are so motivated. These are the qualified workers that require the most radical change in their career to stay living in Whistler, a change that they are more than willing to accept because Whistler gives them the lifestyle they have always wanted. It does not necessarily matter what your tertiary qualifications are, the value is in how you apply those qualifications and sometimes it can help where you did not expect.

After international seasonaires decide that Whistler is going to be their new home, unless the are lucky enough to have Canadian heritage (in the form of a passport) they must run the gauntlet of applying for permanent residency. Degrees are valuable credentials in this application; of the 67 points needed to qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker class, a bachelor's degree accounts for 20 of those points (regardless of whether the degree is relevant to the applicant's current career path). Many of Whistler's ex-patriots would have had a much tougher time getting into Canada if they did not have degrees in their back pocket, and now that they can stay the degree has served a greater purpose.

Even without a definitive study, it can be safely said that we live in one of the most educated communities in Canada. It is ironic that we are so caught up in our new lives as Whistler residents that we can easily forget where we have come from and what we are capable of. Instead of dismissing university education as a remnants of a "past life," the key is to think of all ways it helps, and how it may still serve a purpose.

Vince Shuley came to Canada from Australia in 2004. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and currently works as a freelance writer for Pique and other publications including Whistler Traveller, Coast Mountain Culture and Skier — he is also an experienced ski instructor, snowmobile guide, backcountry enthusiast and photographer



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