On April 21 the Whistler RCMP received a complaint from a member of the public after a floatplane landed and took off from Alta Lake at approximately 9:30 that morning.
The RCMP contacted a local float plane company and was told the plane was making a pickup, and the company was allowed to land on the lake. The usual floatplane runway on Green Lake was still covered with ice at that point.
As of Tuesday the RCMP was continuing to follow up with Transport Canada on whether planes are in fact allowed to land on the lake and under what circumstances.
The lake is used by paddlers and sailors, while Green Lake has a clearly demarcated area for float plane take-offs and landings. Motorized transportation is allowed on the lake, although the speed limit is 12km/h.
Speed trap nets 29 tickets in two hours
The RCMP set up a speed check on Highway 99 at Whistler Olympic Park on Friday, April 20 and netted an astounding 29 speeders in roughly two hours. To make matters worse, they only stopped vehicles that were going 30km/h over the limit.
"We had one officer on the laser and three writing tickets, and our hands were full," said Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair of the Whistler RCMP. "If we had more people we would certainly have lowered our tolerance. But people were driving so fast and we wanted to get the worst offenders, and we were so busy with people going 30km/h over that others slipped by."
The worst offender was on a motorcycle clocked going 152km/h in an 80km/h zone — 72km/h above the speed limit and almost double the 40km/h excessive speeding threshold where police impound vehicles. The rider had a valid Ontario licence, but the motorcycle was insured in B.C. under the driver's mother's name although she didn't possess a motorcycle licence.
The driver, a 29 year old from Toronto, Ontario was also wearing a GoPro camera, presumably recording his ride.
On Vancouver Island, police caught a different motorcyclist last week after he posted a GoPro video on YouTube of him going 300km/h between Nanaimo and Victoria. Police seized that man's motorcycle but at press time no charges had been filed.
The Highway 99 motorcyclist received a fine of $483 and the motorcycle was impounded for seven days.
As well as the 29 vehicles stopped at the speed check, the RCMP handed out 16 other traffic tickets that evening.
LeClair said the number of speeders and the potential impact on public safety concerns the police.
"All motorists, motorcycles included, need to be cautious about their speeding," he said.
As well, he advised motorists that speed checks may be active at any time, and especially during the shoulder season when the village is less busy and officers step up enforcement on roads and highways.
Busy festival weekend, but no serious incidents
The RCMP was kept busy during the second weekend of the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, although no serious incidents were reported.
On Friday night, they handed out 16 tickets for possession of open liquor, two people were arrested for being intoxicated in public, two more were ticketed for urinating in public and one bylaw ticket was issued for obstructing a peace officer.
Things ramped up considerably on Saturday night, which included the World Skiing Invitational Big Air and The End all-night dance party.
That night they handed out 55 bylaw tickets for open liquor, 18 violation tickets for possession of open liquor, three tickets for being intoxicated in public — two of which resulted in the persons being held until sober — six tickets for urinating in public and one ticket for using obscene language.
As well, RCMP stops on the roads and highways resulted in several impaired driving violations — four received three-day driving prohibitions and three-day impounds for testing in the warn range — 0.06 to 0.08 per cent blood alcohol content, and one received a 90-day driving prohibition for being over the 0.08 limit. One driver refused to provide a breath sample, and received a 90-day driving prohibition and will be charged for refusal.
