I can’t imagine Pique has not leaned hard into the subject of an unaffordable Whistler in recent years, but it may be time to consider some talk and solutions to the Whistler tragedy that currently is the high cost of long-term and seasonal accommodation living. Add in the higher cost of groceries and today’s fuel prices and you truly want to cry. It pains me, knowing the history of Whistler first-hand, to compare how it once was and how it is today!
When I was in my teens, I skied here in Whistler most weekends along with the rest of my family and many others from Vancouver. My parents were by no means extremely wealthy, but loved skiing Whistler and wanted to share that family activity with their kids and grandchildren over the years. So many great memories are based here, and we all worked hard and earned our days here over the years to make that a possibility. Back then, the valley was often filled with smiling faces and jovial laughter as the layers of winter would build up week after week and mountain slopes were carved up by friends and others, largely Vancouver skiers that supported Whistler Mountain ski operations.
The cost of doing so back then was reasonable. About $250 for a season pass for youth, as I recall on Whistler, and the cost of owning a cabin or weekend chalet was then not out of this world—$49,000 is what my parents spent to purchase a new Alpine Meadows chalet in Whistler back in the day. Fast-forward 50 years and that same chalet could now cost $4.9 million. Wages have definitely not gone up 100 times since back in the day, so how are people to make ends meet here and now?
One sees the world around them all differently as we grow older based on our own life experiences. I think the accommodation rental and cost crisis that is unfolding in Whistler is potentially going to destroy the valley’s great 55-year ski journey. I say that because you cannot treat young adults that are here to do the front-end service work like farmed chickens. Packing them into old accommodations and charging them more than $1,000 per head is simply stealing away their money and youthful happiness. It is fundamentally wrong. If you are going to do that as landlords, then Whistler’s employers will suffer, and so will the whole valley. The cost of food here in grocery stores is equally pocket-draining, and at the end of the day, if you can do some simple math, you should know [why] ... the joie de vivre that once defined the valley vibe has vanished! If Whistler truly wants that back, it will need to look in the mirror and ask itself what it wants to be known for the world over. The answer, in my opinion, is to be more generous in ensuring a high quality of living, and less demanding on people’s pocketbooks.
If I was Mayor “Happy Jack” Crompton of Whistler, I would be immediately encouraging local grocery stores to offer up our local Whistler workforce 30 per cent off on all groceries on Sundays and Thursdays after 5 p.m. Make it mandatory that there is a real bed for each individual adult or couple within any rental property, and that those properties meet a minimum standard as a requirement to be rented to protect the integrity of Whistler as a destination resort and as a respected community. Couch surfing, closet living or being camped out and freezing in a vehicle in Whistler is just not right. Whistler must change this for the better! In addition, encourage Whistler Blackcomb and Vail Resorts to offer all locals, meaning those currently living/working here for five years or more, and those that have been a founding economic force in the evolution of Whistler since its very beginnings (our many lifetime Vancouver skiers), a Whistler Blackcomb Golden Ski Pass—10 ski days per season for $600. Please also build more Whistler Housing Authority affordable housing developments for local workers, and watch the joie de vivre return to this great valley once again.
