Thumbs up for Vail Resorts
I received today a form letter from Kirsten Lynch, executive vice president of Vail Resorts, with the response to Whistler passholders for the upcoming season in view of the early closing due to the virus epidemic.
Having had negative opinions about these guys since they took over control of our area, I was most pleasantly surprised by the offer made to me.
I guess others may not feel the same way, but my kudos to the management. It made my day.
Albert Macfarlane // Vancouver
Lisa Korthals Memorial Bursary
March 28, 2020 marked the second anniversary of the passing of Lisa Korthals—a mother, wife, friend, professional ski guide and lover of life. Her day was marked by so many that love her, with adventurous outings, quiet reflections, laughter and some tears.
Lisa loved everyone she met to the fullest and because of this she is not only remembered on this day, but throughout the year as we pass by a spot in the forest where chance meetings solve the world's problems, look at an old photo, reminisce with friends or caw at a raven floating overhead.
The Raven Backcountry Festival, held for the first time this winter in Pemberton, was a fine example of the mark she left on both the local and mountain communities. A celebration of outdoor experiences and learning, it raised more than $16,000. This money was generously donated to the Lisa Korthals Memorial Bursary (LKMB).
The LKMB was started shortly after Lisa's 2018 passing in an avalanche. Lisa was a fully certified mechanized ski guide through the Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA). The courses Lisa took though the CSGA allowed her to work in an industry she loved and share her passion with guests from around the world on a daily basis.
The goal of the LKMB is to provide financial aid to women who are training to be fully certified mechanized ski guides through the CSGA stream.
This year, the bursary is being awarded to Morgan Dinsdale. Morgan is a passionate outdoorswoman working towards her Level 2 certification. In addition to the courses she is taking, she has also found the time to teach introductory avalanche courses and mentor other women just starting out in their backcountry journey.
As she said in her essay, "You asked me to explain how I believe I embody Lisa's spirit. The truth is, I don't believe I do. She was exceptional. Extraordinary. A trailblazer. Her spirit was a wildfire that enraptured countless others. The truth is I embody my own adventurous spirit. Unique to me but understood by all who seek adventure in the high mountains, quiet forests and the lands touched by few. I am a spark, lit by spirits like Lisa's, exploding open the guiding and skiing world to women."
The LKMB committee wishes to congratulate Morgan on her award and to encourage aspiring female guides wishing to follow the CSGA stream to apply for the bursary through the CSGA website: www.canskiguide.com.
The committee is also deeply thankful to the Raven Backcountry Festival for its support of the bursary. The bursary welcomes any donations to continue the education of women in the mountains. Please donate through gofundme.com/f/lisa-korthals-bursary.
LKMB committee // Pemberton
Shorter store hours means more crowding
I am writing you to express my concerns regarding the reduction of essential store hours as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While I understand this may have been done initially in response to reduced numbers of available employees as people attempted to follow the Prime Minister's directive to stay home and self-isolate, in practice, many of us are finding (especially essential shift workers) that it is having the effect of leaving us with no choice but to shop in a far more crowded store than we would have prior to the pandemic, as either our work schedules or our personal preferences made it possible previously to shop in stores at "off-peak" times.
For example, routinely in my own experience, I would usually only see three to five other shoppers while I was shopping; now that number is consistently closer to 20 to 30.
This is not keeping the shoppers or, more importantly perhaps, the store staff, safer. If regular hours could be reinstated, this would allow more physical distancing, possibly reducing the instances of shoppers reaching around the person stocking a shelf as I witnessed today while waiting for the aisle to clear.
Longer hours would also provide more opportunity for people to earn a much-needed income. Consider recommending more after-hours stocking shifts?
I have similar concerns regarding the reduction of length between prescription fills; while I understand this may be in response to possible drug shortages, in practice, it is causing increased visits to the pharmacy, which seems to counterproductively expose our pharmacists to greater risk of infection, causing a critical interruption in the delivery system, not to mention the increased risk to the likely vulnerable people picking up these prescriptions.
In addition to these concerns, I am noticing that the majority of public washrooms, especially in parks, have been closed. While initially this made sense as the parks themselves are closed, and one can assume this was in response to an inability to step up cleaning schedules adequately to ensure public safety, in practice, it is resulting in fewer places for essential workers and "isolation dodgers" alike to wash their hands and/or relieve themselves.
In my own neighbourhood, I am seeing a marked increase in human feces on the ground. This is a public health risk in and of itself, as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis have not gone away since COVID-19 arrived, and it seems likely that the COVID itself may be given new avenues to spread as human feces decompose into our neighbourhoods and water sources.
Desiree Lederer // Whistler
Tiyata covenant
Does Pemberton need below-market housing or community gardens? Not according to council's decision last week to remove a covenant that required these amenities on part of the Tiyata lands.
It was in response to a last-minute request by the current owners who are trying to sell to an unidentified party that doesn't want to put those amenities there, and requires the covenant removed within a week in order to buy. It was done without knowing what they want to build there (no application submitted, no description, not even a proper map). It was done with a recommendation by our consultant planner who was quoted in last week's Pique article first saying the potential buyer "seeks to develop the land for non-residential purposes" and then saying "If the landowner eventually wanted to pursue residential development on the site ...we would be in a position, absolutely to secure whatever amenities we saw fit," and finally saying that in fact after a walk through the lot it is not really optimal for that use anyways. Councillor Amica Antonelli raised many valid questions but no one, not even the mayor, was interested in supporting her motion for more details or a more creative solution.
Why is staff and the majority of council so quick to let go things our community desperately needs? And at the simple request from the owner based on wanting to sell the land to an undisclosed party for undisclosed, "non-residential" purposes? What if the land sale falls through—guess what, covenant is still gone.
I have a problem with how the concerns of community members and taxpayers seem to be put aside when not convenient to developers. Someone negotiated that covenant back when Tiyata was first setting out to develop the land, and they must have believed it to be a good deal at the time. Why do we now turn around and say it is not really a good place for these amenities as soon as it is inconvenient to the land owner?
Benchlands is coming and seems to be going down a similar path. Years ago, we paid for a consultant to help build our neighbourhood concept plan, which included a second road in/out of a large development area. Now the developers are finding it inconvenient, expensive even, and we are being told (by the same consultant!) it is not a good use of the land and should be scrapped.
It's time to pay attention, Pemberton. Keep watch on what is happening with our precious land and make your voice/opinions heard.
Niki Vankerk // Pemberton
