Opinion

Resort guru Myles Rademan talked at Saturday’s town hall meeting of "the wisdom of holding hands." It’s a message he has been preaching for many years.

"A shared view of the future." That’s how municipal administrator Jim Godfrey describes the process that began last week with the release of the Whistler 2002 workbook and continues Saturday, Dec. 13, with the annual town hall meeting.

If you’ve seen and heard enough already about last weekend’s World Cup race that wasn’t, turn the page. For those who are still here, I want to talk a little bit about the human side of this event.

As one former chamber of commerce president used to say, the best thing about the World Cup is how it brings the community together.

Remember when it used to be quiet during the shoulder season? The only things going on this week were: o Intrawest increased its stake in Mammoth Mountain, to 51 per cent o A major report on building a cultural facility in Whistler was released o A r

Transportation is fundamental to the quality of life in a town; how people get around goes a long way toward determining the size, shape and character of a community.

A successful athlete, as Rob Boyd has said, has to first understand how to win, but to stay on top he must go on to understand why he wins. As town and as a resort, Whistler should understand why it’s successful.

Last week in this space we looked at some of the financial tools the local governments in American mountain resorts have, as discovered by Whistler council on their recent trip to Colorado and Idaho.

Whistler councillors shared several interesting discoveries from their recent Colorado-Idaho road trip this week. For instance, one subdivision in Vail has its own professional lobbyist.

Across most of southern British Columbia investors are pouring millions of dollars into expanding mountain resorts. We can see what has been happening in Whistler, but you’d be hard pressed to find a B.C. resort that isn’t growing.