Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Diversification , courtesy, highway barriers, and condo prices

Time to speak out visi Having read Bob Barnett’s Opening Remarks this week and being one of the three Tourism Whistler board members who did not choose to run for a second term, I think it’s time to speak out.

Time to speak out

visi

Having read Bob Barnett’s Opening Remarks this week and being one of the three Tourism Whistler board members who did not choose to run for a second term, I think it’s time to speak out.

I chose not to run again because I felt marginalized as a board member. I believe that I can better work to move our community forward by working with people who wish to work together to diversify our economy into a year-round tourism product. It is clear to me that the decisions rest with too few with too narrow a focus.

In my opinion we need a business plan written by an organization such as KPMG to develop and implement new year-round, segment by segment strategies such as Learning, Health and Wellness, Arts, Culture, Outdoor Recreation/Adventure Sport, etc. I believe this business plan should also make recommendations on how Tourism Whistler allocates its marketing and sales efforts. Our planet’s climate is rapidly changing; where is our plan? How will we bring both repeat and new guests for longer stays to the Premier Mountain Resort next year and into the future?

I believe we need transparent organizations with aligned intentions, clear goals and objectives that have a burning desire to build a year round sustainable tourism economy. Where is our employee housing? The reason so many people are trying to figure out how to get out of town, in my opinion, is simple; they have given up on trying to make change.

Scott Carrell

Whistler

What happened to Whistler?

As frequent world travelers for the past 10 years and a current property owner and visitor to Whistler at least once every year since 1982, my family and I firmly believed Whistler was the best place on earth. However, several recent visits have forced me to rethink our ranking of this world class resort. We have noticed over the last several years, that none of the ski area people make conversation such as how are you doing today, where are you from or how long are you staying. The genuine concern/interest that left the impression your visit was appreciated was refreshing and unique to Whistler. References were volunteered on restaurants, things to do and special weekly activities without exception from most mountainside employees, restaurant and bar employees. No more chit chat, just give me your money and move on.

Also, local’s discount signs abound, which gives the frequent visitor the impression that their money is not worth the same as someone else’s. Has it become acceptable to treat the visitor (tourist) as an outsider rather than recognized as a provider of jobs in Whistler? This is still a resort isn’t it or has Whistler and the growing year round population matured beyond that? Does four to five months of seasonal employment for the majority of the locals during the snow season warrant gouging the visitors as non-locals? These visitors are expected to fill the hotel beds, restaurants and many properties. We have shopped at Nesters for over 10 years, however their local’s only discounts have convinced us to spend our grocery money in Squamish where our dollar is given the exact same value as everyone else’s.

In addition, litter in the stream in front of the Olympic information booth and within spitting distance of city hall (the Gatorade bottle and several cig packs have been floating there since November 2005) leave me with the impression I am still in the city.

Where have you gone Whistler Canada, our family turns our concerned eyes to you.

Gordon Keene

Everett, WA

Opportunity to make a difference!

Highway design has a major impact on driving patterns and the types of accidents that occur, head-on collisions being the most lethal. Ross Walker is the semi-retired highway expert who wrote the book for highway safety design in Canada and has been fighting to get a concrete centre lane barrier to run from West Vancouver to Whistler. Ross, a long time Whistler resident, has driven highway 99 for 28 years, has stated that he could not live with himself if he did not try to achieve this safety measure. Ross estimates that it would add a mere $10,000,000 to the $600,000,000 price tag to construct a concrete barrier in the areas which are not planned to have one. The powers that be would like Ross to go away, unfortunately for them Ross can't be ignored because of his credentials, but without our support Ross will eventually be swept aside like an ant at an Olympic picnic.

A couple of months ago Ross was given permission by our provincial government to look at the highway plans. After studying the plans Ross submitted his report showing that a barrier is possible, a full seven weeks passed and no reply. Peter Milburn, the Project Director of the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project, will be making a presentation at the next Whistler council meeting which takes place on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at Millennium Place. Presentations take place at the beginning of the meeting so it should not take up too much time. I urge all of you that drive Highway 99 to attend this meeting and let Mr. Milburn know how important it is to see a centre line barrier constructed.

A concrete barrier will save lives, perhaps your own.

Stuart Munro

Whistler

It takes pain to grow

In reading about the state of Whistler economic health in last week’s Pique article "2006 budget showing signs of strain," I actually found myself relieved. The article illustrates that our mayor and council are in touch with the issues and understand that while we wait for the financial tools, we need to get busy saving ourselves. They have recognized that we are on a collision course with economic disaster if our income remains low and our expenses stay high.

So how do we increase income and decrease expenses?

Teamwork.

We have an incredible talent pool of business people living in Whistler that have faced far worse conditions than Whistler currently faces. These business leaders have the skills to help the community in its time of need. We as a community need to ask for this help and streamline the process so the help they provide is acted upon quickly and efficiently. In recent years many good ideas have languished in a bureaucratic vortex: "Great idea, we would like staff to do a report on that and we will get back to you."

Paralysis through Analysis.

As for dealing with the problem of low occupancy, any task force would want to analyze occupancy as it relates to the current rental stock.

It would stand to reason that if a segment of the market is not offering a good "value proposition" then it would not rent consistently and should either be rented for less or be taken out of the rental pool.

For example, a condo that was built for $150/square foot may not be worth the money the market is trying to rent it out for. This dated unit contributes to a lack of perceived value, which in turn drives down consumer satisfaction and reduces return visits.

This lack of value is also exacerbated by the fact that a great deal of the product is identical and built at the same time, meaning that the rental product is dating itself in a linear time frame. Owners are now in a bind: they are not making any money and the cost-benefit analysis on the property does not compel the owner to put more money into it.

A solution to this problem is to decommission some of these units and make them into employee housing. This has been done in other resorts with success. The owners save themselves from a costly renovation and they are getting equity out of an asset that is no longer performing – A Win/Win scenario.

At this junction the community should elect to recharge its product offering by building accommodation that is more in vogue, and the most obvious choice would be the Health and Wellness sector. There is a global upswing in this market and it will be the next big trend for aging baby boomers. If we have more pillows in the segments that are booming then we will attract more visitors to the new product and the overflow will drive business to the existing stock. The less time people spend playing board games on rainy days in a shabby pickled oak Miami Vice condo the better.

Which brings us to the next topic that needs to be addressed if we are going to drive occupancy. Whistler plan B! What to do when it rains? This is a broad ranging topic. I will focus on one issue. The tennis club!

As a community, we gave the Hyatt site (tennis club) a great deal of pillows (1,200). We have not yet seen the amenity we negotiated for. The facility should have a nice gym, tennis courts, squash courts, curling rink, and yoga studio. It should be clean and well maintained. In short, it should live up to its original billing.

As for the issue of lowering expenses, I do not have any concrete ideas. I have found the vast majority of staff to be competent and committed to doing their best for the community.

One area that I strongly recommend the RMOW does not look to saving costs is their legal team. There are going to be a great deal of contracts signed for the Olympics and we as a community cannot afford to have our interests poorly represented. We do not want the "dream team" that wrote the covenants on the Hyatt site (tennis club) negotiating any more deals.

Before I sign off I thought I would pitch one more idea to the powers to be (RMOW, Intrawest, and Tourism Whistler). It is as follows:

Currently members of the Canadian and American Armed Forces are risking life and limb. Sadly, many of them are losing both.

With our commitment to the Para-Olympics, it would make sense for Whistler to aggressively pursue the disabled Armed Forces market. They have sacrificed much for their respective countries and deserve to have a good time. (Let’s try and house them in the newer stock.)

I would think one call to my friend John Ryan would have a fleet of sledge hockey sledges awaiting their arrival. Without too much organizational strain, a new event could be created: The U.S./Canadian Armed Forces Sledge Hockey Showdown.

As a community, we should heavily subsidize this event. We should hire a competent PR firm and attract lots of free media attention. We want to become the global destination for disabled athletes.

In paying respect to these remarkable individuals, we as a community will gain some perspective of how truly fortunate we are. Additionally, it would be an olive branch to the U.S. market that does not currently feel welcome.

Ken, it takes pain to grow. We have all had some pain; let’s work together and start to grow and have more fun.

Tim Regan

Whistler

The Ashlu, again

Do you know that the Ashlu can supply enough electrical power for 30,000 to 40,000 homes, 365 days per year? A few kayakers wish to stop this project. How many kayakers use this river and how much will their experience be affected, anyway?

Maybe a community like Squamish should purchase this IPP, so that present and future taxpayers are protected from electrical cost increases. Perhaps they could even sell any surplus power. The payback on a project like this would be 10-12 years.

Should we allow a few kayakers to run the world?

My view is we need to protect ourselves – do something for our children and grandchildren, leave our mark!

At the Rutherford, $1,000,000 was spent on improvements for the kayakers, and I question how many people have used this facility. Imagine how far that $1,000,000 could have gone towards a swimming pool that children and their mothers could be using.

I say leave your mark, let the politicians know how you feel.

Art Den Duyf

Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish

Sledders losing terrain for years

Mr. Mark Grist seems to feel that people who ski tour are being forced out of most of their traditional areas. Let us consider what is really happening out there. Skiers have said that they have always made heavy use of the Chance Creek-Cloudburst area for example. My experience has shown that between the late 1960s to mid 1980s there were few skier days – read less than 15 to 20 skier days. Now if this represents heavy use then this country is not big enough for that type of use. Even after the logging road was constructed, which made access easier, there was virtually no increase in numbers of skiers. However, once sledders made a trail to the Tricouni area in the ’80s, the numbers of sledders mushroomed. Now skiers want to keep sledders out of this area.

It has been my experience that there were few skiers in the Brandywine-Callaghan area yet the claim is "heavy use." Even once there were logging roads pushed into these valleys one seldom saw ski tracks, and then almost never beyond Callaghan Lake or above Northair Mine. Even today skier numbers are very low, and that is on good roads well compacted, when compared to the numbers of other users.

Mr. Grist seems to feel that Mr. Ferguson suggested that skiers should stay in parks, about 20 per cent of area, he says, while sledders want 80 per cent. "Now there are precious few 'elsewheres' to go to." Try being kicked out of Parks (late ’60s), now being kicked out of Sproatt, Olympic areas, Wild Spirit Lands, and increasing numbers of reservoirs. Now, sledders are being reduced to 50 per cent of valley by being kicked out of Parks – e.g. Garibaldi Park alone. Now a further 25 per cent reduction by Watersheds – Sproatt, Olympic use, and Wild Spirit Lands.

On top of that the Back Country Forum has mandated the loss of Seagram Lakes area for significant periods. As well, Callaghan Lake Park and Forum mandated Rainbow-Callaghan Mountain areas are now closed to sledders.

Obviously Mr. Grist has not faced the sharp end of a ski pole, on a narrow trail, on as many occasions as I have. Yet I have on several occasions found skiers overextended and in need of a lift to get home. I've even known skiers to reluctantly admit to appreciating my sled tracks because they were near exhaustion in soft snow.

No, Mr. Grist, skiers are not badly treated. Here they are being greedy in wanting all of our winterland reserved for their exclusive "heavy use", despite the fact that motorized people have improved or constructed trails or parking. Parking! That is another pain for sledders – you see skiers seem to feel other people (read sledders) should arrange places for them to park. And because they grace our parking areas, skiers seem to feel that they do not need to help pay for these beneficial conveniences, nor snow removal where they can park their vehicles. So you see Mr. Grist, this story is not at all one sided. Are you man enough to admit that sledders' points are valid?

Whether sledders are permitted in "your" areas or not, "you" are welcome in sledder areas – even if sledders find ski noises unacceptable.

D.J. McDonald

Squamish