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Biz briefs: Garfinkel’s day dwellers pioneer tourist guide

Though you may not have met Rob Oliver, you've certainly seen him. He's one of two people who hangs out in the Garfinkel's entrance during the day.

Though you may not have met Rob Oliver, you've certainly seen him.

He's one of two people who hangs out in the Garfinkel's entrance during the day. While keeping tourists blissfully unaware of the sins committed at night, he and business partner Brendon Edgar operate R & B Resort Bookings, a business that helps tourists plan out their vacations in Whistler - and no, they don't like rhythm and blues.

Though much of their work consists of planning out a pleasant trip for Whistler's visitors, they've recently taken their business one step further.

The two of them have pioneered the "R & B Resort Bookings Guide to Whistler," a free guide that can help tourists seek out the best activities that Whistler has to offer.

The guide starts with 27 pages of activities, stuff like bungee jumping, dog sledding, Ziptrek and snowmobile tours. Then it has a restaurant guide for 13 different eateries throughout town.

For now, Oliver's working on getting the word out about the guide, but he expects big things for it. As it stands you can peruse the guide yourself at www.whistler-bookings.com/preview/.


Dreams in digital
Ever wanted to document your fastest run down the Symphony Bowl? Or your best rail jump in the Nintendo terrain park?

Now you can etch those moments in stone with helmet cams.

Adventure Helmet Cam Rentals is now open for business. It's a company that rents out hands-free helmet cameras to eager skiers and snowboarders who want to document their greatest moments on the mountains. That, or record their most embarrassing moments and hope that friends don't upload them to Youtube.

Elena Mensch, a professional snowboarder and president of Canadian Outdoor Adventures, is the mind behind this new business venture. The cameras she supplies are VholdR camcorders, wearable devices that record hands-free video and weigh just under nine ounces. The cameras can hold up to two hours of "TV quality" audio and video, according to a news release.

This isn't the first time someone's tried this in Whistler, and Mensch knows it.

"I know of one in 2005, and unfortunately it didn't work out for him," she said. "I looked into all the details why and there's a lot of things that we are doing differently. It's different equipment, this is a lot higher end equipment."

The cameras have a choice of hands-free mounts that allow you attach the camera to hour helmet, goggles, even handlebars if you're a cycling enthusiast.

Riders can then upload their videos to VholdR.com with the proper software or automatically download the videos to their computers or laptops.

Rentals are $80 a day and multi-day packages are available too. Anyone who wants to record their grand days in the outdoors can pick up the cameras from Wild Willies in the Pan Pacific Hotel. At the end of the day Adventure Helmet Cam Rentals can burn a DVD of your footage and drop it off at your hotel.


Mombourquette to handle finances for Boutique Hotels
A former vice-president of Tourism Whistler and former municipal treasurer is moving up in the world at another company.

Dianne Mombourquette, who previously served Tourism Whistler both as director of business operations and vice-president of finance and operations, has been promoted to vice-president and chief financial for Boutique Hotels and Resort of British Columbia.

A news release from Boutique Hotels and Resorts credits Mombourquette with "establishing the success" of the resort and her skills in financial management, as well as marketing, sales and business strategy.

Working out of Boutique's Vancouver office, she'll be overseeing the finances of a company about to open Black Rock Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet. The company also owns Whistler's Nita Lake Lodge, the Cove Lakeside Resort in Westbank and the upcoming Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos.