Whistler Bungee Inc.’s three-year quest to provide bungee jumping in Whistler appears to finally be successful.
Whistler Bungee has proposed a commercial bungee jumping operation from a pedestrian bridge the company will build across the Cheakamus River. The bridge, east of Brandywine Provincial Park and south of the Cal-Cheak Recreation Site, will be open to the public at all times. Trails will be built from the bridge to the Brandywine campground and to the Jane Lakes area.
Whistler council gave first two readings to a rezoning application for the bungee jump Jan. 28. A public hearing on the rezoning application will be held this month. Third and fourth reading are still required.
The subject lands are Crown land within the municipality. Whistler Bungee Inc. has applied to B.C. Assets and Lands Corporation for a tenure on the property.
In addition to the bridge, Whistler Bungee Inc. will build a parking area in the abandoned Callaghan gravel pit and privy toilets at the bridge site.
Whistler Bungee Inc. will operate from an office in the village. No advertising or promotion will be allowed at the bridge site.
Squaw Valley name remains
Squaw Valley Crescent will maintain its politically-incorrect name.
Last October municipal staff received a letter from a homeowner on Squaw Valley Crescent suggesting the word "Squaw" was inappropriate. The letter writer noted that the provincial government had, in consultation with the First Nations Summit, removed the word "Squaw" from the provincial list of place names.
The municipality initiated a mail-out to 64 addresses on Squaw Valley Crescent in November to gauge support for changing the name. As of last week, only 15 responses had been received. Ten people opposed the renaming of Squaw Valley Crescent, one was in favour of a name change, and four offered no objections or concerns.
On Monday Whistler council accepted a staff recommendation that the Squaw Valley Crescent name be maintained.
Squaw Valley Crescent, and several other streets in the Creekside area, are named after towns that have hosted past Winter Olympics, including Squaw Valley, California.
