I've been playing disc golf on the Whistler course for over a year now. I would estimate I've played close to 100 rounds in the past calendar year. This includes playing in the winter and occasionally the rain. Long story short, I'm familiar with the course. I've also played for a few years and entered a few tournaments. I'm aware of the Code of Conduct associated with disc golf and I've also read the official PDGA rules. This subsequently gives me enough credibility to write this letter.
The sport of Disc Golf attracts many fun loving kids. This coupled with the resort town of Whistler makes for an interesting and motley assortment of golfers stepping into the local tee box. This year already, due to the nice weather and disc golf's increasing popularity, has seen a number of new players on the course. I'm all for the sport's popularity and I wish everyone the best with their disc golfing futures. For me, where things get off track is with the etiquette and behaviour that some of the new players are bringing to the course.
At the end of last season I had to extinguish a minor fire that had been started up by the 18th tee box. This was clearly from a cigarette or something else. I would suggest you quit smoking, but if you must... PLEASE don't throw your discarded smoke(s) into the woods?! I've worked in wilderness firefighting before and really don't need to waste any more ink explaining the dangers of this.
There is also a (stereotype) attached to the sport that revolves around partying and havin' a time. Hence, many new players bring alcohol with them to play. Unfortunately, many recently have been leaving their empties on the course. Not cool. This is not acceptable in any way, shape or form. Take only photographs... leave only footprints.
It has also been brought to my attention that there were golfers recently who were throwing discs at mountain bikers. Seriously?! I really hope this isn't true.
The municipality has caught word of this and is rightfully upset. Just brutal.
Stop being IDIOTS! Stop leaving empties like some travelling clown show gipsy caravan. Just because you're on a work-vacation or a gap-year from another country doesn't mean the rules don't apply to you.
You're giving disc golfers a bad reputation and creating unnecessary headaches. Stop ruining it for everybody!
Phil Jones
Whistler
The worst is not over
I read the article, "Adventures in Banking," (May 10, Pique) with interest as it is a topic I have been following closely.
Though I agree with (reporter) Andrew Mitchell that rescuing the banks in 2008 was the right way to go to avert greater financial turmoil, I do not share his view that the worst is over.
In fact since that time both public and household debt have continued to rise to unprecedented levels (as a share of GDP) a scary scenario that has been aided by the Bank of Canada forcing interest rates down to all time lows.
That institution along with some banks — and the CMHC itself amazingly — have been "warning" recently about these dangerously high debt levels, but without really doing anything about it.
Some experts are suggesting that Canadian real estate is in a bubble, which has yet to burst, particularly in areas where speculation has taken over.
Having observed the Lower Mainland's "crazy" housing market over the past decade and a half, I would tend to agree with that assessment.
Charles Leduc
Vancouver
Lost Wings
On May 20, on the Duffey Lake Road north of Pemberton, Christian Veenstra and I finished off a nice ski touring day, arriving at the weather station parking lot around 4 p.m.
Having started on a separate logging road spur in the morning, we decided to hide our skis out of sight in a ditch adjacent to the empty parking lot before walking back the short two kilometres to the car together.
While we were walking, someone drove by us and deduced that we had left our skis behind so he/she pulled over into the empty parking we had come from and with a quick look found what he/she was looking for. After loading the two pairs of touring skis into the vehicle, this person drove off, leaving us to find only two pairs of poles and a pair of gloves left behind.
Take my bike, take my bed, but please, not my skis. You've taken this young aspirant ski guide's wings. Those skis have seen me through thick storms, lofty summits and long distances over the vast glaciers of the Coast Mountains.
There is a hole in my heart of having someone take away not just my property, but my ability to explore and visit snowcapped peaks. As any ski tourer would know, the skiing never ends, no matter what the season, but my empty pockets and plank-less feet will ensure that I remain grounded.
To this person, if you can find it in your heart to return our lost skis, there will be no hard feelings. I would even be more than happy to purchase the skis back. The lost pairs are 188cm K2 Coombacks with Plum Guide bindings and 171cm Ski Trabs with telemark bindings containing a mismatch of parts.
Sam Mckoy
Pemberton
Public drinking about society's rules
Here we go again... European liquor laws aren't as relaxed as they appear to Whistlerites that only think they are after a short European vacation.
Scandinavian countries, for example, have much more restrictive laws than Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal or even England and Germany.
All the same the above countries don't allow people to drink everywhere anytime.
Americans posting on a tourist blog about Paris are always surprised to find that drinking wine or beer in a public park, while having a picnic, is NOT allowed by law. In practice the police will allow a quiet looking middle-aged tourist couple with one bottle of wine or beer to drink it, but they do have the right to confiscate it. If a group of young people in the same park have several big bottles of wine and beer, play loud music and are mildly rowdy the police will confiscate the drinks and may fine them.
Drinking alcohol on a bench in the street is frowned upon and would bring dirty looks from passersby and a stern warning by the police.
Having minors present while adults drink alcoholic drinks in a park or, better still, a cafe or restaurant is a no-brainer. It doesn't corrupt children any more than looking at naked statues of both sexes in the same park or paintings of naked anything in museums. It is all part of children learning about life. The wealthy Victorians routinely sent their teenage daughters to Florence where they would learn anatomy by looking at all the statues on the main squares.
The town of Bordeaux, France, faced with too much drunkenness and accidents in the gardens by the waterfront and on several squares, no longer allow the sale of alcohol in grocery stores after 10 p.m. Drinking outside in a big group in the evening is no longer allowed. One can eat and drink (a family, two persons) on the grass during the day, but glass bottles and drinking glasses are not allowed as in the evening too many rowdy young people — sad to say — were breaking them and there were many accidents due to glass shards.
Besides what the law allows or not, there is also what society will allow.
Years ago a young French-Canadian lady visiting Paris for the first time went to a café next to her hotel at 8 a.m., sat on a stool by the bar and, after exchanging the customarily greetings with the barman, asked for one glass of wine. The barman said, "You are not French, are you?" Surprised she said, "How do you know?" He replied, "Your accent... but mainly because no self-respecting French lady would drink wine first thing in the morning. The only ones that would would be either an alcoholic or a street worker that just finished her night shift."
She insisted that she still wanted a glass of wine..."just like in the movies about Paris.' He said, "Not in MY bar," placed a basket of croissants and chocolatines in front of her and asked her if she wanted coffee, tea or hot chocolate, "On the house."
J-L Brussac
Coquitlam
Squamish gondola and rain – do they mix?
What is the Sea to Sky Gondola and why are so many people excited about it?
There have already been questions raised about violation of a covenant placed on the land next to Highway 99, where the base of the gondola is to be located. There have been many concerns raised about the environmental impact. There has been protest at the social and political implications of reclassifying part of small, busy Provincial Park for commercial purposes.
There seem to be very few people concerned with what will actually be constructed at the top. The following is from the Sea to Sky Gondola website: "Phase 2 of the Sea to Sky Gondola project will be designed to accommodate future visitation and deliver additional experiences." What does that mean?
In Business in Vancouver, Trevor Dunn says that he is modelling the gondola on the sightseeing gondola in Banff. After a bit of research about the Banff Gondola, here is what I found.
Banff has been one of Canada's major tourist attractions since the year before British Columbia became a province. Banff National Park has more tourists each year than the entire population of British Columbia. The Banff Gondola has only half the capacity of the proposal in Squamish. It would also take six years for Banff to receive the amount of precipitation that Squamish receives in one year.
I truly do understand why people will want to travel to the top on clear, sunny days. My question is; what is going to be up there to make people want to pay when it is rainy, snowy, windy or when Forest Fire Warnings prevent travel in the backcountry? What will be the attraction at the top on the many days each year when there is no view?
Why are plans for the mountaintop being kept so vague and secretive during these initial stages? Would there be stronger opposition to bisecting Stawamus Chief Provincial Park if we knew what the big attraction would be? Would there be less support if we understood why people would pay to get to the top on a rainy or snowy day?
I believe that there are many questions that still need to be asked and answered before this project proceeds.
Murray Gamble
Squamish
Whistler Fights Back During Daffodil Month
Last month, Whistler fought back against cancer, and we kicked butt! I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all Whistlerites who came out in force and joined the fight against cancer in April with the Canadian Cancer Society Daffodil Month. Whistler volunteers and merchants raised approximately $10,000 during Daffodil Days by offering daffodil flowers and pins through donation throughout the community.
We had a fabulous crew of volunteers who gave their time to sell flowers and pins at our tables during the weekend of April 14 and 15, a lot of whom have been returning to help for many years. Everyone had a story to share of how cancer has touched them.
I was really encouraged by all the yellow daffodil pins I saw my friends and neighbours wearing on April 27, National Daffodil Day. Even though April is now past, I still see a lot of pins being displayed on lapels. Fighting cancer doesn't just happen in April. In order to beat it, the fight takes commitment all year long.
Another Canadian receives a cancer diagnosis every three minutes. Daffodil pins symbolize that no one goes through cancer alone and we are all in this fight to put an end to cancer.
Many people are unaware that donations to the Society go toward vital support services, including programs for individuals seeking cancer information, emotional support, and camps for youth and families living with cancer. All of these services are available to us here in Whistler if needed, and I encourage you to call our toll free number at 1-888-939-3333 if you need assistance, or would just like some information, and someone will be happy to assist you. The Society also provides transportation services and lodge accommodations along with limited, short-term financial assistance for treatment-related transportation and accommodation. Volunteers and staff deliver cancer support programs, cancer prevention information, advocate for healthier communities and fundraise for cancer research.
The Canadian Cancer Society fights cancer by doing everything we can to prevent cancer, save lives and support people living with cancer. Join the fight! "Like" our local Facebook page (Whistler Pemberton Community Team), or email me at jallen@bc.cancer.ca to find out how you can help. When you want to know more about cancer or learn more about the support services available, please feel free to visit our website at www.cancer.ca or visit the Fight Back website at www.fightback.ca
On behalf of the Whistler/Pemberton Canadian Cancer Society, thank you so much for your continued support.
Jude Allen
Volunteer Engagement Leader
Whistler and Pemberton Community Team
Canadian Cancer Society
