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Kicking Horse Resort imports some Whistler expertise

Rod Nadeau came to Whistler with a business degree in 1977 "to be a ski bum." He skied 100 days per season for the first three years and made a living, primarily in construction, during the summer.

But the demand for more tradesmen was hard to ignore so Nadeau got his carpentry qualifications and established a company in 1981. He has built more than 400 luxury homes in Whistler since then and now he intends to use his skills, and those of other Whistler contractors, to help build the Palliser Lodge at Kicking Horse Resort.

The export of Whistler expertise to other resorts in B.C. is not new; Kicking Horse, near Golden, B.C., in particular has benefited.

Nadeau said it is amazing to compare the construction industry and the quality of work demanded of tradesmen here with other parts of the province.

"We take a lot of things for granted because the amazing part is that a lot of people don’t know how to build the kinds of things that have been built around Whistler," said Nadeau.

"We’ll be hiring four or five local contractors to go and work there so we’re exporting the expertise from all areas."

Nadeau also praised other Whistler people, such as Tim Elford for designing the project and Jody Edgar, formerly of Jody’s Internet, for preparing the website for the Palliser Lodge.

President of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Arijan van Vuure said he was "thrilled to welcome an established and seasoned development partner to Kicking Horse."

"Palliser Lodge will take us yet another step forward in realizing our vision of creating a world-class boutique resort," said Vuure.

The Palliser Lodge will be built to a R2000 standard, which means the lodge will be energy and resource efficient. Nadeau said the R2000 standard had been in law for 20 years but the law does not explain how builders are supposed to implement the standard, which is why specialists are often needed for these kinds of developments.

"(Kicking Horse) have a master plan for 5,500 bed units at the moment," he said.

"Whistler has 55,000 bed units so it’ll be about a tenth of the size but it’s the same kind of set up at the base of the mountain."

For more information on the project look up www.palliserlodge.com