Thank you for supporting the bobsleigh and skeleton World Championships
On behalf of our team at the Whistler Sliding Centre and Whistler Sport Legacies, I would like to thank our community for its support of the BMW IBSF World Championships.
Even though we as the Whistler Sliding Centre were not the main organizer of the event, all our staff, over 150 local volunteers and numerous local partners worked passionately over the past few weeks to make this event successful. We even had workers coming in to support our crew from other sliding tracks, such as Calgary and Königssee, Germany.
Over 2,500 spectators watched the 215 best bobsleigh and skeleton athletes from 33 nations compete in an event that, for the athletes, is only surpassed in importance by the Olympic Games.
People in 20 countries watched the races on TV, including the U.S., China, Russia and most of Europe. We saw numerous track records fall, and Canadian athletes won four World Championship medals: silver in two-man bobsleigh; bronze in two-woman bobsleigh; silver in the team competition; and bronze in four-man bobsleigh.
We want to thank the Province of B.C., Destination BC and Tourism Whistler, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and our local media outlets, especially Pique and Mountain FM for their support. We are especially thankful for the support from our local partners: Sewak's Your Independent Grocer Whistler; Whistler Brewing Company; Slope Side Supply; our neighbours, Whistler Blackcomb; Canadian Wilderness Adventures; and Ziptrek; as well as all the other local partner businesses and organizations who contributed to this event.
Lastly, we want to thank the main event organizer, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.
As a not-for-profit organization with the primary mission to grow sport in the Sea to Sky region, we are proud and thankful to receive this amount of support from resort partners and sponsors, and the community who embrace and get inspired by our sports and events.
Thank you for helping us keep our legacy venues alive and engaged with our sports and community!
Roger Soane
President & CEO, Whistler Sport Legacies
Kudos to the Whistler fire department
On the evening of Feb. 22, we had a houseful of family staying with us. The adults noticed the smell of burning wood in the central areas of the house. We did not have a fire burning and we had not burned any food.
We checked to see if the smell was coming from outside the house, but there was no smoke smell outside or in the garage. Although the smoke detectors were not going off and we could not feel any hot areas in the walls, we were still worried about the wood-smoke smell that was not dissipating, especially with small children in the house.
We collectively decided to call the fire department and ask (for help, though) we were concerned that they would think us a nuisance.
On the contrary, the dispatcher said they would send someone out to check it out.
Three firefighters arrived a short time later. Within a few minutes, they checked through the entire house, using a heat sensor to aid them. Fortunately, they did not find any problems!
The firefighters were very gracious and assured me that it was fine to have called them and that is was correct to have it checked out. They were not upset with us at all.
I sincerely want to thank the fire department for its time and assistance. We did not want to waste valuable time, but thank the department for giving us the gift of putting our minds at ease.
Michele Bailey
Whistler
Get their deets
A young, female, out-of-control (by her own admission) snowboarder slammed full speed into the back of me on March 8 on Tokum run.
I give her credit for stopping and apologizing, but she then took off before I could get her name and hotel.
Not one other person stopped to help.
Turns out I am quite hurt and unable to ski or even walk the rest of our vacation in Whistler.
Unfortunately I have no recourse without this boarder's contact information. I now have medical expenses and have a lift-ticket package I cannot use.
I know she won't read this but perhaps it can help someone else in a collision. Get name and contact information right away!
Cynthia Fravel
Colorado
Celebrating Whistler women
With International Women's Day (past), I find myself once again thinking about all the amazing women that totally rock our town and make it the amazing place it is.
A few years ago I wrote a letter in the wake of Women's Day recognizing four unsung women heroes of Whistler. It was a response to an article, "Women Who Rock Whistler" (Pique, March 20, 2016) that recognized the amazing accomplishments of Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, Sue Adams, Barrett Fisher and Mo Douglas.
It was a great article, but at the time it reminded me of a trip to Africa where all everyone talked about was the "Big 5." I found on that trip it was equally important to recognize some of the lesser-known or "out-of-the-spotlight" animals and I found myself looking for my "Little 5," equally amazing animals that also deserved the limelight.
In my letter I chose to recognize four Whistler women that I felt were overshadowed somewhat by our "Big 4," but who are also deserving of our attention. I really need to spotlight here that nothing about my "Little 4" was "little." They are true superstars whose efforts absolutely "rock" our town!
I have decided that I should make this an annual letter, as last year I mentioned there are probably hundreds of deserving women that should receive more recognition for all they do. I challenge others to do the same. Let's celebrate Women's Day by celebrating and recognizing all the amazing women in our community!
For this year, I would first like to give a shout-out to Dee Raffo. She has been instrumental in bringing attention to rising female stars in our community through both her articles in the Pique and also by putting on the amazing "International Day Of The Girl" events. These events, not only being great fundraisers for the Howe Sound Women's Centre, also bring the young women of our town together to learn about and discuss the challenges they will face as they enter womanhood in our ever-changing world. Sometimes heavy stuff, but so important to talk about. Way to go, Dee!
Speaking of our young ladies, the Whistler Father Daughter Dance celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and the event was unquestionably the best one ever. Massive kudos to Ashlie Girvan and Lana Beattie for taking an already-special night and elevating it to something truly otherworldly. As a father, this event has been an amazing experience to share and cherish with my daughter over the years and I am truly saddened that this is our LAST YEAR! Thanks you both for the amazing memories!
The Whistler Waldorf School could be called Whistler's "Little" school, but the education and experience the students receive there is absolutely massive. This year, Rubeena Sandhu has stepped into the role of Head Of School and has done a truly remarkable job in creating an environment of sheer excellence for the students, staff and parents of the school. It is a huge job with many challenges and you have handled it all with grace, strength and composure!
And finally, (she will be mad at me for this) I would like to recognize Carolyn Crompton. Being Whistler's mayor brings a level of pressure and stress that can be a lot to handle, but being the mayor's wife is even more challenging.
Whether single parenting while Jack is at yet another meeting, or dealing with the spotlight and magnifying lens that comes with the job, Carolyn has been an absolute rock for her family. She does an amazing job of keeping the wheels of the Team Crompton bus rolling and thus allowing Jack to give his all as mayor.
So there you go, four (sorry five ... cheated again like last year ... can't help myself) more amazing women who help make our community as amazing as it is.
Tony Horn
Whistler
DST—it's best for Whistler
At this time of year, I am always amused at the rhetoric I hear on the news about how hard it is for some to adjust themselves to what amounts to a mere change of one hour on a Sunday morning.
Who are these delicate fools? Have they never caught an early flight, gone to a great (late-night) party, never watched a late show, nor ordered decaf and were served regular coffee?
Is there really anybody who is affected by this change? People, if Daylight Saving Time—with a change of only one hour—causes your life pain, stress or as claimed on TV, contributed to your car accident, you have way bigger troubles.
Let's face it, in the fall you get an extra hour of sleep, so it really only costs us the loss of one precious hour of sleep in the spring. You are asking us to change?
The answer to this debate, on whether this practice makes sense or not, should fall in what is best for our province. More selfishly, perhaps, what is best for Whistler? Or what's best for the school kids.
In the U.S., Daylight Saving Time changed in 2005 under The Energy Policy Act, in a way that really helped Whistler, I think.
CNN joked that it should be called the "Halloween Safety Act." Why? It was the makers of candy that lobbied for the fall date, the turning back of the clock to Standard Time, moved from the weekend before Halloween to the weekend after. Kids were safer with more light to trick or treat in and Halloween was therefore more enjoyable, and, yes, more candy was sold.
It was called the Energy Policy Act for a reason. Daylight Saving was designed and adopted by many regions with intelligent thought to allow the hours of the day we are most active to be blessed with the most available sunshine. Why turn the lights on if we don't need to? Why sleep when the sun's up?
With the change that occurred in 2005, something amazing happened in Whistler and contributed significantly to the appeal of spring skiing and all winter sports.
The turning of the clocks forward was moved from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, giving spring break longer daylight hours. Now the snow turns to mush one hour later, après skiing is delightful, and that added little bit of afternoon sun contributes to every aspect of our resort operation: grooming, search and rescue and other non-skiing activities.
The change could be March 1, as far as I am concerned.
When my friends back East come here to snowmobile, I tell them to come after March 15 due to the longer daylight hours. That extra hour of daylight comes in handy if you're lost.
I mentioned the school kids earlier: keep this in mind, if we do not change the clocks back in the fall, the school children would be commuting to school in the dark from November to early February.
So, I say to all those who are complaining about their lost hour of sleep, enjoy the afternoon sunshine.
Lance Bright
Whistler
