Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Searching for soul — will the real Whistler please stand up

I admit it. I've been biting my tongue of late. I know. It's not what you've come to expect of me. But I thought I'd give it a try for a while.
opinion_altastates1

I admit it. I've been biting my tongue of late. I know. It's not what you've come to expect of me. But I thought I'd give it a try for a while. Instead of getting all riled up over the usual shenanigans in Whistler's Halls of Power™, I've tried to inspire myself from the people I write about.

Like Sarah Jennings and her stirring tales of political engagement. Or Finn Saarinen and his sidesplitting riffs on Whistler in the dark ages. Whether it's Lisa Korthal's mountain adventures or Eric Pehota's, Arne Gutman's views on art or Penny Eder Martin's, doesn't really matter. This coastal corridor is chock-a-block full of soulful, outgoing people who are living and working here for all the right reasons.

Still, I can only take so much. I've been docile too long. Here are a few mountain community issues that have been picking away at me:

From the "Get Over It" file The sanctimonious hand wringing over Whistler's inability to convince ESPN to grant the resort an X-Games franchise for a late-spring TV show about what is essentially a winter event continues to mystify me. Indeed, it demonstrates once again how poorly the denizens in our Halls of Power™ really understand modern media. ESPN, as we all know, is an American network that produces and promotes everything from bass fishing to cage fighting for a (largely) sedentary TV-viewing audience. By the time April comes along, winter is the last thing its viewers want to be reminded of. Much better for ESPN to bet on Brazil and the skimpy bathing suits on Copacabana Beach than Whistler and the risk of a rainy afternoon shooting village life under plastic ponchos...

But it goes much further than that (doesn't it always?). I mean this little faux-step shows me once again how little the people in our HoP™ have integrated the lessons that a young ski pro offered us so many years ago. By defying the odds and producing a highly user-friendly end-of-season party, Doug Perry showed what could happen in Whistler when you combine great salesmanship with a thorough understanding of mountain culture.

His secret? The original Ski and Snowboard Festival was never about trying to reach a mainstream audience. From the very beginning, it was all about gathering the various snowplay tribes together for a year-ending bash that would celebrate all that was edgy and fun and crazy and twisted and happy and irreverent about their world. Leave your tribal prejudices behind, played pied piper Perry, come to Whistler for ten days and share in the global snow buzz. The underlying theme was "participation" — and everyone was welcome: skiers, snowboarders, racers, instructors, photographers, filmmakers, models, wannabe's... whatever. As long as you played some kind of role in the ski/snowboard culture/business/lifestyle continuum, there was something relevant for you at the festival. Essentially, this was the Big Kahuna of season-ending mountain fiestas.

And that was its charm. It was a huge Expo '86-like party. A full–on celebration for those who loved snowplay. Which fit Whistler's personality perfectly back then.

The resort was just coming into its own in the mid-'90s and there were still many riders in North America who had not been here. But the buzz — the feeling that something was going on — was already strong. That's why the WSSF message was so effective: "When your home resort shuts down for the year, come up to Whistler. We're still raging up here. Oh yeah — and the skiing still kicks ass!"

This is where the disconnect lies for me. Somehow over the years, the tenants of our Halls of Power™ have become so entranced by statistics — numbers, numbers, numbers – that they've lost sight of the true goal of the exercise. Meaning? The X-Games bid seems like such a shotgun approach to me. Really —how many of those "millions" of TV couch-potatoes would ever actually travel to the Great White North? Whistler's brand has always been about "doing." It's what we're all about. To me, it's pretty simple. Forget The Big Shows. We need to get back to our core story.

From the "You Gotta Be Kidding" file — I'm sure it wasn't meant for me. But the letter still found its way into my in-tray. Imagine...

It came from one of the big guys at Whistler/Blackcomb and it was addressed to company staff, guests and other people of influence. The gist? WB's commercial heliskiing lease in Garibaldi Provincial Park was coming up for renewal soon. And it would be a huge financial hit to the company, the letter argued, if Whistler Heli couldn't operate in the park. The takeaway? WB needs to keep heli-skiing in the park, the letter exhorted readers. Make your voice heard. The company needs your support.

Say what? I couldn't believe what I was reading. I mean, this is the 21st century, is it not? How can a soi-disant "progressive" company like Whistler/Blackcomb not see the cultural contradiction in maintaining its heli-presence in such a recreational gem as Garibaldi Provincial Park? Can they not understand the changing trends?

Notwithstanding the questionable ethics of trying to promote commercial mechanized travel in one of B.C.'s most cherished wild places, WB's mulish stand on the heliskiing-in-the-park issue masks a much bigger set of numbers.

Quick — what's (by far) the fastest-growing segment in the snowplay market today? Give up? It's the ski-touring segment, the self-propelled set, those consumers who are going out and buying climbing skins and mountaineering boots and split boards and fat skis — and heading into the backcountry. I know. I know. Compared to mainstream snowsliders, their numbers are miniscule. But their numbers are growing every year. And while they may not play a significant role yet in Whistler's economic life, they will soon (though few in our HoP™ really understand that yet).

So where is this new self-propelled generation going to choose to play? Probably not so much on the urban-tinged slopes of Whistler-Blackcomb anymore. Increasingly, the playground of choice will shift to the wilds of Garibaldi Park.

So let me ask you another question. What's a ski-tourer's biggest buzz-kill?

Hah — you know me too well. But yes, getting snaked by a gaggle of heli-transported vacationers can really ruin your day — especially if you spent most of it actually climbing up to your destination.

Besides, in this case it's so unnecessary. Blessed with one of the more extensive operational tenures in Coastal B.C., Whistler Heliskiing boasts more than enough terrain to make do. Sure, its choppers may have to travel a few more miles from time-to-time to gain the goods, but it will survive just fine without its Garibaldi Park landings. So c'mon WB, show your class and do the right thing. Free the Park...

From the "Déjà vu All Over Again" file — Why does everything always have to be so rushed in Whistler? It's like we're addicted to panic. Like we need to feel full-court pressure before we can make a decision. This month the panic buzzword is "WhistlerU." And from the all the noise coming from muni hall, it's like we all have to come to a decision on that subject NOW.

Before I go any further, let me make my position clear. I believe Whistler should consider establishing a post-secondary educational facility here in the valley. The advantages are legion: from creating a more diversified economy to strengthening Whistler culture, to providing an educational alternative for local kids and attracting a broader range of full-time residents. I think it might even help Whistler become more "real" in some ways.

But it has to work for the community! Let's not create an educational white elephant as an excuse for more commercial development. After all, the last thing Whistler needs is another set of cold beds to fill. Or another "social centre" to draw vitality away from the village.

Rather, Whistler Council needs to get creative. And that means thinking differently. For example — why build more bed units when this town is already over-supplied? Given the number of empty hotel rooms in the village, it might be worth looking at the costs/benefits of transforming all that under-functioning space into teaching-cum-living facilities for our prospective academicians (you know, as opposed to building from scratch).

It's not unprecedented. Consider Montreal's George Williams (now Concordia). An urban university born in the mid 1960s, the school offered its first classes in unused office space in the city's downtown core. Cool, eh? And that was half a century ago! Surely, we can come up with a relevant update at Whistler in 2012...

Well, I feel much better after that little rant. Next week it's back to storytelling.