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Shoestring Lodge celebrates 10 th anniversary Who: The Porterhouse Quintet What: 10th Anniversary Party Where: Shoestring Lodge When: Saturday, Feb.

Shoestring Lodge celebrates 10 th anniversary

Who:

The Porterhouse Quintet

What:

10th Anniversary Party

Where:

Shoestring Lodge

When:

Saturday, Feb. 9

Copies of Backpackers newspaper and travel magazines line the tables and wooden shelves, as travellers loaf about the lobby recounting their powder day.

Just another day at the Shoestring Lodge, fondly known as the "independent travellers’ friend."

It’s hard to believe its unique ambience has been around for a decade. Actually, the lodge has been around for more than 30 years, next to Highway 99 at the entrance to White Gold. But next weekend the Shoestring Lodge will celebrate its 10 th anniversary in its present incarnation.

"It’s pretty rare you walk into a Whistler hotel and find people playing cards by the fire," said Ben Horne, proprietor since 1992.

He and a business partner, interested in investing in a B.C. resort town, bought the property from Nelson Skalbania.

The anniversary will be celebrated in style, with music from the Porterhouse Quintet, a funk and jazz quintet from Portland, Ore, which will perform in the Boot Pub.

The Boot is just one of the many faces of the Shoestring Lodge, which also contains a popular restaurant, Gaitors Bar and Grill, and The Boot Cold Beer and Wine Store.

The lodge has 46 rooms and during peak season each room can house four people in bunk beds. It’s old-style Whistler accommodation.

"We serve a niche market in Whistler, and the lodge is a good business model," said Horne.

"Not many (hostel) rooms in Whistler have en-suite bathrooms, so the complex is a kind of ‘classy hostel’ that’s been Whistler-ized."

And at $34 a night it’s a steal of a deal, considering guests can ski 5,280 vertical feet on a daily basis.

Whistler has long been known for its unbeatable outdoors, but it’s also known for some great guitar riffs and a pint. At one time, before there were loonies, beer at the Boot was sold for less than a dollar. As part of the anniversary celebration patrons will be able to enjoy old time value again.

A whole lot of music goes down at the Boot, and sometimes patrons can get a glimpse of a band soon-to-be famous.

"We paid Nickelback $400 to play at the Boot last year, and now they’re making $100,000," said the Boot’s manager Paul McNaught,

"We do assist bands, and I get loads of calls every week. I have to turn people away."

Chart magazine, Canada’s music publication, has since featured the band from Hanna, Alberta as their Artists of the Year.

And Nickelback is the first Canadian band for 30 years to hit U.S. rock radio with a hit single, How You Remind Me.

McNaught, formerly of Oz, has also been with the Boot since 1992.

He remembers hammering nails during renovations of the bar the first year. The shag carpet was removed and replaced with wooden floors. New décor, including a Wall-of-Fame for band photos, work together to recreate an "Aussie outback" bar. A look which remains to this day.

McNaught ran Gaitors for two years, but returned to manage the Boot Pub in 1999.

Eli Milenkoff, currently managing at The Shack, was previous manager and right hand man for Horne during Horne’s early years developing the lodge.

Today the Boot also showcases local talent, including Huskavarna, Slush, Solid Earth Band, and new singers at Open Mic Night every Thursday, hosted by Greg Reamsbottom of the Hairfarmers. An alternative music series has also been running for the last three months, providing a backdrop for both punk and indie bands.

The Boot Pub has other claims to fame. It is the one and only place for "adult entertainment" in a town that likes to play.

The best part about running the lodge for the last decade said Horne is, "the young and mobile crowd."

"(It) means there is always a variety of people on hand, and they’re really friendly."

THE SHOESTRING LODGE: Ownership In Brief

• David Andrews and wife Irene first opened and ran the Lodge in 1966.

• The original plot of land was 10 acres and cost $10,000. In 1973 it sold for $350,000.

• In the early years the Purple People Eater bus shuttled skiers from the Lodge to the Creekside Gondola.

• In 1970 the Andrews added a beer parlour, one of only three or four places to get a pint in Whistler at the time.

• From 1978 through 1989 Bob Brant managed the lodge and pub for father Dr. David Brant, who owned it until 1980.

• A German couple then took over between 1980 and 1983. The Brants bought it back in 1983 and kept the place going until 1989.

• Nelson Skalbania owned the Lodge from 1990 to 1992. Horne then bought the Lodge in 1992.

Bands @ the Boot Pub

2001 - Shocore-Samsara-Black Halos-Flow Motion-The Dears-Goya-The Dears-Strong Like Tractor-1998-People Playing Music-Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang-1996-Econoline Crush-1995-Hard Rock Miners-Downchild Blues Band-Green Room.

Voted by Pique Newsmagazine readers as Best Place to See a Live Act, Best of Whistler 2001