Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Letters to the Editor for the week of April 12th, 2012

Strangers Saved My Life
opinion_letters1

After hearing about all these deaths my coworkers encouraged me to share my story to help boost morale around Whistler, and hopefully lead people to make safer choices, whether it's the location they're riding or choosing not to ride alone.

Less than a month ago, on a day just like last Wednesday (when the alpine was first opened after we got pounded with 46 inches), I went head first into a creek hole.

We were riding Million Dollar Ridge and ended up riding on top of a creek. The creek was covered but there were still a lot of holes, and the guys even stopped at the top of the creek to say, "Look we are going to have to go down this creek, so let's just go slow and stay together because there's a ton of holes."

I'm behind both of them and we are about halfway down the creek when I fall, which wasn't a big deal, but when I went to flip my board over my head to get onto my toes, the second I rolled backward my entire body just dropped and I was being anchored by my snowboard (the hole was covered by the fresh pow). My entire body was buried in the snow and from above all you could see was my board. It was basically like being in a treewell, the more you move to more you sink and the more snow drops on you weighing you down even more, except there's no tree to grab onto to try and maneuver. My goggles and toque came down over my mouth/nose and were suffocating me. I was finally able to get a little air pocket to breath but the more I moved the further I went down and more snow kept falling in my mouth making it impossible to breath.

The guy that was closet to me was 20 metres away and it was deep pow that he had to trek through to get to me. I finally heard my saviors and they got a hold of my arms and were screaming that they got me and it's OK, but they couldn't pull me out because I was so far down and there was a ton of snow covering me, weighing me down, and my board was still attached...and I could hear them starting to panic.

They were able to finally dig my head out but even more snow was getting pushed down my throat as they tried to clear my airways. Finally as soon as they got my bindings off my feet they were able to turn me right side up, I was so far down in the creek that I was standing in water. The three of us just looked at each other in shock and disbelief. If I had been alone there's no way I would have been able to get out, I was upside down and with every movement I sank further down — it was all fresh pow so there was nothing to grab or use to pull yourself up. They were both riding ahead of me and if the one guy hadn't seen me go down out of the corner of his eye I would have suffocated to death just like the man who recently died in a treewell.

The guys that saved my life I had just met that morning through a mutual friend (who had to leave for work and I kept riding with them). It was the scariest moment of my life

You never know, the random people you meet along the way may end up saving your life.

Sarah Masseria

Cleveland, Ohio

Vancouver Coastal Health committed to Whistler?

Vancouver Coastal Health is not giving the Sea to Sky corridor the attention and commitment to optimal health care services that it deserves.

Clare Ogilvie, in her recent editorial (Pique April 5, 2012) highlights the debacle with the Whistler Health Care Centre heliport, a project that is long overdue for completion. The much-touted $100,000 commitment by VCH for support staff to operate the heliport was mandated by Transport Canada. That position had to be created.

A long overdue staffing review at the WHCC has not resulted in any commitment to provide extra staff during the increasingly busy bike park season.

Several people, including the president of the local medical staff, have written about the impending retirement of Dr. Pat McConkey, one of two local orthopedic surgeons practicing in the corridor. To date, VCH has not been forthcoming on plans to replace this valuable and necessary position. The choices seem to be a rotating pool of orthopedic surgeons from Vancouver. This type of care often results in poor consistency with follow up care. The better choice, supported by the Whistler and Squamish physicians is to hire a LOCAL orthopedic surgeon who is committed to the community they are practicing in.

Vancouver Coastal Health has a chance to somewhat redeem itself by making the right decision and investing in a LOCAL orthopedic surgeon to replace Dr. McConkey. The Whistler and Squamish physicians, who know our patient population the best, have strongly recommended that the most appropriate and consistent care would be provided by having a local surgeon. They envision the STS corridor as a centre for excellence for orthopedic care. With the excellent support service in physio, massage etc. our community is very well positioned to see that vision become a reality. The corridor health care foundations are willing and anxious to support an expanded orthopedic program. But that vision needs strong leadership to see it to fruition.

Is Vancouver Coastal Health visionary enough to see the potential revenue generation that could occur? Is VCH willing to re-invest some of the non-resident income that is generated from the WHCC back into the community? Do they care enough about what is best for the health and well-being of the Whistler community to invest in the STS corridor and commit to a LOCAL orthopedic surgeon?

We are told a decision will be made by the end of the month. I encourage all of you who care about this incredibly valuable service to write to Kim Woodward, Chair of the Board of Directors of Vancouver Coastal Health. board.chair@vch.ca

Anne Townley

Whistler

Cheakamus Community Forest

Thank-you to Ms. (Pina) Belperio for her interest in the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF), but her letter suggests that we need to do a better job explaining how the CCF is a benefit to the community and what we will lose if logging goes back to private companies (Pique April 5, 2012)

The CCF Board clearly understands the tourism benefits of the forest, and is working to reduce impacts and develop partnerships with local stakeholders like WORCA and commercial operators.

Logging is not new in the Whistler area and has not stopped in the last decade. The RMOW in particular got involved in the CCF so that it would have control over where logging takes place around Whistler, instead of simply hoping that Ministry of Forests (MOF) logging plans wouldn't negatively affect our community, environment, views and tourism. Control is the key.

As Ms. Belperio recommends, the CCF has had many discussions with the MOF on reducing the annual allowable cut of wood. An early win was to reach agreement with the MOF that only 20,000 cubic metres of wood per year would be cut from the CCF land base. A new analysis will be done next year.

Her letter also states that the revenue generated is not worth cutting down the trees. Revenue does not go directly to the individual partners, but back to improvements in the forest such as upgrading roads, trails and recreation sites that our residents and visitors use a lot. For example, this summer improvements will be made to the Ancient Cedars trail and signs. This type of work has not taken place for over a decade, but the CCF can act as the lead plus receive outside funding. A private logging company will not do this for our community.

She also raises concern that logging will move to prominent areas like Emerald and Alpine Meadows. The CCF has determined that the area between Function Junction and Emerald is off limits to commercial harvesting and will only see activity in cooperation with the municipal wildfire management plan or if there is a serious forest health threat similar to the pine beetle outbreak.

She also takes exception to the proposed carbon management program. As she states, "real" carbon-saving steps include logging less, allowing trees to grow older before cutting and expanding logging-free buffers. All of these steps are included in the CCF's proposed program. And if the RMOW chooses, it would allow our local government to buy its carbon offsets locally and benefit our local community.

Through the ecosystem-based management plan in combination with provincial regulations, sensitive ecosystems are identified and being protected beyond the "business as usual" scenario. Currently 48 per cent of mature forests (140 – 250 years) and 66 per cent of the old forest (>250 years) within the CCF are not available for harvest. That is more protection than would exist if private companies regain control over logging in this area. As more of the second growth gets to the age where it can be cut, the CCF will continue to shift toward those types of trees.

The CCF welcomes thoughts and input from the community. For more information, please visit www.cheakamuscommunityforest.com.

Peter Ackhurst, chair, Cheakamus Community Forest

Artists take a bow

The Whistler Arts Council staff and board would like to thank all of the artists for attending the artist meeting last Tuesday, April 3 at the GLC.

We had a great turn out of over 75 artists and received some excellent feedback, which is being compiled and will be available to community members in our May newsletter. We would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the GLC and Chili Thom for hosting the event.

We look forward to hosting more gatherings in the near future through focus groups and artist meetings to maintain an ongoing conversation about the continued growth and development of arts and culture in Whistler.

Whistler Arts Council

Whistler

Poo Parade April 14

It is that time of year again; we are seeing the wonderful signs of spring coming out all over the place.

With this comes the unfortunate uncovering of dog poo melting on the sides of the valley trails. Now, before you think this is the typical letter about the disgust and neglect of dog owners and the leavings of their canine companions, please hear me out. Being a happy dog owner in Whistler and one who walks the valley trails frequently, I too find this sight a disappointing one and have come to the conclusion that something needs to be done.

On Saturday the 14 of April at 8:00 a.m., I will be walking the trials from Alpine to Creekside with a wheelbarrow and a shovel, scooping any of the discarded wafers that I can find. I will bag and dispose of these properly removing the unsightly and environmentally damaging matter for all those who enjoy the early valley trail use.

I, in turn, invite any business(s) to put out a sponsorship to this worthy cause. For every biscuit that is picked up, the business can donate $1.00 to WAG. Anyone interested in this can contact me at geoffolsson@hotmail.com. Now, for only one minor request, for all those dog owners who "forgot" the poo-bags please respect this action — if I can pick up all those discarded fudge bars, then can you in turn remember to do what you need to do to respect and follow through with keeping our environment and trails clean and feces free for the foreseeable future.

Coho (my dog) and I look forward to your support. Thank you.

Geoff Olsson

Whistler

Sounds good, but who would clean up B.C.'s north coast?

Say... in January of 2019 at 3:43 a.m. a loaded crude carrier leaving Douglas Channel experiences a brief mechanical fault followed by a period of disablement. With the onset of strong Westerly winds at the entrance to Hecate Strait the 160,000 ton ship carries momentum drifting dangerously close to Ness Rocks. Escort-assist tugs struggle back against combined seas to reach the site. Within minutes both of the tankers hulls are breached by the initial impact with the rock and following wave action. Luckily, only one fifth (440,000 barrels) of the total volume is lost, but from spill response modelling at that season and location we can predict that it will spread 175 kilometres coating over 450 kilometres of shoreline along Hecate Strait from Klemtu to Browning Entrance with residual oil reaching North to Prince Rupert.

The prospect of such a catastrophic event has instilled fear in many British Columbians. Enbridge has worked diligently with our federal government to help evaluate and mediate the risks by agreeing on the installation of navigational aids and by detailing spill response strategies that could be put into action.

The company has also repeated to the public that it will take action in the event of an incident, but there has been very little media attention towards who will bare the real cleanup costs. Enbridge is only liable for the pipeline and legally holds no responsibility for any oil spills that occur beyond the terminal, it is the independent ships owner who would be held accountable.

Since the cleanup costs of a large spill would cripple the ships insurer the IMO 1992 Civil Liability Convention has limited the liability of the "responsible party" to $140 million. After this amount has become exhausted the affected state can access $317 million from the 1992 Fund Convention, another $155 million from Canada's Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund and potentially $750 million from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Supplementary Fund all adding up to $1.36 billion. This is a substantial amount, but when put in comparison with historical spills in North America the taxpayers will be hit hard to make up the difference. The average cleanup cost of small shoreline spills has been approximately $9,000/barrel lost. The famous Deepwater Horizon blowout has cost over $10 billion. The eight per cent recaptured from the Exxon Valdez cleanup cost $3.8 billion and another $5 billion to compensate directly affected victims.

I hope that this project can be redesigned to go through Port Metro Vancouver or at the very least be re-routed through Prince Rupert. Exporting crude from Kitimat is not a novel idea. In 1977 at the height of the west coast salmon fishery the same route was proposed and rejected after Transport Canada concluded that the socio-economic impacts of a spill would be too serious. I am a proponent of improving trade with Asian Pacific markets but we need to develop a better support system from Enbridge so that whatever political party is at the helm in Ottawa at the time has the resources to handle such an incident.

Matt Bayley

Whistler

Neil Falkner legacy turns 10

Neil Falkner, a popular Whistler Ski Patroller, mountain biker, motorcyclist and friend to many, died on a skiing expedition in the Wapta Icefields, Alberta Rockies on April 12, 2002 — 10 years ago this week. With a few of his friends, Neil's mother established the Neil Falkner Outward Bound Legacy Fund that has, since 2003, a year after his death, sent a total of 15 at-risk youth on challenging Outward Bound Wilderness programs. Some of you will remember the Neil Falkner Fundraising BBQ and Putting Tournaments that took place at Riverside Campgrounds every summer for four years after Neil died. Now, since several of his Whistler friends who organized the events have moved away, fundraisers are held in Vancouver, organized by Neil's family, and have become Swing Dance Benefits. The Legacy continues to build and grow.

Neil's family is grateful to Whistler Blackcomb for helping them get the Outward Bound Legacy Fund started and to several Sea to Sky businesses that continue to support the fund with donations to the silent auctions that are held alongside the Annual Swinging Fundraiser in Vancouver. Young people north of Whistler in the Mt. Currie and D'Arcy areas continue to receive Outward Bound Scholarships as well as youth in East Vancouver where Neil attended high school when his mum sent him on a 25-day Outward Bound Program in 1986.

The kids who benefit from his legacy may be experiencing difficulties at home, school or in their communities and this gift helps these teens transform attitudes, behaviours and self-beliefs for the positive. Everyone who has received Neil's scholarship has completed their program and returned to their communities with leadership skills and a renewed sense of their own potential.

This year Neil's legacy will be made available to two more youths, a girl from Mt. Currie and a boy from East Vancouver, bringing the total number of recipients to 17. Neil's family and friends have seen these kids develop strengths and skills in much the same way as Neil did. One of the kids who received the scholarship in 2008 attends the Swing Dance Fundraiser every year and does a hip hop performance. You can see one of Tony's performances on the website — www.neilfalknerlegacy.ca

On Saturday, April 14, Neil's mum, Judy Lynne, brother, Scott, and sister, Lucy will be in Whistler to remember Neil and his passion for his job as a ski patroller. Towards the end of the day, around 4:30 p.m., they will be in Dusty's, his favourite pub, and would love to see some of his friends and Whistler Mountain colleagues. Neil has a nephew now. Connor is just over two-and -a-half and it would be so great for him to meet people and learn about the life of the uncle he never met.

Friends and Family of Neil Faulkner