Alright folks – anything to add?

by Jim Sutherland

A protocol guide just issued by the City of Vancouver has people from all over mocking my town. Well, let’s just see how brightly our 2010 Winter Olympics shine compared to those of other cities, where residents didn’t know to match their trousers and socks.

In any case, the one thing the city’s 141-page guide fails to do is offer guidance to visitors. Surely they’ll be as anxious to fit in as we are to appear litter trained. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the Top-5 Vancouver Don’ts.

1. Don’t call it “Van” – or “Vancity”

‘Vancity” is a local credit union. “Van” is the groovy west coast city your parents were trying to hitch to until that guy in the pickup asked them if they were looking for a job and they ended up spending the summer in Medicine Hat. Nowadays we call it Vancouver.

2. Don’t assume anyone will know what you mean when you order a “double double”

Tim Hortons arrived in Vancouver only a few years ago. Which means Starbucks and its dark-roast brethern dominate the local caffeine trade and dozens of Asian variations rule the market for cheap lunches, so the eastern-based chain remains a curiosity frequented mainly by Canadians from away. Locals are not immune to the allure of coffee that’s sweet and creamy, but they take it in the form of cappucino and a couple dozen other fancy-pants variations with names precisely callibrated to annoy traditionalists and curmudgeons.

3. Don’t venture off-piste

This warning is especially crucial for Europeans, who tend to think of out-of-bounds as an exhilarating shortcut to their favourite bistro in the charming village one valley over. But there’s only untamed wilderness north of Vancouver’s three north shore ski mountains, and fenced off slopes often end in steep box canyons, where rescue teams will eventually find you, but not necessarily before you succumb to the elements.

4. Don’t forget to order a meal with that beer

Actually, you will be able to have a drink on its own during the Games, though for a while things looked grim for anyone so rash. The problem lay with the province’s ancient liquor licensing laws, which mostly restricted bars to downtown hotels, leaving restaurants to serve the same purpose — and the drinks — pretty much everywhere else. Then in 1999 a provincially mandated requirement to order food with alcohol was finally rescinded. But last October, Vancouver city council almost enacted a new bylaw that would have required at least 50 per cent of restaurant revenue to come from food. Only an industry outcry prevented an Olympics that would have made Salt Lake City’s seem like a lost weekend.

5. Don’t be bothered by a little rain — but fear, fear, fear the snow

Inversely to the rest of Canada, Vancouver doesn’t stop — or even slow down — for rain, but it skids to a long, greasy halt when flakes fall from the sky. The causes are sixfold (at least): ultra-wet snow; temperatures around the freezing mark; hilly streets; a dearth of snow ploughs; a lack of snow tires; drivers in a state of panic and perplexment. If there’s a consolation here, it’s that by February the worst of the winter monsoons are usually over. In theory.

Not that anyone really needs a good reason to jet off to Paris. But Harry Kambolis and Shannon Ronalds had two

Kambolis, the owner of three top-rated Vancouver restaurants (C restaurant, Raincity Grill, and nu restaurant + lounge), and Ronalds, Kambolis’s business associate in the Contemporary Ocean Products line of sustainable food items, have just flown back from the international SeaFood Summit, held this February in the “City of Lights. (Yes, we restrained ourselves from giving this article the title: “Something’s Fishy in Paris”). 

See the rest of this article at cityfood.com

by Andrew Findlay

Somewhere in the primordial recesses of a skier’s mind is the memory of a ramshackle operation where the lifts barely limp from one day to the next. There are no double de-caf lattes whipped up by young baristas with Australian accents; instead, hearty bowls of chile con carne are served by a swarthy woman in a white apron who looks like she fells old-growth Douglas firs in her spare time. In other words: this place hasn’t been branded into some generic, four-season destination of over-inflated real estate with slick high-speed lifts whisking skiers to the top of runs as manicured as pressed corduroy slacks. And believe it or not, it exists.

Whenever I need to ground myself with the soul of skiing, I head north 120 km Campbell River to Mount Cain – tucked into the rugged folds of Vancouver Island. Run by a non-profit society, Cain has a total complement of one glove-shredding rope tow and two T-bars. And it’s here at 10 a.m. one morning this week that I stand with my cohorts: Guy, a pilot, and Jan, a local mountain guide, at the “golf clubs ” – a knob of rock that’s a short bootpack above the top T-bar. Snow ghost trees are laden with fresh snow. Below us, the west bowl is a tantalizing sight, unblemished by a single track. Soon familiar faces join us: Tod, Song and a few other bushy-bearded folks with duct tape holding their gloves together, skiing enthusiasts I meet only when I go to Cain.  One by one we drop into a narrow chute funneling into the bowl. Calf-deep snow curls from ski tips, frosting our faces. And together we relish in the shared euphoria of a ski hill that is too far from anywhere to be of interest to real estate speculators. This is where the soul of skiing still dwells.

B.C.’s BEST AutoObesity program receives its first “car donation” – while the donor hopes to lose his “afternoon-coffee-hour gut”

by Steve Beck

Since BEST – B.C.’s Better Environment, Sustainability and Transportation centre – launched its AutoObesity program in December 2009, it has had hundreds of inquiries, such as “How does the program work?” and “Who can participate?” And Drew Lemen’s recent AutoObesity experience not only answers most of these questions, it’s a great case study of a family that has taken the plunge and gone from being a two-car to a one-car household. We interviewed Lemen (pictured below), a retired public servant, at his home in south Richmond, B.C. – after he realized that with two cars for just two people, his household had one more vehicle than necessary. The result: Lemen has donated one of them to BEST.

MyWW: How do you donate a car?

DL: I just called up BEST and they met me at my condo and explained how AutoObesity works. As I was already committed to making a change, I didn’t need convincing as much as some help making the change, which is what the AutoObesity program is about.

MyWW: Did you get anything in return?

DL: A charitable tax receipt, based on my car’s fair market value (less the value of any benefits); plus a “BEST Mode Shift Membership” for transportation planning. I also get other assistance for making the switch, such as a Car Co-op and/or Zipcar membership, bicycle rain gear or safety gear if I need it, safe-cycling courses, a discount on an ecycle and transit passes. I haven’t decided yet exactly what help I need, but I have 30 days from the time of my donation to figure it out, given that the AutoObesity program is tailored specifically to the family or household making the car donation.

MyWW: It’s not easy giving up the extra wheels, eh?

"The average car costs between $8000 and $10,000 per year to own and operate, taking into account insurance, licensing, financing, maintenance, fuel and depreciation of value. So anything that saves me that much money is worth looking into." –Drew Lemen

DL: Actually, the decision was fairly simple. Having my own car is convenient, but it also has its downside. I’d really like to lose this afternoon-coffee-hour gut, for example, and cycling and walking regularly will help me do that.

MyWW:Any other payoffs?

DL: Even eliminating just one car helps reduce traffic and noise outside our apartment. I’d like the neighbourhood to be more livable, and this is a step toward that, something I can do myself. It’s hard to see so much of the public space around here dedicated solely to cars – without the same consideration for  walkers, cyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers. Giving up my car will help make the streets a little friendlier. It also helps make the air cleaner. I want to do my bit to fight climate change and reduce my GHG footprint.

MyWW: And the cost savings aren’t too shabby, either, right?

That was one of my prime motivations. In fact, it was the cost-breakdown analysis of car ownership on the AutoObesity website (based on data from the CAA 2009 Driving Costs pamphlet) that eventually convinced me to give up my car altogether and start biking and taking transit. The average car costs between $8,000 and $10,000 per year to own and operate, taking into account insurance, licensing, financing, maintenance, fuel and depreciation. Anything that saves me that much money is worth looking into, and I’m definitely looking forward to saving that money every year. Plus, it’s a lot easier to donate my vehicle and do some good, rather than deal with the hassle and uncertainty of trying to sell it on my own.

MyWW: So how’s the “gut-reduction” program going?

Ha! Well, I’m still commuting twice a week to Kitsilano and once a week to Burnaby to tutor English to ESL high-school students, which is about  100 km per week. But now I’m using transit or cycling and walking. So it’s different, definitely. Still, I’m enjoying getting more fresh air and exercise, without having to drive to the beach or the gym. I also like how my travel options have actually increased. When people become car dependent, they tend to see their vehicle as the only viable option for doing chores, going to appointments, commuting, going out to dinner, for everything. Now I’ve got more flexibility. So yeah, “it’s hard to let go.” But after taking a couple of weeks to “say goodbye” to the old wheels, I’ve let ‘em go.

Photos courtesy Martin Gunst, BEST AutoObesity program coordinator

It’s always wise to contemplate the big picture – i.e., the history books – when bemoaning the latest Olympic “crisis”

by Kerry Banks

Can you have a Winter Olympics without snow? A lot of people in the Lower Mainland are starting to wonder. After all, this has been one of the mildest winters in recent memory and the snow that fell on the local mountains in November appears to have been completely washed away by persistent rains. Recent news reports have suggested that Olympic organizers were considering moving the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events from Cypress Mountain to another location. However, Olympic officials deny that is not the case, and insist that everything is under control. “We have no intention of moving from the site,” declared Tim Gayda, VANOC’s vice-president of sport.

Gayda also surprised reporters by advising, ‘There really is no snow shortage. Cypress has an exorbitant amount of natural snow at higher elevations. It’s free, it’s available and it’s getting used.’

Gayda also surprised reporters by advising, “There really is no snow shortage. Cypress has an exorbitant amount of natural snow at higher elevations. It’s free, it’s available and it’s getting used.” By “getting used,” he means that snow is being transported in from higher elevations and from Manning Park to ensure there’s enough snow cover so that the six skiing and snowboarding events scheduled for the mountain will proceed as planned. If necessary, straw bales and wood forms will be used as foundations for the snowboarding halfpipe and other jumps and obstacles in some of the skier and boardercross courses.

Meanwhile, 35 snow guns continue to blast artificial snow over the mountainsides, producing a frozen, winter-white effect for spectators and what high-performance athletes will recognize as a good base for sliding. Man-made snow is evidently “more resilient” than real snow because it lasts longer. Since November, Cypress has converted almost 100 million litres of water into fake snow.

It may not be an ideal situation, but then climatic conditions are often problematic during the Winter Olympics. At the 1928 Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the opening ccremonies were held in a howling blizzard, but shortly afterwards the weather turned so mild that organizers considered cancelling the games outright. In fact, the final of the 10,000-metre speedskating race was terminated, because the outdoor rink turned to slush, though the 50-kilometre cross-country ski race went ahead even though the temperature was a balmy 25 degrees Celsius.

Warm winds, rain and a lack of snow caused a similar crisis at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Things were so bad that the government called in the Austrian army to save the day. Soliders carved out 20,000 ice bricks from a mountaintop and transported them to the bobsled and luge runs. They also carried 40,000 cubic metres of snow to the alpine venues and then packed the white stuff onto the slopes by hand and foot.

In 1988, Calgary’s Olympic organizers ignored their own consultants’ advice not to build facilities in exposed areas, and paid for it when snow-eating Chinook winds blew in.

In 1988, Calgary’s Olympic organizers ignored their own consultants’ advice not to build facilities in exposed areas, and paid for it when snow-eating Chinook winds blew in. The windy weather cost the 1988 Winter Games more than $1 million in ticket refunds. Because there was so little snow, tons of white silica sand was trucked in from B.C. to make the surface of McMahon Stadium look snow-covered for the opening ceremonies. The Chinooks destroyed the inflatable Rocky Mountains used during those same ceremonies, raised temperatures and made scheduling a monumental headache. The 90-metre ski jump alone was cancelled seven times. The initials of Canada Olympic Park (COP), the wind-lashed site of the ski jump, bobsled and luge, came to stand for “Cancelled or Postponed.” All of the alpine events took place on artificial snow, and the gusting winds sent a ski jumper flying into a camera tower.

In 1998, at Nagano, Japan, a combination of fog, driving rain and snowstorms wreaked havoc with its alpine skiing programme, with the showpiece men’s downhill event on the opening Sunday having to be postponed three times. The storms also caused scheduling nightmares, epic traffic jams and, no doubt, innumerable sleepless nights for Olympic organizers.

But all of those Olympics continued to the finish, which is exactly what will happen here, even if it requires a lot of improvising, extra work and only a bronze medal for VANOC from the David Suzuki Foundation for its sustainability efforts (raking in snow by helicopter not being the most sophisticated environmental option). After all, this week, ever-optimistic Olympic officials vowed that all of the Games’ snow venues will be “pristine,” “white” and “magical” – despite meteorologists insisting there is little hope for much new snow.

by Dave Quinn

Kicking Horse Resort's big-mountain triathlon: Wrangle the Chute, February 6 and 7.

Not only do competitors have to style their way down some of Kicking Horse’s extreme, leg-burning chutes, they then face a massive terrain park where the sky is literally the limit for spins and tricks. After that, competitors gear up for the final and most gruelling challenge of this big-mountain triathlon – the bucking bronco. And you can be sure that at a resort with a name like Kicking Horse, this is no easy ride.

To view the huckin’ and buckin’ action in person, get yerself to Heaven’s Door Yurt in Crystal Bowl at high noon on February 6 and 7. And if all that skiin’ and bronc’ ridin’, live DJ’s and western-style bar-b-q don’t tucker you out and fill you up, you can always hit the Texas Hold’em poker contest at the Day Lodge, starting at 6 p.m. 

Yippee Kai-yai-yay!

Photos courtesy Andrew Wheelhouse Photos: moonrakerphotography.com

by Graeme McLaughlin

Recent publicity surrounding Toyota’s recall of vehicles with faulty accelerator pedals is a good reminder of how important it is to know what to do if your accelerator pedal ever gets stuck or your vehicle accelerates for no apparent reason. If you ever find yourself in that situation, experts recommend the following:

Gas pedal stuck? Stay calm, but act quickly

1. Keep looking at the road ahead. Looking away from the road to see what’s wrong with the pedal greatly increases your chances of crashing.
2. Be sure your foot is completely off the accelerator. Some crashes caused by stuck accelerators have later been found to be the result of an honest mistake (i.e., drivers thought they were pushing on the brake).
3. Put the vehicle’s transmission in neutral or, if the vehicle has a standard transmission, depress the clutch. Do not turn off the engine. Doing so will cause the power assist to the steering and braking to disengage – and make it difficult or impossible to steer and harder to brake. Plus, turning the key too far could possibly lock the steering wheel.
4. Steer the car to a safe place and stop, then turn off the engine.
5. If stopped by the side of a road, turn on emergency flashers and put out reflective triangles. If you’re unable to get the vehicle off the roadway, allow it to come to a stop and turn on emergency flashers.
6. Do not restart the vehicle.
7. Call for help using a cell phone, or wave down a passing vehicle, if safe to do so.

Sticky gas pedals: Prevening the problem

Vehicle owners need to check regularly for any floor mats and/or loose wiring that may be interfering with pedal action (accelerator, brake or clutchpedals). And drivers who experience rapid or unwanted acceleration while driving should have the vehicle checked immediately by a qualified auto technician. Owners of recalled vehicles need to also adhere to any notices as soon as possible to ensure the safe operation of their vehicles.

B.C.’s BCAA and other transportation experts emphasize that drivers who choose to operate a recalled vehicle and notice problems with its accelerator pedal (i.e., hard to depress, slow to return, inconsistent operation) should pull over immediately at the nearest safe location, shut off the engine and contact their dealership. Alternatively, those motorists with roadside assistance memberships, including BCAA members, can telephone for immediate roadside or towing assistance.

While most Kootenay golf courses lie dormant and silent under winter’s white blanket, Kimberley’s Bootleg Gap will howl to life on February 20 and 21 with B.C.’s second annual Bootleg Sled Dog Races

I'll be blogging from the races and reporting back on how much money gets raised; so shoot me a line about your own highlights/racing stories and we'll get the word out. –Dave

by Dave Quinn

Last year’s Bootleg Sled Dog Races were a huge hit for racers and spectators alike. Snow flew, tongues lolled, competitors and the crowd hooted, hollered and barked for joy. And best of all, more than $18,000 was raised for the East Kootenay Friends of Children Fund, which helps offset travel costs for families of children who need to travel for specialized medical treatment.

Noticeably absent from this year’s February event, however, will be the canines from local Adrenaline Dog Sled Tours – they’ll be at the Olympics on an important and covert mission, delivering “as-yet-unspecified” performers to the outdoor stages in Whistler (while showcasing B.C. tourism for Olympic spectators from around the world, of course). But even without the celebrated Adrenaline racers, the event remains a fabulous chance to experience one of the most unique winter sports attractions in B.C., with high-speed, family oriented competition, a glorious setting at the foot of the Purcell Mountains in the expansive Kootenay Valley – and all for a good cause, to boot.

So harness up the team and mush your way to Bootleg Gap Golf Course in Kimberley – for one of the most memorable winter events of the year. See you there! 

>>I’ll be blogging from the races and reporting back on how much money gets raised; so shoot me a line about your own highlights/racing stories and we’ll get the word out

Photos: courtesy Bootleg Sled Dog Races

Most of  have heard of Cirque du Soleil. But what about the smaller – yet equally astonishing – Cirque Sublime? The Toronto-based acrobatic troupe relies not only on athletic prowess to pull off breathtaking performances, but also incorporates vibrant costumes and makeup, visually stunning sets and a heart-pounding score. Shows feature fire, dance and death-defying acrobats for an experience that stimulates the mind as well as the senses. The end result: one of those rare performances that leaves audience members gasping, “Did you see that!?”

Vernon, February 7. Ticket info: 416-935-0037

DUNCAN  February 6, 2010 – Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival

DUNCAN The B.C. Forest Discovery Centre's now-annual tribute to Canada’s iconic sweet stuff: the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival. Courtesy Gary Backlund

Time to slap on the beaver hat and break out the red-and-white attire – for the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre’s  now-annual tribute to Canada’s iconic sweet stuff: the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival. The curious can master the art of tapping, sit in on cooking demonstrations and compete for the Best Maple Syrup prize in a contest judged by Vancouver Island celebrity chefs. Highlights: live music and a scenic trundle aboard the B.C. Forest Museum train. (Admission includes train rides and food samples.)

Info and tickets purchases: 250-715-1113

VICTORIA  February 13-14, 2010 – Victoria Tea Festival

Henry Fielding had it right when he declared: “Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.” For socializing over a cup of steaming brew is a tradition revered the world over; there’s something universally soothing about cradling a warm mug and indulging in a hearty chat. And every year, B.C.’s Victoria Tea Festival pays homage to the mighty tea leaf by inviting enthusiasts to sample exotic flavours from around the world, with representatives from tea houses, bakeries, chocolate shops and restaurants on hand to answer questions about pairings and provide sips and nibbles. Bonus: a crash course in Chinese tea ceremonies (courtesy of Victoria’s Silk Road), a silent auction and reflective readings by author Earlene Grey.

Weekend passes: $20 in advance, $25 at the door. 250-370-4888

Further reading: An Educated Sip; Silk Road Reverie

VANCOUVER Gearing up for Canada's third Olympic Games, with 600-plus free and ticketed performances and exhibitions. Photo courtesy VANOC-COVAN

VANCOUVER  February 12-18, 2010 – Winter Olympic Games

The anticipation has reached fever pitch, now that the countdown to Vancouver 2010 is on the home stretch – with Canada gearing up to host its third Olympic Games. After the opening ceremonies (February 12, 6 p.m. at Vancouver’s B.C. Place), more than 5,000 athletes from nations around the world will go on to represent their home countries in 15 winter sporting events – cheered on by lucky fans who have managed to snag seats. However, even those without event tickets can take part in the festivities: Vancouver, Whistler and Richmond are presenting 600-plus free and ticketed performances and exhibitions, and cities across the province are getting into the spirit with their own community-oriented entertainment. Bonus: the Vancouver Art Gallery is offering free admission for the duration of the Games.

Detailed list of entertainment options and venues: Cultural Olympiad 2010 Program Guide, at community centres and cultural venues throughout Vancouver.

Tickets, transportation, accommodation and athlete info: 1-800-842-5387

GRANVILLE ISLAND, VANCOUVER  February 19-27, 2010: Winterruption Festival

VANCOUVER Granville Island’s annual Winterruption Festival celebrates the city's vibrant arts culture – including kids' workshops on musical instrument-making. Photo courtesy Granville Island

Granville Island’s annual Winterruption Festival celebrates the city’s vibrant arts culture with free musical and theatre spectacles, brewery jigs, workshops, jugglers, stilt-walkers and kids’ events (including sessions on crafting musical instruments) – fuelled by  savoury wares and foodie seminars. Bonus: free Theatresports matinees.

604-666-5784.

INTERNATIONAL PICK: NEW YORK CITY  February 26-28: New York Times Travel Show

The New York Times hosts the mother of all travel shows, and in the process provides would-be jetsetters with hundreds of ways to answer the question, “Where should I go next?” The main attraction: 500 exhibitors highlight the world’s top destinations, cruises and hotels/resorts, with experts answering questions and offering insider travel advice. Plus: travel seminars held by industry heavyweights, including guidebook gurus Arthur and Pauline Frommer and Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Not to be missed: international stage performances and culinary presentations focus on foods and flavours from around the globe. And bring the kids along: instructors will be on hand to teach scuba diving and rock-climbing skills, while animal-lovers can sit in on the Busch Gardens’ live show.

Tickets and info: 1-800-322-9332

Lead photo courtesy VANOC-COVAN

So what does it feel like to carry the torch? Expectations exceeded – vastly

by Bernice Paul

I was eager to sit down with Jessica Langelaan to hear about her Olympic Torch-bearing experience this past December. Throughout the holidays, I had caught bits of wall comments and photos on Facebook, even a video that her uncle posted. And there were many expressions of encouragement and congratulations. But these were followed by words of condolence and sorrow . . . I soon found out why.

On December 18, 2009, the day before Langelaan was to carry the torch in Oakville, Ontario, her grandfather, Keith Acton, passed away. Age 81, he had succumbed to complications associated with kidney failure. But it was his attitude toward life that kept Langelaan from unravelling. As she told me when we at last connected: He often said, “There are two days in every week that we have no control over –  yesterday and tomorrow. Today is the only day we can change.”

Langelaan was buoyed by the swell of support and emotion throughout her 300-metre journey – which, surprisingly, felt “decently long.”

So on the day of the relay, Langelaan concentrated on making every moment meaningful. Cheered on by the hundreds of onlookers lining the street, and surrounded by friends and family, including her great-aunt Jeanette Acton (her grandfather’s sister,  who travelled from Port Perry, Ontario, for the occasion), Langelaan was buoyed by the swell of support and emotion throughout her 300-metre journey – which, surprisingly, felt “decently long.”

The run

On the bus ride to the starting point of their leg, 15 torchbearers chatted in nervous anticipation. “I was unusually quiet,” says Langelaan. “I was thinking about my grandfather and at the same time I felt inspired by the group on the bus, which included a set of twins in their 80s who between them had missed two chances to complete in the Olympics (in ’44 due to the war and in ’48 due to injury).”

The orchestrated efficiency of the relay, from the vehicle convoy to the security team, left just enough room for a little creativity and individualism to come through during the official “torch kiss” – the passing off of the torch from one torchbearer to the next. Langelaan and her preceding bearer worked out a jaunty doe-see-doe high-five routine, as captured in this video shot by her uncle:

The 300 metres probably lasted just a minute or two, so Langelaan was surprised to feel tired by the end. I wager she was carrying a lot more than just the torch.

The fanfare

“Last time you and I talked, we focused on the ‘me and my opportunity’ aspect of carrying the torch,” Langelaan reflects. “I didn’t anticipate the impact of the experiences of others during those 300 metres.”

Oakville, Ontario celebrants: As Langelaan puts it, “For most Canadians, the torch relay is as close as they’ll get to the Olympic experience.”

It sounds cliché to say that the flame is the symbol of the Olympic spirit, but hearing it from Langelaan’s perspective and seeing it through her eyes, the symbol seems more real,  its spirit  alive and well. As Langelaan puts it: “For most Canadians, the torch relay is as close as they’ll get to the Olympic experience.”

“So many people wanted to take their picture with her, even if they didn’t know her,” notes Langelaan’s husband, Mark, “it was that special to be next to a torchbearer.”

At the end of the Oakville leg, the crowds then gathered at the local public library, where folks could finally interact more closely. “So I took my time taking pictures with people,” says Langelaan. “From the looks on their faces, you could tell they just wanted to hold the torch. I was literally spreading the spirit; sharing the Olympic experience.”

Passing of the torch

A coworker asked if she could purchase Langelaan’s torch as a gift for a close friend, Corrine Hunt, co-designer of the Olympic medals. That particular hand-off took place in early January.

So what became of Langelaan’s torch? All 12,000 of this year’s Olympic Games torchbearers are given the option to purchase their torches or return them to VANOC. But a third option was also presented to Langelaan. A coworker asked if she could purchase Langelaan’s torch as a gift for a close friend, Corrine Hunt, co-designer of the Olympic medals. And that particular hand-off took place in early January (more pictures can be found on Corrine Hunt’s website).

And now, as an employee of Offsetters, Langelaan is pounding the pavement pretty hard  on behalf of the Games. And as she and her husband have just purchased a home in Port Moody, where they’re moving at the end of March, I anticipate her next day off will be sometime in mid-May. Still, Langelaan is remarkably settled while telling me of the past several weeks, focused as she is on the task at hand. Her grandfather’s commitment to living in the present must run in the family.

>>Follow the full journey of the 2010 Olympic flame at:  Vancouver 2010 website

>>For more info about Corrine Hunt: website

Lead image, ‘Torch Kiss’, courtesty Jessica Langelaan

by Rob Howatson

courtesy Dan Fairchild

The sculptures and images of Vancouver’s streetscape blitz are the product of several arts initiatives that are intersecting as Vancouver heads into Olympics mode. Many of the bizarre and beautiful creations popping up around Vancouver and Richmond, for example, are part of the Vancouver Biennale, an arts exhibition that, as its name would suggest, is supposed to take place every two years – but in this case is spanning 2009 to 2011.

The Biennale features 39 installations collectively worth more than $10 million: pieces that range from the Gao brothers’ Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head, which is drawing cheers and jeers at Elmbridge and Alderbridge Way, to Jaume Plensa’s WE — a human form, woven from letters, that haunts Sunset Beach at night when the sculpture glows white. A map showing the locations of the different Biennale sites is available here.

courtesy Dan Fairchild

The City of Vancouver has also launched The Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program, which includes more than 20 new permanent and temporary public artworks commissioned for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. This explains why Vancouver’s City Hall is trimmed with LED lights that produce a cascading effect for a few seconds at the top of each evening hour. (See the YouTube video here.) Thanks, German artist Gunda Förster. The program also explains why Vancouver artist Vanessa Kwan will tow a skewed kiosk around the city February 21 to March 21 and hand out postcards to passerby. The postcards have die-cut holes in them enabling recipients to frame the real vista and take their own photos of the landscape within the dreamscape. The images can then be posted to Flickr so that suddenly the viewer is the artist.

courtesy Dan Fairchild

Also be sure to check out Ken Lum’s Monument for East Vancouver at 6th Ave and Clarke Drive, Stan Douglas’s Abbott and Cordova, which is located in the atrium of the new Woodward’s complex near Abbott and Cordova and Michael Lin’s enormous hand-painted mural that covers the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Georgia Street façade.

>>Which artworks, if any, do you find uplifting?

>>Which ones should be chased out of town, as was the case with Dennis Oppenheim’s Device for Rooting Out Evil, the six-metre-tall, upside-down church that once graced the lawn at Coal Harbour’s Harbour Green Park?

Photos courtesy Dan Fairchild

And you thought the Olympics were all about sports

by Jim Sutherland

Even given the performances of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, it’s possible the most enduring memories of Beijing’s 2008 Olympics won’t be athletic achievements at all, but rather architectural ones: the venues Phelps and Bolt excelled in, especially the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest Stadium.

VANCOUVER CONVENTION CENTRE EXPANSION Not entirely a thing of beauty from the street? But a beautiful solution to the problem of where to put a convention centre? Photo courtesy DA Architects/Planners

Yet with its 2010 Olympics, Vancouver hasn’t been going for architectural gold; there have been no competitions and no big-name international architects. Still, the result is several impressive facilities that, if not quite world-beating, absolutely warrant inspection. The annoying irony is, until long after the Olympics are over, there will be no way to see many of them except from a distance. Try to sneak in for a look at the athletes village or convention centre expansion this February and the interior you’ll be checking out instead might be the local equivalent of Guantanamo.

That’s where a Vancouver show that opens February 8 comes in. The little gallery attached to the offices of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia is almost always an interesting place, but its “Bien Venue: 2010 Games Architecture” is shaping up to be something of a blockbuster. The biggest show the gallery has ever mounted highlights 20 competition and non-competition venues and the role of B.C. architects in designing them. There are drawings, models and photographs. And after viewing the exhibit people will be able to make their own, entirely subjective, picks of the Games’ most important venues, as I’ve done below:

Top 5 Architecture Medallists, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games

1. The Athletes’ Village Among the most environmentally sustainable communities on the planet, Vancouver’s Athletes’ Village is designed to achieve “net zero,” meaning it will produce as much energy as it consumes. (For the sake of their future tax bills, Vancouverites hope the bailed-out development also achieves net zero in terms of the money invested.) Curious what the buildings look like inside? Stop into the adjacent sales centre, pretend you’re interested in a $1,000-a-square-foot condo, and tour the display suites.

Photographer Hubert Kang / Courtesy of Cannon Design

2. Richmond Speed Skating Oval With that amazing arched roof made from pine-beetle-damaged wood, it’s as much an engineering marvel as an architectural one.

3. The Woodwards complex Okay, this isn’t an Olympics venue (though it might not have happened had the Games not landed here, in Vancouver) and it’s not part of the AIBC show, but it’s only a block away so walk over and check it out — particularly the Stan Douglas photo installation in the main courtyard. Keep in mind that less than five years ago, the derelict department store centred what was virtually a no-go zone, and prepare to be stunned at the transformation both on site and in the surrounding neighbourhood.

4. Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion (media centre) Some feel it’s not entirely a thing of beauty from the street, but it’s a beautiful solution to the problem of where to put a convention centre and quite a sight – both inside, where wood is the star, and from above, with that vast green roof.

FOUR HOST FIRST NATIONS PAVILION The most ambitious of the 2010 Olympic Games' temporary pavilions? Photo courtesy Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects/Urbanistes

5. Four Host First Nations Pavilion The most ambitious of the temporary pavilions and a prime example of the innovative work Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects has been doing for First Nations clients.

6. A bonus selection that’s even farther offside than Woodwards, the Millenium Line: I know, it’s the Canada Line that was built for the Olympics, and it’s become an instant hit, with ridership much higher than expected. But stations on the turn-of-the-century Millenium Line are the precursor to all that creative and progressive use of wood seen in so many of the Olympic venues. Plus, unlike the mostly underground Canada Line, it’s a true Skytrain, travelling at rooftop level with great views of the snow-capped (we hope) North Shore mountains.

Historians remind us of the unsavoury origins of the Olympic Torch

by Kerry Banks

The Olympic torch relay is rapidly nearing the end of its 100-day journey across Canada. One of the most popular Olympic rituals, it is an ideal vehicle for media consumption and corporate sponsorship and, judging by the crowds of cheering and smiling celebrants now greeting its appearance prior to the 2010 Olympics and Paralympic Games, the torch also has an inspirational power. Ironically, according to historians this symbol of hope and friendship arose from very dark origins – origins that are, for obvious reasons, not well-publicized by VANOC, which states on its website that the birth of the torch relay can be traced to ancient Greece and that the first Olympic torch relay took place in Oslo, Norway, in 1952.

According to historical reports both statements are  a tad misleading. Experts note that the Olympic torch relay was actually invented by the Nazis in 1936 as a propaganda device to popularize fascism throughout Europe and within Germany. As author Tony Perrottet notes in his book The Naked Olympics: “The torch relay is so ingrained in the modern choreography that most people today assume it was a revival of a pagan tradition – unaware that it was actually concocted for Hitler’s Games in Berlin.”

A sacred flame did burn 24 hours a day at Olympia, and Greek runners did pass pass a torch to light a sacrificial cauldron at some ancient festivals. But the Greeks opened their Olympics by word of mouth, sending heralds – not torchbearers – racing through the streets. The tradition of carrying the Olympic torch to the main stadium at Olympic Games did not become a fixture of the Games until 1936, when a 12-day run opened the Summer Games in Berlin.

The idea for the torch relay came from German sports minister Carl Diem, who intended to link Nazism to the civilized glories of classical Greece (which the Reich’s academics were arguing had been an Aryan wonderland). But Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels envisioned it as something more: an opportunity to make a bold political statement. The 1936 relay, which took German runners through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia (welcomed enroute by pro-Nazi demonstrations), was nothing less than a rehearsal of the Nazification of Europe. In fact, in an editorial at the time, the New York Times wrote that the relay was “a strategic highway that traced the line of the German Drang Nach Osten – the drive to the East that the Kaiser sought in the First World War,” and which Adolph Hitler was soon to put into practice.

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Hitler’s propaganda machine covered the torch relay in great detail,

broadcasting radio reports from every step of the route and filling the Games

with the iconographyof ancient Greek athletics.

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In fact, Hitler took personal interest in the ritual and pumped funds into its promotion. His propaganda machine covered the torch relay in great detail, broadcasting radio reports from every step of the route and filling the Games with the iconography of ancient Greek athletics. In Berlin, the flame was carried the last kilometre along the city’s main boulevard by a runner named Siegfried Eifrig, who was watched by hundreds of thousands as he transferred the flame to a cauldron on an altar surrounded by huge flags adorned with swastikas. And despite its political overtones, the event was an unqualified success for the organizers and was immortalized by director Leni Riefenstahl in her 1938 film Olympia.

Diem and Riefenstahl were also responsible for popularizing the five interlocking rings as the symbol of the Games. The ring symbol had been designed in 1913 to symbolize the first five Olympics, but nobody made any use of it until the Nazis in 1936. And for the opening segment of Riefenstahl’s film, Diem had the Olympic rings carved into the sides of a stone altar at the ancient Greek city of Delphi, thus spawning the myth that the symbol dated back more than two millennia. When visiting Delphi in the late 1950s, two British authors Lynn and Gray Poole then saw the stone and reported in their History of the Ancient Games that the Olympic rings-design came from ancient Greece. And so, with Hitler’s influence, the rings became part of the Nazi pageantry at Berlin, and have come to symbolize the Olympics ever since.

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Though America’s Avery Brundage was expelled from the America First

Committee for his Nazi sympathies, he was elected a vice-president of the International Olympic

Committee in 1945, and in 1952 became president, a position he would hold until 1972.

_______________________________________________________________________

Interestingly, Germany hosted both the Winter and Summer Olympics in 1936. It had been awarded the honour in 1931 as a means of welcoming the country back into the European fold, a gesture that backfired when Hitler came to power in 1933. As the racist and brutal policies of the Nazi regime became known, Jewish groups and others in the United States called for a boycott. But America’s own Avery Brundage, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee at the time, actively undermined the boycott campaign, dismissing the protest as a “Jewish-Communist conspiracy,” and succeeded in having the USOC reject it in a committee vote. (In 1941, Brundage was expelled from the America First Committee for his Nazi sympathies, though he remained a staunch defender of Germany during and after World War II. Even so, Brundage was elected a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee in 1945, and in 1952 became president, a position he would hold until 1972.) Meanwhile, in order to make the Games a success and legitimize Hitler’s regime in the eyes of the world, Germany in 1936 took great efforts to camouflage the evil nature of the Nazi regime. Anti-Jewish slogans were removed from walls and roadsides and every sign of racial, religious or political persecution was temporarily hidden. Though incredibly, the German Ministry of the Interior built a concentration camp scarcely a half-hour’s journey from the new Olympic Stadium, where it jailed 80,000 Jews, gypsies and socialists.

Germany would dominate the competition at the 1936 Summer Games, winning 89 medals (33 more than the second-place USA), though the greatest individual performance was turned in by Afro-American sprinter Jesse Owens. Debunking Hitler’s belief in Aryan supremacy, the 22-year-old claimed gold in the 100- and 200-metre dashes, the long jump and the 400-metre relay, with each victory greeted by loud applause from the crowd. Yet despite this setback, Hitler was pleased with the results. He ordered architect Albert Speer to draw up plans for a colossal, 400,000-seat stadium in Nuremburg, saying, “In 1940, the Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo. But thereafter they will take place in Germany for all time to come.”

Fortunately, this was one Nazi prediction that did not come true.

>>Interested in learning more?

Check out the current exhibit at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre entitled “More Than Just Games: Canada and the 1936 Olympics.” Its display of photographs, documents and artifacts demonstrates how Hitler’s Third Reich turned the Games into a showcase for Nazi propaganda, and how Canadians became part of the spectacle.


Address: Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre: #50 – 950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.

Contact info: 604-264-0499; info@VHEC.org

>>Related reading:

As the entire Lower Mainland rumbles and hums with Olympic anticipation, my home town of Kimberley feels a long way off from all the hype and excitement of the world’s greatest winter sports extravaganza. Some 907 kilometres away, in fact.

courtesy Bruce Kirkby

This daunting distance from the Kimberley Nordic Trails to the Olympic Nordic Ski venue in the Callaghan Valley isn’t fazing a group of young Kimberley athletes, however. The cross-country skiers of the local Jackrabbits Track Attack Program are getting into the Olympic spirit by skiing 907 km on Kimberley’s world-class Nordic trail system. Aged nine to 12, the skiers have divided the daunting distance into 180-km sections and are charting their journey one kilometre at a time on the Kimberley Nordic Club’s warming-hut wall.

While they may not be front and centre as Olympic athletes from around the world cross the finish line at the Callaghan Valley Nordic events, these young athletes from the B.C. Interior embody the essence of the Olympic spirit, and are willing to ski nearly 1,000 km to celebrate it, one kick and glide at a time.

The lower mainland is caught up in medal fever. While the rest of us from “beyond Hope”, may not feel the impacts of the games directly, most of us feel strongly, one way or the other, about the Olympics. What are athletes/sports fans/artists in your community doing to celebrate the Olympics? Send me a tweet @KootenayDave to let me know.

Lead photo courtesy Bruce Kirkby.

The train’s appearance in White Rock coincides with the city’s 4th annual “Bite Of The Rock” restaurant festival, which runs until February 9 and features 18 participating eateries offering three-course meals for $15-35. On February 9, Royal Hudson passengers who arrive early for the noon steam run to Vancouver (we’re talking 6:30 am early) can also cheer the Olympic torch as it passes through the Boundary Bay town. The relay rally will be followed by a pancake breakfast and musical performances at the White Rock Community Centre, 15154 Russell Avenue, from 7:30 am to 10:30 am.

The Royal Hudson's appearance in White Rock coincides with the city’s 4th annual “Bite Of The Rock” restaurant festival, which runs until February 9 and features 18 participating eateries offering three-course meals for $15-35.

As for the Royal Hudson’s adopted home at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, work is nearing completion on the museum’s 22,000-square-foot CN Roundhouse and Conference Centre. Once finished, sometime in April or May, the impressive train gallery will be the first roundhouse built in Canada in more than a century. The facility will have berths for seven vintage locomotives and railcars, and room for 1,200 conventioneers, making it the largest banquet-meeting facility on the Sea to Sky Corridor. That’s a lot of train spotters.

One can already hear B.C. folk musician Dave Baker’s Royal Hudson echoing through the rail yard:

Once again we’ll hear those sounds of yesteryear -
that haunting wail our fathers used to know,
and we’ll look into the sky to see her plume that billows high
as she crawls along the rocky shore below.

Check out Chor Leoni’s rousing version of this tune, complete with Ken Storey images of mighty #2860 in all her pre-diesel glory.

And share your Royal Hudson memories with us.

Lead photo courtesy West Coast Railway Association

With less than 30 days to go until the Olympics arrive, we’ll be tracking the best deals and specials to be found at restaurants, bars, street venues and food and wine stores within (and close to) the pedestrian red-zone entertainment areas of the city. Information will be organized by streets and neighbourhoods.  For complete information, be sure to access this page from the Daily News Section or if you are using an iPhone, from the hot button on our home page. New items will be added daily. Restaurants and retailers may send us their updates via email to contact@cityfood.com. We will also be posting all updates to our Twitter and Facebook accounts (to be announced).

Link to this article at cityfood.com

OLYMPIC UPDATE

Red Mountain’s Canadian Freeskiing Championships, Rossland

Helmet?  Check.

Goggles clear, avalanche gear secure?  Check.

Red Mountain's Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships: The skier’s sole mission is to ski gnarly, cliff-riddled, hellish steep terrain normally reserved for mountain goats and birds – and not only survive but make it look good.

Run burned into memory? Drop in, carve hard right, drop speed for five-metre cliff, recover from choppy landing, head left, drop snow pillow-line next to broken tree, pick up speed for next hit, avoid thick trees below, head right again to fat cliff. Stomp landing you can’t see from above. Shred to bottom of run.  Ok.

Heart pounding. Ski tips hang over an airy drop-in, and the entire world drops away from this ridge-top perch to a vertiginous world of white. 3-2-1… Dropping!

This is what freeskiers and spectators alike expected at the 9th annual Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships at Rossland’s Red Mountain Resort this last weekend: January 23 to 24, when the skier’s sole mission was to ski gnarly, cliff-riddled, hellish steep terrain normally reserved for mountain goats and birds – and not only survive but make it look good.

While you’re there, ski a line and raise a glass to Captain Jack Carey, a Red Mountain local and long-time director of the Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships.

A panel of judges evaluated each skier, tallying scores based on style, flow, difficulty of line and any tricks they managed to squeeze into their extreme ski lines.

Sound like fun?  Head to Red Mountain February 21 to 23 to watch dozens of elite athletes from around the world, plus local favourites Alex Berg, Colston Villanueva-Beatson and Fernie’s Luke Nelson, fresh off a January 12th third-place finish at the Subaru Canadian Freeskiing Championships in Revelstoke, compete for $10,000 in total prizes.

While you’re there, ski a line and raise a glass to Captain Jack Carey, a Red Mountain local and long-time director of the Canadian Open Freeskiing Championship, who died this past year. Jack was one of the characters who make Kootenay Ski towns what they are.

Photos: Courtesy Red Mountain

On a dark and rainy Vancouver evening, I paid a visit to the trio behind the Clean Bin Project. Jenny Rustemeyer, Rhyannon O’Heron and Grant Baldwin are housemates who more than a year ago decided they’d simply had enough of  ”stuff.” They also realized that if they could cut down on all their stuff they could drastically reduce the amount of garbage they were sending to the landfill. And thus their Clean Bin Project was born.

The Clean Bin Project after one year: That's it, garbage-wise.

The challenge was this: produce zero landfill-bound waste for one year (or as close to zero as possible). With individually labelled bins, Rustemeyer, O’Heron and Baldwin would also compete for the honour of generating the least amount of garbage in their household.

Though this sounds like a simple challenge, if you were to pick apart your garbage and examine its origins, you’d see that the society we live in makes it rather difficult to truly achieve zero waste. So many of the things we buy are not compostable or readily recyclable. As well, certain types of recycling are not necessarily better for the environment.

Project Evolution

The Clean Bin Project, Vancouver, B.C.: Meticulous recycling.

The group knew from the beginning that recycling would not be the complete answer to the challenge. While they would meticulously separate recyclables (they’d even stash a bin for “metal bits” under their sink), the first “R” in waste management, Reduce, would be embraced as the guiding principle for the project. Soon, buying things – consumption – would come to a standstill; ground rules on consumption would be laid (food and personal hygiene necessities were exempt, for example); Rustemeyer would start a blog to share the group’s progress and Baldwin (a professional videographer) would document the experience on video.

Because of the project, Rustemeyer also became much more involved with food and food production. “Food packaging generates a lot of waste,” she notes, so she became a dedicated customer of farmer’s markets (where one can purchase unpackaged goods) and learned to can her own sauces and preserves. “Gardening also really took off,” says Rustemeyer. Cultivating just 70 square feet in their yard, she and O’Heron were able to harvest potatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce, kale, spinach, four varieties of tomatoes, beets, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, rhubarb, basil, oregano, thyme, mint, blood sorrel, lemon sorrel, parsley, chives, radishes, cilantro, carrots and sunchoke through the year. Oh – and berries were planted for next year.

O'Heron holds up her bin.

Friends and acquaintances were also educated on the project. Even so, receiving gifts turned out to be a challenge. The three would gladly give and accept gifts of experiences, such as dining or live entertainment, yet still took care to be gracious by accepting occasional material gifts. “Some get it and some don’t,” explains O’Heron, who, like her housemates, occasionally brings home “incidental” packaging to be properly disposed of. “We didn’t want to make people feel bad,” adds Rustemeyer. “This was a personal challenge for us; we didn’t want to preach.”

The Clean Bin challenge ended in July of 2009, but it would appear the behaviours have stuck. Once the systems and routines were put in place, it made sense to continue the low-consumption lifestyle, and their lives have been enriched for the better. Then and now, instead of buying stuff, “we do more. We go out; eat better. We go on bike trips on weekends.” Sounds like a decent trade off!

The Documentary

Baldwin had always wanted to film a documentary, and this was the perfect project. “We want to make it fun and entertaining; to inspire people,” says Baldwin, who acknowledges that the recent onslaught of environmental films may have alienated potential zero-waste converts. “There are so many issues: global warming, animal cruelty, eating local; we don’t want to tackle everything. We want to go after something tangible. This is something that people have control over.”

His and hers: Baldwin and Rustemeyer compare garbage.

And they’ve inspired their fair share, with engaged readers of the Clean Bin’s blog posting tips and advice on topics as varied as baking soda deodorant to recyclable toothbrush heads. Rustemeyer has even been informed of others starting their own zero-waste challenges.

So, in the end, who was the winner of the Clean Bin Project? I was told that the housemates averaged just four pounds of garbage each – for an entire year. But to find out who won, we’ll have to wait for the documentary, which comes out this summer. In the meantime, we can all get a little inspired by watching the trailer below.

Resources

The Clean Bin Project lists a number of recycling resources for things like soft plastics, scrap metals, and electronics. Here is a short list:

RCBC – Recycling Council of British Columbia

Pacific Mobile Depot

Happy Stan’s Recycling

Metro Vancouver Recycles

Lead image courtesy Jenny Rustemeyer

Heritage Vancouver has a knack for hosting weird events in wonderful locations. Or perhaps they are wonderful events in weird locations. All I know is that I always come away from their functions feeling giddy, having learned some new secret that helps me better understand the city, having accessed some place that few people get to visit now and having met people who know about Vancouver’s past because they were actually there.

Such was the case last Wednesday with one of the non-profit’s most popular fundraisers: An Evening at the Penthouse. (The event sold out so quickly that Heritage Vancouver has scheduled a don’t miss follow-up for January 27.)

A Brief History of The Penthouse Nightclub

The Penthouse Night Club was founded in 1947 by the Filippone brothers, Joe, Ross, Mickey and Jimmy. It quickly grew to become one of the city’s hottest supper clubs, attracting headliners such as Sammy Davis Jr, Nat King Cole and The Mills Brothers. Today the business is a strip club run by Ross’s son, Danny. And the 47-year-old impresario, looking down-to-earth chic in blue jeans and untucked dress shirt, seemed genuinely happy to host a crowd that was there more for the built heritage than the built hotties.

He gave us an extensive tour of the establishment, starting right out front on the sidewalk at 1019 Seymour near Nelson. Anyone who has been downtown at night has seen this pink-neon-trimmed, three-storey building with the red flashing arrow on its marquee, beaconing partiers to enter the chrome-quilted doors under the smiling visage of two show girl cut-outs affixed to the pansy-purple façade. But Danny wanted us to note the old house engulfed in the shadows next door. 1033 Seymour was purchased by Danny’s grandfather in 1932, and one of the last remaining single-family, detached homes in the neighbourhood, though “single-family” might be a bit of a misnomer. The narrow abode stretches back 120 feet, far enough to accommodate eight bedrooms and three kitchens.

It was in this house, in 1983, that Danny’s uncle Joe was shot and killed by a 25-year-old unemployed plumber from Ontario. The gunman was after the contents of Joe’s home office safe and he made off with $1,200 before being arrested at Hastings Park Racetrack a few days later. But Danny prefers to dwell on the good memories he has of 1033 Seymour. Such as launching Halloween fireworks from the property’s deeply sequestered courtyard and watching the police circle the block in a futile attempt to locate the source. Or discovering a hole in one of the home’s walls, reaching in and pulling out a small chest containing a stack of autographed celebrity photos — a who’s who of Penthouse visitors. To see the 8×10 glossies and hear the stories they represent, we follow our guide back into the iconic club.

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We tour abandoned rooms, such as the small

lounge with a baby grand that once serviced the ivory ticklers

of jazzlegend Duke Ellington.

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Danny leads us up to the building’s second and third floors, areas normally closed to the public. We tour abandoned rooms, such as a small lounge space with a baby grand piano that once serviced the ivory ticklers of jazz legend Duke Ellington. Down a hall and through another doorway, we encounter a derelict charbroiler in a room once called the Steak Loft. Customers chose their own cuts of meat, which were cooked and served on wooden platters. “This was,” Danny says proudly, “before Hy’s carved their space in the steak market.” (The club also claims to be the first in Vancouver to offer pizza by the slice.)

In the Green Room, named for its gaudy, green wallpaper, a small button on the wall is labeled Beverage Bell. VIPs such as Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn and heavyweight champ Max Baer would have used it to summon drinks.

And there was another buzzer system at work in the club. Prior to the Penthouse landing a liquor license in the mid-50s, Uncle Joe employed spotters on the roof to watch for police raids. If they saw cops approaching the entrance, they rang to alert wait staff, who in turn instructed patrons to hide their bottles under the tables. The police conducted deliberately feeble searches, perhaps because they were on the take or perhaps because, as drinkers themselves, they didn’t want to enforce B.C.’s bizarre liquor laws too heartily. When the authorities left, the festivities resumed – as they did for us on Wednesday night, when Danny led us back down into the functioning portion of the Penthouse, the Gold Room.

Tales of Oscar Peterson and Other Penthouse Regulars

The original red-and-gold curtain still backdrops the stage, but a 2001 facelift has contributed an impressive, glowing bar to one side of the room and a surprisingly understated glittery paint to the walls.

While Heritage Vancouver supporters queue for an Indian buffet arranged on the club’s pool table and redeem their martini vouchers, I table hop in search of stories. A diverse crowd is in attendance. The history buffs range from seniors who have come to reminisce about Vancouver’s night club glory years to young hipsters eager to learn about Rat Pack-era fashion trends. At a plush booth overlooking the stage, I encounter choreographer and B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame inductee Jack Card. The soft- spoken, impeccably mannered gentleman stands to inspect a row of three photos along a wall. He then returns and announces quietly, “I worked with them all.”  The images are of singers Johnnie Ray, Harry Belafonte and Louis Armstrong. I nearly choke on my naan bread.

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B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame-inductee Jack Card inspects

a row of photos:  of singers Johnnie Ray, Harry Belafonte and Louis

Armstrong. “I worked with them all.”  he says, quietly.

________________________________________________________

Next up on the agenda, Helga Pakasaar, curator of North Van’s Presentation House Gallery, hosts a slide show exploring imagery from Vancouver’s nightclub golden years: the 1940s to 1960s. There are photos of feather-and-sequined burlesque dancers, of tux- and gown-attired guests in the snazzy Palomar Supper Club (which once stood at Burrard and Georgia) and, somewhat inexplicably, a portrait of a young Terry David Mulligan looking like a beatnik about to embrace full-on hippiedom. It’s an informal talk, periodically augmented by additional info from Danny, who had taken up a post near the bar. “God handed out cigars the day I was born,” shouts the club owner. He was referring to the comedian George Burns who played the title role in the 1977 film Oh, God! Burns was doing stand-up at the Penthouse the day Ross Filippone’s son arrived and, to celebrate, the Oscar winner passed round his signature stogies.

I relocate to another booth and meet Joanne Randle, who has brought her 81-year-old mother, Edna, to reminisce about the Penthouse’s early days as an after-hours hotbed of jazz super-jams. (Edna was one of the original six members of the New Jazz Society) has a sharp memory and recalls witnessing Canada’s two premiere jazz pianists, Oscar Peterson and Chris Gage go head to head for harmonic supremacy in the club circa 1950. A “carving session” she calls it.

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Today, of course, late night jazz sessions are a thing of the

past, So too are the Vegas showgirl-style dancers, who were

replaced by total-nudity exotic dancing in the 1970s.

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Today, of course, late night jazz sessions are a thing of the past at The Penthouse. So too are the Vegas showgirl style dancers, who were replaced by total-nudity exotic dancing in the 1970s. Also in that decade, the Penthouse was charged with conspiracy to live off the avails of prostitution, and  the club shut down for four years as the case dragged through the courts. But in the end, the Filippone brothers were able to fend off the accusations and the Penthouse re-opened. (Read coverage of this famous court case at the Penthouse website.)

Danny introduces the special entertainment of the evening: a scantily clad woman wearing Minnie Mouse ears who struts and writhes around a brass pole to the tune of “Hey, Mickey.” She has a walnut-size crystal lodged in her navel. I wonder what the strip club etiquette is should the gem stone pop out and roll across the stage into my drink? No worries. The rock holds.

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The Penthouse earns additional revenues as a film

location – for movie and TV shoots such as CBC’s Intelligence

and the upcoming Halle Berry flick Frankie and Alice.

______________________________________________

In a quieter corner, at the back of the room, I ask Danny about the Penthouse’s future. Giant condo towers are sprouting up all along Seymour. The land the club occupies must be valued in the double-digit millions, and the family has received offers. But Danny says, “As long as we’re making money, we’ll continue to operate.” (The business earns additional revenue by renting the building for film and TV shoots such as CBC’s Intelligence and the upcoming Halle Berry flick Frankie and Alice.)

A few hours later, I step out onto Seymour Street into the brisk, cold air. Eight-seven-year-old freelance writer Rudy Carlson, who has come alone all the way from North Vancouver to attend the event, is making his way slowly to the bus stop. I walk with him and he tells me his own Penthouse memory.

“I brought my father-in-law here in the ’60s when it was still a bottle club. We forgot to bring our own liquor so we gave $20 to a working girl in the room and she said she would head out to find us some booze. It was a wintry night like this one so my father-in-law, being a trusting guy from the Prairies, lent her his jacket. It was only after she was gone that he realized he had also given her his wallet – it was in is coat pocket and loaded with cash. There was a long, awkward wait, and she finally came back with the whiskey, the jacket and the wallet, intact. She was the hooker with the heart of gold,”says Carlson, “from the heart of the Gold Room.”

>>Do you have any glorious or notorious memories of the Penthouse in its pre-stripper days?

>>Do you think this building should be preserved as a prime example of Vancouver’s entertainment history?

Let us know.

Do you have any glorious or notorious memories of the Penthouse in its pre-stripper days or otherwise? Do you think this building should be preserved as a prime example of Vancouver’s entertainment history?

Lead photo courtesy Heritage Vancouver Society.

For some time now, bartenders at the trendiest saloons around British Columbia have been flavouring their drinks with syrups, infusions and bitters concocted from locally sourced herbs, fruits and woods. Yet only recently have they been able to slip locally distilled spirits into their gunbelts as well.

Vancouver Island winery, Winchester Cellers, spearheaded the arrival of micro-distilleries when its gleaming copper still brought forth Victoria Gin, an artisan liquor distilled from a long list of local, organic ingredients. (Most recently they’ve launched a house made lemon bitters). Next, Frank Deiter fired up his Okanagan Spirits distillery to make fragrant eau de vie from the abundant fruit crops to be found around Vernon.  Merridale Estate Cidery in Cowichan began their program with local brandy, and then in the summer of 2009, Tyler Schramm of Pemberton joined this spirited community by introducing British Columbia’s first commercially bottled, small-batch organic vodka.

The justification for placing a vodka distillery in the middle of traditional farm country was an obvious one.  After all, Schramm’s land was planted with acres of the liquor’s singular ingredient – potatoes. And not just any potatoes, but Pemberton potatoes!

For Schramm, the justification for placing a vodka distillery in the middle of traditional farm country was an obvious one. After all, his land was planted with acres of the liquor’s singular ingredient – potatoes. And not just any potatoes, but Pemberton potatoes! In agricultural circles, the Valley just north of Whistler has a reputation for having some of the most fertile growing conditions for spuds on the planet. All thanks to eons of geological activity by flooding rivers, shifting mountains, and yes, melting glaciers – the benefactor that other vodka companies point to when they are only discussing the purity of their water.

Considering these ideal conditions, if the alchemy of turning prime tubers and clean mountain water into potato vodka has not been attempted before now, B.C.’s archaic liquor laws may have been to blame. All alcohol produced in the province is subject to such heavy sales taxes that their weight tends to crush the life out of entrepreneurial incentive. However, with the demand for locally produced food products on the increase, Schramm could see the potential for a made-in-B.C. alcohol. So he took to the idea in spades, so to speak.

Today’s Jeopardy Question: How Many Kilos of Potatoes Are Needed to Make One 750-mL Bottle of Vodka?

Dusting off his university science degree, Tyler enrolled at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in order to notch up his skills in brewing and distilling. Once armed with this new expertise, he and his two brothers then set forth on a long winter’s march toward production – selecting appropriate land, constructing a distillery, buying essential equipment from Europe and ordering truckloads of potatoes from local organic farmers (it takes seven kilos of potatoes to make one 750 mL bottle of vodka), not to mention waging many frustrating and arduous battles with bureaucratic red tape and licensing delays. But finally, in July 2009, the Schramm brothers’ first potato vodka was ready for bottling and distribution to markets throughout western Canada.

David Wolowydnik, bar manager at Vancouver’s West restaurant, feels Scramm’s vodka has the substance to hold its own against some of his spiciest cocktail recipes.

Consumers may be surprised by the result. Vodka made from potatoes exhibits a very different taste profile to that of the ubiquitous grain vodkas, which are often over distilled to the point of becoming flavourless and odourless. The potato version is marked by a distinct earthiness with a faint sweetness from the potato starch, and a mouthfeel that some may describe as “full-bodied character” and others might dismiss as “forward.” Schramm Vodka, in particular, has faint peppery, herbal-flavour notes, a melted-snow softness and a mineral edge that is appropriate for the label’s illustration of the Coast Mountains. David Wolowydnik, bar manager at Vancouver’s West restaurant, feels it has the substance to hold its own against some of his spiciest cocktail recipes, such as the Schramm “Old Tom” Gibson he makes with his own house-pickled, organic onions. You can view his recipe by clicking here.

Now that the company is distilling approximately 1,300 bottles a month, you can find Schramm Vodka in creative bars and restaurants around the province. At the retail level it sells for $49.99 and is widely available at BC Liquor Distribution branches.

Link to cityfood.com.

Photo courtesy Schramm Vodka

Nestled between the Monashee and Selkirk mountains, Revelstoke was once known as the capital of Canada’s Alps – so it comes as no surprise that its Revelstoke Mountain Resort was selected to host of one of the world’s most popular skiing events. The Canadian Freeskiing Championships is a new addition to Subaru’s Freeskiing World Tour – the longest-running Big Mountain freeskiing tour in the history of the sport and one that attracts the sport’s top athletes on a global circuit that includes stops in Chile, Colorado and California. Revelstoke’s 200,000-hectare mountain playground should satisfy even the most veteran skiers, however, while the site showcases Canada’s glorious outdoors – just in time for February’s Olympic games. 1-866-373-4754

VICTORIA January 7-23, 2010 – History Boys

History, sex and anarchy – welcome to grammar school. Courtesy Langham Court Theatre

History, sex and anarchy – welcome to grammar school. Alan Bennett’s witty British comedy History Boys follows a class of too-smart-for-their-britches schoolboys as they prepare for university entrance exams. Taught by professors who hold opposing views on the purpose of education, the students learn to challenge the very nature of their schooling. Bennett’s provocative play comes to life at Victoria’s Langham Court Theatre, January 7 through 23. Tickets: $18. 250-384-2142.

KELOWNA January 9, 2010 – “Elvis Generations”

Slap on your sideburns and squeeze into your jumpsuit: the King of Rock ‘n Roll is reborn at Kelowna’s Creekside Theatre. “Elvis Generations” – a stage spectacle celebrating the legendary crooner’s 75th birthday – features three nationally competitive Elvis tribute artists. The award-winning doubles will perform favourites from throughout the singer’s career; a tribute deemed so authentic that fans will wonder if Elvis has really left the building after all. Tickets: $22. 250-766-5669.

108 MILE HOUSE January 8-10, 2010 – Cariboo Challenge Sled Dog Race

courtesy Cariboo Challenge Sled Dog Society

Dog sledding enthusiasts unite!  This year’s Cariboo Challenge Sled Dog Race has been rerouted to incorporate 108 and Sepa lakes into the racing circuit, allowing additional room for spectators and creating more challenging trails. Also featured at the family friendly event: face painting, auctions, a 100-metre mini-dash for the kids and a celebratory bonfire. The nearby Hills Health Ranch, one of the province’s top backcountry spa-vacation resorts, provides accommodation for participants and also hosts a Racers’ Ball. Details: 250-791-5225, ext 225.

KAMLOOPS January 16-24, 2010 – Sun Peaks Resort Winter Wine Festival

What’s better than swilling the best of Okanagan’s vineyard bounty? Easy: imbibing said vintages at B.C.’s Sun Peaks Resort, named by Conde Nast Traveller as Canada’s second-best ski resort. And starting January 16, Kamloops’s alpine village hosts the 12th annual Winter Wine Festival, where both amateur and seasoned vino enthusiasts converge for a week of pairings, tastings and colloquiums. Bonus: after gorging on regional cuisine, attending savoury seminars (check out Cadbury Chocolate & Heavenly Wine’s sweet treats) and taking part in the winter wine brunch, visitors can work it all off with an afternoon of the region’s top snowboarding and skiing. Ticket info: 1-877-212-7107

VANCOUVER January 22 – February 28, 2010 – LunarFest

Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games are also an opportunity for Canada to share its cultural diversity with the world – and what better way to kick off the festivities than with a city-wide Lunar New Year’s celebration. Part of the Cultural Olympiad programming, the free public event includes the re-creation of Granville Street as a schoolchildren-created Lantern Forest; artists from Korea and other Asian countries performing acrobatics and dance; a First Nations tableau of lanterns showcasing indigenous designs and an event wrap-up lantern procession led by Public Dreams. See website for information.

Canada’s first theatre made entirely of snow and ice hosts the Only Animal's premiere of NiX. Photo courtesy Trudy Lee/The Only Animal

VICTORIA January 22, 2010 – NiX

Created for the Olympic Games’ Cultural Olympiad, this frozen winter wonderland – Canada’s first theatre made entirely of snow and ice  – will host theatre troupe The Only Animal’s premiere of NiX, a unique love story that promises to thaw audience hearts. Staged on the shores of Whistler’s Logan Lake, the show follows the adventures of two survivors and an arsonist as they face an ice age that threatens the end of the world, with fireworks, dying snowmen and explosive fire. Ticket info: 1-800-838-3006

INTERNATIONAL: SHETLAND ISLANDS January 26, 2010 – Up Helly Aa Festival

On the last Tuesday in January, the townsfolk of Lerwick, Shetland Islands (off the coast of Scotland), dress in their Viking best and converge in the town square to celebrate their Norse heritage. Holding flaming torches and surrounded by as many as five thousand spectators, male villagers march toward the town’s replica Viking Longship, which builders spend more than four months creating just for the occasion. The boat is set aflame, mimicking the ancient Viking tradition of offering a burning ship to the Sun God. And after the audience watches it sink into the sea, the revelry can begin: a melee of dance, drink and feasts that lasts well into the wee hours. Consider it a Viking-style Mardi Gras. Contact: Shetland Tourism, +44 (0) 1595 693434.

by Dave Quinn

Background

The Flathead River rises in the often overlooked southeast corner of British Columbia like some mythical creature born in the shadows of imagination. From here it ripples south across the U.S. border, mingles momentarily with Montana’s historic Clark Fork River, then joins the great Columbia in the race to the Pacific. Protected by a ring of jagged Rocky Mountain peaks and logging roads with triple-digit kilometre markers, the far reaches of the Canadian Flathead are a bone-jarring, tire-puncturing two-hour drive from the nearest town, the East Kootenay community of Fernie. Understandably, the headwaters of the transborder Flathead have only recently begun to share their secrets.

The 158,000-hectare watershed is considered by many to be the lynchpin for wildlife diversity in the southern Rocky Mountains. The Flathead shelters more grizzly bears than any other non-coastal region in North America, the highest number of vascular plant species in Canada and some of the purest water on the planet. Perhaps most important, the largest unpopulated valley in southern Canada provides critical breeding habitat, particularly for wide-ranging carnivores such as grizzlies, wolverine and lynx whose home ranges can encompass thousands of square kilometres. The high mortality rates of carnivores due to hunting or human encroachment on habitat makes breeding grounds crucial pieces in the conservation puzzle. The Flathead is possibly the most important such wildlife refuge in the southern Rockies.

“No other region along the Canada-U.S. border sustains such a diversity of wildlife and ecosystems.”

–Mark Angelo, Rivers Chair/Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC) of B.C., and Order of Canada and Order of B.C. recipient

Unfortunately, remoteness does not equal protection. Sprawling clear-cuts now claw their way to meet the alpine, the scars of increasing off-road vehicle traffic are seen even in the valley’s farthest reaches and so-called “mountaintop removal” open-pit coal mines are being proposed for this unique drainage. “No other region along the Canada-U.S. border sustains such a diversity of wildlife and ecosystems,” notes Mark Angelo, Rivers Chair for the 120,000-member Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC) of B.C., and an Order of Canada and Order of B.C. recipient. Yet despite ever-increasing human incursions over the last 10 years, the Flathead appears to have been abandoned by government decision-makers.

It has taken Cline Mining Corporation’s proposal of a two-million-tonne-per-year open-pit coalmine in the upper Flathead to bring tensions to a head, reigniting a century-old debate over the fate of this wild valley. In March 2007, ORC placed the Flathead atop its annual list of endangered B.C. rivers, ahead of more famous coastal cousins such as the Fraser, Skeena and Stikine. Contaminated runoff from large-scale open-pit mining would poison the Flathead, which flows directly into Montana’s Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake. “While mining is a major industry in our province, many British Columbians have expressed the view that there are some places just not appropriate to mine. The Flathead River is one of them,” says Angelo.

“While mining is a major industry in our province, many British Columbians have expressed the view that there are some places just not appropriate to mine. The Flathead River is one of them.” 

The Flathead River rubs shoulders with wilderness royalty: bounded to the east by Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park and to the south by Glacier National Park, crown of the U.S. national park system. In 1932, these transborder parks were united to form the world’s first International Peace Park and have since received a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site designation. But conservationists insist a critical chunk is missing in the Waterton-Glacier complex. A glance at a map reveals what looks like a bite taken out of the preserve’s protected core – in the B.C. portion of the region.

Discussions about a park in the Flathead are not new. As early as 1911, conservationists such as Kutenai Brown, Waterton’s first park superintendent, acknowledged the superlative wildlife values of the Flathead Valley. In his March 1911 Report of the Superintendent, Brown wrote, “It seems advisable to greatly enlarge this park . . . to have a preserve and breeding ground in conjunction with the United States’ Glacier Park.” But it has taken the advent of modern wildlife biology survey methods, including radio collaring and DNA hair snagging, for scientists to truly understand the Flathead’s contribution to the southern Rockies ecosystem.

The Environmentalists’ View

Biologist Bruce McLellan has spent much of the past 25 years raising his family in a cabin in the Flathead Valley while working on one of the world’s longest-running grizzly bear studies. “On the coast, salmon are a major food source, so that determines where you find significant grizzly populations. Here in the Interior, it is huckleberries,” says McLellan, “and the Flathead has a lot of huckleberries. Yet huckleberries are just one reason why the Flathead supports such an uncommonly high density of grizzlies. The valley is also the breeding ground for grizzlies in all the surrounding areas,” notes McLellan.

Yet despite nearly a century of advocacy, the southeast corner of B.C. is noticeably free of what conservationists call “green blobs” – nature sanctuaries that serve as breeding grounds for neighbouring wildlife populations. 

Grizzlies aren’t the only members of the “claw and fang” clan to call the Flathead home, however. Sixteen species of carnivores, ranging from tiny weasels and badgers to wolverine and cougar, thrive here, in one of the most diverse carnivore populations on the continent. Without the Flathead, many surrounding valleys would no longer have a source of carnivores and other wildlife to replace those lost to trapping, hunting and natural mortality. Yet despite nearly a century of advocacy, the southeast corner of B.C. is noticeably free of what conservationists call “green blobs” – nature sanctuaries that serve as breeding grounds for neighbouring wildlife populations. To rectify the situation, a coalition of grassroots, national and international conservation interests is working overtime to focus B.C.’s political eye on this neglected corner of the province.

“Core protected areas are a key concept in conservation,” notes Harvey Locke, the visionary behind the Yellowstone-to-Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) and advisor for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), a national conservation group that has helped protect more than 400,000 square kilometres of Canadian wilderness. “To secure a future for wide-ranging species such as grizzlies and lynx, which are both protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, large, core sanctuaries with no hunting or trapping are critical – and biologists have identified the Flathead as perhaps the single most important basin for carnivores in the Rocky Mountains.”

"Provincial parks are not truly protected. And even if they were, they don’t have the staff to police them. Hunting, snowmobiling and even heli-skiing are allowed in some, and B.C. Parks has only one staff member for every eight parks. How can you call that 'protected.' "

Not surprisingly, uncertainty over the Flathead’s future has sparked ongoing debate among the East Kootenays’ 56,000 residents. National Park proponents cite underfunding and poor management in provincial parks as the rationale for a national park. “Provincial parks are not truly protected,” explains John Bergenske, executive director of the grassroots East Kootenay conservation group Wildsight. “And even if they were, they don’t have the staff to police them. Hunting, snowmobiling and even heli-skiing are allowed in some provincial parks, and B.C. Parks has only one staff member for every eight parks. How can you call that ‘protected’?”

Parks Canada, for its part, is interested in stepping in. In 2002, it identified the Flathead as “an area of interest” for expansion of Waterton National Park – a proposal that initially garnered huge local interest. The city council of Fernie, the local Regional District of East Kootenay and the Ktunaxa First Nation (in whose traditional territory the Flathead is found) subsequently called for a park feasibility study. But for local hunting groups and ORV users, the word “park” can be a four-letter word.

National Park Designation: Those Opposed 

Sparwood, B.C.’s Kent Petovello, president of the East Kootenay Wildlife Association, draws on 30 years of outdoor experience in the Flathead when he says, “A national park is something most hunters would never consider. Why?  Most locals call Banff and Jasper ‘tourist pits.’ It goes beyond common sense to promote ski hills, golf and condominiums in a place like the Flathead. Some hunters might accept a Class A Provincial Park or wilderness area with legislated designations, but nobody wants a national park.”

Fernie’s Mike Sosnowski, owner-operator of a local snowmobile tour company, is similarly opposed. “Local input into the management of the Flathead is the answer to maintaining a healthy valley,” he insists. “A park would exclude a majority of the current users of that land base. It’s already managed by provincial and federal laws and standards that have worked very well so far. Leave it be.”

Economic Benefits of National Park Designation

“But the problem with ‘leaving it be,’” says Wildsight’s John Bergenske, “is that the current land use regime leaves the valley open for mining. We have an open-pit coal mine proposed for the headwaters of the Flathead right now, with more to come. This special place needs a special plan that includes a sanctuary like a national park in part of the valley and a ban on mining in the rest of it.”

“Such a plan would also be good for the B.C. economy,” says Harvey Locke. “We live in a world where the most rapidly disappearing commodity is wilderness. Protected areas are now economic drivers and diversifiers. And this is especially true for regions like the Flathead, which has one of the least diverse economies in B.C. – one susceptible to the booms and busts of highly unpredictable resource extraction markets.” He notes that towns such as Invermere, Canmore and Kalispel have booming economies simply because they are close to Kootenay, Banff and Glacier national parks. “People like living, and raising their families, near permanently protected nature. Such towns benefit not only from increased tourism, but from increased numbers and a diversity of residents.”

When the number of jobs that would be potentially lost was balanced against potential new Parks Canada jobs and the predicted influx of new families, the net annual benefit for the region was estimated at an impressive $1.44 million, with 23 additional full-time jobs generated.

To test this theory, Bergenske and Locke hired an independent economist in 2005 to evaluate the economic impact of a national park designation for the Flathead. When the number of jobs that would be potentially lost was balanced against potential new Parks Canada jobs and the predicted influx of new families, the net annual benefit for the region was estimated at an impressive $1.44 million, with 23 additional full-time jobs generated.

Currently, the East Kootenays boast five immense open-pit coal mines that collectively produce 25 per cent of the world’s “shipped” steelmaking coal. Hunters, conservation interests and even many local miners agree that another mine is not what the region needs. They may disagree on the proposed park expansion, but they see eye to eye on Cline Mining Corporation’s proposal to haul two million tonnes of coal annually from the Flathead’s headwaters down 40 km of forestry road to a rail siding on the Elk River. When Cline officials held public open houses this January in Elko, Fernie and Sparwood, the sentiment at the packed venues was clear: No, thanks. Local opinion was equally adamant in the more than 60,000 emails and faxes that subsequently crashed the email server of the governor of Montana and flooded B.C.’s Office of the Premier.

Overwhelming negative response such as this does not bode well for Cline Mining or for any future proposed mines in the Flathead. And if the public remains galvanized around keeping the Flathead wild, the future may well turn out bright for B.C.’s most endangered watershed. For conservationists such as John Bergenske and Harvey Locke, this would mean an expanded Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. For Kent Petovello and other hunters it would mean a Flathead free of open-pit mines but with status-quo management of hunting and off-road-vehicle access. For its part, Parks Canada needs only the approval of the provincial government to proceed with a feasibility study for a national park (the province has so far declined to respond to calls to protect the Flathead).

Meanwhile, after more than a quarter century spent working and living in the Flathead Valley, Bruce McLellan is watching change edge slowly but surely into the valley where he has raised his family. “I’m not sure what the future holds for the Flathead. I’m only sure there have been changes, in human presence, off-road vehicle use, hunting pressures – all of which is not great for grizzlies,” he observes. “But I want to see the Flathead stay the same as it was 10 years ago, just like everybody else. And the only way to keep what still exists there today is to provide some measure of protection for tomorrow.”

Dave Quinn is a Kimberley, B.C.-based wildlife biologist, wilderness guide and author whose work takes him from the Kootenays to remote regions of the Arctic and Patagonia.

>>For more information on the transboarder Flathead Valley and the struggle to keep it wild: flatheadwild.ca; peaceparkplus.net

>>Related reading: B.C.’s Latest RAVE Focuses on the Flathead; Northern B.C.: The Last Wild River

Here in lush, green B.C., the transportation sector accounts for more than a third of the province’s provincial greenhouse gas emissions. Passenger and heavy duty vehicles take the lion’s share of those emissions, with 39 and 26 per cent, respectively. And domestic aviation claims just 7 per cent of the transportation sector’s emissions, though there are, of course,opportunities to cut those emissions to help the province achieve its overall goal of 33 per cent reductions by 2020.

(left to right) Pacific Carbon Trust CEO Scott MacDonald, Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap, West Coast Air CEO Rick Baxter/courtesy Resilient Consulting Group

West Coast Air is the latest B.C. business to reach its zero emission target: “carbon neutral” status, with West Coast Air CEO Rick Baxter, Pacific Carbon Trust CEO Scott MacDonald and Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap on hand to make the announcement at the airline’s downtown Vancouver terminal on January 11, 2010.

The 35-year-old, locally owned and operated float plane airline started its journey toward zero emissions in 2007 – studying its carbon impact with the assistance of Climate Smart, then measuring its carbon footprint and coming up with strategies to reduce that footprint. After achieving organic emission cuts of 12 per cent the first year and 10 per cent in each of the two years following, the airline has now partnered with Pacific Carbon Trust to source carbon offsets for the remainder of its emissions.

“[West Coast Air] is helping the province reduce emissions by 33 per cent by 2020,” said Yap, referring to BC Climate Action Plan targets, adding that by sourcing carbon offsets through the Pacific Carbon Trust, the airline is “supporting the growth of a vibrant low-carbon economy in B.C.” As well, Yap noted that the airline’s investment in “made-in-B.C.” carbon offsets makes the airline’s emission reduction accomplishment particularly significant. 

Now that two of B.C.’s regional carriers are carbon neutral (Harbour Air being the other), the province’s domestic aviation emissions will hopefully close in on zero as well. But what should the province be doing about reducing passenger and heavy-duty vehicle emissions?

Over the past few years, B.C.’s Flathead valley has slowly but surely risen to the top of the controversial list of “Canada’s Most Threatened Valleys” (Kimberley photographer Patrice Halley and I covered the Flathead for the summer 2007 issue of Westworld). The Flathead is home to the highest diversity of carnivores in North America, some of the purest water on the planet, the highest density of grizzlies in inland North America and the most diverse mixture of plant communities in the Rocky Mountains.

The Flathead is home to the highest diversity of carnivores in North America, some of the purest water on the planet, the highest density of grizzlies in inland North America and the most diverse mixture of plant communities in the Rocky Mountains.

All this seems at odds with open-pit coal mining, coal bed methane development and gold-mine proposals in B.C.’s portion of the Flathead – some places are just too special for the heavy hand of heavy industry. Which is why for 10 days this July, photographers and filmmakers with the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) conducted a Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) into the Flathead Valley to document its landscape and wildlife, and to help distill a vision of hope for a solution to protect it. This proposal includes National Park status for a third of the valley and a wildlife management plan for the entire region.

With 60 “fellows,” including the likes of Wade Davis, Art Wolfe, Frans Lanting and Flip Nicklin, the ILCP represents some of the most accomplished, well-recognized names in photography. And when these pros turn their lenses to an issue, that issue is certain to garner a lot of attention – both for the insightful and poignant images ILCP photographers capture but also for the compelling stories their photos reveal.

The gala opening of the ILCP Flathead RAVE photography exhibit was held New Year’s Eve at the Fernie Arts Station, with the exhibit moving on to Cranbrook on February 4^th at the Key City Theatre, then to Kimberley on February 25^th at Centre 64. The marquee evening in Cranbrook will feature presentations by local photographer and mountaineer Pat Morrow, ILCP photographer Garth Lenz, and Spirit Bear phenom Simon Jackson. These local showings will be followed by RAVE exhibitions at galleries both in the region and abroad, showcasing one of B.C.’s critically threatened landscapes to as large an audience as possible.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Since 1911,when Waterton Park’s first superintendent John ‘Kootenai’ Brown called for it’s protection, conservationists have working to gain protection for southeastern British Columbia’s Flathead Valley. Following Parks Canada’s identification of the Flathead as an area of interest for a new park, Flathead National Park has been inching its way closer to reality. Do you think that National Park status is a good solution to this century-old debate, or perhaps you’d prefer to see a Provincial Park, a simple Wildlife Management Area, or no protection at all?  Tweet me at @KootenayDave to let me know what you think!

Related reading: Northern B.C.: The Last Wild River; Flathead on the Mind

Also, visit your local MEC store to check out the in-store display highlighting the Flathead Valley and the need to protect it.

Photos: Garth Lenz

Although my Kootenay backyard, to which I am forever and irrevocably bonded, features some of the most diverse wildlife habitats in southern Canada, a staggering network of industrial roads and hydroelectric developments has irreparably dulled the sharp edge of wilderness here.  An estimated 50 to 60,000 kilometres of forestry and mine roads spread like veins across the Kootenay high country, and both of our major rivers – the Columbia and Kootenay, have been dammed. The last salmon runs reached the upper Columbia River in the early 1940s, their way blocked forever by Washington’s Grand Coulee dam. Yet as a wilderness lover I am drawn to areas without these impacts – places where entire drainages, hundreds of kilometres long, are still unroaded, and where rivers still flow freely.

Northern British Columbia is one of those places.

NORTHERN B.C. "As a wilderness lover I am drawn to areas without these impacts – places where entire drainages, hundreds of kilometres long, are still unroaded, and where rivers still flow freely." Photo courtesy Brian Huntingon/brianhuntington.com

A 2007 canoe trip on northern B.C.’s Stikine River, one of three waterways that rise from the Spatsizi Plateau to make their way to the Pacific Ocean, hooked me on the area. The Stikine, along with the Nass and Skeena rivers, are true ecosystem arteries – conduits for the timeless flow of nutrients to the oceans and the return of critical minerals and proteins in the countless bodies of salmon who return to these rivers and their tributaries to complete their life cycles.

I thought a 10-day canoe trip on a wild northern river was pretty hard-core. That is, until I heard of Ali Howard’s truly epic 28-day, 610-km swim of the Stikine’s big-sister-river, the Skeena. Yes, that’s right, swim.

Howard immersed herself in the frigid Skeena to raise awareness of the threats of Shell’s proposed coal-bed methane drilling in the Sacred Headwaters and Enbridge’s proposed tar- sands oil pipeline (Westworld magazine features the Stikine and CBM threats to the Sacred Headwaters in its Winter 2009 issue “Landmarks: The Last Wild River”). Ali Howard summed up a month of cold-water immersion, punishing rapids, inspiring community support, and above all, the story of the Skeena, in Vancouver on Thursday December 3 at UBC Robson Square.

STIKINE RIVER, B.C. Ali Howard immersed herself in the frigid Skeena to raise awareness of the threats of Shell’s proposed coal-bed methane drilling in the Sacred Headwaters and Enbridge’s proposed tar sands oil pipeline. Photo courtesy Brian Huntington/brianhuntington.com

With the efforts of people like Ali, and support from people like you, hopefully the Skeena will never join the much-diminished Columbia River on the shameful list of watersheds to which salmon no longer return.

Do you have an update on the Wade Davis and David Suziki fight to save B.C.’s “Sacred Headwaters”? Let us know!

Lead photo courtesy Brian Huntington/brianhuntington.com

Artists strive to capture the essence of a subject – to essentially freeze it in time to allow the rest of our less intuitive brains time to render the fat from the meat, to see it’s true spirit.

Some of us work with words.  We try to arrange this jumble of symbols you see before you in such a way as to kindle some inner fire if inspiration and understanding.

Award-winning Nelson photographer Kari Medig seeks unique perspectives that tell his subject's stories in compelling ways. Kari's work will be featured at KMC's Backyard Booty on December 11th.

Others break our fast-paced world into frozen, individual images. Photographers offer us our world one frame at a time, allowing us to explore the full range of human emotion, the power of landscape, the meaning of shape, tone and colour.

Painters and sculptors are limited only by the human imagination – their own and that of their audience. Their offerings are as much a glimpse into their own souls as a lens through which to view our surroundings.

For the last five years Nelson’s Mitchell Scott and Peter Moynes have bound a range of place-based art into the pages of a single publication, Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine (KMC). And for the past five years, KMC’s high-quality presentation, resonant content, and creative depth have had locals clamouring for the next edition of this biannual months before publication.

In addition to celebrating the local flavours in print,This years event launches on December 11 at Nelson’s Capitol Theatre. Showtime 7 p.m.

Courtesy Jeremy Down

Whether you’re an ingredient in the unique spice that is Kootenay Mountain Culture, or just a voyeur wanting a better peek at what’s on the other side of the powder curtain, Backyard Booty in Nelson is the place to be this month.

Links:

karimedigphoto.com
www.jeremydown.com
Mitchell Scott: adventurestorytelling.ca

Lead photo courtesy Jeremy Down

Wade Davis and David Suzuki fight to save the Stikine, Nass and Skeena headwaters

by Dave Quinn

In 1879, legendary American naturalist and wilderness advocate John Muir paddled B.C.’s lower Stikine River, which from its headwaters on the Spatsizi Plateau carves a 250-km path through the Coast Mountains between Telegraph Creek, B.C., and Wrangell, Alaska — a remote waterway described by Muir as a “Yosemite 100 miles long.”

Some 130 years later, the Stikine’s lower half has survived the salmon wars, plans to dam its “Grand Canyon” and a proposed open-pit gold mine in a major tributary. But the threat of coal-bed methane (CBM) development in its headwaters — which requires a particularly destructive fossil-fuel extraction technique — still looms. The good news: local First Nations and conservationists such as David Suzuki and Wade Davis have united to “save the sacred headwaters” of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena, three of the province’s most important salmon-producing rivers. The collapse of B.C.’s southern salmon stocks this summer, resulting in closures to commercial and First Nations fishing on the Fraser and dramatic decreases in grizzly populations on the south coast, only reinforces the urgency of their struggle.

For more info and background: sacredheadwaters.com

Copies of the coffee table book Stikine, by G. Fiegehen, are also available at gfiegehen@uniserve.com

Do you have an update on the fight to save the Stikine, Nass and Skeena? Let us know!

For related reading: B.C.’s Latest RAVE Focuses on the Flathead ; Flathead on the Mind ; Northern B.C.: Swim the Skeena

Lead photo by Dave Quinn

by Rob Howatson

More cowbell please! With the thermometer dropping and the Olympic Flame burning its way toward B.C., it’s time to get this party started. Regardless of whether one’s winter strategy involves embracing the 2010 Games full on or hunkering down in a Kootenay forest until the fireworks blow over, the following guide will help you medal in the appropriate event.

Throughout the 2010 Games, Big White Ski Resort will present its irreverent take on the winter athletic competition, hosting a different, fun event each day. Photo courtesy Big White Ski Resort

1   Jest for Glory
Big White Games, Kelowna
Kelowna’s local ski hill knows how to get into the Olympic spirit. Throughout the 2010 Games, Big White Ski Resort will present its irreverent take on the winter athletic competition, hosting a different, fun event each day. From inner-tube luge to the Nerf gun biathlon, this is the peoples’ games – open to guests of all abilities, with medal ceremonies held each evening in the Happy Valley flag garden. 250-765-3101

2  Black-Diamond Bronco
Wrangle the Chute, Golden
Put some yee-haw in your Olympic yodel at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s annual alpine hoedown. Contestants ski down a steep, narrow run, launch themselves off a ramp and jettison their gear in preparation for a wild ride on a bucking bronco. Warning: the horse is fake, but the wranglers operating its bungee suspension are genuinely ornery. Sane folk may prefer to opt out of the race and enjoy the antics from the Heaven’s Door yurt patio – complete with DJ and BBQ. February 6, 7. 1-866- 754-5425

3  Freewheel U
Cross-Country Ski Camps, Vernon
Silver Star Resort’s 105-km, groomed-trail network is the cross-country ski centre of B.C. – voted the number one Nordic destination in North America by Forbes Travel magazine. Numerous Olympic national teams will gather here to tweak their form prior to the Games and a popular series of cross-country ski camps will help weekend warriors do the same. Courses range from $199 to $739, including trail passes, lunch and video analysis. November 28 to December 6. 1-800-663- 4431

4  Varsity Rules
Thunderbird Hockey, Vancouver
Olympic hockey tickets are hard to find, but there is a way to get a sneak peek inside the Games’ new $47.8-million UBC venue – and see some gutsy varsity sports action at the same time. The T-Bird men and women hockey teams will play this season’s home games in the state-of-the-art, 7,500-seat arena. Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Tickets $10. UBC.
Schedules: gothunderbirds.ca

5  Wired for Wow
Air Grouse Mountain Ziplines, North Vancouver
Ziplining is one of those zany, adrenalin-pumping activities that has all the makings of an Olympic event – gasp-inducing speed, a gratuitous exploitation of gravity – but isn’t a sport . . . yet. For now it is simply a mind-blowing way to view the North Shore Mountains while hurtling above Grouse Mountain forest at 80 km/h. Après ride: Grouse’s 740-square-metre ice-skating pond, where 1972 Olympic silver medallist Karen Magnussen is lacing ’em up to give figure skating tips – for real. 604-980-9311

For this year's Ice-Wine Festival, organizers have opened up the spigot to include all Okanagan varietals. Photo courtesy Sun Peaks Resort

6  A-Vin-Lanche Patrol
Winter Wine Festival/Sun Peaks Resort, near Kamloops
The ancient Olympiad began with the Greeks offering wine to Zeus. So it is fitting that the Winter Wine Festival will flow January 16 to 24 – right before the Games. For 11 years, this was the Icewine Festival, a Sun Peaks swish-and-spit jamboree dedicated to the only vino harvested in the dead of night and dead of winter. This year’s grape party will continue to honour the elixir from the frozen vine, but festival organizers have also opened up the spigot to include all Okanagan varietals. New events include Wild Meats and Wild Wine at Masa’s Bar + Grill, a Varietal Showdown at the M Room and a Mixology Event for those who like sampling beyond the wine lists. January 16 to 24. 1-800-807-3257

7  Dude Meets dweeb
Old School Giant Slalom/Mount Washington, near Courtenay
There are bound to be neck-wrenching double takes at Vancouver Island’s alpine resort this winter as Olympic snowboarders share Mount Washington’s slopes with some bizarrely attired skiers. The elite boarders will be cramming for their parallel giant slalom test at Cypress. The downhillers, with their kamikaze headbands, one-piece neon hot-dogger suits, mirrored sunglasses and skinny, straight skis, will be there for the inaugural retro ’80s fun race January 30. Totally wicked! 1-888-231-1499

8  Oval Au Naturel
Polarthon, Kamloops
Kamloops is a hotbed for speed skating talent, but the city can’t afford a $178-million long-track oval like Richmond’s new Olympic venue. So its determined blade racers came up with a more affordable alternative: Logan Lake. Each winter a local ATV club sweeps the lake’s frozen surface, transforming it into a giant outdoor rink and the home of the Southern Regional Long-Track Speed-Skating Championships (January 9), a fun winter triathlon called Polarthon (January 10) and the Western Cup of Pond Hockey (January 15 to 17). Located just outside Kamloops, Logan Lake is the only lake-surface speed-skate venue in B.C. 250-523-6225

9  The Cold Lebowski
Winter Festival, Valemount
The Olympic torch passes through this gateway-to-Mount Robson community January 29, just in time to kick off Valemount’s second-annual icicle whoop-up. Frosty frolics on January 30 include a wacky winter triathlon (skate, cross-country ski, run), milk-jug curling, dogsled rides and the little-known sport of body bowling. The latter involves participants being hurled across a frozen lake in the hopes of knocking down a set of oversized pins. 250-566-4435

10  Fork Lighting
Lighting the Way, Grand Forks
Many towns throughout B.C. will celebrate the arrival of the Olympic torch when it passes through their communities. Grand Forks, for instance, will party it up January 24 as the flame flickers down its main streets – hopefully keeping its distance from the snow-and-ice sculpture contest. Plus: fireworks and performances by First Nations and Metis jig dancers, the Doukhobor Seniors Choir and the Sopranos Youth Singers. 1-866-442-2833

11  Follow the Pack
Sled Dog Tour, Invermere
Sled-dog racing was a demonstration sport in the 1932 Lake Placid games, and the International Federation of Sled Dog Sports has been agitating for a second chance ever since, though it may be awhile before Fido tops the podium again. In the meantime, mountain mushing experiences can be had at Toby Creek Adventures (just down the road from Panorama Mountain Village), featuring a full-day backcountry romp to the Delphine Glacier. (Movie-goers may recall this stunning icefield from the 1993 survival film Alive.) Many of the trek’s guides and dogs are veterans of the Iditarod and Canadian championship sled dog races, so you’ll want to hang on for the mad dash up Delphine Creek to the glacier’s spectacular, cliff-top icefall. 1-888-357-4449

B.C.'s second-annual Cultural Olympiad: more than 600 free and ticketed acts and exhibitions. Photo courtesy Trudy Lee Photography

12  Brrrrravo!
Cultural Olympiad 2010, Various B.C. Locations
The Cultural Olympiad has wowed audiences in Vancouver and along the Sea-to-Sky corridor since its launch last year. But the closer we get to the Games, the more spectacular those performances. More than 600 free and ticketed acts and exhibitions will be showcased January 22 to March 21, including the rare double-billing of Canada’s National Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet – but also relative unknowns: e.g., The Only Animal theatre company’s ambitious production of NiX. The tiny Vancouver troupe will construct Canada’s first theatre of snow and ice at Whistler’s Lost Lake and fill it with a frozen fantasy about fireworks at the end of the world.

13  Learn From the Master
Nipika Classic Loppet, Radium Hot Springs
Can’t define “loppet”? All the more reason to attend Nipika Mountain Resort’s Learn to Cross Country Ski Week (January 18 to 25) – for classic and skate-skiing taught by resort co-owner Lyle Wilson. The former Olympic coach has been a dominant force on the Canadian Master ski circuit for 30 years. So, you can hone your skills on Nipika’s 50 km of trails, then be well-primed to race in its Classic Loppet at week’s end. 1-877-647-4525

Kimberley's Family Festival: Bands, glow-stick parades, a mountain scavenger hunt and s’mores by the skate pond. Photo courtesy Kimberley Family Festival

14  Kin Who Huck
Family Festival, Kimberley Alpine Resort
The Olympic family that shreds together breaks bread together. And so, in honour of the fact that skiing is such a great family activity, Kimberley’s ski hill has declared Valentine’s weekend a giant brood bash. There will be bands, glow-stick parades, a mountain scavenger hunt and s’mores by the skate pond. February 13 to 14. 1-800-258-7669

15  O Yes You Did
The O Zone, Richmond
An official celebration site of the 2010 Winter Games, the O Zone will showcase art, culture, entertainment and sport via a main stage for international headliners, giant outdoor ice rink, interactive exhibits and a towering 43-metre screen carrying live feeds from all Olympic venues. To find: just look for the colourful, 30-metre-long wall of ice at the O Zone entrance (by B.C.’s Gordon Halloran, who also designed the Turin Games’ 2006 sub-zero installation). 604-276-4000

16  Spread the Warmth
Hudson Bay Mountain Resort, Smithers
The Olympic Flame isn’t the only torch drawing crowds this winter. On January 29, evening skiers brandishing flares on bamboo poles will create what will look like a giant glowing red snake – descending the slopes of Hudson Bay Mountain Resort via its new eight-km trail to town (one of B.C.’s top-three longest runs). Torch bearers will finish their burn turns on the edge of Smithers, where a bus waits to take them to the resort’s watering hole, Whisky Jack’s, for the Torchlight Dance. All proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society. 250-847-2058

17  Totem Polar Party
Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver
The towering glass walls of UBC’s Museum of Anthropology Great Hall still offer a stunning view of Vancouver’s outer harbour, and the hall itself still displays an amazing collection of totem poles. But huge changes are afoot thanks to a $55-million expansion and facelift. Highlights: new exhibition gallery and revitalized lobby, gift shop and café unveiling; plus the launch of “Boundary and Translation: New Art Across Cultures,” a cultural Olympiad exhibition of contemporary works by 12 international artists. January 23, 24. 604-827-5932

18  Don’t Piste Me Off
Big Mountain Freeskiing, Revelstoke
Skiers who find Olympic slope events too constraining can always sink their fat planks into competitive Big Mountain Freeskiing – a sport that’s been around for 15-plus years but is not yet on the Olympic radar. Revelstoke intends to change that when it hosts the Canadian Freeskiing Championships January 6 to 10. Competitors are given a start gate and a finish line; what they do with the mountain in between is up to them. But usually that means huge carves on open faces, bombing through tight chutes, launching off 15-metre cliffs and a smattering of tricks in between. 1-866-373-4754

19  Play Safe
National Avalanche Awareness Days, Various B.C. Locations
You can’t host the Winter Games without a few words of winter caution. In fact, more than 30 Canadian communities will hold white-thunder safety programs in January, with Fernie the anchor city for this season’s campaign. The East Kootenay powder pocket is a fitting location to headline the Canadian Avalanche Centre initiative because it draws both skiers and snowmobilers, and it’s the latter that took a beating in the backcountry last winter (avalanches smothered twice as many snowmobilers in the 2008-09 season than in any preceding winter). Still, all slope-lovers will appreciate the beacon searches, snowpit profiles and search-dog demonstrations January 8 to 10 at Fernie Alpine Resort (simultaneous activities at local sled area, January 9). 250-837-2141

20  Potluck Potlatch
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, Whistler
Fans of Whistler’s Farmers’ Market, which packs the Upper Village with organic goodness summer through fall, can now get their slow- food fix at a winter version – Sundays at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC), an impressive structure designed to evoke a traditional Squamish longhouse and Lil’wat Istken pit house. Sunday shoppers can stock up on storage crops, root vegetables, late-season fruits and locally prepared artisan breads before paying by donation to access the SLCC’s exhibits and weave-your-own-bling Salish Craft Workshop. 1-866-441-7522

Got a fave B.C. “Winter Wow” event we should know about? Send us a line!

Lead photo courtesy Grouse Mountain

The Economic Benefits: Facts versus hype

by Kerry Banks

In the euphoria that followed the announcement that Vancouver had won the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, there was a lot of talk about how the Games would be a gold mine for the local economy: creating jobs, boosting tourism and providing a bonanza for local suppliers. But while it is undoubtedly true that same local businesses will make a killing – porta-potty companies, for example, and parking lot owners, limousine rental firms and flower shops – a number of studies by top economists reveal little evidence that hosting the Games produces significant economic benefits for any host city or region. In fact, according to a 2008 study by three economists who specialize in the economics of sport, in the short-term, taking on the Games can actually be damaging. In their analysis “Slippery Slope? Assessing the Economic Impact of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah,” for example, the authors found that “general merchandise stores suffered a net loss of $167.4 million during  the Games time,  as did ski resorts and other recreation firms.” As Victor Matheson, one of the paper’s authors, noted, “It’s a fun time to be in the spotlight, but most cities lose money.”

Although the accounting methods of Olympic organizing committees are often murky, the evidence further suggests that all of the last six Winter Olympics ended up losing money. The organizers of the Turin Games in 2006 admitted to a $32 million deficit. And while organizers of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics boasted an operating profit of $110 million, the U.S. General Accounting Office determined that the federal government contributed $1.3 billion toward the event. Plagued by cost overruns, the 1998 Nagano Olympics also lost huge piles of dough, though no one knows exactly how much because the organizers burned the accounting books, leaving the financial impact a mystery.

Likewise, the 1994 Lillehammer and 1992 Albertville Olympics ran multimillion-dollar deficits. Even Calgary, where the 1988 Winter Games were claimed to have turned a $90-million profit, lost money. In 1999, Tom Walkom, a Toronto Star reporter, discovered that Calgary’s organizing committee had omitted the cost of building sports facilities from its figures, and the federal, provincial and municipal governments contributed $461 million toward the games – nullifying any profits.

In light of the past record of host cities, then, Vancouver’s chances of avoiding a similar financial disaster are slim. As a recent editorial in Forbes magazine ominously states: “Over the past five years the operational costs of the 2010 Winter Games has mushroomed from $1.3 billion to almost $2 billion. In other words, Vancouver is going to take it on the chin as declining sponsorship and tourism revenue combined with higher security costs push the Vancouver Olympic Committee deep into the red.”

GRANVILLE ISLAND November 26 – January 2, 2010: It’s A Wonderful Life

“You see, George, you’ve really had a wonderful life.”

For a stroll down memory lane, remembering just how grand life can be: the Arts Club Theatre Company’s lively stage production of It’s a Wonderful Life. After watching the uplifting Christmas classic, theatre goers can then explore the winding streets of Granville Island, where Yuletide activities kick off December 3 and continue throughout the season: festive trolley rides, freshly roasted chestnuts, hot apple cider – it’s enough to bring out the George Bailey in even the most Scrooge-like of us. Ticken info online, or call 604-687-1644.

courtesy B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation

VICTORIA November 19 – January 3, 2010: Festival of Trees

Though the Fairmont Empress is majestic year-round, the holiday season truly brings out its magnificence. This year marks the 19th annual Festival of Trees, when Victoria’s premier hotel transforms into an enchanted forest of sparkling tinsel and vibrant lights. Event sponsors are given free reign in decorating their trees – which run the gamut from wacky to work-of-art – and visitors are encouraged to vote for their favourite submissions. The best part: all proceeds are donated to the B.C. Children’s Hospital. Can’t make it to Victoria? The event’s sister hosts are Vancouver’s Four Seasons Hotel and Port Alberni’s Best Western Barclay. 1-888-663-3033.

PRINCE RUPERT December 4 – 5: Winterfest

There’s nothing quite like an old-fashioned community Christmas, and Prince Rupert offers one of the region’s best. The city’s 13th annual Winterfest is billed as a family pleasing Noel, with enough Christmas spirit to rival the North Pole’s. Don’t miss: the city’s renowned Cowpuccino’s Coffee House, where home bakers will be flexing their interior design muscles in the gingerbread-house-decorating competition; a walk around the Courthouse Grounds, where the town’s intricate light display comes to life; taking the kids to breakfast with Santa, then watching him in the town-wide parade; winding down at a reading of Christmas favourites at Eainforest books; and letting the tykes loose on the Civic Centre Arena’s by-donation ice-skating afternoon. The festival closes with a bang – literally, as sparkling fireworks provide a backdrop for the annual Sailpast parade of Christmas carol boats. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For more info and tickets: 250.624.9118.

courtesy Polar Bear Habitat and Heritage Village

(NATIONAL) COCHRANE, ONTARIO Year-Round: Polar Bear Habitat & Heritage Village

Polar bear swims are ubiquitous in the winter months – after all, there’s nothing quite like an icy ocean plunge, particularly for a good cause. But what about the event’s namesake? Well, a day at Cochrane’s polar bear facility provides a crash course in the  Ursus maritimus. The only polar bear rehabilitation centre in the world, the Ontario site recovers abused or neglected bears and nurses them back to health, then finds new homes for them or provides long-term shelter at the centre. Here, visitors can also view the arctic natives in their new habitat, and, for those leery of jumping into sub-arctic waters, swim alongside the bears in an adjacent (partitioned) wading pool (seasonal). Yuletide bonus: during the Christmas season, the centre’s heritage village hosts a dazzling Northern Nights lights display December 5, 12 and 19. Ticket prices vary. For more information: visit the website or call 1-800-354-9948

(INTERNATIONAL) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL December 31: New Year’s Eve

Canucks haven’t partied till they’ve partied in Rio – especially on New Year’s Eve, or Reveillon. Consistently voted one of the best New Year’s bashes in the world, Rio’s all-night year end bash sees more than two million merrymakers crowding the streets and spilling over onto Cobacabana Beach. The celebration starts in the early hours, when hundreds of Brazilians begin streaming to the oceanside to pay homage to the Afro-Brazilian goddess Iemanja, while samba, boleros and choros plays in the background; the rest of the day, revelers party like it’s 2009. To celebrate Brazilian-style:,dress in white (as per tradition), let the champagne flow and keep those hips moving. If you need more convincing, keep in mind that winter is Rio’s depth of summer – and partying in the evening heat trumps shivering in a parka, anytime.

Lead image: Bob Frazer/the Arts Club Theatre Company’s It’s a Wonderful Life/photo by David Cooper

Local gal to carry the Olympic torch December 19

by Bernice Paul

The Olympic Torch Relay, which began locally on October 30 in Victoria and  is wending its way some 45,000 km across Canada,will be borne by a total of 12,000 torchbearers – athletes and civilians alike. Twelve thousand, each of whom will carry the torch for 300 metres before the final bearer enters the Games’ opening ceremonies and lights the Olympic flame. Not even I, a mild sports fan at best, can help but sprout goose bumps just reading about it.

One of the selected torchbearers is Jessica Langelaan, who has been associated with 2010 for some time now. In fact, last year she was given the enormous and never-been-done-before task of measuring the carbon footprint of the entire 2010 experience, including the torch relay. And apparently the relay accounts for about 3,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases – approximately one per cent of the total footprint of the Games. Because the relay is on foot, its emissions all come from the travel associated with the support teams, security and medical assistance. Oh, and the flame? “It’s butane or propane… and a very, very tiny part of the footprint,” according to Langelaan, who now works as a consultant for Offsetters, the official carbon-offset supplier for the Games.

As for her bid to carry the torch, it goes something like this:

“I auditioned to be in the opening ceremonies,” explains Langelaan,  “and made the mistake of telling my grandmother”  – who became convinced – and very excited – about dear Jessica being on television. Unfortunately, the opening ceremonies didn’t call back and Langelaan couldn’t break the news to Grandma. “So I had to be a torchbearer – for my grandmother.”

Needless to say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And it strikes me that Lanelaan is more proud of being a torchbearer than of having calculated its carbon footprint. And of course, most of her family will be descending upon Oakville, Ontario, to watch her carry the torch, including her best friend from Thunder Bay. (Her aunt has purchased red scarves for the whole family to wear so that they’ll stand out amongst the red-mittened crowd.)

“I don’t want to build it up too much – it’s only 300 metres!” says Langelaan. “No one’s ever come to watch me do anything and suddenly the world will show up to watch these 300 metres!” True, and a tedious leg it will be, too. It has already snowed in Ontario, so graceful trotting could prove challenging.

Langelaan takes the torch on December 19 at 3 pm EST – her very own red carpet moment. Here’s hoping it’s the longest and happiest 300 metres in her life.

You can follow Jessica or the entire Torch Relay on Twitter.

Part Two to follow

Lead photo courtesy Jessica Langelaan

Although it is clearly not too difficult to design an Olympic clothing line that will make scads of money, impressing the critics is a different matter entirely, as Hudson’s Bay is finding out.

by Kerry Banks

Back in 2005, HBC defeated Roots and Lululemon to win the bidding war for the athletic wear sponsorship for the next four Olympic games (2006 Torino Winter Games, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, and 2012 London Olympics). For this privilege, HBC forked over a hefty $100 million.

Macleans magazine dubbed the HBC's winter Olympic line as "banal, but wearable."

However, the Canadian Olympic clothing that HBC produced for Beijing in 2008 met with scathing reviews:  “garish,” “loud,” “psychedelia run amok,” were just some of the reactions. In its company blog, Lululemon dubbed HBC’s sartorial stylings the “vomit pajama line.”

Chastened by that reception, HBC opted for a more conservative approach with its 2010 Winter Olympic consumer line, which is based on four distinctly Canadian items: the parka, toque, knitted sweater and buffalo plaid. Even so, the company still managed to spark controversy. After surveying surveyed the line of red, white, black and grey clothing, Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry thought she spotted a partisan conspiracy, comparing the HBC’s official Olympic log, (a black ‘C’ with a red maple leaf in the centre) to the logo for the Conservative Party (a slanted blue ‘C’ with a red maple leaf in the middle). Others felt it was a direct rip-off of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s logo—a red maple leaf inside a black ‘C.’

It turns out, the HBC was sensitive enough to the similarity between its new logo and the military logo that it called in its lawyers for a meeting to determine that they were, in fact, different enough. As Hudson Bay’s fashion director Suzanne Timmins told Canadian Press, “When you’re dealing with the maple leaf, red, white, black, you’re going to come across a lot of different logos that are very close to other people’s logos.”

"Cowichan First Nation officials accused HBC of stealing their iconic sweater design after rejecting their proposal to produce Cowichan sweaters for HBC's line of 2010 Olympic clothing."

But there was more flak to come. Cowichan First Nation officials accused the retail giant of stealing their iconic sweater design after rejecting their proposal to produce Cowichan sweaters for HBC’s line of 2010 Olympic clothing. (HBC’s $350 Olympic sweater – featuring a maple leaf and elk — has become one of the clothing line’s most popular items since it was unveiled in October.) Hudson’s Bay initially dismissed the comparison, insisting its hand-knit sweater was not a Cowichan, and that the Vancouver Island band couldn’t meet the company’s production requirements to be an official supplier in any event. But after being threatened with legal action and public protests, HBC changed its tune. The company is now close to finalizing a deal with the band that will likely see Cowichan sweaters sold in Hudson’s Bay Company’s Olympic superstore in downtown Vancouver and in an aboriginal pavilion during the Games.

Meanwhile, the media’s reaction to the HBC’s Winter Olympic line appears to be lukewarm. Macleans magazine dubbed it “banal, but wearable.” The Globe and Mail declared: “These are items that have been designed to sell. Even if some Canadians are left cold by the nostalgic knitwear, foreigners will likely regard the pieces as quaint and worth buying as stylish souvenirs. Where the apparel comes up short is originality.” Chris Rudge, boss of the Canadian Olympic Committee, was more enthusiastic. He said the clothing “screams Canada” and is “bold, inspiring, modern, contemporary and cool.” Even so, “bold and “contemporary” do not seem to be the appropriate adjectives for designs that HBC fashion director Suzanne Timmins admits were inspired by the 1970s Crazy Canucks alpine ski team and the classic Canadian comedy show SCTV, featuring Bob and Doug McKenzie. She also noted that designers decided not to go with seal-skin trim, as requested by Canadian MPs to support Canada’s seal hunting industry.

The total value of licensed Olympic merchandise sales worldwide is expected to top the $500-million mark by the time the Games end, resulting in about $54 million in revenues for VANOC.

Of course, despite what the fashion mavens think, the total value of licensed Olympic merchandise sales worldwide is expected to top the $500-million mark by the time the Games end, resulting in about $54 million in revenues for VANOC. And no one need shed any tears for American-owned HBC, with its 21,000 square-foot Olympic superstore on the main floor of its downtown location jam-packed with more than 1,000 pieces of officially licensed Games merchandise. The store also features a Coke cafe decked out in Coca-Cola colours, a pin wall that can hold 21,000 pins; a display of special-edition watches from the 2010 Winter Games and past Games presented by Swatch; a concierge service offered by Purolator to ship purchases to a customer’s hotel or anywhere in the world; and replica Olympic Torches presented by Bombardier. With the Winter Games still several months away, Hudson’s Bay has already struck gold.

To view all of HBC’s Winter Olympic designs: http://store.hbc.com

So, how do you feel about the HBC’s new line of Olympic clothing? Are these items that you would buy?

Photos: Kerry Banks

Whistler hopes record-breaking snows are enough

by Kerry Banks

Record-breaking snows in Whistler this month have been attracting droves of skiers. In fact, the resort has already surpassed its record for November snowfall, with several days still remaining for the month. Even so, tourism officials are worried about the effect of “Olympic Aversion,” a threat that has nothing to do with the weather.

“Olympic Aversion” is a documented phenomenon that kept people away from previous Olympic venues such as Turin, Salt Lake City and Beijing because of fears that the sites would be too crowded, too expensive, and with too much construction around and no accommodation available. Ominously, early reports indicate that accommodation bookings for this winter at Whistler are already behind.

Officials with Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler are working hard to assure people that these sorts of concerns are not warranted. They want to make it clear to skiers, for example, that there are plenty of deals on lift tickets to be had, that 90 per cent of the skiable terrain will be open during the Olympics and also that the major construction was completed years ago. And though anyone who want to go to Whistler during the Olympics for the day to ski or snowboard will have to take a bus (no driving will be allowed), that scenario won’t come into play for a few months yet. In the meantime, Tourism Whistler claims there has never been a better time to visit the resort because visitors can gain a sneak preview of the Olympic site; transportation has been made easier; and people can try out the Olympic runs ahead of schedule.

What’s your take? How do you feel about not being able to drive to Whistler during the Olympics? Are you avoiding Whistler this winter because of preparations for the Games?

***

How will I access Whistler during the 2010 Winter Games?

There will be no public parking in Whistler during the Games, so the best way to get to Whistler will be by bus services offered by private carriers. Travel by vehicle will be possible for visitors with accommodations if they have a permit (see below). Additional travel time will be required at Games time, no matter what mode of transportation you choose.

The best way to get where you need to go and avoid delays is by planning ahead, avoiding peak travel times and knowing your transportation options now before you step out the door in February 2010.

Ticket holders travelling from Vancouver to events at Whistler venues must do so using the Olympic Bus Network. You can book your Olympic Bus Network tickets in advance starting November 24, 2009.

Once in Whistler, public transportation will be the most convenient and preferred mode of transportation. There will be expanded bus routes in Whistler around the clock, seven days a week for the month of February 2010. Ticket holders travelling from within Whistler to events at Whistler venues can do so by using this service.

More details can be found at www.travelsmart2010.ca.

I heard that there will be a checkpoint along the highway to Whistler. Will that affect me?

Given the need to manage traffic flow to Whistler during the Games, a checkpoint will be in effect on the Sea to Sky Highway near the Alice Lake turn-off, north of Squamish. The checkpoint will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. from February 11 to 28, 2010.

To pass through this checkpoint within the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. window, visitors to Whistler must have an official permit. Visitors who choose to drive to Whistler by private vehicle should get this permit mailed to them from their hotel before leaving home. If you don’t get this from your hotel in advance, you must get one from one of the Sea to Skypermit offices (located in either Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton or Vancouver) before you begin your trip up the highway. You will not be allowed to pass through the checkpoint without a visible permit; simply having a hotel reservation confirming parking is not sufficient. If you arrive at the checkpoint without a permit (but you have a hotel reservation confirming parking), you will be required to go the Sea to Sky permit office in Squamish to get one before continuing your trip up the highway to Whistler. If you travel outside the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. window, you do not require a permit.

Day skiers and other visitors to Whistler are encouraged to take commercial motor coaches or travel during off peak hours. You do not require a permit if travelling by bus.

Lead photo courtesy iStock.

The raven ranks among the world’s most intelligent creatures, displaying high learning ability and use of logic for solving problems, in some tests even surpassing chimpanzees. (courtesy Kerry Banks)

Ravens may be common in the Rockies, but they remain a novelty to me. I find them to be impressive birds: large, intelligent, playful and talented mimics. I remember sitting beside a beach in Tofino one afternoon listening to a raven imitate a dripping faucet. The same bird then made me jump when he did an uncanny and eerie impression of a human voice, calling “Tommy. Tommy.” Actually, it sounded just like the vocal in The Who’s song, so maybe the raven had been listening to the tune on someone’s stereo.

I stroll down the main drag, Banff Avenue, which may be the only street in town not named after an animal. The critter roll call includes Squirrel Street, Caribou Street, Lynx Street, Wolverine Street, Whiskey Jack Crescent and Porcupine Place. The town itself is named after Banffshire, Scotland, the birthplace of  Lord Strathcona and George Stephen, two major financiers of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Able to accomodate 1,700 guests in 700 rooms, the baronial Banff Springs Hotel has been described as having “corridors for the invalid, turrets for the astronomer and balconies for lovers.”

My destination is the Banff Springs Hotel, a gothic castle at the south end of town. And the man behind the creation of this five-star luxury hotel: William Van Horne, General Manager of Canadian Pacific Railways, who viewed the hot springs near the railway station of Banff as a potential tourist attraction. His vision was fuelled by the philosophy “If we can’t export the scenery, we will import the tourists.” Hence, in 1886, Van Horne commissioned Bruce Price of New York, one of the foremost architects of the day, to draw up plans for a hotel to be built above the confluence of the Bow and Spray Rivers overlooking the Bow Valley. Construction began in the spring of 1887, and the palatial resort opened on June 1, 1888. At the time it was reportedly the largest hotel in the world.

Like any grand old hotel, the Banff Springs is said to have its share of ghosts. For example, there are frequent sightings of Sam Macauley, a bellman who died here in 1976. It is believed that he still haunts the upper floors of the hotel. Several people have identified him as a real person and have spoken to him. But then, suddenly, he disappears right in front of their eyes.

And too there is the story of infamous Room 873, which no longer exists, though the hotel does have rooms 872 and 874. According to the legend, a family was murdered in Room 873, and strange things kept taking place after the room was cleaned up and re-opened, including a mirror hung in the room that displayed the fingerprints of the little girl who died there. No matter how many times the staff cleaned the mirror, the fingerprints constantly reappeared. Coupled with the reports of guests who claimed to see the family on occasion, the management decided to close off and wall up the room. Today, staff and guests still reported seeing the spirits of the family near where the room has been closed off.

I spend a couple of hours looking around the hotel and taking photos from various vantage points. I don’t encounter any ghosts, but in the hotel’s flower garden I do find a ghostly coloured moth that looks like it fluttered right out of the pages of a children’s book of fables.

Not all moths are nocturnal, as is clear from this photo. But the identity of this silvery species found in the flower garden outside the Banff Springs Hotel is a mystery to me. Does anyone know the answer?

By the time I meet up with Masters in a coffee shop back on Banff Avenue, I have a headache, the result of tramping around like a maniac in the high altitude air. (At 1,463 metres, Banff is the town with the highest elevation in Canada.) Mysterious as always, Masters refuses to tell me what he did all afternoon. We drive over to the Pox, er the Fox Hotel, where, thankfully we find that the desk clerk’s face is not melting. She has an Australian accent, like about 70 per cent of the people we have met so far who work in the Rockies’ service industry.

Dinner is at the upscale Maple Leaf Grille and Lounge. The Maple Leaf was recently awarded “Best Resort Restaurant, North America” at the United Kingdom’s 2009 Hardy’s Skiing and Snowboarding Awards. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but it is proudly noted on the restaurant’s website. I order the barbecued rib-eye; Masters opts for the Wild B.C. Salmon. “We are in Alberta—the land of beef. Why are you ordering B.C. seafood?” I ask.

“I felt like salmon,” he replies.

The front balcony of the Banff Springs Hotel looks out over the Bow River and the gap between Mt. Rundle and Tunnel Mountain.

“OK, salmon boy. Let’s head back to the Pox. According to our official itinerary we have to be in Lake Louise by  8 a.m. for our hike.”

(To be continued …)

Part I, II, III

Photos: Kerry Banks

by Kerry Banks

In 1965, TV viewers were introduced to My Mother the Car, a situation comedy about attorney David Crabtree, who purchases a dilapidated 1928 “Porter” touring car after hearing the car call his name in a woman’s voice, which turns out to be that of his deceased mother. Much to Crabtree’s frustration, however, his mother refuses to reveal her presence to anyone but him, saying, “Son, the world just isn’t ready for a talking car.” Four decades later, things have changed.

SYNC: What is it?

Ford and Mircosoft have developed a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system called SYNC that enables drivers to make and receive phone calls hands-free and control a range of digital audio via voice commands and buttons mounted on the steering wheel. The system is currently offered on 12 different Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles in North America.
To place a call, simply press a button on the steering wheel, then say the name of the person you wish to call. SYNC will automatically connect with the names in the mobile phone’s contact list.

SYNC can even receive text messages and read them aloud using a robotized female voice known as “Samantha.” To reply, the driver selects from one of 15 pre-selected text messages, such as “Where are you?” “I need more directions” and “Be there in 10 minutes.” SYNC can also interpret a hundred or so shorthand messages, such as LOL – for “laughing out loud,” and will read swear words; it won’t however, decipher obscene acronyms.

The most advanced technological feature of the SYNC system is the ability to play songs from a connected media player via voice command. When a new player is plugged in for the first time, SYNC takes a few minutes to index all the audio files, after which drivers can use voice commands to select music by genre, album, artist or even track title. Commands such as, “Play artist The Clash,” or, “Play track ‘London Calling,’” will give drivers direct control over their music library. According to Microsoft, the same voice-selection interface also works for digital audio tracks stored on USB thumb drives.

See the System in Action

Lead image courtesy iStock

courtesy Whitewater Ski Resort

Nelson’s Whitewater Ski Resort (WH2O) is one of the last of a dying breed. Purely and simply, WH2O is a ski hill. Period. No on-hill accommodation facelifts. No lifestyle-oriented real estate tummy tucks. No Rundle-rock and timber frame implants. Just one valley, two lifts and enough snow to choke a mountain caribou – 140 cm at the time of writing. Not bad for November 23.

At the other of the rugged Selkirk Mountains and the ski resort spectrum lies an altogether different beast, the much-touted Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR). Rescued from receivership last year, the new development  boasts 1,700-plus metres’ elevation – the highest lift-serviced vertical in North America – and, at full capacity, zips skiers all over the mountain on 20 different lifts while allotting skiers their choice of 5,000 beds to sleep off all that vertical. If that’s not enough, with its cat skiing and heli-ski partners, RMR also offers 200,000-plus hectares of terrain to choose from. Different slopes for different wallets.

The only things these two vastly different resorts share are the sick skiing of the Selkirk Mountains and an opening date: Saturday, November 28. These are the first Kootenay hills to fire up the lifts this season.

So take your pick: bigger-better-higher-faster at the ‘Stoke, or the very chill, very real aura of Nelson’s Whitewater (don’t forget its Fresh Tracks Café – for some of the best lodge food on the planet). Winter is here. See you on the boards this weekend – bring your snorkel!

Lead image courtesy Whitewater Ski Resort

Are you  ”auto-obese”?

□        Do you drive everywhere you go?
□        Do you drive places that take less than five minutes to get to?
□        Do you drive your kids to school every day?
□        Do you own more than one vehicle?
□        Do you drive to get a cup of coffee?

If you answer “Yes”  to any of these questions, then you could be a victim of Auto-Obesity, a disease that can be combatted with the ‘BEST Car Diet’. And like going for a check-up at your doctor’s, it might be time to pay a visit to the Auto-Obesity website.

courtesy BEST

What is BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation)?

BEST, and its ideas on sustainable transportation solutions, might already ring a bell with Metro Vancouverites. This past summer, the organization was busy providing free parking for more than 7,000 bikes at a variety of major community events in and around the city, including farmer’s markets, Car Free Days, the Pride Parade and the PNE. And through a strategic partnership with the Car Co-op, its Auto-Obesity program is now targeting higher-density areas in Metro Vancouver. Focusing on Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster for now, the program is designed for families with two or more vehicles – guiding them through a journey of liberation from their extra vehicles. According to Margaret Mahan, executive director of BEST, almost 50 per cent of households in Metro Vancouver own two or more cars. And that extra vehicle often sits idle, incurring insurance and maintenance costs.

The good news, financially: Thanks to the Auto-Obesity program, handing over that second car can lead to a tax receipt for the blue-book value of your extra vehicles, personal travel planning and “provision of bikes, skateboards, transit passes – or whatever else is needed  – to help make the transition to auto-health,” says Mahan.

Why is it so difficult to give up our single-occupancy vehicles?

One of the biggest barriers (and yes, I agree that there are many) is that our communities were planned and built for cars, not people. And not for environmental health and not for personal health, either. Which means that getting from place to place by foot, bike or transit, especially outside Metro Vancouver, isn’t as simple as we’d like to believe. When options are not readily available, we stick to what we know, which is the car.

I love that the Auto-Obesity program focuses on the unifying concept of health – the health of our bodies, of our streets, and of our planet. And it’s encouraging to know that when we are ready, there are many healthier, more sustainable transportation options here in Metro Vancouver. If you’re ready to slim down and get ‘auto fit’, then BEST is ready for you.

What do you think about the Auto-Obesity program? Will you take any action in terms of getting rid of a second car or changing the way you drive?

Lead image courtesy BEST

The Spray Lakes Reservoir began as a series of small lakes. In 1951, a hydroelectric dam was then built, raising the water levels to create one beautiful lake. Today, this 88-kilometre stretch of water is used both for recreation and to generate power for Canmore and the rest of the Bow River Valley.

From Three Nuns to the 1988 Winter Olympics: Canmore to Banff

The metal jangle of Ry Cooder’s slide guitar serenades us as we motor through a corridor of giant stone crags. It’s a beautiful morning, clear and crisp, and there are dozens of photo opportunities. But once again it’s a tight schedule. Though bound for Banff, on way we’re stopping in Canmore, where the road into town descends sharply for a spectacular vista of the valley and Canmore’s signature landmark: The Three Sisters. Originally called the Three Nuns, these three peaks are now known by the locals as Faith, Hope and Charity.

Formerly a coal-mining town, Canmore has experienced a boom since the 1988 Winter Olympics – when it served as the site of the cross-country and biathlon events. Although Masters is generally vague about his past, he now admits to spending time here some 20 years ago. Evidently it was a tough place back then, he recalls, and the town’s main social hub, the Canmore Hotel, “was a good place to have a beer or get into a fight.” Most of its young people were here because rent was cheap and the town was close to the ski hills around Banff and Lake Louise. But now Masters wants to see how the town has changed. He expects he won’t recognize it.

Besides coffee mugs, Seattle-based Authentic Hendrix also markets a Jimi Hendrix lava lamp, a Jimi Hendrix afghan patterned after the musician's second album, Axis: Bold As Love, and Jimi Hendrix infant wear, including an “Are You Experienced?” diaper cover that comes in three sizes.

A stroll down the main drag confirms his worst suspicions. There are a lot of gift shops. In fact, just about every second store qualifies. “Very boutiquey,” he sniffs. He walks more quickly, his disgust growing. Then something catches my eye in one of the windows. I tell him to wait, and a few minutes later emerge with my first souvenir from the trip – a psychedelic Jimi Hendrix coffee mug that proclaims “Do Your Thing” on the inside rim. I’m pretty sure Henrix didn’t coin the phrase. Still, this is the first Jimi Hendrix mug I’ve ever seen. It’s made in China and sells for a ridiculous $13.95.

We resume walking and Masters spots the Canmore Hotel. “It’s still here,” he says, surprised, “and it looks pretty much the same.” Inside is the dark atmosphere and yeasty smell of your classic Canadian tavern. There are pool tables, a horseshoe-shaped bar, and even though it’s not yet noon, several patrons who look like they’ve been here awhile. “It doesn’t look like they’ve changed the upholstery in the last 20 years,” concludes Masters.

“Well, I’ve never been here before, but I’m sure  at least one thing is different from 20 years ago.”

“What?”

“I bet that they didn’t have that back then,” I note, pointing to the “No Smoking” sign affixed to the front door. 

As much as it has evolved into a tourist haven since 1988, the recent economic recession has hit Canmore hard; we pass several massive resort developments standing unfinished as we roll out of town. It’s not exactly a boulevard of broken dreams, but it is a sobering dose of reality.

Back on the highway, I pull out the itinerary. I don’t have my reading glasses on and I mistakenly tell Masters we’ll be staying tonight at “the Pox Hotel.” He quickly corrects me, “That’s the Fox Hotel.” (He probably stayed up all night memorizing the itinerary.) “It would be interesting though,” he adds, “if it was actually the Pox Hotel and when we arrive the desk clerk’s face is rotting off.”

Aspen, the leaves of which turn bright yellow in the fall, are the staple food of beaver. The tree's buds and shoots are also favourites of moose, while its bark and underlying layer of cambium are eaten by elk and deer in winter.

I scan for more names in the blurry pages and announce my distorted findings. “I see that tomorrow night we’ll be staying at the relaxing Migraine Lake Lodge. The day after that is a pleasant hike to the Lake Agony Teahouse.”

Masters laughs. “It all sounds delightful.”

We make it to Banff in time for lunch at the Coyote Deli and Grill, where our greeter informs us we’re 40 minutes late. It’s a rather pointless observation since the place is half empty. Fortunately, the chow is better than the service.

Banff is a town I’m more familiar with. I first came here in the late 1970s during a cross-Canada roadtrip with my pal High McEachern. We were camping, and while we paid our night’s fee, the ranger told us that bears had been spotted in the vicinity. He wasn’t kidding. The next morning, as we cooked breakfast over our fire, a big black bear wandered into the campsite area, looking for a snack. He disdainfully knocked coolers over with his massive paws as made his way between sites. We tossed our frying pan in the trunk and jumped in the car. It seemed a reasonable response, but the other campers chose a different tactic: they hurled rocks at the bear and yelled. Luckily for them, it worked. The bear left, but it could have been a bloody scene.

There are no bears on the menu today, but we are scheduled to join another trail ride. “I’ve decided that I am too sore to do two more hours in the saddle,” I tell Masters. “Besides there are some things I want to see in Banff. He agrees and we cancel the cowboy outing, arranging to split up and meet again at 5 p.m.. I set off down the street headed for the Banff Springs Hotel, but as is so often the case, I get distracted.

(To be continued …)

Part I, II

Photos: Kerry Banks

by Rob Howatson

Port Hardy painter Eileen Field’s maps-as-art are a unique find for both mariners and landlubbers alike. The multimedia artist starts with the driest of canvasses — a Johnstone Strait nautical chart borrowed from the wheelhouse of her husband’s powerboat — and then layers on whimsical touches in the form of sea-mist acrylics, bits of poetry, feathers, copper sea stars, anything that helps her “tell a story.” Repetitive soundings and boring fathom curves become lyrical, three-dimensional seascapes that capture the imagination. >> Field applies her sea-story technique to both gift cards and small paintings and will custom create a vignette for any body of water, provided there is a map to build upon.

WRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS Gift cards, $18, Port Hardy’s West Cost Community Craft Shop (250-949-2650); custom map paintings direct from artist, $50 (250-949-7659).

See also:

• Luggage Tags
• Top 3 Worldly Reads
• Top 7 B.C. Reads

Lead image courtesy Eileen Field.

by Rob Howatson

1. TALK ABOUT GOOD INTENTIONS GONE BAD. In 1850, the HMS Investigator departed England in search of the Franklin expedition, which had disappeared in the Arctic five years earlier. Yet not only did the rescue ship fail to find Franklin survivors, the Investigator became stuck in the ice and its crew faced starvation, madness and death on the uncharted Polar Sea. Vancouver author Brian Payton captures all of the gripping, freeze-thaw action in The Ice Passage: A True Story of Ambition, Disaster and Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness. (Doubleday Canada; $35)

2. MOST PLACES-TO-SEE-BEFORE-YOU-DIE books are a dime a dozen, but this one comes with the moral authority of the United Nations. World Heritage Sites: A Complete Guide to 878 UNESCO World Heritage Sites features gorgeous photos and pithy descriptions of Earth’s most culturally, historically and geologically significant locations. (Firefly Books, $30)

3. BEST BUY FOR DISTINCT TAKES on the world’s most awe-inspiring landscapes and the unique animals and peoples that inhabit them – as captured through the lens of master shutterbug Art Wolfe. Travels to the Edge: A Photo Odyssey contains 100 of the Seattle artist’s fave images, including an inter-tribal stick fight in the mountains of Ethiopia and a startled herd of guanacos on the Andean pampas. (Mountaineers Books; U.S.$25)

WRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS All books available at better book-stores throughout the province.

See also:

• Luggage Tags
• Custom Maps
• Top 7 B.C. Reads

by Rob Howatson

The Casa Collection is a Vancouver-based art bank of 600-plus archival prints by 110 artists, most of them from B.C., with imagery ranging from whimsical paper-collage interpretations of iconic Vancouver scenes to early 20th-century travel posters. Hospitality industry heavyweights draw from this pretty pool (as the Four Seasons Resort Whistler did for a recent reno), but the wholesaler is also open to all collectors. Art lovers can order ultra-high-resolution archival ink-jet reproductions in any size to a maximum of 152-by-343-centimetres. Less committed aesthetes may wish to start small with one of the collection’s handsome luggage tags – perfect for highlighting bags on crowded airport carousels and, in the pre-Olympics buildup, for encouraging both fellow B.C.ers and visitors to support the local art scene.

   

WRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS

Luggage tags, featuring vintage travel-poster and B.C. landmarks art, $5. 604-263-8525; casacollection.ca

See also:

• Custom Maps
• Top 3 Worldly Reads
• Top 7 B.C. Reads

by Rob Howatson

There’s a distinct back-to-the-land theme in this year’s top crop of B.C. tomes to own (and give), as the global warming threat has writers nervously testing local soil:

• Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life Small mixed farms, like the one Old MacDonald had, are being plowed under by massive agri-factories. Writer Brian Brett, reporting from the entertaining chaos of his Salt Spring Island barnyard, depicts the endangered lifestyle with poetic flare. (Greystone Books; $35)

• Writing the West Coast: In Love with Place Editors Christine Lowther and Anita Sinner have assembled a collection of first-hand accounts about life in Clayoquot Sound (and a few other isolated B.C. harbours) that is as prismatic as a Long Beach tidal pool. Contributors include Andrew Struthers, who recalls squatting in a homemade pyramid in the bush, and Susan Musgrave, who asks, Where but Haida Gwaii can one watch the Perseids, the northern lights and forked lightning all at once? (Ronsdale Press; $25)

• Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage Paddle pundit Jennifer Hahn recounts her 1,200-km kayak voyage from Ketchikan to Bellingham, complete with a chapter on seaweed cuisine and tips on battling bearanoia. (Mountaineers Books; U.S.$17)

• Voices from the Sound: Chronicles of Clayoquot Sound and Tofino 1899-1929 Margaret Horsfield, author of Cougar Annie’s Garden (winner of the Haig-Brown Prize at the 2000 B.C. Book Awards), reveals the fascinating cast of characters who inhabited Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim before the hippies, artists and eco-warriors arrived. (Salal Books; $45)

• Vancouver Island Book of Everything Those who know what an Alberni toothpick is, have survived the Colwood Crawl and worn Fulford dancing slippers, may skip this title. All others will benefit from Peter Grant et al.’s amusing collection of Lotus Land trivia. (MacIntyre Purcell; $15)

• Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant So you lost season six of Hell’s Kitchen and the chance to be head chef at Araxi? No worries. The restaurant’s real head chef, James Walt, shares his culinary secrets in this gorgeously illustrated tribute to local fare. (Douglas & McIntyre; $45)

• Wineries of British Columbia This is the third edition of John Schreiner’s authoritative grape guide, profiling 82 additional producers and enabling oenophiles to intelligently plan their tasting trips. (Whitecap; $30)

WRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS All book picks available at better bookstores throughout the province.

See also:

• Luggage Tags
• Custom Maps
• Top 3 Worldly Reads
  

Skeleton is one of the fastest sports on ice, with sleds reaching speeds of 140 km/h, and Jeff Pain its most decorated Canadian athlete. Pain helped pioneer the sport in the years leading up to its debut as a permanent Olympic event at Salt Lake City in 2002. And the tall, lanky Calgarian landscape architect has nearly 20 World Cup podium finishes, two World Championship wins and a silver medal from the Torino Olympic Games in 2006. The only souvenir missing from Pain’s trophy case is gold, which he intends to correct this February when he dons his raging-beaver helmet in Whistler. Given his mature-for-skeleton age of 39, it will be his last bid for Olympic glory.

WW: Describe the skeleton

JP: It’s bombing headfirst down a twisting, icy flume on a sled that looks like a cafeteria tray attached to two tubular steel runners.

WW: What is the view like from behind your visor during a race?

JP: I imagine it is the same as one would get if duct-taped to the underside of a car that is careening down the highway at ridiculous speeds.

WW: What made you want to do this?

JP: In 1992, I decided I wanted to be in the Olympics, so I went in search of a sport that would get me there. I tried track and field and the bobsled, but I wasn’t good enough. And I was too old to join the luge program, but those guys suggested I approach the skeleton people, because, in the words of the luge folks, “they’ll take anybody.”

WW: Your sled has no brakes. How do you steer?

JP: By humming the old tune “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” I can tilt my head and use the wind to drift me in a certain direction. Or I can lower a shoulder. Or I can push a knee into my sled that will affect the runner beneath it. Or, for really quick response, I can drag a toe.

WW: Describe takeoff.

JP: We run for 30 metres and fall down. By that I mean we wear spiked shoes, shove our sled along the relatively flat push-area and then dive aboard.

WW: How far off the ice is your chin during the 50-second ride down?

JP: Zero to two inches.

WW: Zero?

JP: There are some steeply banked turns that produce so much G-force that it’s better to have your chin guard on the ice as you enter the curve — rather than have gravity slam your face onto the track.

WW: What was your worst wipeout?

JP: At Whistler in March. I was test-driving a new sled that proved to be wrong for the conditions. I had a small crash in curve six, which led to a big crash in curve seven and, for the first time in my career, I was thrown from my sled in such a way that I couldn’t hang onto it. I slid on my butt down the track at 120 km/h, pursued by my 33-kg sled. Luckily, the board flipped upside down, which slowed it enough that I could grab it and ride aboard to a stop in curve 10. There, I stood up, bent the saddle back out with some help from the concrete wall and continued on to finish in a blistering three minutes and 24 seconds.

WWRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS To tour Whistler’s Olympic venues after the Games, including transportation from Vancouver, lunch at Monk’s Grill, close-up looks at the ski jump and sliding track and a chance to fire a biathalon gun: $139/Enjoy Tour and Travel. 604-719-7161

In hindsight, a sudden, low “whumph” should have been my first warning that I was about to be buried in an avalanche. Yet all I really remember is arcing my skis toward safe terrain in the trees – as, instead of slowing, I, and the entire snowslope around me accelerated – over the lip toward the steep terrain and trees below.

No way . . . 

Yep. Avalanche.

Get to the trees on the right. No – moving too fast! Trees at this speed mean a broken femur or worse. Avoid the trees!  Get left – away from the trees! Dig in! Slow down!

Snap! One ski releases. Head over heels. Again, and again.

Boot heels, fingers, elbows scrabbling into hard surface below. Got to slow down! Light. Dark. Mouth full of snow. Gasp . . . breath of air.

Fight! Dig in! I am not going to die in an avalanche.

Finally slowing.

Sudden stop.

Silence.

I laugh. Scream. Bawl. All that adrenaline has to go somewhere. I’m OK –minus a ski, poles, goggles and hat, but OK.

After nearly 20 years of skiing, including more than a decade teaching avalanche awareness courses, the mountains sent me a warning, a shot over the bow. But I was lucky – I skied away from it.

But last year, 26 people in Canada alone were not so lucky, including an unprecedented 19 snowmobilers who lost their lives to avalanches.

But the good news –

This weekend in Fernie, anyone can learn how to safely experience the backcountry – on skis, snowshoe or a sled – at the Canadian Avalanche Centre and Columbia Brewery’s (of Kokanee Beer fame) annual public Backcountry Avalanche Workshop. 

• When: Saturday, November 21
• Where: The Arts Station, downtown Fernie
• Coordinates: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Cost: $20 registration fee, payable at the doo
• For more info on this and other backcountry avalanche awareness aorkshops throughout the province:  http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/events/backcountry-avalanche-workshops

I’ll see you there, in the mountains – and, most important, at the bar for a Kokanee at the end of another safe backcountry day.

Photos: Dave Quinn

A popular haunt for X-country skiers, hikers and mountain bikers, the Smith-Dorrien Trail is a gravel road that winds through the heart of one of the wildest and most scenic landscapes in Alberta's Kananaskis Country.

Back in the car, plotting our course to Mt. Engadine Lodge, I say: “Everyone on a roadtrip has to have a role. Why don’t you be the  take-charge guy.”

“Who are you going to be?” asks Masters.

“I’ll be the distracted, laid-back guy. I’ll be Good Time Charlie.”

Luckily, Masters consulted the road map while I was shooting photos of the lake, and confidently predicts we’ll be at our destination soon. He’s right. From out of nowhere, the road to Mt. Engadine Lodge suddenly appears on our right.

The lodge is a major surprise. I was expecting antlers, cowboy paraphernalia and massive wooden beams and split-pine finishes everywhere. And there is a lot of wood, but nothing else is predictable. For starters, the place is not a working-ranch-cum-guest house but a sophisticated boutique backcountry operation operated by Chris and Shari-Lynn Williams, a pair of professional innkeepers. (Chris, a former air-traffic controller, and Shari-Lynn, an accountant, left their day jobs to run resorts a decade ago.)

The lodge's dining room windows afford a spectacular view of the Rockies rising sharply across Moose Meadows – a natural habitat for coyotes, moose, elk, deer and beavers.

Before coming to Mt. Engadine(www.mountengadine.com) in 2007, the couple worked for five years at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, B.C, where Chris was the chief concierge and Shari-Lynn the front-office manager. The well-travelled couple have also worked as innkeepers in Vermont, New Mexico, Cape Cod, on Prince Edward Island and on St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Here at Mt. Engadine they also supervised a major renovation, with the lodge’s nine rooms transformed from dorm-style bunk beds to luxurious suites complete with king-size beds, living areas and private baths. And the rooms are now named (and decorated) after indigenous animals, which are easier to remember than numbers. I’ve been assigned the Moose room, which is appropriate since the lodge is reputedly the best place in the Kananaskis to spot moose. The ungainly beasts like to congregate in a mud wallow adjacent to the property, supposedly attracted by the minerals in the soil.

I have a half-hour before dinner so I wander off down the road to a nearby bridge to take photos. The lodge has an incredible setting, on a hill overlooking a broad meadow and surrounded on all sides by soaring mountains. I’m enjoying the peace and solitude when two tour buses suddenly pull up and disgorge a pack of noisy German tourists. Their timing could not be better: minutes after they unload, a mother moose and her calf begin approaching across the meadow. The sight silences the crowd.

Spray Valley Provincial Park (along with neighbouring Peter Lougheed Provincial Park): more than 100 km of hiking and mountain biking trails, plus canoeing and kayaking on easily accessible lakes and rivers.

It’s occasions like this that make me wonder what European tourists think of Canada. This is the first moose I’ve ever seen in the wild and I’ve lived here all my life. This bunch of Bavarians may well be under the mistaken impression that you can order up exotic wildlife here at will.

_______________________________________________

“A visit to this mud wallow, where the moose

come every day about now, is like a once-a-day vitamin,”

says Engadine manager Chris Williams.

________________________________________________

I make it back just in time for dinner. The roast chicken is delicious, the wine terrific. Masters and I share a communal table with a group of Americans touring Alberta with an outfit called Country Walkers. The company (www.countrywalkers.com) offers 75 worldwide walking itineraries, and on this one, local guide Dave Holder spearheads daily, rigorous hikes into the wilds. Judging by the speed with which the day’s survivors are wolfing down their food, all that walking must work up a serious appetite.

After dinner, we talk with Chris about Mt. Engadine’s niche in the backcountry market, and how the level of personal service and attention to detail is what he thinks sets it apart. For example, he hand picks the wines, seeking out moderately priced, tasty stuff that most guests will not be familiar with. Likewise, the beer is from small, local Alberta breweries. And during the summer months, he brings in musicians – overlooked Canadian talents such as Suzie Vinnick, recipient of the 2008 Canadian Maple Blues Award as Female Vocalist of the Year. “The musicians stay here over the weekend and interact with the guests,” he says. “It’s all very casual.”

Local moose gather daily at the mud wallow alongside Alberta's Mt. Engadine Lodge. The site is rich in selenium, a nutrient the animals need for bone development.

The overall goal is to provide visitors with a unique experience. Of course, the wildlife also contributes. Later that night, as I’m savouring a glass of wine on the outdoor deck, a large owl makes a screeching descent into a nearby pine tree. This intrusion instantly attracts the attention of the country walkers, who are diligently keeping track of Canadian fauna spotted on their trip. They’re still debating whether the bird is a great horned owl or not when I finally stumble off to my Moose room and climb into my Moose bed.

Part I, III

Photographs: Kerry Banks

For the past 11 Remembrance Days, retired pilot and vintage aircraft restorer Neil Davidson has been paying homage to Canada’s war veterans in his own way. On the 11th day of the 11th month, at precisely 11 a.m., Neil buzzes the crowd at Kimberley’s cenotaph in his completely refurbished 1940 Tiger Moth biplane.

Growing up in the lap of the Purcell and Rocky mountains in Cranbrook and in the company of exceptional people like Neil, I always had some sense that this part of the world was somehow unique and special. Over the years this vague idea has cemented into a very real awareness that the essence of the Kootenay region runs deeper than our world-class golf and ski resorts, and our postcard-worthy vistas.

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The Andean towers and icecaps of Patagonia arguably match
the Kootenays’ for sheer visual inspiration, but Patagonia’s native
wildlife was long ago displaced by the introduction of non-
native fish in its streams and by sheep and cattle across its landscape
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I have yet to find a region as rich with the seemingly incongruous values of intact wilderness and creature comforts, wealth and freedom, frontierism and safety. The jungles of Colombia emanate an unrivalled sense of vibrancy and mystique, but you sure as heck don’t want to be caught on a backroad at night in the country with the highest number of kidnappings per capita in the world. The Andean towers and icecaps of Patagonia arguably match the Kootenays’ for sheer visual inspiration, but Patagonia’s native wildlife was long ago displaced by the introduction of non-native fish in its streams and by sheep and cattle across its landscape. The Himalayas boast some of the most jaw-dropping mountainscapes on the planet, along with an inspiring history and culture, but nearly every square inch of that vast region has been modified in some way by humanity, and desertification and human health issues are rampant.

The Kootenays truly have it all: the freedom to explore, express and inspire as you will, and as much or as little adventure as one cares to search out, all with a glass of wine and a warm bed at the end of the day.

Wherever you are, this week in particular gives us cause to pause and thank those who worked hard and sacrificed all this, even their lives when needed, to allow us to continue to enjoy it. If you happen to be near Kimberley this Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock, look up and enjoy a piece of history floating through pure mountain air, over some of the wildest landscape in the world, and be thankful.

Note: Dave Quinn will be posting weekly from the Kootenays starting the week of November 11, 2009

For more aviation tales: Skydiving Newbie

Lead photo courtesy Brian Clarkson (cranbrookphoto.com)

by Helena Zukowski

Remember the days when “getting there was half the fun” as we flew “the friendly skies”? Well, with in-flight amenities a perk of the past and increased airport security the new reality, air travel these days can be more than a tad trying.

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“The methodology sometimes veers into the ridiculous: the

– the Disney employee chastised for carrying a snow globe; the mother

refused permission to board with her breast pump and empty baby

bottles because her infant was not travelling with her

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Of course, travellers expected airport screening to get tougher post 9/11. But the consensus amongst today’s passengers is that the methodology sometimes veers into the ridiculous – the Disney employee chastised for carrying a snow globe, for example; the mother refused permission to board with her breast pump and empty baby bottles because her infant was not travelling with her – and that common courtesy and respect take a back seat in the push for increased security measures.

Though “there is no latitude permitted in a screener’s interpretation of the rules,” according to Mathieu Laroque, spokesperson for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), it can be confusing and frustrating for travellers who find that, in reality, there is variance in how airport security rules are interpreted and applied.

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So what’s a disgruntled flyer to do?  Is there any recourse

when airport security personnel neglect common courtesy or

are seen to be acting beyond the bounds of common sense?

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Currently, Canadian airport security is subcontracted by CATSA to local companies such as Garda and Aeroguard. New hires are put through a two-week training program and periodic updates, with advanced training for managers – and “courtesy is definitely one component of the program,” notes Laroque. Still, studies show that most complaints relating to airport security could have been avoided if screeners had been more courteous and respectful. To this end, though travellers still have no choice but to submit to security searches and questioning, passengers are encouraged to talk to airport or airline officials if they feel inappropriately treated. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, fliers can complain directly to CATSA, giving the time and place of the incident and the officer’s name. CATSA will investigate and respond to complainants within 30 days.

In addition, a private member’s Bill (C-310) is now before Parliament for an “Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights” that would see compensation for last-minute cancellations and flights delayed on the tarmac longer than one hour. If Bill C-310 passes, airlines would also be required to inform travellers regarding missing luggage and the reasons for flight delays within an hour of receiving the information. Canadian airlines are opposing the bill, arguing it would result in higher fares and possible termination of service to smaller communities. However, the legislation continues to proceed: the bill reached second reading in May 2009 and has been referred to committee for final ruling.

New screening technology in the experimental stages at 10 U.S. airports and B.C.’s Kelowna airport (the first in the world to install the device and the test site for all Canadian airports) is another move that supports and enhances the rights of travellers. The Integrated Check Point (ICP) is a full-body scanner that screens liquids and gels in carry-on luggage (these would still need to be stored in baggies), but also shows outlines of what is under passengers’ clothing, such as a wad of money or concealed weapons. The result: less hassle for both passengers and screeners (no more pat-downs, for one). Also on the radar: “one-stop security,” which ensures passengers who have cleared security at one airport are not required to submit to security again before boarding connecting flights. Under the new Canada-Europe Open Skies agreement, by which planes are given open-sky access between any airport in Canada and those in the European Union, passengers flying to Europe would be the first to benefit. (The agreement replaces existing restrictions on routes and prices, as well as eases constraints on control and ownership of airlines.) As for the full-body scanner, Transport Canada will decide by late 2009 whether to expand its use to other Canadian airports.

• What’s your view on enhanced airport security?
• What’s your most aggravating airport security story?
• Let us know!

the official gripe line

Passengers who have complaints about airport security personnel in Canada, or questions about security requirements,  can access the CATSA website at catsa.gc.ca or phone 1-888- 294-2202. Complaints are processed within 30 days. consumer.ca/1753

More Airline Madness.

Lead image courtesy iStock

by Kerry Banks

From 1921 to 1945, Jericho Beach was home to the Pacific Coast Station of the RCAF, and a concrete wharf was built as part of its seaplane base. The structure’s perimeter was later enhanced during the 1976 Habitat Forum, using the original 1938 railings from the Lions Gate Bridge.

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“But many complained that the wharf

had become an eyesore, and in July 2008,

 the Parks Board voted to demolish all

but the most eastern section of the structure

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But many complained that the wharf had become an eyesore, and in July 2008, after a public consultation process, the Parks Board voted to demolish all but the most eastern section of the 0.6-hectare structure, which would be repaired to create a viewpoint overlooking the harbour. Interpretive signs would outline the wartime history of the dock and its postwar evolution, while the remaining area would be restored to a natural beach. However, since 2008, a new Parks Board has been elected, and a group of citizens – who want the wharf repaired and made available for public events – have mounted a fresh campaign to save the relic. As a result, a second consultation is being held this fall to decide the Jericho landmark’s fate.

What’s your view? Should this B.C. landmark be saved?

savejerichobeach.ca; kendalkendrick.com

Painting by Kendal Kendrick