Another year is in the books for Whistler—and what a year it was!
We had trees turning red, a tight provincial election race, and more local drama than you could shake a stick at (though we’re not sure why you’d want to shake a stick at anything, let alone something as opaque as local drama).
But for all the excitement found within the 12 months of 2024, the next 12 promise to be even more jam-packed, between milestone anniversaries and major local events like the Invictus Games coming to town for the first time.
For now, join us on a trip down memory lane as we recap some of the biggest happenings of the year that was.
Whistler
SEEING RED
The biggest news story of 2024, according to Pique readers in our annual Best of Whistler poll, was the subtle shift in colour seen in some of Whistler’s surrounding forests.
According to the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF), the reddening hue—seen mostly in the areas above White Gold, Function Junction and along Sproatt and Rainbow Mountains—is due to an outbreak of western spruce budworm.
The CCF’s maps showed the outbreak extent in 2022 was light-to-moderate, growing in 2023 to include severe sections, and by 2024, severity worsened when Whistlerites started seeing it from the valley floor.
CCF officials are continuing to monitor the outbreak, and the province may take action by spraying Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk), “a biological agent that kills the caterpillar when it eats the treated tree needles and is harmless to other species,” according to the CCF.
CCF executive director Heather Beresford told attendees at a December info session it will be up to the province to respond.
“We have hope that they are going to be able to get their pest management plan, which is in draft form now, finalized in 2025, so if and when we have to take any further action like spraying Btk, they will have their advice,” she said.
That wasn’t the only attention Whistler’s forests garnered in 2024. Local ecologist Rhonda Millikin, a vocal opponent of tree-thinning in Whistler’s forests, put her money where her mouth is by funding and producing a peer-reviewed study that supports her thesis that thinning the forests actually increases the risk of fire rather than mitigating it.
According to the study, published in August, “fire-thinning led to warmer, drier, and windier fire environments.” Data was gathered from four sites around Whistler over spring and summer seasons, comparing both thinned and unthinned sections of forest by collecting environmental and microclimate data from the forest floor.
Mayor Jack Crompton and Whistler’s council welcomed the work, but said the municipality wouldn’t be altering its entire approach to fire mitigation based on the results of a single study.
“We’re going to be making policy based on the best information we can collect from experts in the field and from our professional staff here,” Crompton said at the Sept. 10 council meeting.
Given the devastation seen in Jasper in 2024 due to wildfire—sadly just the most recent example—there’s no doubt Whistler’s forests will be a big newsmaker again in 2025 and beyond.
And while Whistler residents were seeing red on the mountainsides, they were seeing Green at the polls, as the Green Party’s Jeremy Valeriote emerged victorious in the Oct. 19 provincial election, becoming the first mainland Green Party MLA in the province’s history.
“I’m extremely grateful for the people that helped me get here and the voters of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky who saw a different way, and chose it,” Valeriote said on election night.
“It just feels like the message that we need more Greens resonated here, and that’s really important. People see we are a serious party, we recommend science and evidence, we’re professional and capable of influence at all levels of the B.C. legislature and I think that allowed us to move forward.”
ON THE MOUNTAIN
The year got off to a tragic start after a pair of skier deaths in separate incidents at Whistler Blackcomb prompted a safety reminder from officials.
On Jan. 10, a 42-year-old B.C. man was found unresponsive in a gladed area near 7th Avenue and Expressway on Blackcomb.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene due to snow immersion. His identity was not released.
Just over a week later, on Jan. 19, 62-year-old Vancouver resident Ron Stuber died after what was described as a “serious incident” in Sapphire Bowl, an expert-designated area in Blackcomb Glacier Provincial Park.
Then, on March 9, 32-year-old snowboarder Danielle Salvatore tragically passed away after she was found unresponsive on Renegade—an advanced gladed trail near Catskinner Express Chairlift.
The incidents were named the second biggest news story of 2024 by Pique readers.
It was a difficult year in many respects on the mountains, as the snow didn’t properly arrive for the season until January. When it did, skiers and boarders flocked to the mountain in droves to get their fix.
In the later months of the season, the discourse around reckless skiers ramped up, as multiple people spoke out after being hit by other mountain users.
The conversation is ongoing, judging from Pique’s letters section, and some are opting to avoid the mountains altogether.
“I have skied here since opening year, was a volunteer First Aid Ski Patroller for three years, have owned a Creekside condo since 2003 and wintered here full time since 2014 yet, like so many others, our exodus is at hand,” wrote Ken Snowball in a letter to Pique. “Many left due to the high cost of being here, others from a dislike of Vail Corp., and ours, at the end of this season, due to safety issues.”
Whether because of a lack of snow, concerns about safety, or otherwise, fewer people skied at Whistler Blackcomb in 2023-24, and parent company Vail Resorts reported in early December the trend is continuing into the 2024-25 season.
“At Whistler Blackcomb, lodging bookings for the full season are lagging prior year levels, which may reflect delayed decision making following challenging conditions in the prior year,” said the Broomfield, Colo. company in its quarterly earnings call on Dec. 9.
AT MUNICIPAL HALL
Whistler’s mayor and council felt the ire of some local parents in July, when the Resort Municipality of Whistler announced it would not renew the Whistler Waldorf School’s lease at Spruce Grove Park beyond June 2025.
The announcement prompted a wave of protest from parents and faculty members of the independent school, who made their concerns heard at council and through a letter-writing campaign.
The municipality eventually walked the original decision back, extending the school’s lease to 2026, and noting it would undertake a planning process to determine the best use of the park moving forward.
The Waldorf wave wasn’t the only squeaky wheel at municipal council meetings in 2024. A contingent of Whistler seniors also stated their case for a dedicated seniors’ centre at a meeting in February, noting seniors are projected to make up 33 per cent of the local population by 2031.
Overall, it was a year of increasing need on all fronts in the resort community.
The Whistler Community Services Society reported at its September AGM that demand for nearly all its services is “through the roof,” exceeding even what was seen during the difficult COVID years.
“The food bank was overrun during COVID. The first four months of this year, we’re serving almost three times the number of clients that we did during COVID—how is that even possible?” said board chair Steve Aikins at the AGM. “This is a town that is really struggling, and it’s a shame to see, [but] it’s also really beautiful to see how WCSS has become a rock for this community.”
- Braden Dupuis
Pemberton
For a town with a population of 3,407, there’s no shortage of news in Pemberton. But some of the biggest trends in the village and Lil’wat Nation in 2024 were part and parcel with growth: the need for increased housing, Lil’wat Nation youth and culture making waves, protection against disasters, wildlife conflict and environmental degradation.
Thankfully, outgoing Pique reporter Roisin Cullen had her finger on Pemberton’s pulse.
HOUSE AND HOME
With a population growing at a rate almost three times the provincial average, Pemberton needs housing, and fast. Barely a council meeting went by in 2024 without talk of new housing developments.
The Village’s interim housing needs report for 2024 showed the number of units needed by 2029 is 271, and in 20 years, 1,076 units are necessary. Council also adopted a new housing strategy in November, funded through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund. The plan’s strategic direction includes sweeping updates to regulations and development approval processes, has a focus on delivering high-priority housing types, and builds partnerships while advocating for housing needs.
A new affordable housing project on Harrow Road is slated for 2026. The development spearheaded by Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS) would provide 63-units in a mix of market, rent geared to income, and for low-income renters, alongside housing the bulk of SSCS programs offered in Pemberton.
“We provide new programs and support to Pemberton and its surrounding area. Sea to Sky invests more than $2 million annually in the community through these services,” said housing and development consultant for SSCS, Jessie Abraham. “We have 20 full-time staff that live and work in Pemberton. They want to see the community do well and thrive. The new development will have affordable accommodation and a community hub. We have services from newborns up to seniors. It will be a safe and accessible space for community members.”
Two other big-ticket housing developments in the pipelines at Pemberton council are Parkside and Nkwúkwma.
Parkside is a 33-lot development proposed for near Den Duyf Park, with housing spanning duplexes and triplexes, co-housing and single-family homes. The development has a covenant restricting the number of single-family homes to ensure a mix of housing that meets residents’ socioeconomic diversity.
The Nkwúkwma project, meanwhile, is a 450-unit development proposal by Skénkenam Development Limited Partnership, a partnership between the Lil’wat Nation’s Lil’wat Capital Assets and the Pemberton Benchlands Development Corporation.
LIL’WAT ON THE RISE
In recent years, the Lil’wat Nation has seen growth and progress in reclaiming rights to education, land and child welfare, and now boasts an operating budget of $60 million. To help guide the way, the Nation hired a new chief administrative officer, Rolf de Bruin, who came to the role in November.
Youth are also stepping into big roles in sport and art.
From mountain bikers Quillan Dan-Andrews and his 16-year-old brother Steve taking on the Pemberton Enduro this year, to Lil’wat filmmaker Hannah Jones winning Best Student Film at the Shakti Film Festival in Vancouver, community members are making waves and staying true to their culture.
Jones started working as a production assistant on the set of Never Let Go in 2024. The American survival horror movie stars Halle Berry and was filmed in Coquitlam, during the last week of school in April 2023. It was released in September.
“I got to work wherever they needed me,” Jones said. “I worked in a lot of different departments. I got to work in the production office, costume, locations, accounting and even helped with wardrobe on set. I got to meet a lot of really cool people.”
Jones said she’s proud to represent her community and to blaze a trail for younger people to follow.
“I was one of two Indigenous people on set. I hope that number will grow soon,” she said. “There were some moments where I wished I had some of my people there.”
The Lil’wat Nation also made its mark in Pemberton’s Canada Day parade, taking on a central role.
The Nation’s Maxine Joseph Bruce and Roxanne Joe took the lead this year. “Those ladies get dressed up in regalia and they led the parade,” said Natalie Langmann, former director of the Pemberton Chamber.
Pemberton’s parade has always been unique, and a representation of its diverse population.
“It is unique because it is a unique place,” said Langmann. “I look at photos of Whistler’s parade this year and it’s like looking at Disneyland. We have logging trucks, concrete trucks and all our local businesses. It’s just so diverse. We are different because we are living on Lil’wat Nation’s unceded and traditional territory.”
STAYING WILD
With expansive mountain ranges and rich agricultural valleys, it makes sense that humans and animals alike call the area home. While wild horses are still often talked about as treasures and concerns for Spud Valley, this year, grizzly bears stole the show. Common themes popped up around human-bear conflict, natural disasters and poor caretaking of Indigenous lands by tourists.
In January, grizzlies were still afoot searching for food because of mild weather. Community members met to discuss fears of coming face-to-face with a sow and her cubs, as grizzlies usually avoid humans. The same cubs lost their mom at some point during the year and were frequently sighted and posted about on social media.
Sadly, the grizzly cubs continued to stick around the Pemberton Valley and were killed in November.
Human and animal conflict wasn’t the only outdoors conflict, though. A state of emergency was issued due to flooding in January, with many residents on evacuation order or alert due to rising water. Then, as another wildfire season began, residents whose homes burnt to ashes in the 2023 Gun Lake fire were struggling to rebuild.
In addition to natural disasters, human-caused degradation was another concern.
Joffre Lakes was closed for three periods this summer to ensure Lil’wat Nation and N’Quatqua could regain access to the park, which holds rich cultural meaning. The shutdowns first started in 2023.
Lil’wat Nation Chief Dean Nelson said overtourism affected cultural practices and negatively impacted the spiritual place.
“It’s a commodity for them,” he said. “People think they have to be there, to take the picture there ... There is hunting there, too. We have actually had a lot of confrontation because of people going hunting on cultural trails. All of a sudden, there were mountain bikers ripping down wondering what the hell they were doing. It’s a cultural trail first.”
- Liz McDonald
Sports
Let’s not bury the lede: in the Sea to Sky corridor, 2024 was a breakout year for female athletes.
From Alma Wiggberg locking down the inaugural women’s Red Bull Joyride triumph to Georgia Astle’s historic Rampage silver medal, young girls had their pick of mountain biking heroines to choose from. Winter sports enthusiasts were not left out, as several ladies led by Jasmine Baird hit the podium at the first World Ski and Snowboard Festival (WSSF) Cut Rail Jam.
Local gentlemen held their own in terms of new achievements, too: whether that’s Rory Bushfield filming his own world record or James Klemmensen and Noah Besen partaking in some unprecedented rock climbs with their friends Amanda Bischke and Shira Biner.
Time to revisit these watershed exploits.
New frontiers
The girls have waited decades for an audition at the highest levels of mountain biking.
Organizations like Crankworx have aimed to provide equitable prize money across events like downhill, enduro, pump track, Speed & Style, etc. Regardless, there was an elephant in the room: why don’t ladies compete in the popular discipline of slopestyle?
This July, they did at last.
Sweden’s Wiggberg proved to be a cut above her field at the beloved Boneyard venue, needing just one run to score 89.40 points for an unforgettable golden Joyride. Whistler DFX alum Natasha Miller (78.60) acquitted herself well for silver, and bronze went to Shealen Reno of the United States (78.00).
Don’t forget: Wiggberg is 21 years old and Miller just 17 as of this writing. They’ve both got full careers ahead, blazing trails for other women to follow.
Then in October, the elite freeride contest known as Red Bull Rampage followed suit to welcome female competitors. Astle ground out a challenging run in St. George, Utah to earn runner-up position (79.66), with Kiwi Robin Goomes on top (85.00) and Casey Brown making Revelstoke proud in third (77.33).
Women have progressed substantially in freestyle skiing over the last two-odd decades, and now their peers in the mountain bike world have a chance to do the same.
Meanwhile, the WSSF unveiled a brand-new gig back in April. The Cut Rail Jam took place on Whistler Mountain and highlighted 40 shredders displaying all kinds of technicality. It wasn’t too surprising for Beijing 2022 Olympian Baird to win, but her younger opponents deserve recognition as well.
Amalia “Billy” Pelchat finished second among women’s snowboarders, as did fellow teen Avery Krumme on the ski side. Krumme especially had a torrid campaign: Junior Worlds bronze, double Nationals gold and five Canada Cup medals.
Even 12-year-old Agness Friesen and Lyra Xu at 15 made it out of Rail Jam qualifying. They could have bright futures, especially if meaningful contests keep being organized in their backyard.
Several Squamolians went public with their own unprecedented milestones.
Leave it to Bushfield to choose barefoot airplane-towed waterskiing as a passion project. The former X Games athlete pulled off his landmark feat on July 17, 2023, but most did not learn the story until Nov. 12 of this year—when his film Barefoot Pilot premiered at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF).
Another VIMFF movie, The Gnar-Whal’s Odyssey, documents the 44-day odyssey of Klemmensen, Bischke, Besen and Biner as they travelled to Baffin Island and ascended several rock faces surrounding Coronation Glacier. These were hardly the most difficult climbs on Earth, but they had not previously been done by any living soul.
Keep on ticking
Sport, of course, is not just about the peaks of victory. There is much to overcome, and very few individuals embody the heart of a champion like Broderick Thompson.
The national-level ski racer crashed in training on Nov. 29, 2023. The impact had the potential to end his life. Fortunately it did not, but it left him hospitalized for more than two months with a serious axonal injury.
In layman’s terms: the nerve fibres connecting different parts of Broderick’s brain were damaged.
According to younger sister Tess and perennial teammate Brodie Seger, the two-time Olympian laboured for quite some time to regain an everyday routine. Even after broken bones started to heal, he dealt with a spotty memory that caused him to—among other things—forget text messages he’d sent people just days or weeks prior. Medical professionals weren’t convinced he would return to a normal quality of life.
More than a year after his accident, Broderick returned to snow. He didn’t manage 78 World Cup starts by being timid or having an unhealthy relationship with risk. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) alum refuses to give up on himself, and he wants to inspire others grappling with brain injuries—no matter how slow or modest his progress could be.
That’s the kind of perseverance winners are made of… but it’s not the only kind worth admiring.
Consider also two exceptional Sea to Sky seniors: Gerry Reynolds and Shannon McJannet. They may not have experienced a life-threatening injury like Broderick’s, but Father Time has been trying to reach them for decades. Most have given up substantial physical activity at their age, whether by choice or necessity.
Reynolds turned 98 this year, and McJannet is 80.
Let’s dwell on that for a second. Most humans don’t live to see their 90s, and many of those who do must be cared for on a daily basis. Not so with Reynolds, who has already skied in 2024 and whose mind might be even healthier than his body. The man’s son, Rick, brags about everything from his generosity to his gregarious nature.
Then there’s McJannet, who had one hip replaced at age 67. She did not allow the operation to slow her down much and carved fresh powder for more than a decade afterward. Even though she’ll miss most of this season due to another, more recent hip surgery, the octogenarian isn’t ready to hang up her snowboard just yet.
McJannet has been married to her husband Jim for five decades and change. Together they continue to be role models for their son Kevin, daughter Christie and four grandkids.
Dynasty watch
Some athletes experience a great deal of success, while others remain competitive for a long time. If you’re Marielle Thompson, you’ve done both.
At the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Marielle officially secured her fourth ski cross Crystal Globe. In so doing, she tied a world record.
Seventy World Cup ski cross medals belong to Marielle, who also netted one of her nation’s six World Championship podium appearances. We can’t forget the two Olympic breakthroughs either: gold in 2014 and silver in 2022.
She’s a smooth operator who rarely backs down from adversity. Her poise under pressure is inspirational to most teammates. Despite the demanding and slightly chance-based nature of ski cross (where an opponent’s mistake can run you off course) Marielle is a legitimate threat to win every race she enters.
Without her, Canada might not own seven of the last nine Nations Cups as the sport’s best overall country. The 32-year-old has plenty left in the tank, declaring in a May interview with Pique that she’s “certainly not done yet.”
Pemberton Secondary School (PSS) likewise hopes to keep rolling after it clinched a third-consecutive provincial mountain bike title. Dedicated upperclassmen like Rebecca Beaton, Patrick Tarling, Isla Inglis and Sam Tierney have led the way with solid results and a go-getter attitude.
Numerically speaking, PSS is a small fish when compared to the bevy of much larger British Columbia schools it’s up against. That said, former head coach Nicole Jean estimates close to 10 per cent of the student body is on the bike team—a ratio which helps level the playing field. An ever-increasing number of girls also rake in plenty of points across the North Shore Mountain Bike Series.
Jean served a major role in the PSS dynasty by coaching for a decade. She’s endeavoured to invest in all of her pupils, from team captains to green eighth-grade newcomers. As a result, considerable numbers of PSS racers tend to finish in the top quarter of any given field—a must if you’re going for a banner.
When Jean finally had to step away from her beloved team this year, new coach Kevin Glavas picked up the slack. He’s a humble man quick to downplay his own contributions, but students laud him for his mechanical aptitude, problem-solving savvy and motivational leadership.
All in all, it’s been a great 12 months for athletes and outdoorspeople in Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton. Here’s to 12 more on the way.
- David Song
Arts and Culture
If 2023 was the year Whistler’s arts scene fully returned to glory after several pandemic-addled years, 2024 will be remembered for lifting up and celebrating the community’s own best and brightest creatives.
That’s no small feat for a sports-obsessed town where the arts have always played second fiddle to the great outdoors and all the ways to recreate within them. But considering how vital culture is to our lives and our ability to make sense of the world, it’s refreshing to see so many of our own getting the plaudits they deserve.
Of course, Whistler being Whistler, we know how to throw a party of epic proportions, and the resort’s event calendar reflected that. From intimate, homegrown affairs to world-class art exhibits and destination festivals, there was something on offer for everyone this year.
Without further adieu, it’s time to open the curtains and shine a spotlight on the year that was in Whistler arts and culture.
Lifting the locals
The year kicked off with a solo Arts Whistler exhibit featuring the works of one of Whistler’s longstanding and hardest-working visual artists, painter Andrea Mueller. Called Inconsistent Memory, the exhibit, held at the Maury Young Arts centre, filtered Mueller’s childhood memories through an adult lens, and also explored the fallibility of memory in general.
It was, admittedly, a cathartic process for the artist perennially voted the resort’s favourite in Pique’s Best of Whistler poll.
“We remember bits and pieces of things, but when you go and actually talk to the people who were there for that memory—especially when they were adults and you were a child—it’s interesting to hear how they remember it, because it’s very different,” she told Pique in a January interview.
That same month, two Whistler photographers got some excellent news when they were announced as the grand-prize winners at the International Wedding Photographer of the Year contest. Tara Lilly and husband Steve Stemmler took home the accolade for a shot they captured the moment an inquisitive whiskey jack landed on a thrilled bride-to-be’s head just as they were tying the knot. A more Whistleresque shot you’d be hard-pressed to find.
Shoulder Pains, a new punk band consisting of vocalist Christopher Durbin, bassist Charles Stenner, and drummer Tom Scrimshaw, took home the win and $1,000 as the judges’ favourite band at the Whistler Music Search.
February saw the loss of a giant from Whistler’s cultural scene, Isobel MacLaurin. Considered Whistler’s first professional artist, the irrepressible 92-year-old was a fixture at local arts events, while her own landscape work can be found in murals across Whistler, and beyond.
“I think her legacy in the arts here is unforgettable,” Mo Douglas, Arts Whistler’s executive director, told Pique. “She would support any idea, she would be there if you wanted her to be there, and she would bring the joy and energy to lift up something you’d already done and make it better.”
In March, Ethiopian-born Whistlerite ZADA burst onto the scene with her debut album, Water in the Desert. Less than two years from her debut concert at Olympic Plaza in front of an adoring hometown crowd, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter has come into her own with her distinct blend of neo-soul, R&B, Afrobeat and folk. It also doesn’t hurt that her music videos are some of the slickest around, often featuring scenic backdrops from across the Sea to Sky.
A local filmmaking crew once again made big waves at the 72-Hour Filmmaker Showdown, part of the World Ski and Snowboard Festival, with their zany film asking the time-honoured question: If someone handed you the perfect pizza, would you eat it if you could only do so once?
From this shower-thought premise, brothers Kris and Kevin Dontas, along with their buddies, Ryan Proctor and Kian Esmaili, took home the top prize, as well as people’s choice at one of Whistler’s favourite film-based events.
In April, Whistler photographer Mason Mashon teamed up with two other shooters, along with a pair of Red Bull aerobatic pilots, to capture a shot for the ages. Mashon helped shoot a once-in-a-lifetime image of the two pilots flying through a total solar eclipse in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Mashon and his fellow shooters, Dustin Snipes and Peter McKinnon, spent two weeks rehearsing and planning the photo, which he called one of the hardest to capture in his career.
Laugh Out LIVE!, Whistler’s homegrown comedy variety show headed by Rebecca Mason and Ira Pettle, moved into its fourth official season in November with a food-themed show at Cornucopia, weeks before it landed at the conference centre for a run of holiday performances.
The year also marked a hallmark anniversary for The Hairfarmers, Whistler’s perennial favourite band, who celebrated their 25th year of rocking out.
Events and fests galore
Whistler’s event schedule was back in full force in 2024, with plenty on tap for the arts aficionado.
Arts Whistler mainstays like the Anonymous Art Show, the Teeny Tiny Art Show, and Art on the Lake were back and bigger than ever, both showcases for established local artists and emerging newbies alike.
That’s on top of a full slate of one-off events from Arts Whistler, like Point of View: Altered Photographic Perspectives, a unique photography exhibit featuring the work of 18 Sea to Sky artists who transformed original photos using various artistic and digital techniques; or Four Futures, a partnership with the Resort Municipality of Whistler that asked seven local creatives to create art based on what they think Whistler will be in the year 2050.
Arts Whistler also brought back a crowd favourite this year: The People’s Film, a program that screens beloved films as voted by locals. After 2023 saw the closure of Whistler’s sole cinema, Village 8, The People’s Film is filling a hole in the community’s arts scene.
Mercifully, cinema lovers still have the Whistler Film Festival to count on, bringing an array of films to screens around town every December, from Oscar contenders to plucky indie passion projects. In June, the festival announced its new programming director, Robin Smith, taking over the position from the event’s inaugural programming director, Paul Gratton. Smith, the CEO of Blue Ice Docs, a distribution and equity funding company dedicated to non-fiction work, brings nearly 30 years of experience to the role.
Over the Family Day weekend, The Point Artist-Run Centre brought back its Winter Carnival, headlined by C.R. Avery and the Storm Collective, while August saw the return of its signature annual event, the Flag Stop Theatre & Arts Festival, bringing original theatre and music to its unique floating stage on Alta Lake.
This year was also notable for The Point for winning the Champion of Arts & Culture honour at the 2024 Whistler Excellence Awards.
The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) continued its vital programming in 2024. The spring exhibit at the Indigenous museum, Ta na wa Yúus ta Stitúyntsam, shined a light on the work done by Squamish and Lil’wat Nation members to restore balance and harmony on their unceded lands. The SLCC also brought back its popular Salish Summer Carving Series, with Master Carver Jonathan Joe mentoring fellow Lil’wat artist Redmond Q’áwam’ Andrews on a pair of cedar carvings that incorporated designs honouring the 1911 Declaration of the Lillooet Tribes. That’s on top of the robust programming the museum always offers on National Indigenous People’s Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
In April, the SLCC named its new executive director, Liza Walli, replacing former director Heather Paul. Walli has a long resume at multiple local businesses, including most recently as GM of the Brew Creek Centre.
Crowds packed into Olympic Plaza throughout the summer for the return of the Whistler Summer Concert Series, featuring free concerts opened by local musicians and headlined by some of the biggest names in Canadian music, including multi-platinum and highly viral pop band, Walk Off The Earth, two-time Juno winner, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee, and beloved Prairie rockers, The Sheepdogs.
The Audain Art Museum continued to deliver world-class exhibits in one of Whistler’s most eye-catching buildings. Gathie Falk: Revelations reflected on the long career of the legendary Canadian artist, who established herself as one of the country’s most visionary and experimental artists, working in everything from bronze and ceramic sculpture to oil canvas painting and photography and video. But the exhibit that likely turned the most heads at The Audain this year was Tom Thomson: North Star, which offered a fresh view of one of Canada’s most luminary artistic talents, focusing on his small plein air oil sketches.
In October, the Audain acquired a rare painting, War Canoes, Alert Bay, by iconic B.C. artist Emily Carr after it sat for many years in private collections.
- Brandon Barrett
