Some call it Silly Season. Others prefer Liftie Season. Whatever you call it, we’re snowballing towards that time of year when all kinds of new folks—besides visitors—head up Highway 99 to join ranks with all the amazing people who keep Whistler’s wheels turning, day in, day out, throughout ski season and beyond.
Yes, Whistler can be an expensive, challenging place to live. But it’s also pretty dynamic. Kind of like a forge that lets you tap your ingenuity and mix up new elements—an opportunity or three here, a few new pals and connections there—to see where you land. Me, I had the chance to buy the local newspaper when I was 31, and I grabbed it.
Things like that are totally individual. And circumstantial. But whether you’re a local who’s just landed, or one who’s been around for ages, we’re all trying to make it under that “expensive” yoke, wherever we call home.
Whistler, however, is particularly pricey like any international resort. (That’s me sidestepping the tired old “world-class” cliché Whistler aspired to for decades, and many lament it finally achieved it.) So building on my last column about making life easier and more affordable at Whistler, and beyond, here are more tips to help smooth the way, especially if you’re hitting town for the first time this Silly Season.
DO-IT-YOURSELF IN THE KITCHEN AND BEYOND
There’s nothing more Canadian, and practical, than the twin exhortations I heard repeatedly from “the women” in the kitchen as I was growing up in Edmonton: 1. Make do. 2. Make it go further.
At Whistler, you might find yourself doing both in more ways than one. Like I remember “making do” my first night in town on the sofa of a chilly, empty ski cabin. In the kitchen, “making do” usually means substituting a cheaper, available item, like sliced wieners, say, for something out-of-reach, like baked ham, because you can’t afford it or you simply don’t have it and no one wants to hit the store.
As for making things “go further”—I’ll focus on the kitchen again and let you imagine how else you might apply it—that includes strategies like using last night’s leftovers, take-out or otherwise, and adding salad, a slice of good bread, and/or some rice, veg or the local stand-by, KD, to make it a full meal deal.
Either way, both tips grow out of the idea of cooking at home and ad-libbing to stretch your meals and your means. So I was happy to read in Pique that Hugh Flint and Richard Kinar have rustled up a cooking club at Whistler to help people build confidence in the kitchen and explore new food ideas, applying another thing near and dear to my heart—science.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best and cheapest way to eat is do-it-yourself. And it doesn’t need to be posh for it to be good for you, your community, and our wider world. Often the cheapest, tastiest, most nutritious and environmentally friendly foods are the simplest—like porridge, a classic Whistler favourite many old hands revere.
Beyond the dinner table, do-it-yourself—from building your own squatter’s cabin to making your own fun—has long stood Whistler in good stead. I’ll circle back on this as the season unfolds, but for now consider the many online resources, and hard copy ones, too, at your favourite library (like Whistler’s!) for saving time, energy and money using household tips from experts—including the thousands of readers who once shared them in daily newspapers when they were king.
NOTHING LIKE GOOD, CHEAP WHISTLER FUN
In the spirit of saving bucks, and soaking up “Whistler” fast, check out the latest fabulous fun-raiser by Arts Whistler—the first ever Artstoberfest Oct. 5. Cute, eh? Arts, October, beer. How Whistler is that?
Anything Arts Whistler is a super cool way to plug into the community. Guaranteed it’ll be a good party at the Maury Young Arts Centre, complete with Thomas Studer’s polka-style band, a full-on costume contest, fine local beer from Coast Mountain Brewing (or a nolo), and fine local bratwurst, from Bacon Eh thanks to the sausage-making skills of Eric “Don’t make friends with salad” Craig.
Jawohl, dig out that dirndl skirt or old Lederhosen, which would be totally in keeping with many a Whistler icon, including Stefan and Gerda Ples—outstanding Whistler trailblazers who, in 1959, bought lakefront property on Westside Road where they lived for decades.
Stefan is best known for hauling supplies with teams of horses up Whistler Mountain in the early days, and helping start Tyrol Ski and Mountain Club. Like so many characters who built the resort, he’d pop into our office at the Whistler Question to regale us.
Since he loved hiking up Whistler Mountain on skis covered with fur “skins” and then skiing down (it took him all day), he’d gently decry what he called “yo-yo skiing”—taking a lift up the mountain and skiing down. Up and down, up and down, over and over. Like a yo-yo. Like most skiers do.
Two Whistler Mountain ski runs are named for him—Stefan’s Chute and Stefan’s Salute. In fact, to drill further into the local scene, check out how other runs got their names in Pique’s cover feature from Dec. 17, 2014, “What’s in a name?” written by Sarah Drewery, former executive director of the Whistler Museum and Archives.
Now you’ve got plenty of stories under your belt to share at Artstoberfest. But for more good, cheap fun, and the inside track, the Whistler Museum is the go-to spot. Bonus: entry is by donation. Or join their free Valley of Dreams walking tours, which leave at 11 a.m. daily until Sept. 29 from the Gateway Loop Visitor Information Centre—which, frankly, could easily drop “visitor” from its name since anyone can use good, solid info anytime about this crazy town called Whistler, whether we live here or not.
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who loves doing it herself whenever she can.
