Whistler’s Lost Lake area now has a snowmaking gun on site to help bolster the popular Lost Lake Trails for the 23-24 season—at least when the weather will allow it.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) installed new infrastructure in the park as part of a multi-faceted project in the cards for almost three years.
The project was completed in spring 2023, with the municipality spending a little over $150,000 on top of a $750,000 grant from the provincial government’s Tourism Dependent Community Fund. Those funds were all secured by early 2021 and were reported on by Pique as part of the 2021 budget amendment.
The project itself included a connection to an existing water-supply line, piping, and connection infrastructure for snowmaking equipment. According to the RMOW, the system also provides seasonal fire protection, and is intended to eventually include a micro-hydro generation plant to develop electricity to operate the snowmaking system and complement the park’s electrical needs.
The RMOW now has a snowmaking gun on site and ready to go, “if it gets to the right temperature,” a communications official said.
“We are also learning whether guns work in this topography or not. As the mountain snowmakers will tell you, their elevation helps a lot with the large fleet on the hill,” they said.
For this year, it is a test and we do need to reach more ideal temperatures for it to perform, but we’re quite pleased with what we were able to do before this latest warming trend.”
There are 25 kilometres of trails in the Lost Lake Park area for cross-country skiing. There needs to be about 30 centimetres of snow base, and colder conditions to allow for grooming the trails for winter operations. As of early January, conditions have not allowed the trails to open, with mild temperatures and rain preventing buildup of an adequate base.
Community enriched
A slate of 40 community groups reported back on how they collectively spent more than $167,000 of RMOW grant funding in 2023 at the Dec. 19 council meeting.
The funds, given out as part of the RMOW’s Community Enrichment Program (CEP), are vended out annually to organizations contributing to the growth and development of the community.
The funds come from the RMOW’s general revenue, and the CEP program was severely over-subscribed in 2023, with community organizations initially requesting more than $358,250.23 against a $167,113 budget.
Allocations varied from as little as $1,000 each to the Whistler Independent Supported Housing Society and Girl Guides Canada, to more than $10,000 to Whistler Community Services Society, Howe Sound Women’s Centre, and Whistler Sport Legacies Society.
The money was spent across a wide array of programs, from allowing the local BC Luge Association to buy teamwear for a growing local enrolment and print raffle tickets for further fundraising, to helping Sea to Sky Community Services operate a playgroup for families with young children in Whistler, to giving the Whistler Farmers’ Market the funds to continue providing waste-management services at its markets in 2023.
“The 2023 CEP recipients have demonstrated a high level of dedication in providing programs and/or services that support and contribute to the growth of the Whistler community,” read a staff report to council.
“Most organizations utilized their grant funds on equipment, supplies, general operations, advertising or salaries for counsellors, experts, and additional fund coordinators.”
The report noted beneficiaries said the funds helped make a significant contribution to their program objectives.
