Yup, that’s right. As we all know by now, Vail Resorts has announced an operating plan for 2021/22 that calls for packing Whistler Blackcomb’s (WB) gondolas with as many unvaccinated skiers and boarders as can be jammed aboard.
This is without regard to the health and safety of the majority of us who have had the common sense to get both COVID-19 vaccinations. Our only protection will be whatever loose and soggy interpretation of a mask the panting stranger beside you comes up with.
Unbelievably, the sainted Dr. Bonnie Henry [B.C.’s public health officer] has apparently blessed this new game of “Russian Roulette.”
Meanwhile, across the Rockies in Alberta, of all places, Banff Sunshine Village has announced that: “To comply with the province’s (i.e. AB’s) exemption program to access our slopes this winter, we will ask all guests to submit either a proof of vaccination, proof of a privately-paid negative rapid test result taken within 72 hours of service, or a valid medical exemption.”
Though stranger than fiction, it turns out that you’d be much safer to board a gondola in Canada’s COVID-19 hotbed than here in Whistler.
Please write to Dr. Henry at bonnie.henry@ gov.bc.ca and ask her to please amend her Public Health Order to require the B.C. Vaccine Card to access WB ski lifts. Let’s try and stay healthy and avoid another early shutdown.
Nick Green // Whistler
