It really is hard to believe we are about to publish Pique’s final issue of 2022.
It feels like just yesterday I was putting the finishing touches on the first Opening Remarks of the year—my first as editor of Pique Newsmagazine—working from my home office with a mild case of COVID.
That was 51 issues ago. While the COVID didn’t stick around beyond issue 29.02, a new illness has befallen me on the final production cycle of the year, leaving me with a familiar sense of déjà vu—and a familiar twist in my stomach.
The rapid test result sitting on the desk in front of me tells me it’s not COVID, this time, so I guess we’ll call that progress.
Here’s to more of that in 2023.
In the meantime, here’s a look back at some of the most memorable stories coming out of Whistler this year.
Head to piquenewsmagazine.com this week for more on 2022’s top newsmakers, and be sure to pick up next week’s issue to get the full, contextual low-down in our annual Year in Review cover feature.
WHEN THE BUBBLE BURSTS
The biggest story in Whistler in 2022 was the same by any metric: the brazen double shooting in broad daylight in Whistler Village on July 24.
The story about the double gang murder was far and away the most-viewed post on Pique’s website in 2022, and readers also voted it Biggest News Story in our annual Best of Whistler poll (see page 34).
The horrific killings were just the latest in a spree of tit-for-tat murders involving Lower Mainland gangs the Brothers Keepers and United Nations—but to see it play out in our idyllic mountain resort, in the middle of the day, was beyond shocking.
Speaking to Pique, veteran crime and gang reporter Kim Bolan said the timing and location of the brazen midday hit was likely due to opportunity rather than the desire to make a statement.
“I think people can be reassured that this [kind of gang violence] is not likely to happen [in Whistler] again for some time,” she said.
NEED A LIFT?
The second biggest newsmaker of the year, as voted by Pique readers, was the 137-day transit strike that stretched from late January to mid-June—in the process becoming the longest transit strike in B.C.’s history.
For all its operational and logistical impacts, the strike didn’t register much of a dent in Pique’s web traffic: just two strike-related stories landed in our top 100 most-viewed posts for 2022—perhaps a sign of frustration and fatigue?
After all, how many times can you read that the buses still aren’t running?
STAY SAFE OUT THERE
Perusing the top posts on Pique’s website for 2022, some themes are readily apparent—none more so than the danger that exists in Whistler’s backcountry.
Of our top 30 posts in 2022, a full 13 of them were related to avalanches and on-mountain tragedies.
It was a tragic year on slopes in and around Whistler, with no fewer than five reported deaths and more than a few close calls.
Among them was 22-year-old Gloria Kodra, from Toronto. Kodra was skiing in Whistler for the first time in February when she collided with a tree in Whistler Mountain’s Symphony Bowl. She was later pronounced dead at the Whistler Health Care Centre.
For those who don’t know the real people behind the names of these tragedies, it must be easy to move on—or easier, at least, without having to carry the personal grief of immense loss.
But for family members, some part of them will never leave the mountains where they lost their loved ones.
“She said to her mom, ‘insanely pretty,’ when she was on top of the mountain of Whistler,” said Gloria’s father, Arben, of her last words to her mother.
“We built a castle for Gloria—that castle collapsed in an instant.”
A TRAGIC END
Sadly, there is another common thread in Pique’s annual top-30: stories about Clorrica Riggs, the 29-year-old Australian woman who went missing on Aug. 23.
Friends, family and volunteers spent weeks searching for her, but on Sept. 25, their worst fears were confirmed. Riggs was found dead.
“She could light up a room with her smile ... and cheer everybody up,” her brother Colin said.
“To not have her presence around, it’s going to be very hard. But we have to take it one day at a time.”
NEED A LIFT? REDUX
Skiers and boarders rejoiced when Whistler Blackcomb COO Geoff Buchheister announced in the first week of October that new lifts planned for the resort’s Creekside zone were on track for opening day.
Then, a month later, they laughed and spit out their Après Lager when Buchheister made the announcement that, actually, supply-chain disruptions meant the lifts would not be ready for opening day.
Cue pitchforks, torches.
The stop gap of offering shuttles from Creekside to the village proved effective, and as of this writing, both new lifts are up and running. So we’ll all have to find something else to bash Vail about in 2023.
THE LIGHTER SIDE
As far as attention-grabbing, must-see headlines go, it’s easy to see why things like death and tragedy factor among Pique’s top posts. But while they may not register on the collective psyche on the same level as some stories, it’s always nice to see the lighter side sprinkled amongst the heavier headlines as well.
Stories like one about four Whistler ski pals reunited, four decades later aren’t dramatic or presenting high stakes—they’re just warm and fun and nice to read sometimes.
In a similar vein, there’s the recent tale of two Lil’wat Nation brothers who rescued a stranded hiker near Mount Currie, or nine-year-old Whistlerite Rio MacDonald’s entrepreneurial success. There were stories of unlikely friendship and athletic achievement, of inspirational individuals and of incredible acts of charity (but no surprises there—it is Whistler, after all).
Here’s hoping for less death and destruction and more of these heartwarming headlines as we venture into 2023.
Onward to 30.01.
