It seems to happen overnight, the hot winds that bathed the entire province of British Columbia in fire, smoke and fear have cooled. We close the window to only an inch as the night air reminds us that in a mountain town fall comes early. Most here will remember this summer as pretty epic! So much fun in fact that there has been no time to reflect on vacations and other adventures. I am WAY behind in stories…

Almost perfect weather lasted through Crankworks, the massive downhill festival was testosterone fueled and all over “hot”! The emergency was filled with injured bikers, and unimpressed medical staff…the police station cells were filled with over partied youth.

September in Whistler is often referred to by the biking/running community as the ‘Month of Pain”…and not because we enter back into a slow time in the resort. For several years now there is a list of about 6 major events that toal 103 km of biking and 56km of trails to run. The list includes the West Side Wheel Up on Sept 4th, Xterra Canadian Championships Sept 5th, Cheakamus Challenge Sept 18th, Terry Fox run Sept 19th, Whistler Spirit Cross Country Run Sept 25 and the Rubble Creek Classic on the 26th. Organizers crown a King and Queen, the athletes who participate in the most events, and if there is a tie for participation then they consider time.

As well, details are emerging for the inaugural Whistler Half Marathon Event scheduled for next June 4th. Organizers anticipate 300 runners, but the goal is to turn it into a destination event that will attract thousands…(book your rooms now?) There is a Facebook page accepting ideas for routes and contests for entries. See www.whistlerhalfmarathon.com in November and register for the event in January of 2011.

More proof that Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton communities are home to some of the most athletic people in the world! But for those of us less athletically inclined, some lovely fall golf, wading through yellow leaves on the valley trail, or taking advantage of a ‘locals special dinner’ deal is on the agenda. Whistler in the Fall ROCKS!

Whistlerites LOVE their bears! Perhaps its ’cause we all grew up with “Winnie the Pooh”, but the mentality that a bear is a cuddly, cute friend is both a blessing and a curse to our Whistler Bears. Did you know that “Winnie” was actually named for Winnipeg…that’s right he was a CANADIAN Bear! And if he lived in Whistler he would have been a happy bear…for the most part! Especially now that Whistler is going for its “Bear Aware” status.

I knew that our daughter had reached ‘local’ status when her and her 11 year old girlfriend were walking the valley trail when a bear crossed highway 99 at Lorimer. A tourist leapt from his car screaming for someone to call 911…the girls literally dropped to the ground they laughed so hard! Around here, the bears are kind of treated like very large rats.

People new to Whistler assume that the poor bear hanging around outside their birdfeeder must be starving so they try and help by giving it a loving snack. Would you feed a rat? A perfect example of how love can kill is from a friend who laments on her facebook status: “Last week a bear was shot, who had lived here for many many years..I knew Parker, he would drop by occassionally. Last night at 3 am, I heard three gunshots. This morning wandered out to see blood stains covering the roadway..and assume another bear has been killed due to the neglect of a group of young people who rent a house on Tyrol Cres, Alta Vista. Shame on you, grow up, bears deserve respect not garbage” Bears habituated to garbage will even miss hibernation as the food source is so rich. And yes we do actually NAME all our bears here…all 98 of them around Whistler have names and geneologies…

Nothing makes a local more pissed off than hitting a tourist who has just STOPPED in the middle of the highway in awe and amazement at the lovely glossy bear grazing knee-deep in Lupines! I’m sitting in my office about May and in the playground of the elementary school next door, see Mamma with 2 beautiful cubs, one rusty colored and one black. They are grazing on the new grasses and clover. After a week of seeing her every single day, hanging out with the kids playing literally feet away, you start to forget that they are dangerous and unpredicatable. If as bear gets too close the kids just all bang pots and pans to scare them away.

When I go out to my jeep, I see a group of bikers at my trunk. I see they are watching a cub grazing at the side of the valley trail. Then I peer into the bushes about 10 yards from us and see Mamma, lying hidden in the bush carefully watching her young cub. Casually, I wonder where the second cub is, but to be safe scoop up my small dog and move to the drivers side to get into the safety of the jeep. I freeze when I realize the second missing cub is pretty much leaning on my front bumper while eating.

Well, I froze for all of about 3 seconds while I try and decide if I can get my truck unlocked and into it before Mom can charge me because she figures I am threatening her cub. In the meantime, group of admiring bikers stand around casually getting ready to be eaten. Very slowly I unlock and get into the jeep and then sit there for a couple of minutes trying to get my breath… Even when I start the truck, the cub barely lifts its head from the long grass. Bears are so used to people that it has become odd. I’ve heard of coexistance, but this is getting a bit close for comfort…and mom,(named Cinnamon Bear like the bar here) and cubs stayed for weeks until the snow melted.

But you know someone is taking it seriously when you are sitting at your computer and you see a HUGE black bear walk by your office window…followed by two conservation officers carrying big rifles. Its distracting listening to the loud booms as they try and scare the bear out of the area with rubber bullets and loud sounds… So Whistler continues at this point to walk the tight-rope of co-existance with our furry friends. If you come here, chances are very good you will see at least one bear, and it can be the highlight of a trip, just use your common sense and remember they are wild animals. See the link below for one young bears spring entertainment this year posted on Youtube!

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8CcTpqRLpA

So…now Kari is at the bottom of a steep run with four broken vertebrae. Search and Rescue has found her, and the team goes down to get her stabalized on a back board. Our Search & Rescue Friend Mike is helping the pilot get the helicopter ready to transport so is lying under the machine, when he hears the pilot yell F**k! He sticks his head out to see that the wind from the rotors has somehow ignited a log in the landing area that was obviously smouldering-as it is now in flames. They quickly put it out with some water they have on-board and with relief go back to getting the ride ready.

Unfortunately, it seems the wind also scattered burning embers down the slope. Now Mike hears a scream from the pilot “FIRE” and they jump up to see small trees literally exploding like firebombs. The tinder dry forest is crackling in a fire that is spreading faster than a man can run. They quickly call it in, and with the flames growing around them the pilot says, screw this, I’m out of here”, and lifts off. Mike runs to his truck and careens down the track, through burning trees and brush, and with foot mashed on the gas pedal, manages to get 5 minutes ahead of it. As he is attempting his get-a-way, the fire bomber drops its first load of water onto the blaze.

Mike slides around a corner and sees some campers…he brakes to a stop, “FIRE, get out of here!” he yells.
Calmly they tell him that “their kids are just swimming and they thought they’d maybe leave around 2…”
Amazed he looks at them and says, “normally I would have to stay here with you, but not today, I’m out of here, that fire is 5 minutes behind me!” He peels out and gets away.

Back to Kari, the fire is burning downwind from her and the rescue team, but by the time they get the fire put out and the area safe to fly into again she has been waiting four hours. She gets a long-line lift into the chopper and then a quick ride down to Lions Gate Hospital. She went into surgery today, and I have not heard her prognosis yet…

I got to hear the story from both sides of the fence.

And you wonder why Whistler has so much respect for its search & rescue volunteers. Many lives would have been changed without these amazing people yesterday! We are hopeful for Kari and thankful that she is also still with us.

So heres an odd story about how interconnected Whistler really is, and how great the people are that live here!*

Floating in the back lake yesterday, all is calm with the world…It is about day 15 of 30 degrees celcius, blue skys and warm breezes and our friends are down on the lake with the (grown-up) kids and we are listening to tunes and enjoying the day. As the kids laugh and splash around us, I ask our neighbor Linda where her husband Ross is? He’s head of Whistler Search & Rescue, (a volunteer) and often is called away on highway accidents or missing hikers. We hear with concern that up the valley from us a mountain biker has gone off a cliff, and he has gone up to meet the helicopter and will fly the injured biker to the city as the pilot is down a co-pilot at the moment.

Several minutes later the radios crackle and Linda informs us that now there is also a forest fire started in this same area. This gets our attention and we look at each other with concern. With the afternoon winds blowing hard up the valley, a fire downwind from us could mean our houses and community will go up in flames. “But there is no smoke” I note, (Quite thoughtfully I think) Our other neighbor Michael responds that only wet wood really smokes. “In this weather,” he notes, “trees go up in a nice clean flame that burns without smoke”. With another anxious look at the water bombers that are now growling across the sky headed toward the Cheakamus valley, we float away and promptly forget about the danger.

This is where the serendipity of the close Whistler community now comes into play. I arrive at work this morning to hear that the mountain biker that went off the cliff is my program manager Kari, (who I mentioned in an earlier blog is an avid pro mountain biker)… The call comes in from her friend she was riding with that she had dropped down a face, tried to bounce off a stump in the middle of the run, and flew through the air in a double summersault over her handlebars. She has landed on her head and crushed 4 vertebrae. Fortunately they have a cell and the call has gone into search and rescue, who now have to find them…

*And yes I changed the names to protect the innocent and not so innocent…
Part 2 is much stranger!…