Amanda Ridgway
Amanda Ridgway has completed her first full winter with Mount Washington Alpine Resort, and what a winter it was to be the Resort’s Outdoor Events Co-ordinator.
“I moved to the Island because I wanted to keep riding my bike through the winter,” she said.
Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Ridgway makes no apologies for her warm-weather pursuits. “I’m very much a summer girl, being from Australia,” she said.
“Like many Australians, I came for the winter and stay for the summer,” she added.
Ridgway became a permanent resident of Canada a few years ago and is currently studying to take her citizenship test.
Ridgway now switches hats to full-time salesperson until the fall, when she will again throw herself into outdoor winter events.
Ridgway represents the Resort on Tourism BC’s mountain bike marketing committee, which promotes B.C. as a world leader in mountain biking. “It’s an amazing opportunity for me,” she said.
In her spare time, Ridgway works as a mountain bike instructor with the Trek Dirt Series, which travels western Canada and the United States teaching women to ride mountain bikes.
She also continues to write a lifestyle column for a publication in Fernie.
Jeanette Kangas
Another new face at the Resort is Jeanette Kangas, the in-house graphic designer. Based in Courtenay, Kangas is a self-taught artist with a diploma in Professional Photography and Desktop Publishing.
When she is not creating graphic art, Kangas enjoys painting with acrylics, according to her personal website. www.winkabilities.com
Her inspirations come from the outdoors: anything alpine to ocean. “Now with my first season behind me in this position (Resort graphic artist), I felt it was really about discovery; getting to know and creating a feel for the mountain’s image,” Kangas said.
“With that said, I am still excited about the plethora of potential using visual means of building and establishing a playful and strong impression for the Resort.”