Dec 1, 2007 | Marmot, Winter 2007

News In Brief: Encompassing people, places and happenings at Mount Washington.

The Whiskey Jack Cafeteria received an $80,000 conference-ready makeover.

New stunts, rails and fun boxes have been added to the Stomping Ground Terrain Park for the 2007-08 season.

Extensive new glades have been created on the front side of the mountain, adjacent to the Hawk 6 Pack Chair.

Mount Washington will host the B.C. Freestyle Skiing Championships, March 27-30, 2008.

Mount Washington Alpine Resort and Invest Comox Valley have teamed up to bolster the Resort’s labour force. Invest Comox Valley has helped the Resort develop a strategy to attract skilled workers to the region. For example, says Invest Comox Valley’s Marketing and Communications Manager Lara Greasley, ski instructors are available for immigration attraction status. This is just one phase of a larger labour force strategy being developed for the Valley.

Olympic skier Allison Forsyth, who grew up skiing at Mount Washington, continues to struggle with her recovery after blowing out her knee in a practice run for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Forsyth participated in Alpine Canada’s spring camp in Whistler in June, and it looked like all systems go. Then, five days before the start of the 2007-08 World Cup season, her knee flared up, forcing her to miss the 2008 season.

“It’s been hard, a harsh thing to deal with,” Forsyth said from her Calgary home. Forsyth, who has been told by surgeons they are concerned about her ability to function in everyday life with the current state of her knee. She will meet with a specialist in Ontario to discuss a procedure known as an osteotomy.

Forsyth is not just battling injury, she is also helping in the battle against breast cancer. She has launched her own website, www.pinkhelmet.ca, to raise awareness about inflammatory breast cancer, which her mother died of last April.

The plan to save the Vancouver Island Marmot from extinction received a $133,000 boost from the Province in October. The money will go towards captive breeding programs spearheaded by the Marmot Recovery Foundation.

Our Sasquatch and Marmot are now Olympic Mascots. The Sasquatch will be known as ‘Quatchi’, and the Marmot’s name is ‘Mukmuk’. We’re pleased the world will now enjoy them as we do.

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