Deb and Bayne are both familiar faces in the Comox Valley, and around Mount Washington Alpine Resort.
Bayne moved to the Comox Valley in 1985 and once owned the Arbutus Hotel. He is co-owner of Plates Eatery on Cliffe Avenue, which he and his business partner Steve Swing, opened in 2000. Bayne is no longer actively involved in day-to-day operations at the restaurant.
Bayne is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Strathcona Sunrise and was also a Past-President. He has served on the Royal Lepage Snow to Surf board since the early 1990s.
Deb and Bayne have owned a condo at Mount Washington Alpine Resort for five years; they both love to ski and have friends who also own on the mountain.
Bayne’s earliest memory of Mount Washington is from the spring of 1980 when he and some friends took a camper up to ski. His folks had been hiking around the area for several years before it opened as a resort. Bayne said he remembers his first ski visit clearly because the camper ended up going off the road.
By the time Deb first visited Mount Washington, the Resort already had four chairlifts: Green, Red, Blue and Yellow (Whiskey Jack).
“Skiing was kind of a new thing for me,” she says. Skiing didn’t exist when Deb was growing up in North Yorkshire, England. It wasn’t until after her parents emigrated to Sayward on the north end of Vancouver Island that she visited the Resort.
Deb has lived in the Comox Valley since 1978, with a three-year stint in Victoria. She spent 16 years as a flight attendant. She owns her own business, Slipcovers Etc., and works out of her home now.
While raising their son, also named Bayne, Deb got involved with his school parent advisory councils. She is a founding member and Past President of the Rotary Club of Cumberland and has served on the Royal Lepage Snow to Surf Board, among many other volunteering roles.
Deb ran Comox Valley Community Elderhostel for a number of years. She and Bayne both kept up their bus driver licences so they could drive groups on field trips.
Their son has grown up skiing at Mount Washington, and last year spent the winter as a ski instructor.
While sales and marketing have always been facets of their businesses, Bayne admits that taking on the sales job for The Marmot is an exciting challenge. He and Deb have been working with Wendy to ensure a smooth transition.
“It’s a little out of our comfort zone for both of us,” he says with a smile.
To reach Deb or Bayne, e-mail them at sales@themarmot.ca or phone 250-792-3107 or 250-702-4633.