CURTAIN CALL
After nearly 13 years serving as Mount Washington Alpine Resort’s Director of Marketing, Brent Curtain is leaving. He has taken a position as Marketing Manager with Comox Valley Economic Development.
“I’m moving on to greener pastures,” Curtain said. “It’s a great professional opportunity. I’ll be branching into other sectors as well.”
Among his duties he will be dealing with the ski sector, agri-business and Tourism Comox Valley.
And although he will no longer be a spokesperson for the Resort, he will still be a familiar face on the ski runs. “I will be up here lots throughout the winter because skiing is a massive part of my life and always will be,” he said.
“For me it was easy to promote Mount Washington because I love the mountain. But I also love the Comox Valley,” said Curtain. “It’s about promoting the place you’re passionate about.”
He admits being closer to his family, including six-year-old son Ryder, weighed into his decision. So did the fact his new office will be five minutes away. “It’s nice to buy that hour and change back into my life.”
Curtain already has a little rivalry going with CVED Executive Director John Watson, who is a fellow hockey fan (both also have sons who play on the same initiation hockey team). Except Watson is a Winnipeg Jets fan and Curtain is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. “I’m sure we’ll be butting heads,” Curtain said.
The Resort was looking to fill Curtain’s position as the Marmot went to press.
A GREAT FELLOW
John Trimmer, Head Coach with the Mount Washington Ski Club, has been honoured with a Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellowship Award (please see feature on John elsewhere in this edition of the Marmot). On Oct. 8, the Strathcona Sunrise Rotary Club presented the award to Trimmer, who has been a fixture at Mount Washington Alpine Resort for nearly 30 years.
Strathcona Sunrise Rotary Club has made a donation to the Rotary Foundation in Trimmer’s name, and he joins a group of more than one million Paul Harris Fellows worldwide: including Indira Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Prince Charles and Pope John Paul II.
MILE-HIGH BREW
Vancouver Island Brewery has created a new beer called Mile High Mountain Ale, in honour of a new partnership with Mount Washington Alpine Resort.
Vancouver Island Brewery is now the corporate beer sponsor for the Resort, and will supply brew for Ted’s Bar and Grill, Fresh, the cafeteria at the Alpine Lodge and Raven Lodge.
The new beer features a photo of a Mount Washington skier from the top of the mountain.
SKI TOWN THROWDOWN
Powder Magazine might think Mount Washington “came out of nowhere” to meet Aspen in the Ski Town Throwdown III finals, but it was no surprise to the thousands of people who kept voting for “Mount Washington” as they vaulted to the top. Unfortunately, Aspen took 60 per cent of the final vote, but Mount Washington still made its presence known.
Mount Washington was initially one of nine resorts competing for a wildcard spot in the Great White North division. They took down Revelstoke, Nelson, Rossland and Schweitzer before facing Aspen in the final.
“The support from the Vancouver Island community has been overwhelming,” said Resort spokesperson Brent Curtain. “There were a lot of eyes on our website, videos and social media sites during the event. We even received a special feature story on the Powder Magazine website.”
EXPANDING HORIZONS
Steve Allardice, a longtime skier at Mount Washington Alpine Resort, has joined the Courtenay law office of Acheson Whitley Sweeney Foley. He will assist with the growing number of personal injury cases the firm is handling in the Comox Valley, Campbell River, North Vancouver Island and the West Coast.
Allardice is looking forward to spending as much time on the mountain as possible, he says. He also enjoys surfing and spending time outdoors whenever time permits.
CANCER UNIT EXPANSION
Since 2007, the Cancer Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital has seen a steadily increasing number of patients. The first year, 1,400 patient visits were recorded. Last year that number was an incredible 4,700.
Although acute care services will transfer to the new Island Health Comox Valley Hospital in 2017, there is a need to expand the Cancer Care Unit right now, in order to best serve patients until the transition to the new hospital. The Cancer Care Unit has proposed a modest renovation, at a cost of $130,000 including equipment. Fundraising efforts have already begun.
“I cannot thank the Cancer Care team enough for helping in my wife Wendy’s battle with cancer,” says Rick Gibson, publisher of The Marmot Newspaper and Realtor with Royal LePage in the Comox Valley.
“Although the end result was not what we hoped, we know that the care she received contributed to her quality of life. Please support this quest to raise the funds needed to expand the Cancer Care Unit.”
Donations can be made online at the following link: http://www.cvhospitalfoundation.com/donations/expanding-cancer-care-at-st-josephs/.
A HAT TRICK OF BREWERIES FOR THE COMOX VALLEY?
Microbreweries are becoming the new thing for the Comox Valley, as two are close to opening and another has made an application to open a brew lounge at a hotel in Courtenay.
Gladstone Brewing Co. has renovated a building at 244 Fourth St. in Courtenay and hopes to offer several different craft beers by the end of the year. Owners Daniel Sharratt and Alexandra Stephanson have an application before Courtenay City Council for endorsement of a brewery lounge.
Licences are approved through the B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, however must receive approval from respective municipal governments first.
Gladstone Brewing Co. will offer a lounge as well as a manufacturing facility. And because the building is right beside Mudsharks Coffee Bar, food will be available in the lounge.
“We love the culture, we love the outdoors, and feel that the Valley is ready to support a small scale brewery in the area,” brewmaster Sharratt told the Comox Valley Echo.
The Cumberland Brewing Company has applied for a liquor licence to open a brewery lounge with outdoor patio on Dunsmuir Avenue at Third Street, and are in the process of installing machinery and renovating the building.
(There is also a new u-brew in Cumberland, Dodge City U-Brew, that opened this fall.)
Forbidden Brew Corp. has applied to the City of Courtenay to allow a brewery lounge inside the Westerly Hotel and Convention Centre. The proposal includes a craft brewery with indoor seating for up to 30 people.
The public input portion of the application closed on Oct. 2 but the application was set aside to allow the new council, elected Nov. 15, to deal with the issue.
NEW TERRAIN PARK SUPERVISOR
Paula Moore has spent a lot of time at the Terrain Park at Mount Washington Alpine Resort over the past few years.
A skier at heart, she is now taking over as the Rockstar Terrain Park Supervisor. And with a new partnership with Rockstar and a new super tubby tank for skiers and boarders to use as a jib, it’s going to be an exciting season for her.
Moore is one of a couple of Resort employees who are moving around this season.
Eugene Chung is the new Social Media and Event Coordinator for the winter 2014 season.
Chung was the friendly face behind the Tube Park, and was also one of the Resort’s bloggers in the past.
The Resort is also looking for a new “face of the mountain” to replace Brent Curtain, who has left to take a job with Comox Valley Economic Development.