March 31, 2021

The news we were dreading came today. Big White announced they were closing the hill six days early. Citing the closure of Whistler and increased traffic from the lower mainland. As well as the foolish party at Charley Victoria’s; the management of the resort made the regrettable decision.

I wanted to ski fifty days this year; it doesn’t look like that will happen now. I could have worse problems. It certainly is a first-world problem.

Others have much bigger problems.

Our friends that run the restaurants at Big White and in town are suffering far worse than the loss of a couple of days on snow. And some people are suffering from the loss of much more than their economic livelihoods. This insidious disease is creeping through our province and many more are suffering physical hardship as well. I have a friend that is battling this viral enemy; I hope she will be one of the lucky ones and comes out of this unscathed.

We all should be grateful; the season lasted longer than last year. It was a full season, it was a fun season. Even though there is no fun in covid. Too bad we couldn’t make it through one more week. I’m saddened by the events in the last few days in our mountain paradise. I understand why they are closing early, I don’t like it but I understand…

We are left to pick up the pieces of an abrupt ending to the year. There will be no huge party at the top of the T-Bar to end the spinning of the lifts, we knew there wouldn’t be one but… Barrman and his friends will have to find another way to try to connect one last time in the alpine. There will be time to say goodbye to the strangest season yet. Unlike the fourty-five minute warning in 2020, they have given us six days,

Who knows what the next year will bring. With lockdowns threatened everywhere and the third wave in full force. We can only hope that next year will be one where we don’t need to wear a mask to stand in a line for the lift. When will that happen? Will we be wearing masks for the next couple of years? One year ago I didn’t foresee us wearing masks at all. Now you can’t go into a bank without your face being covered – strange days indeed.

My story about Deborah was a work of complete fiction. I wonder how close it came to the truth… Members of Generation Z are the ones that need to be more conscious and stop the spread of our viral foe. These young people created the problem when they gathered at a bar and didn’t even bother wearing masks. Let alone stayed apart. It shouldn’t matter what a person believes, they should respect the current rules.

Maybe that’s why so many parts of the country are going back into some form of lockdown. Ontario announced lockdown measures coming into effect as of this coming Saturday. Restaurants, salons, and gyms will be shut down or pivot to take out only. Capacity restrictions will be in effect in all other stores. It is strange that in Ontario people will still be able to go to church but in BC churches have been closed for months. It’s the inconsistencies like that that have people not taking things as seriously as they should.

As numbers in hospitals rise people still feel like the pandemic is over – God how I wish it was. It’s not.

The viral storm rages on; as does the economic and social one.

It is time to come together and do our part to get through these tumultuous times. Spring is bursting forth in our beautiful world and the need to stop and smell the blooming flowers overwhelms me. I wanted to get to fifty days on skis this year. I am very grateful I got one day on skis when I think about those poor souls that are left with nothing.

Thank you Big White Ski Resort for helping us through this winter of discontent. I’m thankful to all the businesses that have hunkered down and done their best to protect us. We will get through these next few days, weeks, and months until we are out the other side of this viral storm. There will be more powder days and bluebird skies. We will return to the joy of fresh tracks in virgin snow and connect again in our mountain home.

Thank you for sharing my journey in the coronaverse. After a year of writing this blog, I will continue on. I hope you enjoy my stories and my musing. Feel free to comment in the comments below and come straight to my site to stay connected www.victorbarr.ca. I may not always share on facebook but I will continue to share here.

Stay safe, stay sane, and do your best to stay happy.