111 must-see spots in Whistler feature the obvious and less obvious destinations of the resort
Even after putting the finishing touches on their guide, 111 must-see places in Vancouver, authors David Doroghy and Graeme Menzies knew their work wasn’t quite done yet.
“We didn’t tell the publishers that at the time, but we felt the Vancouver book was incomplete without the Whistler book. We had this in mind all the time, ”Menzies explains. “There is an interesting relationship between these two places.”
Billed as the resort’s ultimate insider guide, 111 places in Whistler you can’t miss came out in September and comes full circle on a journey that began for Menzies and Doraghy over a decade ago at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The ‘old guys who love to write’ met while ‘they worked for VANOC during the Games in the same cramped office at Function Junction, and Donaghy, a second owner here, and Menzies, a frequent visitor, began to collect stories of the Games that would eventually serve them well for years to come. late.
“Our editors in Germany even said, ‘Hey, take it easy on the Olympic stuff, guys.’ There are 10 or 12 [entries on the Olympics] and we love to talk about it, ”says Doroghy.
But of course, there’s so much more to Whistler than its flagship games, and the guide does well to scratch beneath the surface of what community is (and by extension, Pemberton, Squamish, and the Sea to Sky Highway, which are also featured in the book).
One of hundreds of titles in Emons Publishing’s 111 Places series, the Whistler Edition is the smallest community ever featured and is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the only tour guide dedicated to the resort.
“We believe this is the only guide totally dedicated to Whistler. It’s not a hiking book, it’s not a ski book, it’s a guide. The fact that Whistler is such a popular destination and that no one has made a guide dedicated solely to Whistler has kind of surprised us, ”says Doroghy.
With the series frequently covering major metropolises and tourist destinations like London, Rome and Barcelona, Menzies had doubts whether they would even have enough material to list 111 must-see places.
“My first thought was, ‘Dave, this can’t be done. “But Dave didn’t agree and he persisted on it,” Menzies recalls. “It was really a more difficult mission, but it made us work harder. I feel really good in the places we have found. It’s a greater sense of accomplishment, I think.
This is where the book’s appeal lies: while listing obvious tourist spots like the Peak 2 Peak, the Valley Trail, and Train Wreck, it also includes a mix of more original entries, like the one on the sculpture of the Local legend Seppo Makinen at Lost Lake or the section on ‘The Rembrandt of the Snow’ James Niehues, whose colorful ski maps dot the resort, and local businesses and hangouts – sometimes literally: Chapter 41 allegedly details the building haunted where Creekbread and Whistler Creek Lodge are now located.
“We wanted this not to be a quick and flashy tour guide. We wanted it to be authentic and it forced me to meet people and do things that I love, like sitting down and talking about Whistler, ”says Doroghy.
The authors will be at the Fresh St. Market from 1 pm to 5 pm on November 27 for a book signing.
“We wanted it to make sense, but unless you’ve been there for 10 or 20 years, it’s hard to reflect what community is,” Doroghy says of the book. “We’ve done our best and I guess we’ll find out at our book signing.”
111 places in Whistler you can’t miss is available on Armchair Books and online at 111places.com/111-places-in-Whistler.
