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What is it about somewhere that steals your heart? The scenery? The opportunities? The party? The vibe? But then what gives a place it’s feeling, what evokes the greatest memories in you? Sure it’s the sights, sounds and smells, but above all of this, above every sense you retain memories in it’s the bonds you create, the people you meet and those nights you won’t remember with the friends you’ll never forget. Living in a town like Whistler is like nothing you can imagine. The opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful places in the World is one thing, the magic of Winter, the endless adventure of Summer. But it’s that feeling that nothing is more important than that day, with those people that keeps you waking up everyday wanting more. Responsibilities are left behind and the biggest decision you’re faced with is if you’re going to go for residency so you can prolong this feeling of freedom and youth. “Living the dream” is something you hear countless times a day, but there’s always something more behind the people that live there. They say what goes up must come down and of course, the higher you go the harder you’ll fall. The trouble with transient towns is that there is a constant coming and going, the seasonal sway of Summer and Winter workers, the anticipation during dead season. Most come alone and it’s rare to find a “local” that is actually from BC let alone born and raised in Whistler. The people you arrive with or meet in the first few weeks generally become your closest thing to family and when it comes to Fairmont staff in housing this feeling is magnified even more. You live together, work together, party together. Some of these people become closer than you’re actual family, as you drift further into the bubble and away from any connection to actual reality. The friends I met really are the reason I stuck around for so long. After feeling the highs of the first Summer and dropping below freezing in my mind over the second Winter, I was amazed I’d let myself feel the way I did again. It was the people that give you the reason to stay, the people that give you slivers of sanity in the craziest of times. My favourite quote is one that chokes me up even to write and goes something like this: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.” This is why a place steals your heart, this is the reason you hold on, even to the faintest memory in the darkest of times, because of these moments. Each of my friends contributed to one of my breathtaking moments: Standing atop the Chief and Panorama Ridge. Volunteer sunrises before the mountain opened. A shooting star. Laughing so hard it literally took the breath from my lungs. Staring up at Blackcomb peak from an explorer on Lost Lake. But most of them were moments or conversations that at the time may not have meant that much to you but meant beyond the world to me. Whistler is not a town, its a place. A place in every persons heart who has ever lived there. And yes its because of its rugged peaks and incredible views, its fairytale Winters and epic Summers. But most of all it’s about its people. The people who become your family, the people who share your secrets and ride every mogul of your Whistler journey with you. The people who no matter where you are in the world or what you’re doing, you’ll be able to remember with a full heart and a foggy mind. To each of my Whistler family members past and present, I cant thank you enough for holding my hand through the past two years. I’ve climbed mountains, jumped in lakes, broken into swimming pools and watched meteor showers. I’ve fallen in love. If I can offer anything to any of you it’s this; keep chasing the moments that take your breath away.... they’re the ones that matter in the end. Xx