Eric MacKenzie
eric@whistlerquestion.com

The Lil’wat Nation, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and Village of Pemberton issued a joint statement last Thursday (Oct. 6) requesting disc golf players immediately stop illegal use of a historical Lil’wat site to play the sport.

Local officials have dismantled unauthorized courses at the Signal Hill Registered Archaeological Site twice this year, apparently reinstalled both times after first being decommissioned in 2010.

“Some users have continued to trespass over the site and have reinstalled the disc golf course. Golfers, hikers and all recreational users are asked to respect this unique and culturally significant site by staying out of the fenced area and observing the posted signs,” said the statement.

It adds that damaging a registered archaeological site carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a $50,000 fine.

The site, located along the Lumpy’s Epic trail south of One Mile Lake, contains remnants of traditional Lil’wat pit houses, known as istkens. The site was used as a winter home for the Wolf Clan of the Lil’wat Nation and is one of the oldest in the region, said the release.

The SLRD has been working with Lil’wat to properly mark the site this year, and it was first discovered that the course had been reinstalled when officials arrived to build a small fence around the site “so people would know to stay away from that area,” said SLRD open spaces co-ordinator Allison Macdonald.

“Then last week, someone from Lil’wat was up there and noticed they had been put up again,” said Macdonald. “So this is the third time they’ve put up.”

Macdonald added that it wouldn’t take much traffic through the site for it to be damaged, which is why efforts to preserve the area are ongoing.

The Province has put some small, temporary signage on trees recognizing it as an archaeological site, but many had been ripped down, said Macdonald. The district and band were planning to erect a permanent, interpretive sign this week.

Meanwhile, the village is still working to install a disc golf course of its own through a grant provided by the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation.

The project and funding were announced last fall with hopes of having the course available for play this summer, but the Benchlands site that was originally selected was later scrapped after consultation with the local disc golf community. Construction has been put on hiatus as a final decision on a site has yet to be made.

Finding a suitable location for the course has been difficult and that’s been a big reason for the project’s delay.

“Because we’re in a valley, we’re really challenged by the slope,” said village communications coordinator Jill Brooksbank. “There were a couple of areas that we identified and thought might work, but then talked to Whistler Disc Golf who said they were too steep or had too much brush to clear.”

She added that the village is working to obtain tenure on a new piece of Crown land where the course can hopefully be installed. Earlier this summer, village officials said the best alternative appeared to be near One Mile Lake Park after another site near Signal Hill Elementary School was thrown out.

To get to the course:

• Follow the highway past Whistler village (north) until you see a sign on your right that says “Spruce Grove”.
• Turn right at the lights, then almost immediately turn left onto Mons Road.
• Drive past the campground and turn right. If you end up in the Sabre Rentals parking lot you have gone too far.
• Follow the road up and over the Valley trail, where you will see a large open gravel lot. Drive to the far side of the lot and you will see a small pedestrian bridge over the river on the right hand side.
• Walk across the bridge and halfway up the hill. You will see a trail on your right marked with flagging tape. Follow the trail and it will take you to the teepad of the fourth hole.

Please do not park at the Scandinave Spa, as you will most likely be ticketed or towed.

Tournament central will be located at the intersection of the 9^th and 19^th hole. Registration closes at 9:25am. The players meeting is at 9:30am with the tee-off at 10am. Entry fees and divisions can be found on the poster below.

We will be playing two rounds of 18. For those of you who have played the previous Duck Golf and Par None tournaments, the course will be very similar.

There will be no food on the course, so please bring food or be prepared to drive to the village at lunch. Depending on how many players we have, there may not be more than an hour for lunch.

Prizes will be handed out at the course immediately following the final round.

Hope to see everyone out there!

If you need more information, please email info@whistlerdiscgolf.com

Kokko and Todd won doubles tonight, finishing -18. They went an impressive -10 on the first ten holes for the win. Kokko and Matt W. also split the acepot of $30.

A huge thanks to club member Todd (Corona Excavations) and Sabre Rentals for helping out the club with cutting the locks on the tool lockbox after the keys got lost. As a result, Craig and Iain were able to fix the teepad on hole twelve.  We are planning on doing more course maintenance in the next few weeks, so keep an eye on the website for more dates and times.

The fire rating has been moved to extreme, so smoking is now banned on the course. Please be careful out there, as the forest is tinder dry after all the heat we have been getting.

A reminder that the first Duck Golf Tour stop is at the Whistler course on October 1. Please email info@whistlerdiscgolf.com to pre-register or check www.bcdiscgolf.com for more information

There has been a lot of bear activity on the course in the last few weeks. Make sure to make a lot of noise if you are out there alone. Please keep your dogs in sight as well. Club members have been spotting them mainly around hole 7-9 and 19.

The Duck Golf Winter Series has been announced for 2011-12. Whistler is hosting the first tour stop on October 1. Check back on the website for more info coming soon, or go to www.bcdiscgolf.com for more info on the tour.

We have found what we think is the ideal site for a new course in Pemberton. Just a few more hoops to jump through regarding Crown Land, but it looks like construction should start late this year, or first thing in the spring. On a related note, it looks like people have been trying to play the old course lately. The Mt. Currie First Nation has asked us to steer people away from the old course, as it is situated on culturally and archaeologically sensitive land. Thanks for your cooperation.

Disc Golf Planet is streaming live coverage of the PDGA World Championships from California. You can check out the coverage at http://discgolfplanet.tv/our-discgolfplanet-tv-portal