By Brian Lee
With all the chatter about economic development and community building that goes on around here, it seems to me that one thing we could do to improve this community is if every one of us got fitter. Seriously.
We’re a relatively fit community but we could improve how we utilize — and promote — the incredible recreation potential of the area. If we were fitter, we would demand more services to accommodate our fit lifestyles. Fit people need trails to hike and ride — so fit people build more trails. That encourages more fit people to move here.
Fit people also like to race. And hold races. If we could squeeze a couple of racing events here each season, they could easily attract the equivalent of any of the festivals we currently host. What is considered a medium-sized adventure race across the strait in Cumberland attracts 425 competitors plus friends and families each year who return home saying nice things about the area’s lakes and trails. Fit people eat more than music buffs anyways and, besides, we’re going to have to invent a new genre to host another music festival here.
A fitter community would put less strain on our health resources. We would have more people needing fewer medical services. Fit people also don’t rely on cars as much as non-fit people. If 20 per cent more people biked to work, gone would be the traffic snarls at the intersection of Gonzales and Lagoon Roads in the mornings.
Think of other fit towns: Tofino, Squamish, NorthVancouver or Whistler. Is there something that makes them fit or are they places that fit people gravitate to? Either way, we have everything those towns have as far as potential outdoor recreation. We just need to develop and promote it.
Consider our bounty of inlets, wind, trails, mountains, lakes and tidal rapids — what more is needed to cultivate an unsurpassed arena for adventure sports? We have a great (and underused) gym and pool plus a yoga studio to stay limber on rainy days. But, really, with the variety of clothing technology available these days there’s no excuse to stay inside anymore.
We’ve already quietly become a global destination for wave kayakers in the Skookumchuck and if we provided more access and facilities, Sakinaw and Ruby Lakes could be better recognized for the hotbeds of wakeboarding and water-skiing they already are.
Our area is paradise for mountain bikers with huge terrain potential to add to our already impressive trail inventory. Add the unmatched potential for dirt biking, back country skiing, rock climbing, snowmobiling, hiking, diving, rowing, kayaking, sailing and you have to ask, "Why hasn’t Outside magazine exposed this place yet?
It’s because the only to way to tap this area’s recreation potential is to get out and use it ourselves. And that means we have to get fitter — so we can.
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