WINTER /SPRING2016
MOUNTAINLIFE
23
Life in amountain townhas its perks
—
pow slashes
in your backyard,magical moments of freedom,
and all the little pulses of adventure that come
from a life livedwithinnature. But evenwith all
the advantages, there are timeswhen life in the
mountains canget a little hectic
—
withgreat snow
comes great crowds.
Thankfully, escape is never far away andmore than
a few local ripperswill periodically opt todropoff
the scene for awhile andpursue the disconnected
pleasures of time spent in a backcountry cabin.“A
cabin is just a greatway toget away from theworld
and turn things off,” says long-timeWhistler local,
Kori Klusmeier,whooften runs to the hills for a
mid-season recharge.“But have you everwondered
what itwouldbe like if a freak avalanche buried the
whole cabin and trapped everyone inside?!”
No, Kori isn’t that annoying friendwho likes to
harsh yourmellowwith a bunchof doomsday jibber
jabber.He’s the brains behind
Escape!Whistler
, a
new indoor experiencewhere groups of up to six
people are locked indifferent themed roomswith 45
minutes to solve various puzzles and challenges to
set themselves free.With themed escape rooms like
Pirate’s Shipor ForbiddenTomb,
Escape!Whistler
feels a lot like a real-life videogame andKori’s
BuriedBackcountry Cabin scenario is his nod to the
culture andwilderness of his ownbackyard.
“Whistler is a such an amazingplace andwe get
people here from all over theworld, so I wanted to
include a bit of the real mountain experience,”Kori
says.“Apiece of local culture for peoplewhomight
be staying somewhere really posh andnever know
what amountain cabin feels like. I introduce the
escape by buildingup the isolation and the idea that
when you are out in the backcountry, you really are
all on your own.”
Much like in the real backcountry, teamwork,
communication, strategy and the ability to remain
calm are keys to success.There are other similarities,
too.“I don’t like togive toomuch away,”explains
Kori,whodesigned all four, hand-crafted rooms at
Escape!Whistler,“but I incorporate sounds, smells,
everything I could think of tomake it feel as legit
and awesome as our real backcountry cabins.”
And the number one backcountry cabin rule
definitely still applies:No cell phones allowed!
BURIEDCABINESCAPE!
ByMJ Castor
UP
FRONT
The interior of aCoastMountainbackcountry cabin canbe awarm andwelcomingplace. InsideKori’s BuriedCabin Escape however, things can
be slightlymore hectic. DAMIANCROMWELL.
