Editor’s Note: This story was updated with more information about Al Raine’s legacy at 4:42 p.m.

Sun Peaks’ first and only mayor, Al Raine, died Dec. 15 at the age of 83. 

Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) issued a statement on their website informing the community of his death, including a statement Raine authored. 

“I have resigned as your Mayor as of December 14th at midnight,” he wrote. “Not something that I had planned or something that I really wanted to do. However, as we all know one can’t control everything in life.”

“I have been lucky to have lived a full life with no regrets, with a supporting and wonderful wife, two healthy boys and a life full of adventures,” he added. “I would have been upset if I were 38 years old and diagnosed with ALS but at 83, the best years are behind me.”

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His Bulbar ALS and adult-onset asthma made breathing steadily more difficult for him.

For the last seven months since the diagnosis, Raine continued his work on the SPMRM council and attended each meeting regularly. Raine acted as mayor since the resort became a municipality in 2010. 

Al Raine’s legacy 

Raine dedicated much of his life to developing ski areas in British Columbia, among notable achievements in coaching as well.

Born in Manitoba originally, he spent a few years in Europe before making his return to Canada in the mid-60s where he first met his wife, Olympian Nancy Greene in Rossland, B.C. 

In an interview conducted in May, SPIN spoke with Raine and his wife Nancy Greene Raine  about their life together. 

Nancy shared the story of how Al organized a program in her name.

While head coach of the Southern Ontario Ski Zone, he would see different teams all from private ski clubs compete against each other without race experience.

“They came up with the idea of each club having its own program with lots of kids on lots of teams, and then the teams racing the clubs from the other clubs,” Nancy said.

The ski association adopted this as a national program for kids getting into racing, and called it the Nancy Greene Ski League. 

During the collaboration, ironing out the details of using Nancy’s name for the program, the couple fell in love and their future was set from there.

Following his success leading the initial program in Ontario, he was appointed head coach and program director for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team in 1968, during which he brought the team to new heights before quitting the position in 1973 and moving full-time to Whistler.

While in Whistler, Raine’s career in tourism development took off.

He was appointed ski area coordinator of British Columbia in 1974 and became one of the first aldermen under Mayor Pat Carleton in 1975 when Whistler was officially made a Resort Municipality. With these joint roles, he became a liaison between the municipality and provincial government and helped to plan and coordinate the development of Whistler Village.

In 1976, Raine was the first to propose developing Backcomb Mountain as a ski hill and led a negotiation regarding land use that led to the mountain’s opening in 1980.

Throughout B.C., his projects while working as a consultant for the A.R. Resort Planning Group included carrying out studies for the B.C. heli-ski industry, devising a master plan for Hudson Bay Mountain and evaluating areas such as Big White, Shames Creek, Tod Mountain, now Sun Peaks Resort and Snow Basin in Utah for ski potential.

Based largely on his innovative coaching and results while with the national alpine ski team, he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1988.

When Nancy and Al relocated to Sun Peaks in the mid-1990s, they helped transform the resort into the world-class destination it is today.

In September of 2024, Al was granted a King Charles III Coronation Medal for his dedicated leadership in Sun Peaks.

“It was a great privilege to have been mayor of Sun Peaks and work with your elected representatives,” he said in his final statement. “Sun Peaks has great potential, and it can be even better if we all look after our guests, count our blessings and continue to make visitors feel special.” 

In the interview conducted in May, SPIN also spoke with Al and Nancy about his diagnoses. 

“I do consider myself very lucky,” he said at the time. “The average onset age for ALS is about 55 years old and some patients are still young adults. It is easier to accept your fate at age 82 than age 42.”

The couple’s outlook on the situation then was one of optimism and gratitude for the life they’ve gotten to live. 

“At our age, we’ve got a great life behind us,” Nancy said. “We’ve just had a wonderful time together.”

“I married the loves of my life, Nancy and skiing,” Al shared. “We have shared so many happy moments together and a life in the mountains. We have healthy kids and grandkids. I have no regrets.”

A celebration of life service is planned for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sun Peaks Centre, with more details to be provided.