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Our pro-bono website for the Whistler Weasel Workers went live early May. Ski season may be over, but the website rallies alpine ski volunteers year-round, providing a hub for the community locally, nationally and worldwide.

The Weasels (see the website for the origin of their name) needed a tool to coordinate events, recruit volunteers, share their experiences and promote their organization and the alpine ski racing industry. The website became that tool.

“We’re a volunteer organization that supports ski racing in Whistler,” explained Weasel Workers’ founder Owen Carney. “The Weasels are well known throughout the world and often called to lend a hand. Our website helps us communicate with our regular volunteers and about 2,000 past members worldwide to keep our community active and enthusiastic in support of alpine ski racing.”

Based on the Drupal content management system, the website is a resource for anyone who wants to be a part of the sport. The site’s text, images and video tell the story of what goes into building a downhill ski course – the maps, the job descriptions, the logistics and the challenges.

The site is also a communications hub. Visitors can contact the organization via webform and subscribe to the Weasels’ email newsletter. Integrated social media makes it easy for visitors to share the website’s content.

Flickr and Twitter feeds embedded in the site’s home page give visitors a glimpse into what the Weasels do on a daily basis and the Memories and Stories blog shares their stories in detail.

“Our volunteers are the core of the organization, so it’s important for us to maintain the relationships that hold us together,” Carney said.