"my hometown of Whistler BC" -- ah, okay. You can try for the same effect via irc, try #startups on freenode.net. (http://www.mibbit.com lets you use irc via your browser.) You can also start a tech meetup, it's a lot easier than it looks, and you might be surprised at who shows up. Email local web developers, etc, sniff for interest. It might also be worth your time to take a trip to vancouver when there's something cool happening -- aside from the direct benefits of feedback, etc, it's really motivating.