Author: Whistler Museum

Collecting, preserving, documenting and interpreting Whistler's natural and human history. Want to learn more about Whistler's culture and history? We showcase Whistler's history: pioneers, skiing on Whistler & Blackcomb Mountains, Olympics and black bears. Family fun, interactive exhibits, children’s activities. Great for a rainy day!

“The greatest job in the world”“The greatest job in the world”

February 25, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Leanne Dufour came to Whistler Mountain for the 1971/72 season to teach skiing for a year, Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. was still a relatively small operation. Jim McConkey’s ski school had only seven full-time instructors and the lift company had only a few departments who divided up all of the responsibilities of running a ski hill.

Heading into the 1974/75 winter season, Leanne (who didn’t leave after that first season after all) was approached by Jack Bright, the mountain manager in charge of ticket sales, administration, image, publicity and much more, about establishing a new position, that of Mountain Hostess. Though Leanne was given some direction from Jack, she was also allowed a lot of free reign to start the program. She put together a small team; first hiring Judy Johnson and soon after Connie Cathers and Gail Morrison. Over the years, more Mountain Hostesses would be hired as the team grew.

Leanne Dufour, Kim Armstrong, Heather Lynskey, and Gail Morrison, the Mountain Hostess team. Photo courtesy of Leanne Dufour

According to Leanne, Whistler Mountain’s Mountain Hostesses “specialized in fun.” They led twice-daily free ski tours around the mountain, organized special events, worked on ski races like the McConkey’s Cup and World Cups, and in many ways served as Whistler Mountain’s public relations and guest services. For the Christmas holidays, they would dress up as elves and ski around with Santa; over Easter, one of the Mountain Hostesses would double as the Easter Bunny and they would hand out candy, which often led to them being followed around the mountain by crowds of children. On Sunday evenings the Mountain Hostesses would go to the different lodges in the ski area (there were still only a handful) and do a presentation about Whistler Mountain. They often showed the film “The Snows of Garibaldi” and even knocked on room doors to let everyone know that there would be a film screening.

Mountain Hostesses follow Santa down the hill. Greg Griffith Collection

Early on Leanne had made herself a nametag that read “Mountain Hostess Ask Me” by writing on a piece of paper with felt pen, putting it in a plastic case, and pinning it to her lift company uniform. Unfortunately, she then spent the day outside in the pouring rain and her nametag soon became illegible. In an effort to make themselves identifiable and differentiate themselves from other mountain employees seen on the mountain, the Mountain Hostesses needed their own uniforms.

A Mountain Hostess on the mountain in the one-piece navy blue Bogner suit. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

Judy decided to approach Franz Wilhelmsen, the lift company president, to get one-piece Bogner suits as uniforms for the Mountain Hostesses. She and Leanne traveled down to Vancouver to put on a fashion show in his office and, as Leanne recalled, his response was “Sure, I’ll buy those.” Though the suits were expensive, Mountain Hostesses became easily recognized in their navy blue one-pieces with “Whistler Hostess” on the front and back and even written in Japanese on the arm.

As part of her work, Leanne also put together packages to bring ski groups to Whistler Mountain. Working with Penny Wright, who was the manager of the Highland Lodge and then other lodges in the ski area, they would combine airlines, hotels, and ski lessons or lift tickets (depending on the skill of the group) into one package and then approach tour operators such as CP Air. These tours were so successful that CP Air even took Leanne and Jim McConkey to Japan to promote Whistler Mountain, traveling to different cities and ski areas where they would put on presentations about the skiing, the accommodations, and more.

An updated Mountain Hostess uniform in the 1980s. Greg Griffith Collection

Leanne ran the Mountain Hostess program for five years. Before she left she hired Heather Lynskey, who would take over the program from Leanne before handing the program over to Karen Krivel. Over the years, as the lift company grew rapidly, some of the duties of the Mountain Hostesses were divided into separate departments, including Guest Services, Events, Races and more, while other duties such as the free daily tours were incorporated into volunteer positions, first known as Ski Friends and operating today as Mountain Hosts.

Though Leanne left the Mountain Hostess program, she didn’t quite leave Whistler Mountain, especially as her husband Bob Dufour still worked for the lift company. (Bob worked for Whistler Mountain and then Whistler Blackcomb for a combined 48 years before he retired.) She went back to teach private lessons once her kids were in school full-time and was part of the creation of a ski program at the local schools. Looking back at her years as a Mountain Hostess and their aim to “specialize in fun,” Leanne recalled, “We were very good at having fun because we had the greatest job in the world… being paid every day to go skiing with people.”

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Whistler’s Answers: February 20, 1986Whistler’s Answers: February 20, 1986

February 20, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In the 1980s the Whistler Question began posing a question to three to six people and publishing their responses under “Whistler’s Answers” (not to be confused with the Whistler Answer).  Each week, we’ll be sharing one question and the answers given back in 1986.  Please note, all names/answers/occupations/neighbourhoods represent information given to the Question at the time of publishing and do not necessarily reflect the person today.

Some context for this week’s question: In early February 1986, “No Camping” signs were posted in the day skier lots and bylaw officers began placing notices on windshields advising people that camping there was no longer permitted. According to the municipality, the opening of the KOA, the valley’s first official campground, meant that the RMOW would be stricter in its enforcement of camping regulations. Other popular camping spots at the time were the VIP lot next to the Keg building and the parking lot at the gondola base (today’s Creekside).

Question: What do you think of the new “No Camping” regulation in the parking lots?

Herman Wilken – Businessman – Seattle

I ski all over Washington and Oregon and every area has overnight parking. They’re going to turn away a lot of people. We spend a lot of money on motor homes for convenience and the little bit lost on rooms is probably more than made up in spending at shops and restaurants. If they’re down the road it’s a problem. We need to be within walking distance of the skiing.

Tandy Terry – Law Student – Edmonds, WA

If you had no camping in other areas it would be different, but you kind of expect it. Most ski areas in Washington have parking lots for overnight camping within walking distance of the skiing. We got a notice in the first (day skier) lot yesterday and went to the KOA, but found it inconvenient. It’s kind of annoying, kind of deceiving because we saw RVs in here despite the No Camping signs.

Victoria Vadnais – Self-employed – Renton, WA

I don’t like the notices. To me it sounds unlike a south-western Canadian and more like someone from Big Apple. They could have given us an option. We have a motorhome because we like the convenience of being next to the ski area. We might as well got to Baker. They’re trying to make something survive, but they’re going to lost customers. Convenience is the main concern.

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Finding Familiar FacesFinding Familiar Faces

February 18, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

It is not uncommon to head off on a trip and find yourself running into people you know from home, no matter how far you’ve gone or how small your community is. In the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, this phenomenon was often reported on in the Whistler Question’s “Notes From All Over,” which listed the comings and goings on of members of the Whistler community, from birthdays to gossip to sightings in other locales.

In the spring of 1984, Inge and Jens Nielsen headed off on a visit to Denmark and Germany. They came across a familiar name on their return trip when the flight crew was introduced; their flight from Frankfurt was captained by none other than Chuck Blaylock.

Chuck Blaylock stands in front of the Wedge Glacier, circa 1982. Blaylock Collection

A pilot for Air Canada, Chuck Blaylock grew up in Montreal before moving out to British Columbia for two years in 1953. He never moved back and his family instead settled in Vancouver. On a camping trip to Alice lake in the 1960s, Chuck decided to drive further up the road and ended up at Green Lake. Growing up in Montreal and seeing lots of families head off to cabins in the Laurentiens, Chuck’s father had told him that if he found somewhere that you could drive to in a few hours and be at a lake, he should build a cabin there. It happened that Capilano Highlands Ltd. was selling lots in Emerald Estates and the Blaylocks purchased one right on the lake.

Before working for Air Canada, Chuck had played Junior hockey and had played internationally. The combination of a lakefront property and winters with three feet of ice on Green Lake meant that Chuck, who remained an avid hockey player, became known for informal hockey games. He kept a light outside the house that could illuminate nighttime games and he would clean a good sized rink, eventually even buying a snowblower.

Chuck Blaylock dressed to play. Whistler Question Collection, 1993

With no hockey arena in Whistler until late 1992, Chuck was part of negotiations to have Whistler teams come down for games when the arena in Squamish opened in 1978 and helped found the Whistler Hockey Association with Bill Barrett, Tom Hickey and others. Whenever hockey was being organized in Whistler from that time on, Chuck was sure to be involved.

Chuck also instructed for Jim McConkey at the ski school on Whistler Mountain and became very involved in the small ski area community. In an oral history interview in 2011, Chuck remembered that once they got telephones installed, it was not uncommon for Emerald residents who were out of town to call their neighbours to check on their property. Neighbours let each other know where the key had been left out and Chuck would often go over to neighbours’ houses to check on their pipes and the snowload on the roof. As Whistler and its needs grew, Chuck became part of the Whistler Health Planning Society (renamed in 1985 to the Whistler Health Care Society) and volunteered his time for numerous organizations and projects.

Upon hearing that Chuck was piloting their flight, Inge Nielsen sent a note up to the captain. In return, she, Jens, and their 12-year-old niece Iben who was coming to visit Whsitler for three weeks were all invited up to tour the cockpit. Inge described it as “incredible to see the swoop of the horizon through the wrap-around windows” and the June 7, 1984 edition of the Question thanked Chuck for “safely spiriting them home.”

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