Whistler Museum and Archives Society

Grief in archives: Handling the collection of photographer, Bruce RowlesGrief in archives: Handling the collection of photographer, Bruce Rowles

April 20, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

By Kat Hodgson

Featured Image: Bruce’s photo of his light table setup to view his slides.

Before beginning my internship at the Whistler Museum, I had never visited the town before. In October 2025, I arrived as an outsider. I also arrived grieving.

The day before I moved, my grandfather suddenly passed away, marking the fourth loss in my family in two years. As I settled into this unfamiliar place, the nerves and excitement that come with a new job and community were tinged with the constant weight of grief.

This mindset shaped how I approached the project of organizing the Bruce Rowles Collection. This collection of 35mm slides, documents, posters, and much more was generously donated by the family of Bruce Rowles in batches from 2024 to 2026. Comprising over 70,000 slides, it is now the largest photographic collection in the Museum’s archives. Working with it offered me the chance to get to know Whistler as Bruce saw it, while also viewing glimpses of the life behind the camera.

Bruce Rowles, often called Rowlesy by friends and family, was a prolific photographer and artist who spent more than three decades in Whistler. His photographs captured action-filled competitions and wild nightlife scenes, but also contained quieter moments, such as vast landscapes, meals and trips with friends, or photos of plants and insects that he’d found beautiful. Some slides were labelled with quips that let his personality shine through, hinting at the humour and creativity that guided his work.

A wonderful example of one of Bruce’s quips with his commentary on his slides.

For me, the most striking materials in this vast collection are three binders labelled “Lost Friends”. They contain portraits, sports shots, and candid photographs of individuals Bruce had known and later mourned. Nearly every slide is labelled with names and locations, already arranged in archival-safe sleeves as an act of remembrance as much as documentation. In assembling these binders, Bruce preserved not only the images of these people, but also the memories and relationships he had with each of them.

Working with these materials, I came to understand the collection through the lens of grief, both my own and that which he was expressing in each carefully arranged page. Scholars have described this response as “empathic grief”: the emotional weight archivists may feel when encountering records shaped by loss. All records are connected to lives, and often to those who are no longer with us. That persistent connection can make it difficult not to recognize and react to the emotions held in records, requiring the archivist to carry them throughout their work, sometimes even feeling them alongside their creators.

Bruce’s collection both captures and expresses several positive emotions – celebration, humour, excitement, and curiosity, to name a few – while also making space for absence. Over the past six months, I’ve felt all of them, allowing me to see the world through Bruce’s lens. His careful remembrance of others became, unexpectedly, a reminder that grief is part of the greater act of loving someone. In the midst of my own losses, that perspective helped shift my own grief from being purely painful into something that could also hold gratitude for the privilege of getting to carry memory forward.

Bruce wanted to ensure his life’s work would be remembered and appreciated. A selection of his photography will be exhibited at the Whistler Museum from April 24th to June 14th.

Bruce captures humour with his self-portrait.

Kat Hodgson was the Assistant Archivist at the Whistler Museum this winter through the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations (YCWHO) program.

Icons Gone — brought back centre-stage!Icons Gone — brought back centre-stage!

April 14, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Featured Image: Keven “Big Kev” Mickelsen presents at last year’s Icon Gone. Whistler Museum Collection.

It could be argued that a signpost or a benchmark of a town’s maturity can be tabulated by how many significant symbols/things/happenings/elements-uniquely-local that have come to be associated with it, can now be referred to in the past tense… measuring a community’s forward trajectory by its ‘icons gone’.

Lamenting the legacy of legends-left-behind is the focus of next week’s ‘ICON GONE’ event put on by the Whistler Museum at the Maury Young Arts Centre/Millenium Place. The event began in 2008 and ran for many years up until 2013. It was resurrected last year with yet another all-star cast.

In a lively evening of friendly competition (tinged with debaucherous debate…it is, after all, 19+), six notable locals will take to the stage and argue for what they think is the largest loss in the landmark of Whistler-specific icons. The audience (through applause-and-yell-o-metre) along with a panel of equally notable judges will crown a champion. Nudity was the winner of last year’s debate. Citta’ (pronounced Cheetah’s, for those who don’t know), the runner up.

This year’s panel promises to deliver on all levels, covering the extremes from the raunchy to the contemplatively serious. Past topics have included everything from Fixed-Grip Chair Lifts to A-Frames, Squatters Cabins to The Boot Pub, the Passenger Train and Toonie Races to the Toad Hall Poster; from the Snow, Water, Earth Race to the Party Barge, Mountain Man Beards to Beavers. Gravity – as a topic, as a subject — even won one year.

The purpose of the evening is two, even three-fold. Undeniably, entertainment and community-fun are a major focus. However, the event also serves as a way to highlight the Museum’s local archive – and remind people of its absolute essential relevance. Through the eyes of the present we are given tools to reflect upon our past. ICON GONE serves to illustrate the value of preserving our stories, our legacies, our legends and some of the many ways which we can keep them alive. Humour is one of them, a method of honour. The archive is not a dusty, musty collection – it is active, vital and alive – infused only by our present perspectives.

In a December 5, 2025 editorial titled ‘Who remembers Whistler?’ Pique Newsmagazine editor Braden Dupuis deftly articulated the value of the Museum. ICON GONE offers the opportunity to showcase Dupuis’ points, worth repeating anew:

“If we don’t invest in institutions that collect, preserve, archive, and explain, we lose more than objects and photographs. We lose context. Identity. A sense of place beyond postcards and ski packages.

Left unchecked, the version of “Whistler history” that remains will be curated by marketing budgets: sleek, sanitized and built for outside consumption. It’s cultural erasure in its most casual, passive form.

[…]

By preserving history, we don’t resist change, we anchor it in respect. We ensure Whistler doesn’t forget it is more than a ski-lift and slopes, a playground for the rich or an ATM for faceless corporations—that it is a real community built by people, labour and continuity.”

In the spirit of continuity – through raucous reverence — let us celebrate the cornerstones of this community…

On Friday, April 17 – at 7:00 pm – join judges Ace MacKay-Smith, Julia Murray and Brandon Barrett as together we applaud debaters Feet Banks, Princess Stephanie, Stinky, Laugh Out Live’s Rebecca Mason, — and — as they set to historically hammer home their iconic topic of choice!

For more information and Tickets, please visit www.whistlermuseum.org

Broads on Board: Broadening the Sport, Part IIBroads on Board: Broadening the Sport, Part II

April 6, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Featured Image: L – R: Punchy, Nes and Jibber / Photographer Credits: INISIGHT Collection, Shannon Doohan; Dagan Beach; Rich Glass

This article continues on from last week’s first installment featuring the reflections of three pioneering women from the early ‘golden age of snowboarding’ – ‘Punchy’ (Sherry [Newstead] Boyd), ‘Nes’ (Vanessa Stark) and ‘Jibber’ (Jennifer Godbout) – on the progression and progress of the sport, of the culture. These three ladies are all still making their respective marks and all helped carve a track for girls to come.

Punchy — a former member of the National Team, Alpine Dispatch worker and snowboarding stuntwoman for film — recalls “I actually had an older gentleman [skier] chase me down and come up to me as though he was going to assault me. And then I took off my goggles […] to show him that I was a girl. And he stopped. I said, ‘are you going to assault me?’”

In the beginning, there was no women-specific gear. No boards, no boots, no nothing. “I’d just wear extra socks,” smiles Jibber – former snowboarding coach and current member of Whistler Search and Rescue and backcountry split-board guide. Suited up, girls were often assumed to be boys.

“I’ve been whipped by poles. But as soon as I’ve like turned around and they found out I was a girl, they were like, oh my God…,” Jibber recalls. Not only were these women navigating their way through the ‘Boys’ Club’ of their own sport, they were also manoeuvring through the initial tensions of ‘skiers versus snowboarders’ on the slopes.

Punchy reflects on past workplace dynamics where she was blacklisted for being a snowboarder, where it was insinuated and continuously affirmed: “you’re one of them and you are not welcome here.”

Nes — the first female to ever do ‘Air Jordan’ on a board, celebrated visual artist and former snowboard Park Ranger — inserts: “Even now, I ride the gondola and parents will be like, ‘Oh, don’t talk to them, they’re snowboarders!’”

Jibber suggests that a pivoting point for the culture of snowboarding has been parenting: “I think there’s a lot of dads that now have daughters that are competing. And I think that is the huge difference because all of a sudden they’re like, ‘well, my daughter deserves an opportunity.’ No shit, she does. … It’s different now that you have a daughter, eh? Treat them differently, eh? I mean, people have grown up, too. And everything is different. But I also remember.”

And remembering is key. Learning from our histories – and her-stories – are what help us collectively shape our futures.

And it also important to note that the under – or mis-representation of women – is not exclusive to snowboarding. It was, arguably, a pervasive social practice of the time that females (and males) are still trying to overcome. “Women in business, women in all sports, like it didn’t matter the sport, we were all experiencing that same thing,” comments Jibber.

But things are changing. For the better. Much better. Way better.

Punchy, now married to World Cup Ski Race Winner Rob Boyd, recalls “as much as snowboarders always got a bad rap from the uptight skiers, they very much cared for their own. There was a lot of love, a lot of camaraderie.”

And it’s that continued love and admiration that shines through, as these trailblazing women all beam with pride at the upcoming generation of female snow (and skate!) boarding go-getters, carving their own unique courses. Local names like Leanne Pelosi with her Full Moon Film and associated community of projects, the initiatives of Marie-France Roy, Jess Kumera’s The Uninvited film series and the work of the Real Wild Kittens and but a few of the many groundbreaking initiatives spearheaded by women: pioneering powerhouse pivots in the sport embracing multi-facetted inclusion.

Jibber comments on how she wanted to “make a deeper, broader path for the women behind me. And then I hope they do the same. And that’s always something that I really believed in is that you pay it forward.” And the notion of caring for ones’ own is clearly being evidenced in the sport, in the culture. She continues, “I think there’s a lot of incredible women who are forging forward. They’re just stomping down that path and making it better for the generation behind them.”

As Punchy urges: “don’t ever discount yourself. Believe that you are capable.” And that’s exactly what the gals are proving (still and again!)

*

The Museum is hosting an exciting Speakers Series ‘Recording the Scene: The POWerful History of Local Snowboard Documentation’ with an all-star cast on April 13, 7:00 pm. Purchase tickets through www.whistlermuseum.org.

Broads on boardsBroads on boards

March 31, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Feature Image: From Left to Right: Nes, Jibber and Punchy (L to R: INSIGHT Collection, Grey Eymundson; Whistler Question Collection; INSIGHT Collection, Shannon Doohan)

“The most exciting thing to watch right now is women’s snowboarding, women’s skateboarding,” exclaims Jen ‘Jibber’ Godbout – one of the original gals who made her mark amongst the 90s ‘bad-boy’ local boarding scene.

‘Broads on Board’ features the reflections of three pioneering women from the early ‘golden age of snowboarding’ – ‘Punchy’ (Sherry [Newstead] Boyd), ‘Nes’ (Vanessa Stark) and Jibber – on the progression and progress of the sport, of the culture. These three ladies are all still making their respective marks and all helped carve a track for girls to come. All three have also been instrumental in helping the Museum develop its snowboarding archive, coming in and recording Oral Histories. This is an important step in helping gather, save, share and honour the rich snowboarding history here in Whistler.

During the early genesis of snowboarding, there is no denying that the focus was on the men of the era. “It really proves the point that we needed a showcase and we needed equal opportunity. […] We just weren’t given the same opportunities. We didn’t get the same exposure,” reflects Jibber: a respected former snowboarding coach and current member of Whistler Search and Rescue and backcountry split-board guide.

There were fewer girls shredding back in the early 90s. There were “not a lot of us,” reflects Nes, but women definitely were there. There were “amazing standout girls,” recalls Punchy; gals who both inspired and defied norms, they just weren’t being featured much in magazines or vids. It is important to note that the under – or mis-representation of women – is not exclusive to snowboarding…and the intention here is not to finger-point, rather to honour and celebrate.

“It was so much harder back then,” comments Nes, for women in snowboarding. Recognized as being the first female to ever do ‘Air Jordan’ on a board, and equally celebrated visual artist, the former snowboard Park Ranger and Camp of Champions coach beams as she says: “I love seeing what’s going on now. Females are so much more supported, so much more, and they’re all in it together…there’s way more community. […] Back then, it was, like, you’re on your own.”

“When you have that equality, it really brings the whole sport back,” remarks Jibber, who was told directly that “they were never going to take a woman to the Olympics as a coach.” At the time, she was coaching Mercedes Nicholl, before her debut at her first Olympics.

And things aren’t entirely equal yet – “It’s much better than it used to be,” qualifies Nes – but, females in snowboarding are getting recognition beyond just the stigmatized status of being ‘pro hos’; rather, as legitimately strong athletes, competitors, coaches and powerhouse “chargers”, as Punchy puts it. “I think there was a certain sense, amongst the boys, that girls were just inherently lame.” Boyd earned her nickname, though affectionately granted, for her noted ability to be able to assert herself as ‘one of the guys’.

Nes recalls, “Back then, I’d be, the token girl on this company, and they’d say ‘Oh, yeah, all the guys are going and gonna hit all these sick pillows’ – which was what I wanted to do — but the girls are gonna do a shoot on the icy mountain.” There simply wasn’t as much funding or willingness to back female riders. “Girls weren’t even allowed to do big air contests.”

But, as Punchy — a former member of the National Team, Alpine Dispatch worker and snowboarding stuntwoman for film – recalls, “if a girl wasn’t lame and actually, you know, like was a charger, then they were welcomed in.”

Part II continues next week …