We’ve been extremely busy at the museum of late, preparing for a number of events and new projects. We were especially excited for this year’s Canada Day Parade, a Whistler mid-summer staple. After some enthusiastic brainstorming, ever-changing plans, and frantic, last-minute costume gathering, we were able to put together what we thought was a pretty strong entry.
The theme for the parade, “Celebrating Whistler’s Vibrancy, Lifestyle and Achievements,” was perfectly suited for the museum. In our interpretation of the theme, we dressed up as a disparate cast of characters representing as many of the Whistler Valley’s different eras as we could. The approach was summed up by the banner “100 Years of Dreams,” which is also the title of a major festival occurring this August to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Myrtle and Alex Philip’s fateful first visit to Alta Lake.
The team.
Our motley crew consisted of Alex and Myrtle Philip from the 1910s (Don and Isobel Maclaurin), a (rather fashionable) trapper from the 1920s (Alix), a mountaineer from the 1930s (Jeff), a car from the 1950s (the MacLaurin’s beautiful 1953 MG convertible), a ski-area developer/business dude from the 1960s (Brad), a pseudo-nude Toad Hall frolicker from the 1970s (Sarah), a retro ski bunny from the 1980s/90s (Anna), and an Olympic torch runner from 2010 (Bridget).
Don, Isobel, and Anna ham it up for the crowd. Jeanette Bruce photo.
The parade featured loads of great entries from local businesses and clubs, so we were excited and honoured to find out that the Museum was awarded “Best Interpretation of the Parade’s Theme”!
Whistler’s care-free spirit is alive and well.
Sarah’s costume certainly got the most reaction from the crowd. From the front of our group I could hear a steady progression of people’s laughter–and sometimes shocked reactions–as we made our way along the route. We especially enjoyed a comment from a local fireman that was a little too PG-13 (though good-natured) to print here.
An unexpected highlight that not many parade viewers were privy to occurred at the very start of our route. The marching band was right in front of us, and had been playing some catchy renditions of pop classics like Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny.”
Brad reppin’ GODA… Like a Boss! Jeanette Bruce photo.
But just as the parade crossed Blackcomb Way and headed into the Library’s underground parking, they broke into a full-on cover of “Paint it Black.” The heavy reverb, especially from the drums and brass section, was out of this world. This marching band was metal! Our resident noise-nerd Brad described it as some of the coolest sound he had ever heard. Needless to say, we were pretty pumped by the time we returned above-ground to be welcomed by the crowds on Main Street.
I found no cairn on the summit, so I’m claiming the first ascent of the Lot 3 retaining wall. Jeanette Bruce photo.
Some added flare in my climbing outfit was my personal highlight. As a mountaineering history buff, I’ve dressed up like this before for costume parties and other events. This time, however, I had the added bonus of some authentic props. Little did I know that Don, a retired forester, was an active mountaineer as far back as the 1950s. He leant me his original ice axe and climbing pack, both now more than fifty years old! Thanks Don!
All in all we had a great time, and can’t wait to defend our title next year. Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer us on, and a special thanks goes to Don and Isobel MacLaurin for contributing their beautiful car, some great props, and, most of all, themselves! Happy Canada Day!
This is a re-post of the June 23rd installment of the Whistler Museum’s weekly column in the Whistler Questionnewspaper, Museum Musings.
As Leah Batisse is currently frolicking around in jolie Paris, the arduous task of writing this week’s Museum Musings falls to me, one of those three summer students she mentioned in this column a few weeks ago. If this is what she had in mind by “diabolical plans” for us seasonal reinforcements, I’ve got more than a little sympathy for the devil.
If the whole point of summer job programs like Young Canada is to provide valuable on-the-job experience to complement our academic background, then my few weeks at the museum have so far exceeded expectations.
Studying history in university, I developed an appreciation for how important knowledge about the past is for socially engaged individuals and vibrant, healthy communities. And while I also believe that universities should serve as more than mere job-skills factories, the fact of the matter is that the basic skills taught in most Canadian history programs — reading, writing and archival research — have hardly changed over the last century. While I consider these to be valuable, under-appreciated skills, the curriculum is becoming a little old-fashioned for anyone who doesn’t intend on a career as a university professor.
In my first few weeks here at the museum my overlords have provided me with a good mix of pre-defined tasks such as writing PR releases and delivering walking tours (which we offer every day, all summer long, departing from the Whistler Visitor Center at 1 p.m.), as well as the opportunity to develop some self-directed projects such as designing and creating content for our new blog (blog.whistlermuseum.org).
In the process I’ve been gaining first-hand experience in how to make historical research more relevant beyond university, not to mention a crash course in a variety of practical, in-demand skills such as graphic design and web publishing. This experience will be crucial in my hoped-for jump from over-educated snowboard instructor/carpenter’s assistant to a challenging career that builds on the skills and knowledge I gained in school.
Meanwhile, Bridget (events) has been neck deep in crafts and event planning, while Brad (collections) has had a full run of archival work from transcribing audio interviews to poly-wrapping furniture in our super-secret underground lair. Glorified coffee runners we are not.
In other news, in the vein of community engagement we are excited to announce three upcoming events. First, the Whistler Museum’s annual general meeting will be taking place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (June 29). Come get the inside scoop on what happened in 2010 and what we will be focusing on in 2011.
All are welcome, though only members have voting privileges. If you aren’t a member yet, you can always purchase a membership for just $25. Our AGM is a night to mingle with your friends, meet the museum staff and board of trustees, check out the exhibit, eat fantastic grub — there will be a free barbecue and a cash bar — and generally celebrate with us.
The festivities continue the following night (June 30, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.) during the ArtWalk reception. This is the best time to come see some great work by Pemberton-based action/landscape photographer Andrew Strain, but the art has already been mounted so you can check it out anytime, all summer long.
Our three-day bender culminates on July 1 with Whistler’s annual Canada Day celebration. As always, we will be entering a float in the parade, and we aim to win! Afterwards, come visit us at our tent in Village Square for an afternoon of arts and crafts. The museum will remain open all day long by donation in celebration of our national holiday.
Stay tuned to this column, our website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed for up-to-date info regarding upcoming events and our ongoing efforts to make the museum as innovative, engaging and relevant as possible for the local and global communities that we serve.
Jeff Slack is the summer program coordinator at the Whistler Museum.
As our calendars flip from May to June we also bid adieu to winter operations on Blackcomb Mountain, which finished May 30th. For many of us, the annual end of lift service is the death knell of our already-waning ski ambitions. This being Whistler, however, others choose to send winter off in style! Over the past 15 years, what began as the frivolous antics of a few winter zealots has grown into a veritable Whistler institution. I’m talking about Gaper Day of course.
Jamie rallying the gapers
In typical Whistler fashion, anything goes, but the gist of the event is as follows: on the last day of winter ski operations dress up in the most ridiculous outfit you can muster, get to skier’s plaza before noon for the Gaper Day pep rally, then head up the mountain and celebrate the close of another glorious winter by unleashing every last drop of giddy, childish antics still remaining from the previous six months of pure powder pleasure.
Extra points if your skis are part of the joke. Older skis also come in handy since, in an ode to the changing seasons, Gapers are expected to ride as much as possible off the snow—dirt, rocks, trees, ponds, even concrete stairs invariably enter the mix.
I recently caught up with long-time local and Gaper Day mastermind Jamie Bond to talk about the wildly popular season-ender bender.
Whistler Museum: So how did it all begin?
Jamie Bond: Good question. Our first Gaper Day began when we took a year off to ski-bum in Europe in 1996. There were lots of drunk Swedish people partying and skiing and we decided we should bring this together into something fun, so at the end of the season everybody got together, dressed up in jeans and tight shirts and whatever else and pretty much got silly and kept it real all day. That became “Ski in Jeans Day,” which lasted about five or six years until we realized that “Ski in Jeans Day” was just far too limiting for people’s ski creativity, so then it became “Gaper Day” and now you can do whatever the hell you want.
WM: Who came up with the name “Gaper Day”?
JB: I don’t know. I think it was just, what else could you really call it? The whole day is about just making fun of skiing, so why not dress up like a “gorbie” or a “gaper.” “Gaper Day” just flows off the tongue so it just kinda stuck. Year after year we noticed that Gaper Day is all over North America now. I don’t know if it all stems from the Whistler Gaper Day or it’s just a crazy coincidence of awesomeness, but it’s pretty exciting to see.
“Bring out the cough medicine cause it’s gonna be sick!”
WM: Considering Whistler’s long-standing reputation for being at the forefront of skiing culture, would you say that Gaper Day is the most influential and progressive thing to ever come from here? JB: Well, it’s certainly changed my life (laughter), and it certainly progresses progression, if you know what I mean (more laughter). But it is pretty funny seeing all those world cup ski racers and world champion big-mountain freeskiers who are out doing all that other influential stuff that Whistler is known for. A heck of a lot of them show up for Gaper Day every year. Who knows where they get their inspiration from but we can’t help but think that a little piece of Gaper Day, you know, they take it with them every year. WM: How has it changed over the years? You said it started out just jeans and t-shirts… JB: Yeah. It just gets bigger every year. It started out as a group of buddies skiing in t-shirts and jeans and you see groups like that on any given weekend these days. But it seems like for sure the biggest gathering of Gapers is on the last day of Blackcomb’s season. I’d say in the last couple of years the biggest change is that now it’s just a phenomenon. You don’t need a Facebook group or you don’t need to phone a bunch of friends and rally them up and force them to come out for Gaper Day. It just happens. So I think our life quest is complete because now Gaper Day will continue forever onwards. WM: It’s taken on a life of it’s own. JB: Yeah.
The 2011 Gapers
WM: So what’s next for Gaper Day? Where do you see it going, then?
JB: Good question. We were going to do the Gaper Olympics last year, but organized sport is way too, you know, confined for the creative expression of a typical gaper (laughter). So we’re just going to have to get more and more people. This year or next year we might introduce “Silly-goating” champions, whereby there would be a points system kind of like a Shane McConkey-inspired game of “GNAR,” like down there in Squaw Valley. We’re thinking of using a similar scoring system, and we’ll see if we can crown some silly-goating world champions over the next few years.
WM: See how quickly you can get banned from the mountain?
JB: Exactly, yeah! (laughter). It’s quite suspicious that they extended the season this year so that it ends on a random Monday, which is an American long weekend. Boy would it have been rowdy if it ended last Monday for the Canadian long weekend. Gaper Day would have been off the hook… It could be some higher power trying to curb Gaper Day. I’m pretty sure that Whistler-Blackcomb is cool enough to appreciate all that is “gaper,” so that probably wasn’t the real reason.
WM: Has the mountain ever given you a hard time, or patrol?
JB: Not really. They’re pretty good about it. There’s never been any point in endorsing it because it’s kind of a (laughter), uh, rabble-rousing day. I think they’ve been supportive of it. They just ask from now on that all gapers obey the “leave no trace” policy because now there’s patrollers stuck cleaning up after us. So why not just keep it real and pack you junk out with you at the end of the day?
WM: Fair enough. What are stand out moments or antics from over the years?
JB: Oh yeah, there’s been a few. I’d say the first few seasons of skiing out to the valley with about 2,000 feet of dirt and grass are probably some highlights, and now it’s an annual classic at the end of the day. The uber-hush hush water skiing behind Crystal Chair is definitely a Gaper Day legend.
WM: Last year’s 360 was pretty big.
JB: Yeah, Sheldon Steckman’s pond-skim 360 was caught on film from many angles last year. There’s been broken skis. There’s been concussions. Some good rappelling action. Spelunking. More than a few people up to their necks in ponds. You know, people progressing progression, taking the sport to places it was never meant to be. All sorts of quality action.
WM: What do you think it is about retro ski outfits that pretty much everyone loves them in every ski town, to the point where you see them every weekend on the hill now?
JB: I don’t know. I think it goes back to a time when skiing was a little bit more fun and a little bit goofier. Everything’s pretty serious these days. Even the freeskiing events that were meant to be by definition “free” skiing, are now organized Olympic sports, that sort of thing. I think everyone appreciates a little bit of good old-fashioned ski fun. And what better way than to dress up stupid like they did in the past, and keep it real. Plus, a tight one-piece on a chick is highly flattering.
WM: Not so much dudes?
JB: Uhhh, it depends on the day I guess, and the angle.
WM: Do you have any last words, any inspirational quotes or anything like that that you want to add?
JB: Well, one frequent Gaper Day dude, Jon Burr, often says “Bring out the cough medicine cause it’s gonna be sick!” I think that’s a pretty good warning for everyone for this Gaper Day and Gaper Days to come.
WM: Awesome, I think those are pretty wise words to end it on.
For more stories, images, and videos of Gaper Days past, present, and future, check out Doglotion.com
