As part of our involvement with the Seppo Makinen memorial sculpture, built and unveiled this past May, the museum was asked to create some on-line content to compliment the public art piece.
Since I began working at the museum, Seppo has been the name that comes up most frequently when people start reminiscing about the good old days at our events. Clearly, Seppo made a huge impression on our community.
Because I moved to Whistler after he passed away, it only seemed right to have those who actually knew Seppo share their own memories of the man.
During and after the unveiling ceremony, Museum staff asked a number of Whistler locals to explain, simply, “What made Seppo special?” The enthusiastic and far-ranging responses we got show how Seppo was a lot of things to a lot of people.
The end result is the short video. Much thanks to all those who got in front of the camera to share their stories and pay tribute to the Whistler icon.
For years, Whistler has been world renowned as a hot spot for many sports including skiing, mountain biking, mountaineering, climbing, and paddling. One that seems to have fallen in popularity, however, is windsurfing.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, windsurfing began to rise in popularity as a sport, and Alta Lake became a hot spot for Canadian windsurfers. Whistler was the host of a number of windsurfing regattas. In July, 1981, the Squamish Citizen Shopper described the windsurfing regattas as one of the largest contributors to the summer business boom at Whistler. ‘Sailboarding’ was further described as Canada’s fastest growing water sport. Wednesday nights were race nights on Alta Lake, with up to 30 windsurfers showing up when it was busy. Whistler windsurfers were amongst the best in the sport, and the most notorious partiers.
After a sharp rise in popularity, leading to windsurfing becoming an Olympic sport in 1984, windsurfing seems to have fallen off the radar in Whistler. So where did windsurfing go? Due to licensing battles and an ongoing debate about the windsurfer’s origins, the 80s saw extensive legal battles over patents and designs, which led to some companies having to cease production. In the 2000s, kiteboarding began to gain popularity, and began to rival windsurfing in popularity. It seems now that windsurfing is more of a fringe sport, especially in Whistler, where skiers are now picking up mountain bikes in the off-season.
These days, the hot spot for windsurfing and wind sports has migrated south to the Squamish spit. The more consistent winds and large open space offer a veritable playground for windsurfers and kiteboarders alike.
Sailing has retained some popularity in Whistler. Early visitors to Alta Lake enjoyed catching the wind in a rowboat the Phillips had rigged with a sail. It wasn’t the world’s greatest sailboat, but it worked.
A young sailor poses on the Philips’ home rigged sailboat.
The Alta Lake Sailing Club was founded in 1966 and ran out of Cypress Lodge.The club ran ‘Jelly Fish Races’ annually in May. The early Jelly Fish Races cost 50 cents to enter and included membership to the club for the weekend.
The Whistler Sailing Association is somewhat younger, having started in 2008 in response to strong local support. They continue to offer races as well as rentals and learning programs. Alta Lake still sees the occasional windsport enthusiast, and the sailing association has an active summer schedule with kids camps and lessons. They ensure that on windy days Alta Lake is still dotted with sails.
The last days of the season are a time of celebration, a time to look back on the season’s achievements: epic lines, friendships forged, late nights, and metres of pow slayed. Whether it’s squeaking in a few more slushy turns, perfecting a goggle tan, or raising a glass with friends, almost everyone has some kind of ritual about hanging up their planks for the season.
For some, the end of the season simply means a quiet transition, putting a board away and swapping it for a bike. For others, a migration to the southern hemisphere begins, where the season will start all over again.
For many Whistlerites, participation in ‘Gaper Day’ marks the end of a season well shredded. Gaper Day encourages general ski hill tomfoolery, and has been around in some form since 1996. Formerly ‘Ski in Jeans Day’, the last day of the season celebration came to be called Gaper Day in order to allow people to unleash their stylistic creativity. Not just jeans, but retro ski outfits and costumes are encouraged. As Gaper Day founder Jamie Bond put it, “you can do whatever the hell you want”, it’s basically a way for people to “[get] silly and keep it real all day”.
Since skiing in Whistler first opened in 1966, the warm whether and sunny days of spring have been accepted with open arms and bare skin (in varying degrees). In 1969, Jane Ferris was at the forefront of the trend of stripping down to celebrate spring in style (pictured).
Life’s a mountain and a beach! Jane Ferris stripping down for a day of spring skiing in 1969. Photo by Selwyn Pullan.
So whether your tradition is to dress up, undress, or eke out those last few turns, know that you, in your own way, are contributing to the rich tapestry of Whistler’s spring skiing history.
Raise a glass to another season well spent and the imminent arrival of summer!
Whenever nostalgia causes long-time Whistler locals to reminisce about the old days, the conversation invariably leads to Seppo. It says a lot about this community that one of the most cherished figures in our history was not a politician or “founder” in the traditional sense, but a generous and warm-hearted Finnish logger. Few could keep up with Seppo’s work ethic and zest for life, but countless people had a blast trying.
In commemoration of the remarkable impact that Seppo had on Whistler, both the mountain and the community, a new public art installation dedicated to Seppo will be installed this week. There will be an official unveiling ceremony this Thursday May 31st at 3pm, near the Passivhaus at the entrance to Lost Lake Park.
Seppo Jalmari Makinen was born December 6, 1928 in Vyborg, Finland, a small town near the Russian border. One world war and twenty-five years later, Seppo stepped off the plane in Gander, Newfoundland, never to return to Finland. In the summer of 1963, while visiting Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition, he introduced himself to Franz Wilhelmsen. Wilhelmsen was selling shares for the fledgling Garibaldi Lifts Limited, a company he had formed to develop a ski resort on Whistler Mountain. Seppo was already familiar with the area so he proposed to Wilhelmsen that he would hire a crew to clear the ski runs. Eyeing up the burly Finn, Wilhelmsen didn’t need a job reference.
It was the start of a highly successful, life-long partnership between the two Scandinavian transplants. Seppo was an unstoppable workhorse who helped clear virtually every run on Whistler Mountain. In 1980 Seppo cut his last run. The wild, off-camber descent quickly became a local’s favourite on big snow days, and was named “Seppo’s” in his honour.
Meanwhile, Seppo built himself a massive log house that quickly became an unofficial community hub and the venue for many legendary parties. Sadly, the house burned down in 1998, and Seppo passed away the following December while living in his camper van. He was two days shy of his 71st birthday. Seppo’s passing led to an unprecedented memorial service, with more than 800 people overflowing from the Whistler Conference Center to celebrate the gregarious Whistler icon.
The artist responsible for the new Seppo memorial, mixed-media sculptor Christina Nick, has fond memories of the local legend from attending some of the famous parties in his log home near Nesters, and serving him lunch at Auntie Em’s Kitchen in Marketplace, where Seppo was a regular. “I sketched several different versions of Seppo for his memorial sculpture,” Christina explains, “and I wanted to represent him with as much respect as possible.”
Ultimately, this led her to favour a simpler design. For the piece, Christina has employed her innovative “drawing with light” technique to etch a portrait of Seppo into a large sheet of steel that will be framed in-situ by rough cedar logs–a reference to Seppo’s long career as a logger. The thick steel panel has been cut with a plasma cutter, then ground down and finished with an acid and covered with a special penetrating protector to give it a beautiful sheen.
Christina Nick using her “drawing with light” technique on another piece.
With the sculpture’s installation, Seppo–whose hospitality knew no bounds–will be welcoming visitors to Lost Lake Park for generations to come. Stop by this Thursday for the unveiling ceremony including a short statement by artist Christina Nick.
