Whistler Museum and Archives Society

Rob Boyd is GodRob Boyd is God

March 11, 2016 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

February 25, 1989 is a date that any long-time Whistlerite should remember, because on that day Rob Boyd became the first Canadian male to win a World Cup Downhill event on Canadian soil.

It remains not only one of the most memorable days in our community’s history, but for Canadian ski fans as a whole. Not too long ago, we even had some visitors here to the Whistler Museum who recalled watching the race live on a black-and-white television in the lodge at Luggy Lump Ski Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland. If that does not warm your heart with old-fashioned Canadian nostalgia, nothing will.

Canadian National Ski Team. Boyd is far right. Photo: Greg Griffith/WMAS. — Canadian National Ski Team. Boyd is far right. WMAS, Greg Griffith Photo.

It was a triumphant moment not only for the historic achievement, but also because Canadian supporters were still reeling from the gruesome and nearly fatal crash that Boyd’s teammate Brian Stemmle had suffered at Kitzbuhel six weeks earlier. By this point Stemmle was back on the long road to recovery and everyone was keen for a reason to celebrate.

If you watch the video clip of the CBC’s coverage of the race (available on YouTube), right after he crosses the finish line Boyd waves the cameraman over to get up close so that he can proudly announce “For you, Stemmle!” There’s also a pretty glorious cutaway to the raucous celebrations going on at Dusty’s.

Here in Whistler it was a massive community event. Rob had moved to Whistler as a teenager in 1982, so he had huge local support. The medal ceremony drew one of the largest crowds ever assembled in Whistler up to that point and the party kept going for days.

That evening a fundraiser was held at the Conference Center for the national ski team, featuring performances by Colin James and Smokey Robinson. Apparently the $125 event had not been selling well, but Boyd’s dramatic victory put everyone in the celebratory mood and all 1,800 tickets were eventually spoken for.

It was a legendary party that included, among other things, the golden boy being gifted a pair of Dwight Yoakam’s cowboy boots that Boyd proceeded to brandish on the dance floor.

Local boy Rob Boyd atop the podium, 25 February 1989. Photo: Greg Griffith/WMAS. — Local boy Rob Boyd atop the podium, 25 February 1989. Greg Griffith Photo.

This wasn’t Rob’s first World Cup gold medal, having won twice already at Val Gardena, Italy, but winning on home soil was certainly a career highlight.

Rob still lives in Whistler and remains one of our town’s biggest heroes. Just a few weeks ago there was a huge party at Dusty’s Bar to celebrate Rob’s 50th birthday, a stone’s throw from the finish line where he won gold 27 years earlier.

When he’s not celebrating birthdays you can find Rob coaching for the Whistler Mountain Ski Club. The club’s Creekside headquarters are easy enough to find, address: 2028 Rob Boyd Way.

Some go as far as to say that Rob Boyd is God:

Museum News & Events

Speaker Series – Group Dynamics in the WildSpeaker Series – Group Dynamics in the Wild

March 5, 2016 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

While adventures amidst rugged, remote landscapes are often pursued to get away from civilization’s petty concerns, rarely does one fully elude them. Unless travelling solo, the human element is inescapable.

Those who have spent time on major expeditions will tell you that group dynamics can make or break a trip just as easily as Mother Nature. The emotional rollercoaster of a true adventure, from the euphoria of the summit to the boredom of a tent-bound week, can forge both the strongest bonds and the deepest disdains.

The Whistler Museum’s next Speaker Series event will delve headfirst into this messy world of human relationships in the wild. We are fortunate to host two accomplished local adventurers who will share stories from some of their wildest ski-mountaineering expeditions, drawing from these experiences to spark a conversation about leadership and group dynamics.

Bridget McClarty working on her tree pose in the Coast Mountains.

Originally from Kitimat, BC, Bridget McClarty’s many adventures include radio-collaring elephants in Botswana, instructing SCUBA diving in the Philippines, and most recently, teaching high school students in Pemberton. Her talk will focus on the leadership lessons she learned while on a month-long ski traverse of the Coast Mountains from Whistler to the Homathko Valley.

Blackcomb Mountain ski patroller Holly Walker has travelled the world as a skier for more than a decade, first as a competitor on the Freeride World Tour, then as a ski-mountaineer in such exotic locales as the Himalayas, Southern Alps, and Mexico. Her presentation will focus on trips to Alaska’s Tordrillo Mountains and Tajikistan’s Pamirs, exploring some of the finer points of backcountry partner selection.

Holly Walker earning her turns on Alaska’s Tordrillo Mountains.

Expect spectacular photos from some of the world’s wildest mountain ranges, compelling and occasionally hilarious stories from their adventures and misadventures, and an informative conversation about group dynamics that might even come in handy next time you plan on heading into the wilderness and need to find someone to tag along.

Additionally, both speakers will be able to provide a female’s perspective on the generally male- dominated culture of mountain expeditions, especially relevant just a week after International Women’s Day.

***

When: Tuesday March 15; Doors at 6pm, show 7pm-9pm
Where: Whistler Museum (4333 Main Street, beside the Library)
Who: Everyone!
Cost: $10 regular price, $5 for museum members and W-B Club Shred.

There will be complimentary tea and coffee (generously provided by the Whistler Roasting Company), and a cash bar serving beer and wine.

We expect this event to sell out, so make sure to get your tickets early. To purchase tickets top by the museum or call us at 604.932.2019.

Museum News & Events

CBC Radio comes to WhistlerCBC Radio comes to Whistler

March 4, 2016 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Earlier this afternoon we had the great pleasure of attending the live-casting of a special 2-hour edition of the CBC Radio show BC Almanac here in Whistler Village. Host Gloria Macarenko and her team did a great job of highlighting some of our town’s most pressing issues and biggest stories.

In case you missed it, the show in its entirety can be listened to online here:

There was a long line-up of guest speakers who contributed to the wide-ranging discussion. The episode opened with Michael Audain speaking about his new art museum, then went on to feature Val Litwin of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce speaking about the labour shortage and housing, Sarah Morden described Whistler’s efforts to host a Syrian refugee family.

From left to right at the red table: Whistler Chamber of Commerce CEO Val Litwin, Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, BC Almanac host Gloria Macarenko, and Michael Audain of the Audain Art Museum. Back row: A Brewhouse Whistler server and a BC Almanac producer.

Roger Soane of Whistler Sports Legacies spoke about the lasting impacts of the 2010 Games. Whistler-Blackcomb’s Rob McSkimming spoke about the ski resort’s 50th anniversary and the challenges posed by climate change, a discussion which also included Ian Bruce of the David Suzuki Foundation. Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden shared her insights throughout the entire 2 hours, and several other guests contributed to the conversation as well. The Whistler Museum was happy to provide some stories from Whistler’s past that were interspersed throughout the production.

BC Almanac host Gloria Macarenko with Whistler Museum Programs & Community Manager Jeff Slack.

The episode did a great job of highlighting the fact that Whistler is not just an international resort, it is also a community full of local residents with their own unique story. There were also a number of callers from across the province who contributed to the show, sharing wonderful and typically quirky stories from past visits or from when they used to live here, from the original “unofficial mayor” of Whistler to a juicy rumour involving Brandywine Falls, Nancy Greene, and arson.

Just as the show wrapped up, host Gloria read out an email she received during the broadcast from a man who lived here and worked at Araxi Restaurant from 1981-84. Responding to the account of Sarah Morden’s efforts to bring a Syrian Refugee family to Whistler, the listener recalled housing and employing a group of Polish Asylum seekers who had jumped ship in Vancouver, and the generous support they received from Whistler at the time.

The email includes this incredible little detail, that we thought we would pass along:

“As a side note, if there are any listeners born in 1982-84 to a single mum who was living in Whistler, I believe I fathered a child and would welcome contact if they are trying to find their birth father.”

It was a wonderful event to experience and contribute to, and we hope you give it a listen.

We know some of you tuned in because there was a big spike in visits to our blog from people searching “Toad Hall Poster” during the broadcast!

A Century of Skiing in WhistlerA Century of Skiing in Whistler

February 27, 2016 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Sunday February 21st was International Ski History Day. At the museum we hosted a delegation from the International Ski History Association and put on our Speaker Series “Celebrity Athletes & the Growth of Modern Skiing” featuring Stephanie Sloan, John Smart, and Rob McSkimming. There were also events up on Whistler Mountain during the day.

We have an incredibly rich skiing heritage to celebrate here in Whistler. And though Whistler Mountain’s 50^th anniversary is the big story this season, it’s not the only milestone worth celebrating this year.

As we’ve profiled on this blog previously, there were plenty of skiing pioneers doing things the old-fashioned way prior to the installation of ski lifts on Whistler Mountain. Examples include Tyrol Club members like Stefan Ples who regularly skinned up Whistler Mountain in the 1950s and early 60s, and famed explorers Don & Phyllis Munday, along with summer resident Pip Brock, who undertook ski-mountaineering expeditions into the heart of the Coast Mountains in the 1930s.

A 1939 ski-mountaineering expedition near Black Tusk led by George Bury, in search of appropriate locations to build a ski resort. They found excellent skiing and remarkable landscapes, but their plans were interrupted by the outbreak of WW2.

Skiing, mostly of the cross-country variety, was also a popular pastime at Rainbow Lodge during the quieter winter months. We’re fortunate enough to hold in our archives dozens of photographs from that era of skiers trekking around the valley, posing on Alta Lake, or schussing down a small wooded slope near Rainbow. We even have a few shots of Bob the Workhorse pulling Myrtle around the lake on her skis, otherwise known as skijoring.

The solid wooden skis are generally massive, even putting your 30-year-old 210cm racing planks to shame, and the fashion is as nostalgic as it gets. One specific image, a little fuzzier than the rest but otherwise inconspicuous, is especially relevant to today’s story.

The image portrays Myrtle Philip with two other women posing while skiing on a frozen Alta Lake. They are adorned in wool tops and baggy bloomers, and are all using a single, solid wooden pole in the traditional Scandinavian style.

And written on the back of the image is the simple phrase “the first skiing guests at Rainbow about 1916. Janet Drysdale and friend and Myrtle Philip.”

Needless to say, the 3 ladies were unaware of the historical significance of this simple ski outing.

Of course it is completely possible that skis were used in the Whistler Valley prior to this visit, but we have come across no such stories or evidence. At that time trappers and prospectors generally used snowshoes and considered skis more toy than tool.

Local prospector Harry Horstman, when he encountered Pip Brock climbing Sproatt Mountain on a set of skis, apparently proclaimed “what the hell you got them flanks for? I can get around twice as fast as on my snowshoes as you can on them slitherin’ boards!”

Needless to say, we don’t share Harry’s disdain. Three cheers to 100 years!