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 1985. 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: This one seems pretty self explanatory, so we think we’ll leave it there.
Question: How do you cope with the high cost of living in Whistler?
It’s pretty expensive, but I only have to pay for food and gas. The cost of food really hits me hard. It’s way too expensive to eat out, and I go down to Vancouver to do a lot of my shopping. Tourists find the prices are just crazy. I worked in the public relations office at the Whistler Resort Association and we got a lot of complaints about that.
Rona Perry – Desk Clerk – Whistler
We just do it. We buy groceries in Pemberton or Squamish when we can get there. We pay major for power. Power’s just incredibly high here. I come from Saskatchewan where it’s much cheaper for a small place.
Stuart Becker – Waiter – Whistler
I try to live as cheaply as I can. I eat at work because I work in a restaurant, I don’t have a car, I rode my motorcycle, and I always manage to pay my bills. They need higher wages here. Transient work means you can’t make that much and a lot of people leave Whistler for that reason. I’ve been here eight months now so it can be done – I’m proof positive of that.
While many locals escape Whistler for the fall months, the town can have much to offer in terms of fall festivities. Whistler has been hosting fabulous events from hot air balloon rides and firework displays to mouthwatering food and drink festivals for decades.
The first Fall Fair was organized in 1977 by the Alta Lake Community Club (ALCC) and took place in November at the Myrtle Philip School. The ALCC worked with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club’s Ski Swap to create a late autumn fundraising event where participants could buy crafts and baked goods, view ski demonstrations, and purchase raffle tickets. Over time, the Fall Fair became one of the ALCC’s most successful fundraisers, with 1980 being its most successful year.
A study in concentration – Trev Roote carves out house number signs at the Fall Fair. Whistler Question Collection
In 1981, the Fall Festival was organized by the Whistler Resort Association (WRA; better known today as Tourism Whistler). A more expansive version of the previous Fall Fair, the festival featured arts, crafts, performers, and plenty of athletic endeavours to participate in or watch such as tennis, volleyball, and softball. In addition to the land-bound activities, there were also opportunities to see the valley from above. Blackcomb Mountain offered free chairlift rides during the festival and Chuck Bump’s hot air balloon, labelled as the “World’s Largest Hot Air Balloon,” was also available for aerial sightseeing. As the first half of the Whistler Village was still under construction in 1981, the inaugural festival included a Paint a Snowflake contest that left some of the fences surrounding construction sites covered in snowflakes. The Fall Festival was also the first big event attended by Willie Whistler, the mascot of WRA, who was joined in Village Square by Bo Bo the Clown.
Willie Whistler takes a ride with Bo Bo the Clown during the Fall Festival in Village Square. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.
This exciting version of the Fall Festival continued for the next four years. Although this festival no longer takes place, Whistler is home to a wide variety of events every fall. These days we can look forward to the Whistler Village Beer Festival, the Whistler Blackcomb Turkey Sale, the Writers Festival, and, of course, Cornucopia.
Crowds gather on the field for the Tapley’s Farm Halloween fireworks display. Whistler Question Collection, 1994.
It is impossible to write about fall events without describing Whistler’s long-standing Halloween celebrations! With fewer stairs than most other neighbourhoods in the area, Tapley’s has been the go-to neighbourhood for young trick-or-treaters for many years. Over time, extra precautions have been put in place to protect and entertain the little ghosts and goblins in the area, including closing the road to cars and holding neighbourhood competitions for the best decorated house. Last year was Tapley’s 40th annual Halloween celebration. Complete with free hot cocoa and fireworks, the neighbourhood not only did a fantastic job maintaining the Halloween spirit but also helped raise 400 kg in donations for the Whistler Food Bank as part of the WE Scare Hunger campaign. However you enjoy the season, stay warm this fall and treat yourself to whatever pumpkin or cinnamon flavoured treat your heart desires!
Ella Healey was the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program. She has now returned to her studies at the University of Victoria.
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 1985. 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: When construction began on the Whistler Resort Centre (today the Whistler Conference) in March 1980, plans included a swimming pool and an Olympic-sized ice rink. A major recession in the early 1980s, however, meant that the Resort Centre was redesigned as a conference centre without all of the planned extra recreational facilities and by 1985 Whistler was still without a skating rink or a public swimming pool (there were hotel pools that were used by various groups at different times).
Question: Would you prefer a swimming pool or a skating rink as Whistler community sports facility?
Shirley Lomer – Diet Technician – New Westminster
A swimming pool, for the simple reason that I know how to swim but I don’t know how to skate. I’d use the swimming pool if I were just visiting.
Kirby Young – Substitute Teacher – Whistler
An ice rink. That goes with the idea of winter sports. I’d try to use one if we had one, but I’m not a hockey player. The waterslide already answers the need for a pool.
Carmen Hambalek – Waitress – Whistler
I’d rather see a swimming pool so you’ve got something to do in the winter other than be outside in the cold.
From World Cup downhills to IronMan triathlons to the annual October Turkey Trot, Whistler has been the host of countless athletic competitions and events featuring many different sports. The Alta Lake Sports Club was founded in 1975 and, though a lot of their efforts went to organizing cross-country ski trails and events, the group soon began organizing running events in the Whistler area. It was not until 1982, however, that Whistler hosted its first marathon.
Whistler’s first marathon and half-marathon took place on August 29, 1982 and drew 131 entrants, though Race Coordinator Tom Sutherland had earlier expected only 50 to 75 participants to sign up. A couple of weeks before the race, the course was carefully measured by Sutherland and Wayne Fisher using a Jones Counter, a bicycle odometer, after the pair rode a measured kilometre that was certified by local surveying company Brown & Associates.
Runners (mostly) stick to the shoulder of the road during the first Whistler Marathon and Half-Marathon. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
The 13.1 milo or 21.1 km course took runners from the bus loop in the Whistler Village, north along Highway 99, through White Gold Estates, back to the highway, into Alpine Meadows and down Rainbow Drive, along Alta Lake Road, back up the highway, through Brio, and then back onto Highway 99 and into the Village to finish at the bus loop. Those who chose to run the full marathon then ran the entire loop a second time.
While measuring the course, Sutherland and Fisher carefully placed milage markers to indicate distances and aid station locations. Unfortunately for them, two days after they marked the route, Alta Lake Road was sealcoated and all of their markers were gone. The process also left the road less than smooth and Highways District Manager Ron Winbow told organizers that crews would not be able to sweep the road until it had rained and the surface was damp, making it safe for the operators of the sweeping equipment. Thankfully for the race, Art Den Duyf of Sabre Bulldozing Ltd. agreed to use his equipment to water the stretch of road, allowing highways crews to follow behind with the sweeper.
Runners keep their heart rate up while the waiting for the train to pass through. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
Despite being described by many as a difficult course, most participants appear to have had a positive experience, including Stephanie Greenall who at fourteen was the youngest runner. She ran the half-marathon alongside her father Dave you, having completed the course, spontaneously decided to run it again and finish the full marathon. Former Whistler resident Dag Aabye who in 1982 was living in Squamish told the Whistler Question, “I’ve run in five marathons, and this one is great!” According to Murray Coates, the only full-time Whistler resident to register for the full marathon, “To say it was good would be an understatement. Everybody – the spectators, organizers, volunteers and runners – put all they had into it. It was mind-boggling how great it was.” Because it was the first time the event was held, winners of each category set new records, including Loreen Barnett, a member of the ALSC, who came first in the women’s marathon.
Runner Murray Coates eats his post-race watermelon while Myrtle Philip watches the festivities. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
The marathon and half-marathon event returned the next summer as part of the Whistler Fitness Festival held in July 1983 that also included the Whistler Molson Bicycle Race, a Windsurfing Regatta, and the Mr. Mountain Contest (the summer of 1983 also saw Whistler’s first triathlon). This time, almost 250 runners were registered, including local residents, repeat racers, and one couple from New York who decided that the race would be a great addition to their honeymoon.
In 1984, the half-marathon returned but the full marathon did not and, despite early hopes to establish the Whistler Marathon as part of a marathon circuit, the event appears to have stopped altogether in 1985. Today, Whistler hosts a variety of running events, including the Whistler Half-Marathon that began in the mid-2000s.
