Whistler Museum and Archives Society

Whistler's Answers

Whistler’s Answers: August 22, 1985Whistler’s Answers: August 22, 1985

August 22, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

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: Vancouver hosted the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, usually referred to as Expo ’86, from May to October 1986. With over 40 nations participating, it was expected that Expo 86 would increase international awareness of Vancouver and the surrounding areas and many hoped that tourism would increase as a result. Find out more about Whistler’s contribution to Expo 86 here.

Question: What sort of impact do you think Expo ’86 will have on Vancouver and the province?

Gary Webb – Safeway Night Inspector – Port Coquitlam

I think it’s going to be good for the province. I know a lot of people such as myself who have bought tickets already through deduction plans at work. I think it will attract a lot of US visitors too.

Robert Douglas – Miner – White Gold

I think it’s probably a good idea. I usually don’t go to those kind of things because I’d rather be sitting in the sun drinking beer in Whistler than sitting in the sun drinking beer in Vancouver. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Oh, I think it will attract a lot of people to the province, and after all, the more exposure, the better.

Michael Biga – Restaurant Owner – Palm Springs, Ca

In the long term it will make a lot of money. Vancouver, like New Orleans (the scene of the 1984 world exposition), is on a corner – people from New York and Washington probably won’t come. Yes, we will be coming up to it. But it will put Vancouver on the map.

Summer Skiing in WhistlerSummer Skiing in Whistler

August 20, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Since Whistler Mountain’s first year of operations in 1966, summer skiing has been a staple in many people’s summer plans. One of the first summer ski camps to be hosted in Whistler was called the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp, hosted by gold medal Olympian Toni Sailer. This particular camp ran from 1967 until it was taken over by Dave Murray, becoming the Atomic Dave Murray Whistler Summer Skiing Camp. While over the years many camps have come and gone such as Camp of Champions and High North Camp, Momentum Ski Camp has been on the slopes for over thirty years.

Photo: Toni Sailer Ski Camp, Alex Douglas Fonds, 1980.

Originally known as Smart Mogul Skiing, the camp was started in 1992 by former Olympians John and Julia Smart who offered freestyle mogul skiing instruction. Over the years, Momentum expanded to offer instruction in a wide range of freestyle disciplines to athletes from all over the world. The camps started small with as few as 43 participants but grew to host 1000+ campers per season. The original camps ran for three weeks but over the years the camps were extended to five weeks. Other changes included the name, which went from Smart Mogul Skiing to SMS and then finally to Momentum Camp in 2004. One of Momentum’s key principles has always been to hire top talent, including Olympians and World Cup competitors, to instruct and inspire students. Campers are not only inspired by their instructors’ skills but also have the chance to build strong relationships with them. The camps have been a tightly knit group and the majority of staff are former campers. John and Julia believe exposing students to a variety of disciplines helps to build a passion for skiing and foster a life-long love of the sport. John attributes Monentum’s longevity to its ability to navigate and adapt its programs as the sport of freestyle skiing has changed over time.

Photo: Riley Leboe at Momentum Ski Camp. Bruce Rowles collection, late 1990s-early 2000s

Fans of summer skiing are disappointed this year as 2024 is the first year since 1996 that there is no summer ski season at either Whistler or Blackcomb. The summer season traditionally started in mid July; however, this summer the Horstman Glacier is closed due to a low snowpack.

While we are all disappointed to say goodbye to summer skiing for at least this season, we understand why the Horstman Glacier is closed. After a winter that only provided 49% of the usual snowfall, the glacier isn’t in its best form. In recent years, the shrinking snowpack has made the beloved Horstman T-bar unusable, resulting in its removal in 2021. Shrinking glaciers and reduced glacial meltwater can also disrupt the production of hydro electricity, although the Horstman Glacier is not part of Whistler’s hydro electric power system.

Photo: Summer skiing with High North Camp. Bruce Rowles collection, late 1990s-early 2000s

Without intervention, the glacier could shrink to half its current size over the next 20 years. In an interview in 2015, Mountain Planning and Environment Resource Manager Arthur De Jong discussed man-made snow production as one option for recuperating the glacier, though the ecological impact of the energy used to rebuild the glacier would need to be justified with continuous efforts to lessen the mountain’s ecological footprint. He said if snow production was introduced, only enough snow to maintain the glacier would be made. Thinking long term, De Jong said it might have been possible to close the energy consumption loop with energy generating solutions such as wind turbines. It does not, however, appear that this approach was used on the Horstman Glacier.

While many will miss the summer ski season this year, it is unknown whether the tradition of summer skiing and boarding will continue. Until then, we can enjoy the many other summer activities like hiking, biking, and plunging into Lost Lake that Whistler has on offer!

Ella Healey is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.

Whistler's Answers

Whistler’s Answers: August 15, 1985Whistler’s Answers: August 15, 1985

August 15, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

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: In August 1985, Whistler hosted the International BMX Championships, with over 4,300 visitors and competitors coming to the resort to participate and spectate. Riders came from Mexico, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Chile, France, Australia, Spain, Columbia, Japan, England, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, the US, Sweden, Canada and more and the Championships included both competitions and recreational events.

Question: What did you think of the World BMX Championships held here?

Sharon Wright – Waitress – Tapley’s Farm

To quote someone else, “I’d rather be nuked than BMXed.”

Curtis Beckon – Bartender – Alta Lake

The racing was great, but couldn’t they have been put in cages after? I couldn’t go on the driving range because they stole all the balls. The nightlife on the weekend was dead – only the hotels and shop made money.

Stuart Archer – Lift Mechanic – Alta Vista

It was a tremendous weekend, very well organized. I like having the kids around and if I didn’t have a sore knee I would have been out there myself.

Pensioning WhistlerPensioning Whistler

August 13, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

When planning a visit to Whistler, one is offered a variety of accommodation options, from a tent at a campground to a hotel suite in the Whistler Village. Another option is a pension, similar to a bed and breakfast but sometimes offering more than one meal. While municipal guidelines and requirements for pensions were introduced in 1983, by the summer of 1985 Whistler had only three official pensions, two in the approval process, and an unknown number operating illegally.

The oldest of the three, Haus Heidi on Nesters Road, was opened by Jim and Trudy Greutzke in 1978 and had a steady supply of return visitors to the four-bedroom pension by 1985. In Whistler Gold, Luise and Erich Zinsli had Chalet Luise, a similarly sized pension to Haus Heidi. The largest of the three approved pensions was the eight-room Alpine Lodge Pension (not to be confused with Alpine Lodge in Garibaldi), run by Ruth Hidi with the help of her husband John and son Brian.

Alpine Lodge in the Garibaldi Townsite in 1979, not to be confused with the Alpine Lodge Pension built in Whistler. Alpine Lodge closed in the 1980s when the provincial government declared Garibaldi unsafe due to the threat of the Barrier. Forbes Collection.

The typical cost of a double occupancy room at any of the pensions ranged from $35 to $50/night in the summer months and all three provided a substantial breakfast for guests, eaten together in a communal dining room whether guests knew each other or not. At Chalet Luise breakfast might have consisted of a ham and cheese omelette, French toast, or bacon and eggs with homemade bread. Each pension also provided communal spaces for guests to relax and socialize.

Most pension proprietors had their own living quarters within the building, though Alpine Lodge was unusual in that its proprietors lived next door. Running a pension was a full-time operation, involving cooking, cleaning, changing linens, taking reservations, ordering supplies, and all other administrative duties, as well as ensuring guests felt at home, and often it was a family affair. At Alpine Lodge, Ruth Hidi took on the bulk of the pension work while her son attended school and John worked as a building inspector for the Squamish Lillooet Regional District.

Haus Heidi on Nesters Road. Whistler Question Collection, 1979.

Two other pensions were also going through the approval process during the summer of 1985, making for a total of five “official” pensions. Nobel House in Alta Vista, owned by Jan Holmberg and Ted Nebbeling, was finishing up renovations and would then receive its business licence. In White Gold, the first purpose-built pension of Jacques and Ursula Morel was in the process of being rezoned from residential to tourist pension. The zoning bylaw at the time defined a pension as “a building used for temporary lodging by paying guests that contains guest rooms, common areas, including a dining room intended for the use of such paying guests, and an auxiliary residential dwelling unit.”

There both benefits and drawbacks to proper zoning. Authorized pensions were required to be members of the Whistler Resort Association (WRA) and so were eligible for its centralized booking system, had more encompassing insurance, and were usually better situated when applying for loans. There was also, however, a cost associated with authorization. Pension owners had to pay a $750 deposit to begin the rezoning process, pension zoned properties paid higher sewage and water fees, pensions had to provide off-street parking, and properties had to make alterations to comply with commercial safety standards, all of which could add up.

Today there are still a number of pensions and bed and breakfasts operating in Whistler, though the definitions have changed some, and visitors continue to have many options when choosing a place to stay.