Whistler Museum and Archives Society

Whistler's Answers

Whistler’s Answers: June 6, 1985Whistler’s Answers: June 6, 1985

June 6, 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 the May 30, 1985 edition of the Whistler Question, the paper reported on a seven-page report that had been presented to council called Forestry in Whistler: Discussion Paper. The report looked at the implications of a municipal application for a provincial tree farm licence, which would, in effect, mean the municipality would be starting its own small scale logging business. This was one possible approach to sorting out legal problems with the Whistler Landscape Management Plan that the Forestry Service objected to.

Question: What should be the primary use of forests around Whistler?

Chris Lirette – Waiter – Whistler Cay

The Municipality of Whistler is a resort municipality and it should be set up for parks and recreation. The provincial government is collecting all sorts of extra revenue – luxury tax – from Whistler but in return Whistler isn’t regaining those recreation resources. The municipality should have the right to tree farm licences and log as it sees fit for recreational purposes.

Scott McKillop – Quality Supervisor – Parksville

The two conflict but they are compatible. All resource uses conflict but we can’t play one against the other. Everyone has to do their part – it’s not just tourism and forestry, there are lots of others out there. And you have to realize the tax value of the resource round here and provincial funding of Whistler – the province gains its dollars primarily from the forest industry. And I don’t think Whistler would be what it is today without the forestry that has taken place – there wouldn’t be the access.

Hugh Baker – Former Faller – Qualicum Beach

I have to say firstly that I’m afraid the province is being so badly raped and nothing reforested that everything including Whistler has to be logged. No one should be left out of this. We have our lakes, our oceans, our ski hills and we should have our logging. But I disagree with the Socreds’ reforestation policy from top to bottom, and I’d like to see reforestation.

Blackcomb Mountain: The Summer of ’89Blackcomb Mountain: The Summer of ’89

June 4, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

While we might be used to busy summers in Whistler these days, in the 1970s and into the 1980s visitor numbers would drop dramatically after the ski season ended in the late spring. As Whistler grew, the Whistler Resort Association and other businesses and groups worked to make summers busier and transform Whistler into a four-season resort (you can learn more about the activities of the WRA on June 12 when the museum will be joined by Al Raine and Drew Meredith to discuss the origins and early years of the WRA). By 1989, it appears that their efforts had been somewhat successful, at least when looking at the summer season on Blackcomb Mountain.

Hikers and bikers meet on a trail during the summer months. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, 1989

According to the Blabcomb, Blackcomb Mountain’s employee newsletter, the summer of 1989 got off to a chilly start and, though there were good days, the colder than usual weather continued throughout the season. During the previous summer, Blackcomb had received 30,107 skier visits and 61,598 non-skier visits. In 1989, however, they expected the numbers to be slightly lower as the season would be a couple of weeks shorts and Whistler Mountain would be competing for visitors (the construction of the Whistler Express gondola meant that Whistler Mountain had not been operating as usual over the summer of 1988).

Along with sightseeing and hiking, Blackcomb offered various activities and events from June through September 4 when summer operations ended. Ski school programs continued on the glacier with beginner lessons for $35 (including lift ticket, lesson and rentals) and private lessons ranging from $80 to $210. There were also various camps throughout the summer that operated on the glacier. The Labatt’s Blue Summer Challenge Ski Race Series ran throughout July and the Canadian Summer Snowboard Championships took place on Blackcomb from July 13 to 15.

Competitors head up Blackcomb Mountain next to the giant Labatt’s can during the 2nd Annual Labatt’s Can-Am Mountain Bike Challenge. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, 1989

Skis and snowboards were not the only equipment transported up lifts that summer. Though the Whistler Mountain Bike Park is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, bikes were transported up lifts well before 1999. The summer of 1989 was at least the second year that mountain biking played a large role in Blackcomb’s operations. Bikes were uploaded via the Wizard and Solar Coaster Chairs (and, later in the summer, 7th Heaven, though that was for expert riders only) from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. $5 tours ran twice daily from the Rendezvous Lodge, though riders could also purchase a sightseeing pass and try out the Blackcomb bike trails on their own. If you had your own bike and seasons pass, it could cost as little as $5 to head up the lifts.

Like the Ski Race Series, the BCR Mountain Bike Race Series ran throughout July and into August. This was followed in mid-August by the 2nd Annual Labatt’s Can-Am Mountain Bike Challenge, which included the World Mountain Bike Polo Championship, and later by the Kokanee Glacier Light Prestige Biathlon, which featured running and biking.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performed to thousands by the Rendezvous Lodge. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, 1989

The biggest event to happen on Blackcomb Mountain that summer did not involve skiing, riding or biking as almost 6,000 people attended the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s performance 4,000 feet above Whistler Village on August 12. The performance featured conductor Peter McCoppin and violinist Patricia Shih as well as some familiar pieces such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. According to the Blabcomb, the concert went smoothly, though the line up to download at the end was quite long.

Though Blackcomb stayed open until September, the T-bars stopped running by August 20 and events began to wind down. By August 31, Blackcomb had received around 42,000 non-skier visits (well up over the expected 35,000) and 24,100 skier visits (slightly lower than expected due to the earlier closure) and the Blabcomb declared the summer season a success.

Whistler's Answers

Whistler’s Answers: May 30, 1985Whistler’s Answers: May 30, 1985

May 30, 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: The Progressive Conservatives were elected in the 1984 federal election and presented their first budget in May 1985. It included income and other tax increases, a cut to spending of about $1.8 billion, an increase of revenue, a reduction in the civil service, and more, though there was no mention of tourism in the budget. To some, it appeared to have been a “Red Tory budget,” where everyone got a little bit of something to make them happy.

Question: What do you think about the Progressive Conservatives federal budget unveiled last Thursday?

Maria Jacot – Waitress – Alpine Meadows

I think it’s just typical of a Tory government to tax middle income Canadians. The $500,000 exemption (Canadians now have a $500,000 lifetime capital gains tax exemption) just applies to the Tory voters. It’s useless for anyone except big business and wealthy Canadians.

Bubs van Hooser – Psychiatric Hospital Employee – Kingston, Ont.

What can you do? The government can raise taxes and do whatever it wants. I just try to live day by day. I don’t get interested in politics or anything like that. I guess all you can do is vote for someone else next time.

Sandra Morris – Consultant – Vancouver

It’s a complex issue. I’m not too keen on (Registered Home Ownership Plans) being phased out. No, I don’t think cutbacks work because they cause more problems than they solve.

Whistler Mountain’s Spring CarnivalWhistler Mountain’s Spring Carnival

May 28, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

In the early years of lift operations on Whistler Mountain, the end of the ski season was sometimes determined not by the conditions or lack of snow but by a lack of skiers. For some skiers, the end of the Easter holidays marked the time to put away their skis and start pulling out tennis rackets and golf clubs, even if the chairlifts were still running. In order to keep people coming to the ski area through May, Whistler Mountain hosted a Ski or Spring (the name depended on the year) Carnival over the May long weekend.

According to Hugh Smythe, who began working for the lift company in its first season, this effort to keep skiers in the area was driven in large part by Jack Bright. Bright arrived at Whistler Mountain as the new area manager in early 1967. While the mountain manager Dave Mathews was responsible for everything that moved on the hill, Bright was responsible for everything else, including marketing.

Jack Bright, Mountain Manager for Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

The first Carnival took place in 1967, though there is little information about it in the archives apart from a mention in the April 22, 1967 edition of Ski Trails advertising “a razzle-dazzle weekend lined up that will include queen candidates, races and a variety of hijinks.” By the spring of 1968, however, the publication of Garibaldi’s Whistler News (GWN) provided much more detail about the event.

The Ski Carnival of 1968 began on Friday, May 17 with a “ski cruise” from Vancouver to Squamish up the Howe Sound with entertainment and refreshments. From Squamish skiers were transported by bus to Whistler Mountain to prepare for the events of Saturday, which included an obstacle race, a gelandesprung contest (while gelandesprung in a type of jump in skiing, it was described in GWN as “people on skis will be jumping off things”), a fashion show, and a Carnival Ball in the Roundhouse. The Ball had a dress code of “informal apres ski wear,” with attendees having to make their way over from the top of the Red Chair. On Sunday the World Championship Inner Tube Race was followed by a “fairly legitimate, though easy” slalom race and a barbecue at one of the lakes in the valley. After a morning of skiing on Monday, skiers were encouraged to attend the rodeo in Mount Currie hosted by members of the Lil’wat Nation. The schedule for the Spring Carnival of 1969 was very similar, though the cruise would appear to have been replaced with sail boat races.

Jack Bright skiing with Margaret Trudeau on one of her visits to Whistler Mountain. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

Hosting events like the Carnival was just one of the many ways skiing on Whistler was advertised during Bright’s tenure. He and Lynn Mathews published GWN three to four times a year and distributed it as widely as possible. Bright also attended and sent employees to meetings with ski clubs and tour operators, as well as ski shows across North America. He even hired Jim Rice to make a ski movie on Whistler Mountain so that they had something to show at these meetings and shows. On Sundays, ski instructors would put on their uniforms to show ski films in Roy and Jane Ferris’ living room at the Highland Lodge so that guests could see what the coming week might look like and in 1968, convinced that the ski school needed a big name to attract more skiers, Bright and Smythe went to Tod Mountain (today Sun Peaks) to persuade Jim McConkey to be the new ski school director at Whistler. In the mid-1970s, Bright and his wife Ann developed the Whistler Inn and JB’s Restaurant (today Roland’s), which they continued to operate after Bright left the lift company.

Four-year-old Justin Adams advertises for JB’s while skirting the municipal sign bylaw. Whistler Question Collection, 1982.

Although there is no official Ski or Spring Carnival hosted on Whistler Mountain today, decades of marketing efforts, beginning with those of Jack Bright and other early lift company employees, mean that few skiers or riders are unaware that ski season goes into May.