Blabcomb – Whistler Museum and Archives Society

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.

Building Glacier ParkBuilding Glacier Park

September 24, 2019 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Earlier this month, Whistler Blackcomb (WB) began a rezoning process with the goal of constructing a new six-storey building with 60 units of employee housing to join the seven existing staff housing buildings on the Glacier Lane site. Consisting of two-bedroom units, each about 40 square metres in size, this proposed housing will be very similar, if a bit newer than, the first four buildings originally built by Blackcomb Ski Enterprise and Canadian Pacific (CP) Hotels in 1988.

The first hint of the project came at the beginning of January 1988, when Blackcomb received permission to convert the administration offices of its old daylodge into temporary employee housing. To assuage concerns from council that the housing might not remain temporary, Gary Raymond, Blackcomb’s vice-president of finance, mentioned that Blackcomb and CP Hotels, the owners of the then-under-construction Chateau Whistler Resort, would be bringing a joint proposal for permanent employee housing to council in the next few weeks.

References to the “Financial Wizard” in the Blackcomb newsletter usually included a drawing of said wizard. *Blabcomb*

The proposal was for four buildings, each with 48 two-bedroom units, to be built over two years. When finished the buildings would house almost 400 people; at the time, Blackcomb had roughly 500 employees and the Chateau was expected to employ about 350. Due to a severe shortage of housing, the plan changed, and all four buildings were to be constructed over the summer of 1988 in time for employees to arrive in October.

The Blackcomb/CP Hotels Glacier Lane project was not the only employee housing project underway. That summer projects with the Whistler Valley Housing Society (WVHS) were also being constructed or proposed at Nordic Court and Eva Lake Road.

An architect’s drawing of the proposed housing. Look familiar? *Blabcomb*

All of these projects hit some snags over the summer, though the Glacier Lane project may have been the most visible. The buildings were higher and more visible than expected and Letters to the Editor were published in The Whistler Question referring to the construction as a “massive box” that could be seen from any point in the valley north of the Village. In July, Mayor Drew Meredith even called the visibility of the project “a worthwhile mistake,” while pointing out that the developers were trying to mitigate the visibility of the buildings through landscaping.

Before the buildings could officially open on September 19, 1988, they first had to be named. A contest was announced in the Blabcomb newsletter and employees were invited to name both the development as a whole and the individual buildings. The contest was won by David Small, who proposed to call the development Glacier Park, with each building named for a glacier: Horstman, Overlord, Spearhead and Decker.

The early blueprints for the building. *Blabcomb*

At the grand opening, Blackcomb president Hugh Smythe recalled his own years spent living in employee housing while working for Whistler Mountain, saying “I remember sleeping on the floor, on tables and in trailers,” including one trailer, known by many as “the ghetto.” According to Smythe, the new units compared quite favourably to his own experiences, and certainly had a better view.

The first residents began moving in October 1. They were reportedly a mix of Blackcomb employees, including employees of Alta Lake Foods who provided food services for the mountain, and CP Hotel construction workers. Most of the CP Hotel employees would not move in until the Chateau Whistler Resort opened in late 1989.

By the end of November, the Blabcomb reported that all units had been filled, with people either already moved in or with rooms committed to incoming employees, and a waiting list had already been started. They were also able to report that, partly due to his work managing the housing project, Gary Raymond had been awarded one of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce’s first “Business Person of the Year” awards, along with Lorne Borgal of Whistler Mountain. According to the Blabcomb, the project had been a great success.

Blackcomb Mountain’s BlabcombBlackcomb Mountain’s Blabcomb

May 21, 2019 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

We love newsletters at the museum. They’re a great way of keeping interested parties up to date and sharing information and, when donated to the archives, are an interesting record of changes to an organization over time. Recently, some of the museum’s resource binders were digitized to make them text-searchable to help with our own and others’ research projects. One of these binders housed a collection of newsletters published by Blackcomb Mountain over the late 1980s and early 1990s: the Blabcomb.

The 18 foot cake prepared by Gourmet for the opening of Blackcomb Mountain in 1980. By the time the *Blabcomb* began publishing the mountain had been open for skiing for only seven seasons. Whistler Question Collection.

When the first edition of the Blabcomb came out on March 17, 1988 the newsletter was only four pages of news and updates related to Blackcomb operations; the last issue that the museum has a copy of, from July 12, 1991, had grown to twelve.

Early issues of the Blabcomb came out with payroll every two weeks, then switched to monthly publication for the summer months.

The issues included lists of birthdays, staff changes, discounts, meetings and recognition of the latest ICE (Inspire Continued Excellence) Awards. Even birth announcements made it in,

Thought the newsletter included frequent calls for volunteers and contributions, it would seem Blabcomb was spearheaded by Eric Sinclair of Blackcomb’s accounting department. The name “Blabcomb” was the product of Wayne “Chookhead” Burt, who won out against competing submissions such as “Snow News” (Bart Parsons), “Seventh Heaven Express” (Peter Bacholtz), and “Blackcomb Briefs” (Gerhard Reimer).

Considering the chatty (and, at times, perhaps gossipy) tone of the newsletter, Blabcomb seems like a perfect fit.

The suitcase races on Blackcomb were a popular event, and would have made for great television. Blackcomb Collection.

In some ways the resort described in the Blabcomb is very different from the Whistler Blackcomb operations of today. Events such as the Celebrity Challenge Suitcase Race (you can learn more about that event here) no longer run and with the merger between Whistler and Blackcomb guest numbers are no longer a competition. Other parts of their spring 1988 newsletters, however, could almost be published today.

The Blabcomb reportedly began “in order to maintain the Blackcomb spirit,” which some feared was being lost as the company grew (a feeling not unknown in Whistler). In early March 1988 the Blackcomb staff (combining both employees of Blackcomb Skiing Enterprises and of Alta Lake Foods, which ran the food and beverage operations for the mountain) surpassed the 600 employees mark. The creation of the Blabcomb recognized that it could be “difficult to maintain that feeling of ‘family’ among such a large employee base.”

Original pin that was used to promote the new Wizard Chair at Blackcomb Mountain. Whistler Museum.

With expanded food service and five new lifts added in 1987 (Magic Chair, Wizard Express, Solar Coaster Express, 7th Heaven Express and Horstman Glacier T-Bar) the 1987-88 season was a big year for Blackcomb Mountain. By early April it had exceeded 512,000 visits (to put the number is perspective, the previous record of 508,000 had been set by Whistler Mountain in the 1984/85 season) and looked on track to exceed 600,000 by the time the season ended.

Employees asked by the Blabcomb described the season as “exciting, exhausting, wild and, of course, magical” but the newsletter also acknowledged the toll the season had taken.

As they put it, “Not only did Blackcomb employees have to adjust to a massive expansion project that included new lifts, buildings and added responsibilities, they were overwhelmed by the number of skiers we received in Whistler Resort this year… A shortage of employees, cramped, and sometimes marginal living conditions made these ‘adjustments’ even more difficult.”

Over the next few years the Blabcomb continued to update employees about changes in operations and events on the mountain, while also covering topics that we still discuss in Whistler today, such as the construction of employee housing (it was during this period that Blackcomb and CP Hotels, later the Chateau, built some of the housing currently in use).

Though newsletters are often written thinking of the present and future, they can be really useful resources when examining our past.