Doug Sack – Whistler Museum and Archives Society

The Great 2×4 Race: Part IIIThe Great 2×4 Race: Part III

December 31, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Whistler Mountain has seen quite a few races over the past six decades, but only one (as far as we’re aware) involved pitting a Crazy Canuck on 2×4 planks against a novice skier who had first skied around a gate just the month before. On Monday, April 22, 1985, however, crowds gathered to watch Dave Murray and Doug Sack go head to head, or, at least ski to plank. (Find Part I and Part II of this story)

After issuing the challenge in December, Sack used his column in the Whistler Question to build up interest in the race and keep the readers updated on his progress as he learned to ski. Various rumours were in circulation by the day of the race, including one that Murray could complete the race course on the 2x4s in only thirty seconds, and as the fateful date approached Sack was head to say “As far as I’m concerned, there are presently seven wonders in the world. If I beat Murray Monday, you can make that eight.”

Doug Sack’s approach to training, as reported in the *Whistler Question* on April 18, 1985. Whistler Question, 1985

The day of the race, Sack headed up Whistler Mountain at opening, describing the journey as “the longest, loneliest ride of [his] brief skiing career.” After a couple of runs down to the Orange Chair to calm his nerves, Sack ran into Murray on his way up and the two decided to take a run together. Murray hadn’t skied much on his “Crazy Canuck Demos” but the run proved that a Crazy Canuck on 2x4s was equal to a rookie racer, promising an interesting race. According to Sack, “We knew the race was a toss up and we also knew that we were doing something totally hilarious because everyone was laughing when we got back up the Orange to the race start.”

Dave Murray’s “Crazy Canuck Demos” made their debut at Whistler Mountain’s Media Appreciation Day at the end of the 1984 ski season but did not become a regularly used piece of equipment. Whistler Question 1984, photo courtesy of Rob McQuade

The race consisted of three runs. As the pair waited at the starting gates, Sack heard Murray say, “Have a goof run, Doug,” just before the countdown and then they were off. In his recounting of the race, Sack wrote “It doesn’t matter what level skier you are, when you go for it, you go for it. So I went for it… and fell down trying to make the third gate.” Not disqualified, Sack got back up and managed to catch up with Murray, who tried to gain speed ahead of the flats and wiped out. The first run went to Sack.

Riding up the chair together before the second run, Murray and Sack discussed the pressures of the second run and what it felt like on an international stage with much higher stakes. Feeling more confident having completed a run, Sack made an aggressive start to the second run, made it through the first two gates, and lost a ski in the third, somersaulted, and passed the fourth gate on his back. The second run went to Murray.

Tied heading into the third run, Murray and Sack spent their ride up discussing their ambivalence about winning and their determination to have a clean run where both made it to the finish line. Following Cate Webster’s advice not to worry about speed until after the third gate, Sack was in front as the skiers approached the first waterfall. Assured by the crowd that Murray was right behind him, Sack managed to maintain the lead. He was officially proclaimed the winner of The Great 2×4 Race and was presented with a pair of national ski team racing gloves and a gold ski pin from Murray, though Sack still have Murray a gold nugget because “there were no losers in the race.”

Doug Sack and Dave Murray shake hands following the race. Whistler Question, 1985

While reporting on the dedication of Dave Murray Downhill in April 1991, Sack looked back on the race and credited Murray with the development of his alpine race reporting. Following the race, Sack spent a couple of years covering local and Nor-Am races with the support of Murray and then in 1987 Murray set Sack up with national team coach Glenn Wurtele who arranged for him to go to Europe and cover the World Cup circuit. According to Sack, the 2×4 race remained “the funniest thing I’ve seen on skis” and a feat that only Dave Murray would have attempted.

The Great 2×4 Race: Part IIThe Great 2×4 Race: Part II

December 24, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Last week we introduced “The Great 2×4 Race,” a ski challenge to Dave Murray from Whistler Question sports columnist Doug Sack in 1984. As a very new skier, Sack’s challenge to the Crazy Canuck was ambitious, even if Murray would be strapped to two 2×4 planks.

On December 13, 1984, Sack used his “Inside Edge” column to report on his first experience on the hill. According to him, his first bash at skiing last week could roughly be called a success in that I got back down alive off Whistler.” It wasn’t all bad and Sack was determined to continue, despite the steep learning curve, adding that “the scenery ain’t bad either.” Sack continued to report on his skiing progress over the next few months, building up interest in the coming race by exaggerating his failures, triumphs, and the developing worrylines of Murray.

Early in the new year, Sack got some professional help with his endeavour, beginning with a lesson on Skidder on Blackcomb Mountain from Nancy Greene and leading to his announcement on January 17 that we “the weekday King of Lower Gandy Dancer!” (Sack also, in the same article, addressed Greene to ask “What are the poles for?”) Continuing to practice on Blackcomb (specifically on Skidder for two weeks), Sack progressed to longer runs and longer skis, trying out blue runs and 190s in February and likening the experience to “driving a load of timber downhill with no brakes.”

Doug Sack shows off his “ski look.” Whistler Question Collection, 1985

In March, Sack finally got his own brand new pair of skis instead of the rentals he had been using. While attending the Volvo Ski Show, Sack got talking to Casey Niewerth, owner of Skyline Sports stores in Vancouver, Whistler’s Mountain’s original Jolly Green Giant, and, luckily for Sack, then the Canadian sales rep for RD (Research Dynamic) Skis’ new Coyote skis out of Sun Valley, Idaho. Niewerth arranged for a pair of 200 Coyotes for Sack as he set about learning the art of gates from Blackcomb Ski Club coach Dave Kerwynn.

Gate training began with a run down the GS course with no instruction, letting Kerwynn get an idea of what he was working with. From there, the pair worked to correct mistakes and improve Sack’s time. His first runs and wipe outs down a race course gave Sack a new perspective on ski racing, a sport that he had not previously spent much time following. On March 28, Sack wrote: “Ski racing very well could be the ultimate pinnacle of athletic challenge and satisfaction. The thin razor’s edge is so clearly defined: if you go too fast, you wipe out; if you don’t go fast enough, you struck out.”

Casey Niewerth holds a ski as Dave Murray “cuts the ribbon” at the opening of the Kerrisdale Skyline Sports in 1979, six years before he arranged skis for Doug Sack. Whistler Question Collection, 1979

Over the early months of 1985, plans for the race solidified. A date was chosen (April 22, 1985) and a format decided on. Though Murray nixed the anvil and anchor that Sack had originally proposed, he did consent to race on the two 2×4 planks that had been dubbed “Crazy Canuck Demos.”

Despite challenging a former national ski team member and current Director of Skiing to a race, Sack did not expect to become a highly proficient or technical skier in his first season, calling that goal “hopeless.” Instead, he reportedly wanted to claim bragging rights by being able to “ski gates fast enough to make Murray wipeout on his 2×4’s” and become a good enough skier to “cover the national championships on mountain and get back down to the bottom alive,” a reasonable goal for a sports reporter in a town that hosted World Cup races and took skiing and ski racing quite seriously.

We’ll be back next week with race results and a conclusion to the unique race on Whistler Mountain.

The Great 2×4 Race: Part OneThe Great 2×4 Race: Part One

December 17, 2024 Whistler Museum 2 Comments

On November 29, 1984, the Whistler Question published the first “Inside Edge” column by Doug Sack, a new addition to the local paper. Doug Sack came to Whistler from the Yukon where he had been working as a catskinner in the mines. His first job in Whistler was working as a catskinner for Art Den Duyf in gravel pits, which Sack once described as “gold mines without the pipelines and sluice boxes.”

Sack, who also had some experience in sportswriting, was taken on by Question editor Kevin Griffin and owner/publisher Glenda Bartosh to provide dedicated and comprehensive sports coverage for the paper for the winter of 1984/85. Perhaps unexpectedly for a town that had by then successfully hosted two FIS World Cup downhill races, Sack was not a skier.

Dave Murray racing down a course. Murray Collection

In his first column, Sack wrote that he intended to “open lines of communication that will facilitate the flow of sports news into the office.” According to Sack, this line of communication also brought him an offer of ski instruction from none other than Nancy Greene. Sack had declared his intent to take up skiing “in a personal quest to bring Skidder and Ego Bowl to their knees.” Greene’s offer was fortuitous as in his next column Sack issued a unique ski race challenge to Dave Murray, at the time the Director of Skiing for Whistler Mountain.

During a meeting in Murray’s office, Sack had reportedly noticed two 2×4 planks with bindings mounted and a hand-painted label that read “Crazy Canuck Demos” that had been given to Murray when he retired from ski racing. According to Sack, the planks “looked skiable.” On December 6, 1984, Sack used his column to issue this challenge for a spring race: “I get to do whatever I want (or can) and you [Dave Murray] have to wear 2×4’s for skis, carry an anvil and drag an anchor down the course.”

Dave Murray instructing on Whistler Mountain as the Director of Skiing. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

The odds might seem to have been stacked in Sack’s favour, but he wasn’t proposing to race against just any skier. Born in Abbotsford, Dave Murray grew up skiing on Whistler Mountain and started racing as a teenager, even attending the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp. He joined the national ski team in 1971 and through the 1970s became known as one of the Crazy Canucks, alongside teammates Ken Read, Dave Irwin and Steve Podborski. Murray represented Canada at the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games and in 1979 was ranked third in downhill by the FIS and named British Columbia’s Athlete of the Year. Even though Murray retired from ski racing in 1982, he didn’t exactly stop skiing or racing.

The Crazy Canucks: head coach John Ritchie, Ken Read, Dave Murray, Dave Irwin, Steve Podborski, assistant coach Heinz Kapler. Murray Collection

When he was hired as Whistler Mountain’s Director of Skiing, Murray already had a vision of using race training techniques to help improve the abilities of recreational skiers, in part through organized recreational races. Murray became the National Chair of the Canadian Masters Alpine Series (an adult recreational racing series) and took over the summer ski camps on Whistler Mountain. Two years into retirement, even skiing on wooden planks (the anvil and anchor were dropped as race details were nailed down), Murray was a formidable opponent for a skier who had only just begun learning the sport.

Next week we’ll take a look at how Doug Sack prepared for “The Great 2×4 Race” as he ventured into the world of skiing.

Whistler Golf…Whistler Golf…

March 19, 2019 Whistler Museum 3 Comments

At the moment, Whistler’s golf courses are an unlikely place to find a game of golf or even a determined player at the driving range. Instead cross-country skiers, snowshoers and, in the case of the Whistler Golf Club, dog walkers can be found taking advantage of the layer of snow on top of the greens. In just a couple of months, however, the skiers and dogs will be replaced by carts and clubs.

Looking through one of the books on the museum’s reference shelf I came across The Whistler Handbook containing a summary of the courses found in Whistler, written by Doug Sack in 1993. Sack was the first sports editor for the Whistler Question; he started in 1984 and held the post for 18 years. During that time he also contributed to other publications, including The Whistler Handbook put together by Bob Colebrook, Kevin Raffler and Jennifer Wilson in the early 1990s.

Work on the Whistler Golf Course as seen from the bluffs where the building lots are situated. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.

In the golf section of the Handbook Sack covers all of the courses from Furry Creek to Pemberton, including a few that hadn’t yet opened or were still under construction. His commentary, like most of the book, is informative while entertaining.

The oldest golf course in the corridor is the Squamish Valley, first opened in 1967. According to Sack it was built “by community-minded loggers and businessmen” and then renovated under the direction of Robert Muir-Graves in 1992.

The next course to open in the area was the Whistler Golf Course. Though it originally opened with 9 holes, the full 18-hole course designed by Arnold Palmer officially opened in the summer of 1983. Ten years later the course was reportedly busy with tournaments and visitors, making walk on tee times almost impossible except for “weekday twilights.” This course is probably the most photographed in the museum collections as the Question was there to cover all aspects from its construction to the golf lessons Palmer once gave mascot Willie Whistler in 1981 on the 9-hole course to the commercial Sean Connery filmed on the greens in 1984.

Sean Connery seen filming a Japanese commercial for Biogurt on the Whistler Golf Course. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.

By 1993 the Pemberton Valley Golf Club, designed by Boyd Barr and opened in 1989, was described by Sack as having “two distinctive nines, one in the open with lakes, and one in the trees” and offering a “diverse golfing experience.” In only four years the course had developed a reputation as “the most popular course for locals and the most relaxed for visitors.”

Unlike the Pemberton Valley course, neither the Fairmont Chateau Golf Course nor the course in Furry Creek, both newly opened in 1993, were described by Sack as “relaxing”. According to Sack, “You know a golf course is tough when you’re standing on the first tee and you hear one of the assistant pros walking off the 18th green bragging to his co-workers about almost breaking 80.”

As of 1993 Big Sky and Nicklaus North were under construction, set to open in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

Summertime in the Whistler Village in the 1990s. Greg Griffith Collection.

The golf courses of Whistler are only one aspect covered in The Whistler Handbook, which includes sections on the community, the resort services, winter sports and more. Anyone who experienced Whistler in the 1990s will find the contents familiar, whether they golf or not. The 1990s are not often highlighted at the museum (in part because the decade still seems recent, despite ending 19 years ago); having resources like The Whistler Handbook and others in our collection ensure that the 1990s will be preserved as part of Whistler’s history.