Tag: Garibaldi Olympic Development Association

Binty was hereBinty was here

September 29, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Operating from 1965 to 1992, the first gondola installed on Whistler Mountain was a hard working lift that brought skiers (and later snowboarders) from the valley base at today’s Creekside to the bottom of the Red Chair. Gondola cars from this lift can still be found today throughout the valley and beyond, including in the Whistler Museum. They often show signs of their years of use, from dents to scratches to added stickers. If you look closely at some of the gondola cars, you might even find a name or two scratched into the surface. One name that could be found on many of the cars over the years was Binty, also known as Vincent Massey.

The original Whistler Mountain gondola. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

The Massey family began visiting in the early 1960s when Geoffrey Massey, the well known architect, became involved in the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association. He and his wife Ruth brought their four children, including Binty, up to ski regularly. Looking back at his childhood visits to Whistler Mountain, Binty recalled a low of snow, slow lifts, and long line ups. According to him, “It was such a cold ride up, it would take about 40 or 50 minutes to get up out of the valley to the Roundhouse because the lifts were so slow.” By the time they reached the Roundhouse, they would be so cold that they would go straight inside to warm up. Despite this, to Binty, Whistler was “a big deal, it was a big mountain.”

According to Hugh Smythe, who began working for Whistler Mountain soon after it opened in 1966, Binty and his “mischievous look” became well known to lift company employees, especially after his name started appearing on more and more gondola cars. As Hugh saw it, “his goal was to carve his name in the plastic of the gondola cars in every car.” Unfortunately, this made lift company president Franz Wilhelmsen “apoplectic” and one of Hugh’s assigned tasks was to try and catch Binty in the act.

Binty Massey in his Whistler pottery studio. Whistler Question Collection, 1991

Binty, who grew up in Horseshoe Bay, moved to Whistler full-time after finishing high school. Unfortunately for him, the winter of 1976/77 is best remembered by those who there as the year that Whistler Mountain closed for skiing for three weeks in January. Warm rain after the holidays worsened already marginal conditions and then the weather got cold and dry, which made for great ice skating but no skiing. After working construction in Whistler for a year, Binty decided to go to art school.

A few decades late, after Binty and his wife Cheryl and moved back to Whistler and started a family, his labeling of the gondola cars appeared again in what might seem like an unexpected setting: a fundraising event of the Myrtle Philip Community School (MPCS) Parent Advisory Council (PAC).

Hugh Smythe reenacts his days working for the lift company as a lineup of parents look on. Whistler Question Collection, 1992

The Amuse Cruises of the 1990s were held to raise money for the MPSC, which opened in its Lorimer Road location in September 1992. They were held at the Fairmont Chateau and featured skits put together by the parents from different classes. One such skit at the event held in November 1992 featured a recently-decommissioned gondola car and Hugh Smythe reenacting some of the tasks that came up during his early days working for Whistler Mountain, including attempts to stop Binty from adding his name to the lift.

While the gondola car included in the skit made it a bit more obvious (“Binty was here” was painted on in large letters), it’s likely that if any attendees had examined it closely, they might have found the familiar name scratched into a window at least twenty years before.

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Whistler’s First Ski LiftWhistler’s First Ski Lift

January 21, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

It’s likely that the groomed runs of Whistler or Blackcomb Mountains are some of the first images that come to mind when thinking about lift-accessed terrain in the Whistler area these days. For those who skied here in the early 1960s, however, lift-accessed terrain looked very different.

The first motorized ski lift in the Whistler area was not a gondola, a chairlift, or even a T-bar, though all three were installed on Whistler Mountain during the summer of 1965. Rather, the first ski lift was an 850-foot rope tow installed under the power lines on the west side of Alta Lake Road by Dick Fairhurst and George Krieg a few years before Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. began construction.

Interest in downhill skiing in the Whistler area gained popularity in the early 1960s, spurred on by the 1960 Olympic Winter Games held in California and the subsequent formation of the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA). GODA planned to host the Olympics in Garibaldi Provincial Park, settling on London (now Whistler) Mountain. Throughout the winters of 1960/61 and 1961/62, GODA and other interested parties made trips to Alta Lake to explore the proposed site, monitor snow conditions, and test out the skiing. The “Alta Lake Echo,” the newsletter of the Alta Lake Community Club (ALCC), faithfully reported on the comings and goings of these groups alongside those of full and part-time residents of Alta Lake.

Skiers out underneath the powerlines – the rope tow can be seen on the right. Fairhurst Collection

In November 1960, GODA members and journalists visited Alta Lake to do a story on Whistler Mountain as a possible Olympic site to be published in a special “Winter in Canada” issue of Maclean’s. That December, 56 skiers from Vancouver traveled to Alta Lake “with skis and enthusiasm” led by Fred Taylor. Though the conditions were described as “ten inches of old crusty snow,” the group did some skiing on the hills behind Jordan’s Lodge, had dinner, and watched some films on the Olympics at the community hall before returning to the city on the train. With the growing number of these trips, it’s no surprise that Alta Lake residents decided to get in on the fun and set up some skiing for themselves.

Dick Fairhurst, whose family owned and operated Cypress Lodge (now the Point Artist-Run Centre), teamed up with George Krieg to install the valley’s first ski lift on the hill behind Cypress Lodge. They used a 1948 Ford V-8 motor to pull the rope through four pulleys that they mounted on four towers they built. The tow was 850-feet long and could pull three or maybe four people at a time, depending on their size. While it was not the most advanced lift, Dick later described it as “a start and lots of fun.”

Skiers take a break off to the side of the cleared “run.” Gow Collection

We are fortunate to have not only a few photos of this rope tow in the archives but also a film in the Petersen Collection that shows the lift in one of its first years of operation. The film shows rocky terrain, patchy snow, and a slow-moving lift. It also shows Alta Lake residents and guests walking up the road to the lift carrying skis, poles, and children while at least one dog runs around the skiers. Most of the skiers shown are smiling and appear to be enjoying themselves.

Unfortunately for the lift, a fire at Cypress Lodge in 1962 destroyed the storage shed where the tow-rope was kept alongside furniture built by Bert Harrop (the first also destroyed one of the cabins, a car, and a jeep). Florence Petersen used the readership of the “Alta Lake Echo” to fundraise for a new rope and, thanks to the generosity of Alta Lake residents, was able to present a new rope at a Presentation Party at the Krieg’s house that fall. The rope tow ran for only a few winters before Alta Lake residents and visitors had other options for skiing.

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The Big Test: The 1967 du Maurier International Ski RaceThe Big Test: The 1967 du Maurier International Ski Race

March 26, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Just over a year after Whistler Mountain opened in 1966, the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) hosted the second annual du Maurier International. This race brought in top ski racers from around the world.

This competition was a test to see if Whistler could handle a race of this calibre, in hopes of eventually hosting the Olympics.

So, how did the first international ski race at Whistler go? Thanks to the publication Ski Trails, we have the full coverage of the event.

This advert for the race ran in Ski Trails and also promoted the new features found on Whistler Mountain that season.

The du Maurier International was created in partnership with the Canadian Amateur Ski Association (CASA) and du Maurier Cigarettes. The cigarette company saw the potential for advertising and promotion through skiing events. After receiving approval from the International Ski Federation (FIS), the first competition was held in 1966 and was split in two halves at different locations, Mt. Norquay (Alberta) and Mont-Sainte-Anne (Quebec). The race consisted of two disciplines, slalom and giant slalom, in both men’s and women’s categories.

The Whistler event took place January 28-29, 1967. CASA was responsible for organizing the event, while du Maurier Cigarettes sponsored the promotion and transportation for the athletes. Because the resort was fairly new with limited resources, there was a lot of planning and consideration for racers and spectators.

A crowd gathers at the bottom of the slalom course located alongside the Valley T-Bar. The weekend saw a mix of conditions (rain, snow, wind, and fog) that affected visibility for both racers and spectators. MacLaurin Collection

Luckily, it was a big snow year and the courses were well-packed and many racers complimented the construction. Aside from Canadian skiers, the race drew in professional athletes from the United States, Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, West Germany, and Finland.

Spectators were charged an entry fee of $1 or $2 if they chose to use the gondola to view the race. Transportation options from Vancouver were a train via the Pacific Great Eastern Railway or a bus via Squamish Coachlines, GODA Charters, or Greyhound. Driving was an option but parking at today’s Creekside area was limited. The event organizers had parking available at Brandywine Falls, with a shuttle ready to transport the public to the base of the mountain. Though the organizers ensured there were extra trains and buses, transport did not go as smoothly as expected.

On both days, the giant slalom was scheduled at 9:30am and the slalom at 1:00pm. Some trains arrived halfway through the first race, and some buses did not leave Vancouver to make the two hour journey until 8:00am. As the race started at mid-station, it took about thirty minutes to hike up to the area, and by that time many spectators did not see much. The slalom was at the base of the mountain and easier to view.

It might be a little hard to see in the crowd, but here Nancy Greene is on the podium at the du Maurier race. MacLaurin Collection

The race results were particularly exciting for Canadians. Nancy Greene placed first in both races, beating France’s Christine Goitschel by two seconds in the slalom and Switzerland’s Ruth Adolf by four seconds in the giant slalom. In the men’s category, Norway’s Haakon Mjoen won slalom and Austria’s Werner Bleiner won giant slalom, though Canadian Peter Duncan placed fifth in both races.

Did Whistler pass the test? Yes and no. Hosting Whistler’s first international skiing event proved the mountain terrain was capable of holding Olympic level competitions; however, the resort still did not have enough resources to accommodate the athletes and number of spectators. The success of this event strengthened GODA’s 1976 Olympic bid, but ultimately these Games went to a previous host (Innsbruck, Austria). This was due to a few factors. The summer Olympics was scheduled to be in Montreal, and the International Olympic Committee did not want to have two Olympics in the same country in the same year. After awarding the bid to Denver, Colorado, it was rejected by the state due to environmental concerns. Whistler was reconsidered, but the new NDP provincial government did not support this round. Though disappointing, it gave Whistler more time to develop its resources.

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Celebrating Whistler’s Olympic MilestonesCelebrating Whistler’s Olympic Milestones

February 18, 2020 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Over the coming weeks, there will be plenty of opportunities in Whistler to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (including the Whistler Museum’s next temporary exhibit highlighting the volunteers of the Games, opening Friday, February 28!).  While many people may still be wondering how a decade has passed, this week we took a look even further back, to when the first Olympic bid was submitted by the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) sixty years ago.

Following the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, a group from Vancouver very quickly organized a committee to explore the idea of hosting the Games in the Garibaldi Park region.  The California Games ended on February 28, and in March GODA invited Sidney Dawes, the Canadian representative to the International Olympic Committee, to assist in the search for an Olympic venue. Cliff Fenner, the Park Supervisor for Garibaldi Park, also assisted in the search, which included reconnaissance flights, snowmobile explorations, and test skiers.  London Mountain (now known as Whistler Mountain) was chosen as “a highly desirable area”, and by November 1960 GODA had put together a bid for the 1968 Olympic Winter Games which would have seen all events take place within the Whistler valley.

A group heads out to explore Garibaldi Park in search of an Olympic site, 1960. Cliff Fenner Collection

Creating a bid for the chosen site meant planning to build an entire Olympic site from scratch.  Alta Lake, as the area was known at the time, was comprised of a few lodges, summer cabins, and logging operations.  The valley was accessible by rail and courageous drivers could make their way up via service roads in the summer.  According to the 1968 bid book, prior to exploring possible Olympic sites, the provincial government had already spoken publicly of extended the highway that ran from North Vancouver to Squamish further north to Pemberton.

Other services we often take for granted today had also not yet reached Alta Lake.  The list of venues and facilities to be built in the valley for 1968 included not just sporting venues, but also a water supply system, sewers, sewage disposal, a substation for power supply, a fire station, and a hospital.

An official pamphlet promoting GODA’s 1968 Olympic bid.

Though the prospect of building all of this was daunting, in the bid book GODA pointed out that it had been done before, for the British Empire and Commonwealth Games that were held in Vancouver in 1954.  As they put it, “Here, too, a project was begun with nothing more than an idea, a desire to hold the event here, and an enthusiasm that made the project become a reality… Given the go-ahead, work will begin to transform the Whistler Mountain area into one of the finest sites ever developed for the Olympic Winter Games.”

This site became the gondola base, today known as Creekside, but before 1965 it was pretty bare. Wilhelmsen Collection

As we know, the 1968 Olympic Winter Games were not held on Whistler Mountain (they were held in Grenoble, France), but that did not mean that all of the work of surveying, planning, and negotiating with provincial powers was for nought.  Instead, GODA formed a sister organization, Garibaldi Lifts Ltd., to develop Whistler Mountain as a ski resort, Olympics or not.

Like the bid for 1968, a tremendous amount of work was done in a relatively short time in order to open Whistler Mountain for skiing in January 1966.  The ideas and enthusiasm of GODA were finally fulfilled in 2010 and, though it took muck longer and looked very different that they had first planned, it five decades the Whistler Mountain area had been significantly transformed.

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