Tag: John Hetherington

Mountain Washrooms: WhistlerMountain Washrooms: Whistler

October 7, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

When Whistler Mountain opened for skiing in the winter of 1965/66, it wasn’t known for its on-mountain amenities. Even after the Roundhouse was built in the summer of 1966, the only facilities on the top of the mountain were nearby outhouses.

The maintenance of these outhouses fell under the purview of Whistler Mountain’s paid ski patrol. John Hetherington, who joined the patrol in the 1967/68 season, remembered shoveling out and cleaning the outhouses as an “ugly job.” According to fellow patroller Hugh Smythe, Hugh gained quite a lot of experience cleaning and restocking the facilities in his first year on the patrol, often using rescue equipment such as ice axes. He described these duties as “the glamour of being a ski patroller.”

The Roundhouse before the balcony and the lower level were enclosed. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

One of the first major renovations of the Roundhouse involved digging out and enclosing a lower floor which would include indoor washrooms. According to Garibaldi’s Whistler News, this was done in part due to skier demands. Doing so presented a couple of problems as at the time, the Roundhouse did not have water and some high points of rock beneath the Roundhouse made the space more a crawlspace than another level.

The first problem was solved by hiring a professional water dowser from Vancouver Island. He arrived with a willow stick and was able to find running water near enough to the Roundhouse that the lift company was able to install a pump and have enough water for the newly installed kitchen and for washrooms. The second problem involved removing some of the rock that the Roundhouse was built on.

Smythe had a blasting ticket because of his patrol work doing avalanche control but, as he recalled, “no experience blasting rock.” He drilled some holes and covered the area in sheets of plywood, then added explosives. Luckily, only one piece of rock went through the main floor of the Roundhouse, though others were embedded in the ceiling. Once the debris was cleared out, washrooms and additional seating were added to the space.

A new building that included additional washrooms under construction in front of the Roundhouse. Whistler Question Collection, 1979

While the addition of indoor washrooms was a big step for Whistler Mountain, the lift company continued to experience washroom woes. The Roundhouse now had four stalls in the women’s washroom, two stalls and two urinals in the men’s washroom, and the pre-existing outhouses. The facilities, however, were still not sufficient for the number of skiers on the mountain on a busy day and Smythe recalled that the lineups for the women’s washroom would be “horrendous.” At one point, season pass holders signed a petition for additional women’s washroom facilities, as the women had gotten tired of waiting in the line and the rest of their group had gotten tired of waiting for them, sometimes for over half an hour. Mirrors were moved from the washroom to the hallway to discourage any lingering, clips were installed to keep the sleeves of one-piece ski suits off the ground, and there were even staff stationed at the washrooms with stopwatches. None of these measures were particularly effective and Smythe remembered some skiers, tired of waiting in line, decided to “just storm the men’s.”

The Roundhouse after renovations. Whistler Question Collection, 1980

In 1979, a new building was installed beside the Roundhouse that included extra washrooms, a new ski school office, a ski repair shop, and a sewer plant. When the Roundhouse Lodge was completely rebuilt in 1998, the new building boasted much larger washroom facilities than the original structure. His experiences with both the outhouses and the Roundhouse facilities left a lasting impression on Hugh Smythe that would inform future developments in his career.

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Whistler’s First ElectionWhistler’s First Election

September 16, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

On September 6, 1976, Whistler residents got to vote in their first municipal election and choose their first council representatives. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) Act, which created Whistler as a resort municipality, was passed by the provincial government in June 1975 and a cabinet order in July set September 6 as the day that the Act came into effect. However, some sections of the Act, specifically those that allowed for the preparation for an election, came into effect earlier.

Campaigning began in August with posters, buttons, and campaign platforms published in the Squamish Times. Four people offered their name for the position of mayor: Paul Burrows, Roy Calder, Pat Carleton, and Roger Lampitt. Though each of the four had their own views on the challenges and unknowns facing the new municipality, all promised that they would dedicate themselves and work hard if chosen. In his campaign, Carleton told voters, “I cannot promise miracles, I can only promise to do the best job possible.”

Whistler’s first council, 1975 – 1976. Watson Collection.

The three positions on council (at the time called aldermen) had seven prospects: Bob Bishop, Jack Bright, Frans Carpay, Julianna Heine, John Hetherington, Jan Systad, and Garry Watson. Whistler residents had three chances to cast their votes with two days of advanced polling leading up to the election. It was reported that around 80% of eligible voters took part in the election and a total of 347 votes were cast. All voting took place at the Highland Lodge and the results were quickly reported in order to be ready for the swearing in of council the following day. In what became a very close race for council seats, Pat Carleton, Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson were voted into office.

Whistler’s first council was officially sworn in on Sunday, September 7 by Judge Walker of the Squamish Provincial Court. Along with those who were elected, Jim Lorimer, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, announced Al Raine as the provincial appointee to council, bringing the total number of council members to five. During the ceremony, Carleton was presented with a gavel from the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (the area had previously been under the jurisdiction of the SLRD) along with a set of Lismore crystal glasses and an inscribed silver tray from Minister Lorimer.

Minister Jim Lorimer speaks at the swearing in ceremony of Whistler’s first council on September 7, 1975. Love Morrison Collection

Unfortunately for Paul and Jane Burrows, they missed the entire ceremony. The original plan was for the ceremony to take place in the Roundhouse at the top of Whistler Mountain and the lift company was going to provide free rides for attendees on the gondola and and Red Chair. The location was switched on short notice to the base of Whistler Mountain (today’s Creekside area), after the Burrows had already started hiking up the mountain with their dog. They only learned of the change when they reached the top and, as their dog was not allowed to tide the chairlift, were unable to make it back down before the ceremony concluded.

Whistler’s second council, 1976 – 1978. Watson Collection

The first council had a lot to get started on, including hiring their first staff members, developing an official community plan, beginning work on a municipal sewer system and treatment centre, drafting bylaws and having them approved by the province, finding more sustainable long-term waste solutions, and much more. They also had only fourteen months before the next municipal election. While most municipal office terms at the time were two years, the Minister of Municipal Affairs dictated the length of Whistler’s first municipal council. Another election took place on November 20, 1976, though the second council looked very similar to the first. All of the incumbents who chose to run again were re-elected and only one new face, that of Frans Carpay, joined Whistler’s council.

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Looking Ahead to 2025Looking Ahead to 2025

January 7, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

As we start 2025, the Whistler Museum is looking ahead at some fairly significant anniversaries for the Whistler area. The 2025/26 winter season is the 60th season of lift operations on Whistler Mountain and the 45th season for Blackcomb Mountain. This February will mark fifteen years since Whistler and Vancouver hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. Off the mountains, the Resort Municipality of Whistler turns 50 in September, marking five decades of what some have called the “Whistler experiment.”

Though merged into one company these days, opening day for Blackcomb Mountain took place fifteen years after the opening day for Whistler Mountain. Greg Griffith Collection, 1980

The RMOW, Canada’s first resort municipality, was created through the Resort Municipality of Whistler Act, a piece of provincial legislation separate from the British Columbia Municipal Act and one that (with some changes) still governs Whistler today. Previously, the Whistler area had been governed as part of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and local interests were supported and championed by organizations such as the Whistler Mountain District Chamber of Commerce (formed in 1966, today the Whistler Chamber of Commerce) and the Alta Lake District Ratepayers Association (ALDRA).

Late in the summer of 1975, property owners and residents of the Whistler area (there were about 500 residents of all ages at the time) had a chance to elect their first municipal council and on September 6, 1975, five representatives were sworn into office at the gondola base of Whistler Mountain: Pat Carleton, Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, Garry Watson, and Al Raine.

Whistler’s first municipal council: Bob Bishop, Al Raine, Geoff Pearce (administrator), Mayor Pat Carleton, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson. Watson Collection.

Pat Carleton, Whistler’s first mayor, came to Alta Lake in 1956 for the fishing and retired to his home on Alpha Lake in 1971. Bob Bishop and his family moved to the Whistler area from Squamish in 1968. Bob, along with his partner Bernie Brown, developed the Whistler Cay neighbourhood, as well as the beginnings of the Whistler Golf Course. John “Bushrat” Hetherington, like many over the years, came to Whistler Mountain to ski and worked for the pro ski patrol while living in the original Toad Hall and later Tokum Corners. Garry Watson was first introduced to the area through the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association and the idea of hosting the Olympic Winter Games here.

Al Raine at work. Whistler Question Collection, 1982

Unlike the other members of the Whistler council, Al Raine was not elected to his position in 1975 but was appointed by the provincial government. A ski coach and consultant who advised on ski area development projects, Al worked for the BC Ministry of Lands as the provincial ski area coordinator where he was responsible for creating and implementing ski area policies and overseeing the development of ski areas. Through this position, he worked with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to make Whistler a resort municipality and, for his efforts, was appointed to council from 1975 to 1982 (after Al stepped down to focus on his role as executive director of the Whistler Resort Association, his seat on council became an elected position).

Described by Garry Watson as “the energy” and “the innovator,” Al was deeply involved in the creation of the Whistler Village, the development of a ski area on Blackcomb Mountain, and much more. After leaving Whistler, he and his wife Nancy Greene continued to advocate for the importance of skiing, ski area development, and tourism in BC. Al served as Mayor of Sun Peaks from 2010 (when it became a municipality) to 2024, stepping down just before he sadly passed away last month.

Over the next year, we’re sure to hear and share many stories from the early days of the RMOW and we look forward to learning more about the people, organizations, and events that have shaped Whistler over the past five decades.

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RMOW Employee #2: Geoff PearceRMOW Employee #2: Geoff Pearce

June 18, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When the first municipal council was sworn into office on September 6, 1975, the four councillors (Garry Watson, John Hetherington, Bob Bishop and Al Raine) and Mayor Pat Carleton were faced with the daunting task of building a resort in the ski area. As the first council of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, however, they first had to hire some municipal employees. Over the past few years, the museum has sat down with two of the earliest employees of the RMOW, Geoff Pearce and Kris Shoup, and heard about their experiences.

According to both Pearce and Shoup, the first position to be filled at the RMOW was that of building inspector. Jim Murray, who had previously been an inspector for the Squamish Lillooet Regional District, was the first hire of the new council. He was soon followed by Pearce, who began as municipal clerk.

The RMOW’s first council: Bob Bishop, Al Raine, Geoff Pearce (municipal clerk), Mayor Pat Carleton, John Hetherington and Garry Watson. Carleton Collection

Pearce moved to Whistler in February 1976, though he had already been called in to take minutes at a zoning bylaw meeting in December 1975 to get a feeling for Whistler. He had heard about the job from his boss in Squamish, where he was working as the municipal clerk, who told him that he should apply. Upon his arrival in Whistler, he found that it was pretty bare from logging but looked like it had “great potential.”

The workplace of the RMOW moved around quite a bit in the first few years. That first meeting Pearce attended took place at the gondola base in either L’Apres or the cafeteria and he remembered attending council meetings in Carleton’s garage and either the Mount Whistler Lodge or the Highland Lodge. Offices were set up in a trailer next to the liquor store (also located in a trailer at the time) and for a while RMOW staff worked out of the lunchroom of the first Myrtle Philip School, not far from the current location of Municipal Hall. This meant that municipal files and records also had to find temporary homes, such as at the home of Betty Jarvis, who was hired as the first municipal secretary by Pearce.

Staff and council meet in a somewhat makeshift conference room – Pearce can be seen above the shoulder of Garry Watson. George Benjamin Collection

For his first few months as municipal clerk, Pearce also functioned as the treasurer and collector of taxes. Outside of the RMOW, he worked as the approving officer for the area and was a volunteer firefighter as well. In 1980, Pearce was promoted to administrator, a position he held until 1985.

From bringing together private water systems to building a sewer system to planning and constructing the Town Centre, Pearce remembered that staff and council “worked really hard,” including working through the winter holidays of 1978/79. The development proposals for Phase 1 of the Town Centre were due December 22, 1978 and council, Sutcliffe, Moodie & Griggs (the project management firm leading the Town Centre project), and staff spent the next few weeks evaluating the proposals in order to announce the winners in early January 1979.

That’s not quite Geoff Pearce behind his nameplate reading Clerk/Treasurer – the Myrtle Philip School kindergarten class came for a visit in 1978. Whistler Question Collection, 1978

According to Peace, when he began working for the RMOW in 1976 the population of Whistler was around 530 people, which meant that you got to know most people quite well, especially those you worked with. He was invited to Carleton’s house for coffee with Pat and his wife Kay and, as part of his job was to personally deliver the council envelopes on Friday night to the councillors’ homes, he would often leave either John Hetherington or Franz Carpay (elected to Whistler’s second council) to last so he could sit down and have a beer. In between committee meetings and council meetings, the group would go out for dinner together, rotating through the various restaurants in the area.

Pearce left Whistler for Smithers in 1985, though he returned for a year before moving to Victoria. As recently as 2019, however, he still received calls looking for background knowledge of the RMOW’s early years. Next week, we’ll take a look at some of the experiences of Kris Shoup, the fourth employee of the RMOW.

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