Tag: logging

This Week in Photos

This Week In Photos: June 7This Week In Photos: June 7

June 7, 2018 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

This week begins and ends with Myrtle Philip in the Myrtle Philip School gym, with quite a lot that happened in between.

1980

Myrtle Philip, the valley’s long-time resident, met Dana Parker-McLain, one of the valley’s newest, at the Community Club’s Potluck dinner.

Logging truck and cargo lies strewn along the highway after sliding over 150 yards around a corner only 1/2 mile south of the Gondola area.

Whistler Parlour Group… Beth Pipe, Diane Smith, Candy Rustad, Brenda Dunbar and Pat Beauregard.

Heather Muir and Morag Marshall with ‘Safety Bear’ Hansen at the school.

Big office… small desk! Blackcomb’s accountant Larry Osborne sits behind his temporary desk in a deserted Blackcomb trailer.

1981

Hello! Macauley Nicolls Maitland manager Debbie Teigen smiles as she finally gets her office phone after 5 months of waiting.

New Fire Chief Wayne Schepull stands with the Whistler Volunteer Fire Department at their first meeting together on June 4.

Looking down on the Village Square and some of the 70 motorcycles that were parked there on Sunday.

Craig Tomlinson playing one of his hand-crafted dulcimers.

This is the first motorist to miss the approach curve to the Culliton Creek Bailey bridge. The accident occurred on June 6.

1983

A semi-permanent abode graces the shores of Green Lake in a makeshift campground on private property. Bottles, remnants of campfires and dirty pans litter the ground in this otherwise beautiful setting.

Weigh, hey, up she rises… Cranes hoist the 18-ton concrete spans into place over 19 Mile Creek June 1 in preparation for the new bridge. December ’81 floods washed out the old wooden bridge, severing Valley Drive in Alpine Meadows.

Pause awhile in Whistler Village the next sunny day and you’ll hear this group of young musicians perform a wide variety of selections. (L-R) Jennifer Porter, Cal McConnell, Connie Carver, Dan Cushing, and Frank Mallany are a part of a federal government student employment program run by the WRA. In addition to displaying their musical talents these young people will be offering village tours, working at the new information booth and helping at special events.

Ray Lyman, band director of Seaton Secondary School from Vernon, was pleased to present Whistler’s Molly Boyd with a band booster award for the services she rendered in bringing the group to Whistler. Band members and audiences alike braved cold winds to share a top-rated concert of big band sounds.

Chips fly where they may as Jud Forster (left) and Stan Hammond prepare red cedar logs for a carport in Whistler Cay Heights being built by Hammond and Davies Log Builders.

Mike Sweeney (seated) of Vancouver’s Whitecaps soccer team signs a few autographs at Myrtle Philip School sports banquet Thursday.

1984

Thirty-one students graduated from Pemberton Secondary Friday night, including Scott Logue of Whistler who received the Governor General’s Bronze Medal for academics from school Superintendent Trevor Harris. More than 500 people attended the commencement ceremonies at the Pemberton school, making it the second largest annual event in the town next to the Christmas concert at Signal Hill Elementary. Logue, also class valedictorian, was among three local students who received awards. Rob O’Keefe was awarded the Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation bursary, and the Alta Lake Community Club picked Rob Boyd as this year’s recipient of its bursary.

Whistler’s branch of the North Shore Community Credit Union opened on Friday, just two months after it was approved. By 11 am Friday a line-up was formed, and on Saturday the credit union had 150 new members. Credit union President Susan Burdak (left) spoke to the crowd at Saturday’s official opening.

Cecile Valleau is Whistler’s newest postmistress. She was promoted to the position May 22, taking over from Debbie Cliffe, who was transferred to the Agassiz post office. Valleau has worked at the Whistler post office since 1979 and is a 15-year valley resident.

Skiing may be over for the year, but work on Whistler Mountain still continues. At the end of each season all the chairs, including those on Olive Chair, are taken off the cables, checked and then moved to a different spot to prevent metal stress. As well, the metal clamps holding the chair to the cable periodically undergo magnetic tests for cracks.

The venerable Myrtle Philip drew the winning ticket Thursday in a draw for a Molson World Downhill poster signed by the Canadian downhill team. Assisted by Glen Rustad (right), Whistler’s grandmother chose Bill Carson’s ticket. Proceeds from the draw went to the Whistler Singers, which performed Thursday at the elementary school accompanied by the students. The show, which ended in a standing ovation for orchestrator Molly Boyd, featured musical performances by kids on recorder, guitar and ukulele.

The Origins of Whistler’s Interpretive ForestThe Origins of Whistler’s Interpretive Forest

October 7, 2017 Whistler Museum 2 Comments

After the arrival of the Great Eastern Railway in the fall of 1914, logging and other industrial activities started to develop in and around the Whistler Valley.

Logging was a vital industry in the Whistler area throughout the 20th century and evidence of its impact can be found throughout the valley, from the abandoned Parkhurst logging town on Green Lake to various patches of forest in different states of regrowth.

The forestry industry has a long history throughout the Whistler valley and many of the valley’s early settlers worked in logging. Photo: Fairhurst Collection

The Whistler Interpretive Forest, located off Highway 99 adjacent to Cheakamus Crossing, was created in 1980 as a joint project between the British Columbia Forest Service and Pacific Forest Products Ltd. to provide forest interpretation and education opportunities while demonstrating integrated resource management. The area is approximately 3,000 hectares.

The earliest logging in the Interpretive Forest began in 1958 and continues into present day. The area now consists of old growth stands plus a variety of plantations of differing ages. The Forest Service manages this area to provide benefits for large numbers of people with diverse interests. Many things are considered in planning for human needs in the forest: hiking, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, biking, as well as continued logging operations.

This photo was taken by Don MacLaurin during his time working in BC’s forestry industry. Photo: MacLaurin Collection

The Whistler Interpretive Forest became part of the Cheakamus Community Forest (33,000 hectares) in 2009. The Community Forest is managed under an ecosystem-based management approach and run jointly by the Lil’wat and Squamish First Nations, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and the Ministry of Forests. This means that indigenous flora and fauna are given a chance to flourish and recreational opportunities and expand, while new sustainable forestry practices are explored and refined. Under this management regime, an average of 40 hectare per year is harvested.

The area has become a favourite amongst locals and tourists, with many of Whistler’s most popular trails located in the area. The trail network includes the Riverside Trail, which explores the Cheakamus River with the help of the MacLaurin Crossing suspension bridge.

Don MacLaurin, Isobel MacLaurin and friends hiking in the mountains. Photo: MacLaurin Collection

The bridge was named after Don MacLaurin, a local forester who helped develop, map and design the area to help people understand the forest and its importance. Other popular trails include the Loggers Lake Trail, which climbs a rock bluff to a hidden lake and a wooden pier, and the Cheakamus Trail, which wanders through the forest to the glacier-fed Cheakamus Lake.

Scattered amongst the roads and trails in the area are interpretive displays about the local flora, fauna, geology and logging history, along with details about the forest types of the region and the replanting techniques used in the Interpretive Forest.

Peter Ackhurst and John Hammons at work in the Whistler Interpretive Forest.

The Whistler Rotary Club, with financial help from the Community Foundation of Whistler, have been updating the interpretation displays and signs in the Whistler Interpretive Forest over the past two years, as many have fallen into disrepair. The Whistler Museum has been a supportive partner in this project, helping with the design and, at times, installation of these new signs.

More information on this project can be found at: cheakamuscommunityforest.com.

Building AWAREnessBuilding AWAREness

September 2, 2013 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Great news for local green-minded folk. In the run up to their forthcoming 25th anniversary, local environmental group AWARE (Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment) has some exciting announcements to make.

As a recent AWARE release stated:

AWARE has traditionally been a volunteer-run organization and as such has faced the challenges shared by many similar organizations… Now on the eve of the 25th year the group is not only still going but has a fully active board of directors and has this month fulfilled a long-term aspiration of hiring an Executive Director.

Last month Claire Ruddy, who has long been involved on the AWARE board, was hired as the new Executive Director. The board revival and new executive director means that leading into their 25th anniversary, AWARE is now able to take on and deliver more ambitious projects. As Claire Ruddy highlighted “this is a very exciting time to be a part of AWARE and with the 25th Anniversary year coming up we are trying to create lots of opportunities for people to get involved.”

Over the past 24 years AWARE has been a key player in the protection of wildlife habitat, education and awareness raising relating to the environment and sustainability as well as advocating for the environment. Last year AWARE was able to expand the local debate around old forest logging in Whistler through holding an Old Forest Symposium with guest experts and a field trip to the Ancient Cedars. A tree age study carried out by the group also found Whistlers oldest tree on record. This year tree coring work continues and AWARE has started new projects such as starting a Zero Waste Station at the Whistler Farmers Markets to help educate around the issue of composting.

A recent AWARE gathering at the Ancient Cedars.

They have also been holding regular Green Talks at the Whistler Museum to promote awareness of pertinent environmental issues. Two upcoming events provide a great opportunity for interested individuals to learn more about the rejuvenated organization, its future direction, and the many ways to get involved.

First, on Wednesday September 4th from 6-8pm a Green Talk will be held at the Whistler Museum, focusing on the presentation of AWARE’s new long-term strategic plan.

Then, on Wednesday October 2nd, 6-8pm, again at the Whistler Museum, AWARE will be holding it’s annual general meeting, where new board members can be voted in and the group can continue to build its capacity.

If you can’t make the meeting but want more info please email info@awarewhistler.org.

Postcards of the Whistler Museum Archives – Pt.1Postcards of the Whistler Museum Archives – Pt.1

June 30, 2012 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

There’s something undeniably intriguing about old postcards and the stories behind them. This week and next we will be featuring some of the postcards found in our archives, and we invite you to comment and offer your own interpretations of their contents. Next week’s post will cover correspondance between members of the Tapley and Philip families.

First up is this fascinating postcard with a bit of a mysterious background we like to call “One big tree!”

Although this photograph doesn’t show a tree near Whistler (and possibly not even a tree near Vancouver), it is in the Philip collection, and was given to either Myrtle or Alex at some point.

The photograph in this postcard is purportedly from 1895, and shows several people posing on a giant felled fir tree (again, according to the postcard). The caption reads, “This fir giant measured 417 ft. in height with a clear 300 ft. to the first limb. At the butt it was 25 ft. through with bark 16 in. thick. Its circumference being 77 ft.; 207 ft. from the ground its diameter was 9 feet. Felled near Vancouver in August ’95 by George Cary, who is seen upon the ladder.”

This is one mysterious image – there appears to be a great deal of folklore surrounding the “Cary Fir” which even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. Read this article and response for yourself and decide what you believe: http://www.spirasolaris.ca/DouglasFir.pdf.

Our next postcard is a bit out of season, but we thought we’d share it regardless…

Leonard Frank postcard — Leonard Frank’s Vancouver

This Christmas postcard showing an early view of Vancouver (sans skyscrapers) reads, “Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a happy and victorious 1943.” The card itself is signed by Leonard Frank, and the photograph is likely his, as he was a well-known photographer in British Columbia in the early half of the 20^th century.

When this card was produced, World War II was in full swing, and wishing for a victorious year was a common sentiment.

Frank originally hailed from Germany, and was the son of one of Germany’s earliest professional photographers. Struck by gold fever in 1892, he traveled to North America – living first in San Francisco and then Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.

A camera won as a raffle prize shifted his direction entirely, and he moved to Vancouver in 1917, quickly becoming the leading commercial/industrial photographer in the city.

Frank also spent quite a bit of time at Alta Lake, and several of his photographs of the surrounding area can be found in the Museum archives. A frequent guest of Rainbow Lodge, he was also a friend of Myrtle and Alex Philip, to whom he sent this postcard.

For more information on Leonard Frank, see www.vpl.ca/frank/biography.html

This Sunday, keep an eye out for the Museum staff in the Canada Day Parade dressed as postcards from around the world!