Tag: ski racing

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

December 31, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler 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.

READ MOREREAD MORE

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

December 24, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler 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.

READ MOREREAD MORE

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

December 17, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler 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.

READ MOREREAD MORE

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.

READ MOREREAD MORE