Tag: Stephanie Sloan

Whistler Museum celebrates busiest year ever (again!)Whistler Museum celebrates busiest year ever (again!)

January 14, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Continuing with the trend started in 2022, the Whistler Museum celebrated its busiest year ever in 2024. Exhibit visits increased by an impressive 20 per cent, reaching a total of 19,735 visitors, while an additional 9,713 participants attended our events and external programs. Altogether, the museum recorded an incredible 29,448 interactions this year. We’re thrilled to see so many people engaging with our exhibits and programs!

Our 2024 Speaker Series began in February and explored the History of Nordic Skiing with Tom Barratt, Keith Bennett, and Stephanie Sloan. This sold-out event at the Lost Lake PassivHaus delved into the development of early nordic trails, the role of the Resort Municipality of Whistler in their creation, and the formation of the Whistler Nordic Ski Club. In April, historian and ski enthusiast Alex Douglas, better known as Uncle Al, took us on a journey through the connections between Mount Seymour and Whistler Mountain in the 1960s. Then, in June, at the Whistler Public Library, we hosted a discussion on the origins of Tourism Whistler’s origins as the Whistler Resort Association (WRA) with Al Raine and Drew Meredith, moderated by Barrett Fisher. Their detailed recounting of the 1980s – a formative era in Whistler’s history – highlighted the creation of the WRA, its legislation, and the marketing of Whistler as a ski destination.

Drew and Al speak at the Whistler Public Library in June 2024.

Thanks to generous funding from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation in 2021 and 2024, the museum expanded its digitization capabilities with the acquisition of 16mm film digitization equipment and a new slide scanner. The 16mm film equipment allowed us to digitize our George Benjamin and Jim McConkey film collections in stunning 4K resolution. We hosted two film screenings to showcase these archives. In March, we presented a vignette of George Benjamin’s footage, offering a glimpse into Whistler’s 1970s ski patrol, avalanche safety measures, and the counterculture of the era, including iconic locations like Tokem Corners and Toad Hall. In June, at the Maury Young Arts Centre, we screened highlights from the Jim McConkey collection, including films such as The Snows of Garibaldi (1974). This special event featured a Q&A session with 98-year-old Jim McConkey himself, alongside freeskiing legend and filmmaker Mike Douglas. McConkey shared captivating stories of his time in Whistler, including heliskiing adventures and film projects over the years.

Jim speaks with Mike Douglas and the audience in June 2024.

The museum also continued its beloved summer programs in 2024. The Valley of Dreams Historical Walking Tour, now in its 27th year, and the Discover Nature program at Lost Lake Park, now in its ninth year, remained highlights of our outreach efforts. These outdoor programs allow us to connect with audiences beyond the walls of the museum.

In 2024, the museum unveiled two temporary exhibits. Off the Lip: The Rise of Snowboarding in Whistler opened in January, showcasing the emergence of snowboarding in Whistler during the late ’80s and ’90s. The exhibit highlighted the shops, camps, athletes, coaches, terrain, photographers, and filmmakers that established Whistler as a key destination in the global snowboarding movement. Special thanks to Jeff Patterson and Graham Turner for their invaluable contributions to the development of this exhibit. Then, in June, we launched Pedal to the Medal: The History of Mountain Bike Events in Whistler. This exhibit delved into the early mountain biking events that shaped Whistler’s vibrant mountain biking culture, from the first race in 1982 to the creation of the Crankworx festival, which continues to this day.

Whistler has hosted numerous mountain biking events over the decades, many of which were included in Pedal to the Medal over the summer. Blackcomb Mountain Collection

Throughout 2024, the Whistler Museum staff and board of trustees have been hard at work refining plans for a new facility. In 2025, we’ll be seeking public feedback on its design and the exhibits and subjects the Whistler community would like to see. Stay tuned for more information, including the launch of a formal capital campaign this spring. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletter here.

We would like to express our gratitude to the individuals and organizations that make documenting and preserving Whistler’s history possible. This includes the Resort Municipality of Whistler, the Province of British Columbia, the Government of Canada, the Aqueduct Foundation, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, BlueShore Financial, the Whistler Community Foundation, and The Whistler Grocery Store. To everyone who reads our column, attends our events, and visits our exhibits – thank you for your ongoing support. We can’t wait to welcome you back in 2025.

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Maximum ExposureMaximum Exposure

April 2, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

It’s often the case that some weeks are busier than others, whether they’re planned that way or brought about through unexpected changes. In late March and early April 1980, Whistler Mountain had a very busy week of events, only some of which they had planned to host.

The Labatt World Cup Freestyle Championships were scheduled to take place on Grouse Mountain from March 28 to 30. However, by March 20 it was announced that warm weather meant that Grouse would be unable to host the competition. According to Peter MacKay-Smith, spokesperson for Grouse, “It’s unfortunate but we had to face the fact that we would have to move an enormous amount of snow to provide a safe and adequate ballet and mogul course.” Instead, the three day event featuring around 100 skiers from around the world was shifted to Whistler Mountain.

The Labatt World Cup Freestyle Championships on Whistler Mountain. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.

Canadian skiers were looking strong heading into the competition, with Stephanie Sloan and Greg Athans leading the women’s and men’s divisions. Along with ballet, aerial, and moguls competitions, a pro-am mogul bash was also planned for March 26 to help set up the bumps ahead of the mogul competition on the upper T-bar headwall. Teams of three were made up of one professional and two amateaur skiers and the event was used as a warm up for both competitors and the lift company.

As with many events held on Whistler Mountain, the weather was not all that cooperative. Conditions for the World Cup Ballet Championships held on Friday, March 28 were described as “somewhat unfriendly with blowing snow and high winds,” even blowing out the fencing and banners that lined the course near the top of the Little Red Chair. The mogul event scheduled for Saturday, March 29 had to be postponed after 35cm of snow fell on the course. Both the moguls and the aerials took place on Sunday, March 30, making for a busy and tiring day for competitors. All of this was followed by a presentation ceremony at the base of the lifts where, having both held onto their leads, Greg Athans and Stephanie Sloan were crowned as World Cup Freestyle Champions. Sponsored by Labatts, there was also $30,000 in prize money given out.

Downhill racing on Whistler Mountain while the freestyle events go ahead. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.

Though running the World Cup Freestyle might seem like enough for one week, there were also downhill races running on Whistler Mountain Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (March 30 to April 2). While freestyle skiers demonstrated their acrobatic abilities, a Nancy Greene Ski League GS race was held on part of the Orange Chair downhill (today part of Upper Dave Murray Downhill). About 50 skiers aged 6 to 14 from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) and the Red Mountain Ski Club of Rossland raced to earn points for their clubs. In the end, Red Mountain came out ahead with 197 points against Whistler Mountain’s 154. The top placing WMSC racer in 7th place was Willy Raine (son of Nancy Greene and Al Raine).

Jill Warland and Jamie Parsons, winners of the first Bob Parsons Memorial Downhill. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.

Even as the freestyle competitions went on and young skiers raced down the GS course, slightly older junior racers trained on the Back Bowl course for two downhill races held Monday and Tuesday (April 1 and 2). These races made up the first Bob Parsons Memorial Downhill race, named for one of the founding Weasel Workers and Chief of Course for many downhill races on Whistler Mountain before his death in 1979. These races were restricted to racers who were “up and coming” with “100 FIS points or more.” Unlike the freestyle events, both downhill race days were cold and clear and the event went smoothly. Over the two days, Jill Warland of Kimberley and Jamie Parsons (fittingly the son of Bob Parsons) came in first in both downhills and the Bob Parsons Memorial Trophy was awarded to Jamie by his mother Lee.

According to the Whistler Question editorial following all of these events, Whistler Mountain came through this period with “a minimum of confusion and a maximum of exposure,” leading to a lot of positive publicity for the growing resort.

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Off the Lip: The Rise of Snowboarding in WhistlerOff the Lip: The Rise of Snowboarding in Whistler

January 30, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

What’s your favourite mountain, Blackcomb or Whistler? As many know, this has been a hot debate since Blackcomb’s opening in 1980. It amped up even further when snowboarding was welcomed with open arms on Blackcomb Mountain in the winter of 1987/88. Whistler Mountain proceeded with caution before they allowed boarders to shred the slopes a season later.

According to Dave Murray in 1988 interview, “The mountain doesn’t have any problems with snowboards on the mountain in the long term, but in the short term Whistler is very concerned with looking ahead and planning relatively slowly when new innovations come into play.”

Unidentified rider shredding Blackcomb Mountain. Do you know the rider or photographer? Blackcomb Mountain Collection, Unknown Photographer

Whistler Mountain waited to see how the sport did on Blackcomb before snowboarders were invited to Whistler, largely due to the popular perceptions of snowboarders at the time. Snowboarding was already booming in the United States by the time it reached Canada in the early 1980s. The sport attracted a younger crowd and a few black sheep would come off as reckless and rude. Many skiers believed it was dangerous for them to be allowed on the mountain, that it would result in injuries and constant issues. And some skiers didn’t act too kindly toward them, as Ken Achenbach, Dano Pendygrasse and Doug Lundgren recall they were spat on and sworn at, and one skier even threw a shovel at them. There were even fist fights between boarders and skiers in the Blackcomb terrain park, which was run by snowboarders at the time.

But, snowboarding was in its early days – it needed time and space to innovate, integrate, and evolve.

On Blackcomb, Dave Perry, VP of Marketing, recalled that they did extensive research of how it was going in the States before allowing snowboarders on the mountain. Their research showed there was not actually a problem. He said:

We’ve got a considerable number of snowboarders on the mountain, they tend to congregate in certain areas, they’ll find a spot with a tube shape with a big winddrift or something and play there. They don’t mix on the main runs as some people think.

Blackcomb’s support, and later Whistler’s, was crucial to the boom snowboarding had in Canada, with many crediting the resort as the centre of Canadian snowboarding.

A snowboarder cruises across the slushy and chilly water at the 1994 Slush Cup. Whistler Question Collection, Dianne Whelan

For anyone that thought this was a fad, well, they were wrong.

A lot has happened in the last 30+ years, but snowboarding is still a relatively young sport, meaning the museum does not have as much information or as many records of it as we do for sports like skiing. In the last decade, however, the museum has received some great content about snowboarding, along with cool artifacts, and will be using these to recognize the sport and a few of the riders involved.

On January 31 (from 6:30 – 9pm), the Whistler Museum will open our latest exhibit, Off the Lip: The Rise of Snowboarding in Whistler, where we go through the beginnings of snowboarding in Whistler and the impact it has had on the resort and the sport. Off the Lip will be on exhibit until April 30, 2024.

This is also a chance to showcase some of the amazing photographs we have from collections, including Greg Griffith, Blackcomb Mountain, and the Whistler Question. Over the course of the exhibit, we’ll be sharing several images of snowboarders that we were not able to display physically. For many of these photographs, we have little information on the riders and are hoping you might be able to fill in the gaps with names and other details.

Promotional card for Stephanie Sloan’s Women Only Oxygen Snowboard Clinic (1994). Stephanie Sloan Collection

As professional hoarders, we are always looking to expand our knowledge of subjects, so let us know if there is anything you are inspired to share or show us.

We hope to ignite memories through our exhibits. Two subjects around snowboarding that I’m particularly curious about are: did you take a snowboard lesson with world champion freestyle skier Stephanie Sloan? Were you part of the Rad Mad Mom’s Club, a group of women who hit the slops with Whistler Mountain’s first snowboard instructor, Greg Daniells?

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Valley GlidesValley Glides

January 24, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The Whistler Museum has teamed up with Whistler Nordics to present our first Speaker Series event of 2024 and to learn more about the history of the sport in Whistler! We’ll be joined by Tom Barratt, Keith Bennett, and Stephanie Sloan to find out more about early trails, the role of the municipality , the founding of the Whistler Nordic Ski Club and more.

Valley Glides will b presented at the Lost Lake PassivHaus on Monday, February 5. Doors open at 6:30pm; talk begins at 7pm. Tickets are $10 ($5 for Museum or Whistler Nordics members) and are available at the Whistler Museum in-person or by phone.

Ski before you come! Trail passes for Lost Lake will be $6.50 after 3pm.

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