Tag: summer skiing

A Ski Coach’s R&RA Ski Coach’s R&R

June 20, 2023 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Before Whistler became a year-round destination resort there were few visitors and events throughout the summer. Residents made their own fun with regattas on Alta Lake, softball, fishing and hiking all popular pastimes. Along with mountain biking, today golf is a very popular activity in the summer with the local golf courses often booking up well in advance. However, before Whistler’s first 18-hole golf course officially opened in 1983, the Squamish Valley Golf Course was the closest place to tee off. Still, summer residents would make their way along the narrow and windy highway to have a hit.

Although skiing is not thought of as a summer sport, summer ski camps in Whistler have kept athletes on the snow year-round since the resort opened. The first summer ski camp was run by Roy and Jane Ferris and Alan White in 1966 with Art Furrer as a guest coach. Alan and Roy owned Highland Lodge and the summer camps were initially conceived as a way to bring visitors to Whistler during the quiet summer season.

The summer ski camps became known as the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camps in 1967, after Toni Sailer was recruited during a ski demonstration at the Seattle Center. Toni Sailer was an Austrian skiing superstar who had won gold in all three alpine events at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Toni would coach the Austrian ski team during the winter months then disappear to Whistler where he enjoyed living in relative anonymity, rarely being swamped for autographs like when he was back home in Austria.

*Toni Sailer (right) and Tim Ferris on the t-bar in July 1978 during the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp on Whistler Mountain. Alex Douglas Collection.*

A legend in his own right, Jim McConkey moved to Whistler the year after Toni Sailer to take over the Whistler ski school and ski shop. He became good friends with Toni, who said that he took the job in Whistler specifically so he could play golf in Squamish. Before Whistler had its own golf course Toni would coach each day until noon, then go to Squamish Valley Golf Course which also opened in 1967.

Jim McConkey still comes to the Sea to Sky to golf today; however, before there was the pick of local golf courses he was a member of the Capilano Golf Course. Toni Sailer was a big name in sport, and the Capilano Golf Course said everything would be on the house if Toni visited. Jim and Toni started golfing together at Capilano on the days between summer ski camps. One particularly memorable visit was a trip that they took with Earl Noble. Earl owned a big lumber mill in North Vancouver and had a helicopter. They golfed together at Capilano in the morning, then they flew to the Victoria Golf Club for another round in the afternoon. According to Jim, “Toni never forgot that, he just thought that it couldn’t get any better. 36 holes!”

*Don McQuaid teaching tricks during the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camps in 1977. Alex Douglas Collection.*

The Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camps were ahead of their time and quickly began to offer four types of instruction – Advanced Racing, Intermediate and Novice Racing, Recreational and Freestyle. Along with Toni Sailer and Jim McConkey, personalised instruction was offered by internationally renowned skiers, including Nancy Greene Raine and Wayne Wong.

In 1984, ski racer, Crazy Canuck and former camper, Dave Murray took over the summer camps and they became known as the Atomic Dave Murray Whistler Summer Ski Camps. Campers continued to be coached by internationally renowned athletes, having a blast and creating lifelong memories. This continues today with Momentum Ski Camps on Blackcomb Glacier, run by Olympic skiers John and Julia Smart and their talented coaches.

Summer Skiing On (and Off) the MountainSummer Skiing On (and Off) the Mountain

August 10, 2021 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

In the late 1970s, there were two very different ways to ski in Whistler during the summertime: on the snow of the Whistler Glacier with the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camps (TSSSC) and into the water off of the Lost Lake ski jump. Both got their start as a way for skiers to train through the summer months, though they also attracted recreational skiers looking to learn something new.

The first TSSSC was held in 1967, headed by Austrian alpine ski racer Toni Sailer. At the time, Whistler’s Glacier Bowl was one of the only year-round snowfields in Canada that was easily accessible by lifts, meaning camp participants didn’t have to rely on helicopters or hiking at the beginning and end of each day with their ski gear on their backs.

Toni Sailer, six-time Olympic gold medalist, comes to Whistler from Austria every year to run the ski camp. Whistler Question Collection.

The programming was largely driven by the need for competitive alpine racers to stay in shape and improve their techniques between competition seasons, but the camps were popular with both competitive and recreational skiers. Over the years they expanded to include camps for kids and instruction in novice and intermediate racing, recreational skiing, and, in 1973, freestyle skiing under the tutelage of Wayne Wong, George Askevold, and Floyd Wilkie.

Three well-known hot dog skiers show off their style in 1973 at the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp. Left to right: George Oskwold, Wayne Wong and Floyd Wilkie. Murphy Collection.

By 1977, however, freestyle skiers in Whistler had grown frustrated at the lack of summer aerial opportunities offered by the Whistler Mountain camps and began planning for their ski jump in the valley. This ski jump was given no development permit nor any official permission from the newly created Resort Municipality of Whistler or the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and therefore an inconspicuous, out-of-the-way site was required. The group selected a spot on the shores of Lost Lake.

The ski jump also had no funding. The timber was scrounged from a number of sources and the plastic grass ski out from the Olive Chair was taken from the dump and given a new life as the ski jump’s surface. Construction progressed quickly once the materials were gathered, taking over a couple of weeks.

The ski jump emerges from the forest onto Lost Lake. Whistler Question Collection.

When finished, the ramp projected out 6 m over the lake and willing skiers could launch themselves into the air up to 12 m above the water. According to Dave Lalik, one of the original workers on the ramp, “Injuries were commonplace but [an] acceptable risk in the sport and environment of the day.”

Spectators were common, often watching from the water. In 1981, the ski jump began hosting competitions and the first Summer Air Camp at Lost Lake was held in 1982, drawing freestyle skiing to Whistler to train with the national team coach Peter Judge. Far from remaining an inconspicuous site, the Lost Lake Ski Jump could be seen in television broadcasts ad film crews arrived to record events.

A skier flies over Lost Lake. Photo courtesy of Dave Lalik.

Neither Whistler Mountain nor Lost Lake offer opportunities for summer skiing today. Summer ski camps ended on Whistler Mountain in the late 1990s due to the receding glacier and low summer snow levels and, as Lost Lake became less and less lost and more developed, the ski jump was taken down and the site was incorporated as part of Lost Lake Park.

This Week in Photos

This Week In Photos: June 28This Week In Photos: June 28

June 28, 2018 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

1978

Power lines dip treacherously after Sunday’s strong winds knocked large pieces of deadwood onto the line.

The district track meet in Squamish got lucky with its weather.

Someone was practicing their glass breaking at the liquor store last week. RCMP are investigating.

A new BBQ ready to be installed at Alta Lake Wayside Park.

Sarah, Wendy and Sid try to decide what to do with that nosy photographer during a party Friday.

1980

Arnold Palmer chats with the crowd towards the close of the official ceremony at the Whistler Golf Course.

A chopper spins and dips above Whistler benchlands as the lowest lift of the three chair north face lift system is installed from top down.

Casey Simpson, Eric Bredt, Devin Turner, Rachel Roberts, Corinne Valleau & Stephanie Simpson head out for their sprint with Terry Alway & Alex Marshall officiating.

Phase II Parcel 16 takes shape with Whistler Chairlift N-14 rising through the trees on the left.

Heavy Duty flat deck pulls out the last of two trailers that served as council chambers before Town Centre road construction forced the move.

1981

With a landscaped area, seed for lawn and new curbing in, Sunshine Place takes on a new look. Paving will add a finishing touch and should be completed by the end of July.

Myrtle Philip looks on as Greg Beauregard receives the first ever Myrtle Philip Award. Mother Pat smiles proudly.

Not to be outdone by the Myrtle Philip staff who were in last week’s paper, the staff from Signal Hill Elementary School in Pemberton pose for The Question.

Contestants for the Miss Pemberton Contest look on as BC Minister of Highways, Alex Fraser, explains the provincial grant for Pemberton Airport.

Madeline Domries and her pal Curly Jones wait with great expectations for their fourth prize at Dog Days in the Village Square.

Dressed up at the Alta Lake Community Club Roaring Twenties Pot Luck Dinner, left to right: Max Maxwell, Kelly Maxwell, Diane Smith and Ken Domries.

Susan McCance will run Whistler’s new daycare program.

1982

A chopper heads out with a bucket of water to help squelch the recent forest fire in Cheakamus.

Jan Naylor displays some of the strawberries now ready for picking at the Naylor Berry Farm 3 km north of Pemberton.

Stubborn as a mule! In spite of the efforts of the ‘D’Arcy Prospectors’ this donkey refused to cross the BCR tracks during the Pemberton Parade in celebration of Canada week.

New stop signs often get ignored so the municipality placed reminders in front of this sign on the intersection of Rainbow, Matterhorn and Camino Drive.

Not even the rain stopped these kids from a practice paddle on Alta Lake for the Whistler Country Guides Kids Races. Bad weather postponed the races to Saturday, July 3 at 9:30 at Wayside Park.

1983

Long-time Whistler residents Paul Mathews and Margot Sutcliffe shared a smile on their wedding day Saturday, June 25 at Whistler. Over 150 guests joined the celebration at the Sundial Restaurant.

This house has found its new home on the streets of Whistler.

Round and round and round they danced in celebration of summer. Whistler’s first Midsummer Fest, June 25-26, caught the imagination of hundreds, whether they were Scandinavian or not.

Toni Sailer, six-time Olympic gold medalist, comes to Whistler from Austria every year to run the ski camp.

Dave Murray and Floyd Wilkie have a pre-session consultation at the base of the t-bar.

The Tapley’s Pub softball team poses for a group photo.

Ken Harrop of Singapore Airlines showed his staff and took to the air Saturday during the obstacle race – part one of the three-part Battle of the Travel Stars. Thirty-seven travel agents took part in the two-day fun-filled FAM tour of Whistler.

1984

Scandinavian dancers and musicians filled the village over the weekend for traditional Midsummer festivities. Saturday and Sunday afternoon dancers in garb of the old country whirled about Village Square to folk tunes.

Pemberton Mayor Shirley Henry officially opened the Pemberton Museum Saturday with help from West Vancouver-Howe Sound MLA John Reynolds and his wife Yvonne. Museum curator Margaret Fougberg says most of the collection, which features artifacts dating from the 1860s until the 1950s, was donated by townspeople. The museum building itself has a long history. It was built around 1895 and has been moved twice. It’s permanent location is on Prospect Street in Pemberton.

Whistler Mountains’ miniature golf course at the gondola opened last week and immediately attracted a steady following. The 18-hole course costs $2 a round for adults, $1 for children and is open all day.

Grade seven students went on a computer tour Friday, visiting municipal computers, Twin Peaks Property Management computers and the phototypesetting systems used by the Whistler Question. Pauline Wiebe, Question typesetter, shows students how the machine works.

Speaker Series – Celebrating 50 years of Summer SkiingSpeaker Series – Celebrating 50 years of Summer Skiing

April 29, 2016 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

It’s been a long, nostalgic winter of celebrating Whistler’s Golden Anniversary. But just as Whistler is known for deep snowpacks that sustain the snow-sliding revelry well past winter, we have an abundance of stories this year to push our regular Speaker Series programming well into spring.

Considering the circumstances, it is only fitting that we prolong our season-long retrospective on our resort’s proud ski history with an event paying tribute to that seasonal oddity peculiar to Whistler, summer skiing. The evening of Friday May 6th we will be hosting a Speaker Series focused on fifty years of summer skiing camps on Whistler’s glaciers.

Summer glacier skiing in Whistler is as old as the resort itself, having begun during the inaugural season of 1966. Beginning with the original Toni Sailer camps and later Dave Murray camps on Whistler, then moving to Blackcomb’s Horstman Glacier in the 1980s, with Camp of Champions, Momentum Camps, to name just a few, summer skiing in Whistler has been a novel way to compliment and extend the regular ski season, promote the resort with a veritable who’s who of celebrity athletes and guest coaches, and create fifty years of memorable and unique experiences.

Former camper and ski history enthusiast Alex Douglas has organized a weekend long “Whistler Summer Camp Reunion” series of events, with this Speaker Series included. There will also be a reunion dinner hosted at Creekbread on the Saturday, and, of course, group ski outings during the day. One need not be a former camper to attend the Speaker Series event.

The crew from the 1969 Toni Sailer Summer Camp, including (front row at left) Alan White and Nancy Greene, and Toni Sailer himself (back row, 2nd from right).

The Speaker Series will open with a screening of footage and a short film dating back to the original Toni Sailer Summer Camps of the 1960s and 70s. After the film will be a panel discussion featuring Canadian ski racing legend and former summer camp coach Nancy Greene-Raine, Alan White, founding manager of Toni Sailer camps and one of the true ski pioneers of Whistler, and former coach from the Dave Murray Summer Camp era, Mark Taylor.

Needless to say, this is a wonderful panel of speakers and we are extremely excited to host them and hear their stories.

A group shot of all the coaches at the Dave Murray Summer Ski Camp, circa late 1980s, including Mark Taylor (back row 4th from the left). The crew was a veritable “who’s who” of Canadian ski racing. Stephanie Sloan Photo.

Doors will open at 6pm, with the presentations beginning at 7pm. Tickets are $10, $5 for museum members. To purchase tickets, stop by the Whistler Museum or call us at 604-932- 2019. To ensure a seat, make sure to purchase in advance as this event will sell out.

As always, we will be serving complimentary coffee provided by the Whistler Roasting Company, assorted tea, and a cash bar serving beer and wine.