Tag: Whistler Blackcomb Foundation

Jim McConkey’s Film CollectionJim McConkey’s Film Collection

August 15, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

In 2016, we wrote an article on Jim McConkey where we mentioned him bringing in his collection of 16mm ski films. At the time, we were unfortunately unable to view them as we did not have the necessary equipment. Well, it has been a long time since 2016 and in the at time we were able to acquire the right equipment for digitizing 16mm film thanks to the support of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and have now gone through and digitized Jim McConkey’s collection, finding some very interesting videos.

“Diamond” Jim McConkey was an accomplished ski instructor for many years before he came up to Whistler. Born in Barrie, Ontario in 1926, he quickly fell in love with skiing and moved out west in 1948 to ski the bigger mountains in the Rockies. He worked as the first ski school director in Park City, Utah, and eventually moved to Tod Mountain (now operating as Sun Peaks) to run the ski and rental shop at the mountain. In 1968, he was invited to open his own ski and rental shop in Whistler, as well as running the ski school. He ran the Whistler Mountain ski school until 1980, and the ski and rental shop until 1985. Jim also ran the second heli-ski operation, through Okanagan Helicopters, where he could take clients skiing on the glaciers around Whistler Mountain.

Jim McConkey is shown posing for his official Whistler Mountain Ski School portrait. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

Throughout his career, Jim made lots of ski films in places all over North America, with accomplished filmmakers such as Warren Miller and Douglas Sinclair. In 2016, Jim stopped by the museum and brought with him his collection of old 16mm films, which we were then unable to view. However, the museum recently acquired the RetroScan, a piece of equipment that allows us to scan these 16mm films into a 4k video format and, using some other software as well, we were able to get both the video and the audio off these 16mm films and finally take a look at them.

Jim collected a wide variety of ski films over the years and has films from all over the world. As of right now, we have 12 films digitized from his personal collection, films such as “Marker Ski,” which is footage of the 1977/78 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup that took place in Austria and Germany, specifically at ski resorts such as Garmisch and Kitzbühel, and includes some of the skiing greats, such as Ingemar Stenmark, Phil Mahre, Klaus Heidegger, and Franz Klammer. Other films in his collection range from a Japanese ski team skiing Barbeau Peak, the largest mountain in eastern North America, in a film called “Brilliance of Fantasy,” to instructional ski films such as “Ski the Outer Limits,” “Invitation to Skiing,” and “Ski Total.” He, of course, also left us with some of his ski films that he starred in throughout his career.

Jim McConkey and Charles Graziano ski down a steep, powdery slope during the filming of “Ski Crazy” in Alta, Utah. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

Jim personally starred in quite a few ski films but the ones we have digitized are “Alpine Ski Technique,” “Ski Nanny,” and “Snows of Garibaldi.” “Alpine Ski Technique” is an instructional ski video that was filmed at St. Jovite and Whistler, where Jim is the high mountain expert ski instructor and gives tips on jumping on skis, as well as showing off some great skiing accessed from a helicopter. Earlier in his career, when Jim was still at Tod Mountain, he starred in an episode of journalist Bob Cram’s television show “Ski Nanny,” where Jim takes Bob skiing in some deep powder at Tod Mountain. And finally, we have “Snows of Garibladi,” a Doug Sinclair film, which, according to Jim in a 2022 oral history conducted by the museum, was one of his favourite films to make. In this film, Jim goes heli-skiing with one of his instructors, Guy Barvoets, and it isn’t hard to imagine why this was one of his favourites – the high mountain skiing looks incredible and the aerial shots of Jim and Guy skiing unmarked glaciers are breathtaking. Jim is and always will be one of Whistler’s greatest icons and the footage we’ve seen so far certainly backs this statement up.

Liam McCrorie is one of two summer students working at the Whistler Museum this summer through the Young Canada Works Program.

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A Virtual AGM: A First for the Whistler MuseumA Virtual AGM: A First for the Whistler Museum

June 9, 2020 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

This Thursday (June 11) the Whistler Museum & Archives Society will be hosting our 2020 AGM online beginning at 5 pm using Zoom, one of the many online platforms that have become increasingly popular over the past few months.  Though this will be the first time in over thirty years of operations that we will not be able to welcome our members in person, we’re looking forward to connecting with all who attend using the means currently available.

Most years our AGM includes dinner and a chance for members to catch up, but this year members will all be responsible for providing their own refreshments.

The Whistler Museum & Archives Society became an official non-profit organization in February 1987, but work to start a museum had begun well before that.  In the late 1970s Myrtle Philip and Dick Fairhurst, both early Alta Lake residents, had expressed their concerns to Florence Petersen that the history of the small community would be lost as skiing became more and more popular in the area.  In the summer of 1986 Florence and a group of dedicated volunteers began gathering items and archival records to tell their stories.  Sadly, both Myrtle and Dick passed away before the first museum opened as a temporary showcase in the back room of the Whistler Library in the basement of Municipal Hall.

The first museum displays in the Whistler Library, then located in the basement of Municipal Hall.  Whistler Museum Collection.

The Whistler Museum moved into its own space in January 1988 when it took over the old municipal hall building in Function Junction.  Thanks to the generosity of the Whistler Rotary Club, who helped renovate the space, the museum was able to open to the public in June 1989 with exhibits on skiing and natural history and even a replica of Myrtle Philip’s sitting room.  Over its first season of operations, the Whistler Museum attracted over 2,000 visitors.  The following summer that number increased to over 3,800 visitors.

Florence poses at the Function Junction location with the new Museum sign in 1988 – this same sign adorns the side of the Museum today.  Whistler Museum Collection.

The museum remained in its Function Junction location until 1995, when it and the library both moved into temporary spaces on Main Street.  Though the new location was actually quite a bit smaller than the old one, this was more than made up for by its increased visibility and prime location.  In the first month of operation in the Village the museum attracted 2,168 visitors to is new exhibits.  The museum began to offer programs, such as walking tours and school trips, participated in community events such as the Canada Day Parade, and even published cookbooks sharing recipes from local restaurants and community members.

The Whistler Museum and Archives cookbook committee, April 1997: Janet Love-Morrison, Florence Petersen (founder of the Whistler Museum and Archives Society), Darlyne Christian and Caroline Cluer.

In 2009 the Whistler Museum reopened in its current location (conveniently right next door to its previous building) with a new interior and new permanent exhibits with support from the RMOW, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, the Community Foundation of Whistler, the American Friends of Whistler and, of course, many community members.  From this space the museum has continued to offer programs and events, participate in community events, and offer temporary exhibits on different topics (though there have been no cookbooks published recently, First Tracks, Florence Petersen’s book on the history of Alta Lake, is now in its third printing and is available at the museum by request).

We hope that all of our members will be able to join us next Thursday to look back on the past year of museum operations (our busiest on record!).  For information on how to attend or to check on the status of your membership, please call the museum at 604-932-2019 or email us at events@whistlermuseum.org.

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Trail Names Celebrate History: Own A Piece ThursdayTrail Names Celebrate History: Own A Piece Thursday

February 5, 2019 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

On Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, names are often used to tell a story.  Even names that began as simple descriptions of a place have evolved over time to share a part of Whistler’s history (after all, there is nothing round about the Roundhouse these days).  Names of trails, lifts and structures on the mountains are recorded on trail maps, in operational lists and, most visibly, on the signs that direct skiers and snowboarders around Whistler and Blackcomb.

The trail names of the two mountains have hundreds of stories behind them, some hotly contested and some documented.  Because we’ve got names on our minds, we’re sharing the meaning behind a few here.

One of the best-known stories is likely the tale behind Burnt Stew, which actually occurred before Whistler Mountain even opened for skiing.  During the summer of 1958, museum founder Florence Petersen and friends Kelly Fairhurst and Don Gow were camping on Whistler and, forgetting to stir the dinner left cooking in an old billycan, the smell of burning stew began to waft through the air, setting up the moniker we still use to this day.

Florence Petersen and friend Don Gow enjoy a (possibly overcooked) meal in Burnt Stew Basin.  Petersen Collection.

Other trails were named by or for people who loved to ski them.  Chunky’s Choice was the favourite run of Chunky Woodward, one of the founding directors of Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. and a member of the Vancouver department store Woodward family.  Over on Blackcomb, Xhiggy’s Meadow was named for Peter Xhignesse, one of the original ski patrollers on Blackcomb Mountain.

A Whistler Mountain trail map from simpler days. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

Many of the names on Blackcomb reference the valley’s forestry history, which was active into the 1970s.  A catskinner, for example, is a tractor driver, a cruiser is a logger who surveys standing timber for volume and a springboard is a board used to provide a place to stand when hand-felling large trees.

There are also names that describe something about the trail.  According to our sources, Boomer Bowl gets its name from the vibration that rattled windows in Alpine Meadows when the bowl was bombed by avalanche control.  Windows today may not rattle in quite the same way, but it is still noticeable in Alpine when avalanche control is active near Harmony.

While trail names don’t change frequently, the signs they are inscribed on are replaced every so often.  On Thursday, February 7, the museum and Whistler Blackcomb Foundation are offering the chance to own a piece of Whistler’s mountain history with the sale of over 250 unique trail signs taken off of Whistler and Blackcomb as a fundraiser for both organizations.

Some of the signs have quite literally taken over the Whistler Museum.

Whether you love the trail the name signifies or the significance behind the name (or you just really want to let people know when to lower their restraining device) chances are you’ll find a sign that reminds you of days spent on the mountains.

Signs will be available for purchase at whistlerblackcombfoundation.com from 10 am on February 7.  Signs can be picked up from the Whistler Museum during our opening hours on February 9, 10 & 14.

If you want to learn more about the stories behind trail names, take a look here and here.

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Own a Piece of Mountain HistoryOwn a Piece of Mountain History

January 31, 2019 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and Whistler Museum & Archives Society are offering the chance to own a piece of Whistler’s mountain history this February with the sale of trail signs from both Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.

Over 250 unique signs will be available for purchase online at whistlerblackcombfoundation.com Thursday, February 7 at 10 AM PST.  These signs previously directed skiers and boarders down their favourite runs and include a variety of trails, lifts and logos.  Whether you favoured Jimmy’s Joker or Pony Trail, there’s sure to be a sign to bring back memories of days spent in the snow.

Signs range from $20 to $250, depending upon condition.  Purchased signs will be available for pick up at the Whistler Museum February 9, 10 & 14 only.

All proceeds from the sales go to support the work of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and Whistler Museum & Archives Society.  A selection of signs will be retained in the Whistler Museum’s artifact collection.

The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation is dedicated to providing financial support to registered non-profit organizations whose activities provide benefit to residents of the Sea to Sky Corridor in the areas of health, human services, education, recreation, arts and culture and the environment with an emphasis on children, youth and family programs.

The Whistler Museum & Archives Society works to collect, preserve, document and interpret the natural and human history of mountain life – with an emphasis on Whistler – and to provide a forum in which to present an innovative range of exhibitions and education programs to enrich the lives of residents and guests.

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