Tag: Whistler Museum

Building a Fortress: Part IBuilding a Fortress: Part I

July 15, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In 1974, a closed ski hill in Alberta developed a surprising number of connections to the Whistler area.

Snowridge Ski Resort opened in Kananaskis County in 1968 as a family ski area. A daylodge designed by Joseph K. English had been constructed the previous summer and included hotel rooms, a restaurant, and a cafeteria that could seat up to 300. Two t-bars and a chairlift had also been installed and Snowridge advertised “acres of exotic powder and undulating packed runs.” Located along the gravel and rarely-plowed Kananaskis-Coleman Forestry Road, it wasn’t the easiest to access, but it was close enough to Calgary to attract skiers, many of whom would come for the day.

Snowridge closed at the end of the 1970/71 ski season and didn’t reopen. In 1973, the bank foreclosed on its mortgages and Snowridge declared bankruptcy and was put up for judicial sale by the Federal Business Development Bank (FBDB; then called the Industrial Development Bank. That same year, construction began on Highway 40, which would have provided more consistent access to the ski hill. By 1974, Snowridge was still for sale.

Patrol at the top of the Red Chair in 1967, years before Hugh Smythe moved to Snowridge. Photo courtesy of Cliff Jennings

Over in British Columbia, Hugh Smythe took the summer of 1974 off from Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. and took a trip to Alberta. On his trip, he stopped at Fairmont Hot Springs and visited with the owners, the Wilder family. The Wilders were interested in purchasing Snowridge and Hugh decided to go take a look. According to an oral history interview with Hugh, he thought, “Maybe this is something that could be intriguing” and he was still thinking about Snowridge when he returned to work at Whistler Mountain in August.

Dave Mathews was operations manager for Whistler Mountain at the time and so was Hugh’s boss. Not wanting to take on “a derelict ski area” alone, Hugh talked to Dave about his interest in Snowridge and they and Dave’s wife Lynn formed HUMAT Management and Consultants Ltd. They didn’t have the financing to purchase Snowridge, so Hugh and Dave approached the FBDB. Though they didn’t really expect that their pitch would go anywhere, they were contracted to get the ski area up and running and turn it into a saleable prospect. That September, Hugh, Lynn and Dave left their jobs at the lift company and moved to Snowridge, along with the Mathews’ two small children.

As Lynn was the editor of the Garibaldi’s Whistler News during her time at Garibaldi Lifts Ltd., the Mathews children sometimes featured in promotional photos such as this one. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

According to Lynn, she and Dave had sold some properties in Whistler and had a bit of money put by and so were open to taking on something new. Hugh was interested in learning more about the operation of a ski area. Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. is often described as being “in the uphill transportation business.” They ran the lifts on Whistler Mountain and looked after the grooming and patrolling while the food operations, ski school and ski shop were contracted out. At Snowridge, they had the opportunity to “do all of it,” from running the lifts to running a hotel, restaurant, bar, ski school, and rental and retail shop. As Hugh recalled, “I felt that’s something that I really wanted to get involved with, was all of the aspects of running a resort.”

Upon arrival, Hugh and the Mathews were confronted with a chairlift whose cable had been blown off the towers and whose chairs were lying on the ground and a hotel that was “just a total disaster.” It was already snowing in the first week of September and the area needed to be operational by December. Keep reading next week for tales of their efforts and some more familiar faces from Whistler Mountain.

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Whistler’s Answers: July 10, 1986Whistler’s Answers: July 10, 1986

July 10, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In the 1980s the Whistler Question began posing a question to three to six people and publishing their responses under “Whistler’s Answers” (not to be confused with the Whistler Answer).  Each week, we’ll be sharing one question and the answers given back in 1986.  Please note, all names/answers/occupations/neighbourhoods represent information given to the Question at the time of publishing and do not necessarily reflect the person today.

Some context for this week’s question: Vancouver hosted the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, usually referred to as Expo ’86, from May to October 1986. With over 40 nations participating, it was expected that Expo 86 would increase international awareness of Vancouver and the surrounding areas and many hoped that tourism would increase as a result. Find out more about Whistler’s contribution to Expo 86 here.

Question: Have you had many customers as a result of Expo 86?

Jade Bullpit – Retail Clerk – Alpine Meadows

I think Expo has made a difference. There have been a fair number of customers through from Expo. Two weeks ago there seemed to be quite a few, even before the summer school break. There have been a lot of Americans, too.

Bob Daniels – Waterslide Manager – Tapley’s Farm

There has been a small amount of traffic but it’s only been in the last week that things have started to improve. We’ve had a lot of Expo staff. Our summer traffic really hasn’t arrived yet. It’s mainly Lower Mainland and local people.

Mike Patton – Retail Clerk – Whistler

Not as many as expected. There have been more families up from Expo with the school break but most of our business comes from convention-goers. A lot of their spending is on souvenirs but it depends on the type of conference.

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Wartime by the LakeWartime by the Lake

July 8, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Last year marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied land invasion of Normandy which initiated the liberation of Europe from the Nazi regime. The Second World War managed to disrupt Alta Lake’s idyllic summers, and for one of its longtime families, June 6th, 1944 would prove to be especially memorable.  

Margaret Bellamy (née Clarke) was born in 1946 and started journeying up to Alta Lake with her family a few weeks later. Her grandmother, Grace Woollard, had first arrived at Alta Lake along the Pemberton Trail in 1912 with her friend, Grace Archibald, and her brother, Ernie Archibald, who was working for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. 

In an oral history from 2012, Margaret recounted how her mother, Betty Clarke (née Woollard) and father, Douglas Clarke, spent summers at Alta Lake growing up. Their fathers were colleagues at the Shaughnessy Military Hospital, and the two families had become good friends. Betty was Alta Lake School’s second teacher, replacing Margaret Partridge in 1936. After Betty and Douglas’ marriage in 1941, Douglas departed for the war, and Betty decided to buy a cabin at the south end of Alta Lake, rather than stay in Vancouver. Wanting to be closer to her daughter and grandchild, Grace Woollard sold her cabin on the east side of the lake, and purchased a neighbouring cabin at the southern end.

Betty and her sister Eleanor along the tracks at Alta Lake. Lundstrom Collection

Prior to her father’s 33rd birthday on June 6th, 1944, soon to be cemented in history as D-Day, Margaret’s mother sensed something major was about to occur concerning the war. She knew that her husband had been stationed in the south of England for “months and months and months and months” and Vancouver newspapers had long discussed an impending invasion, but no one knew when or where this assault would take place. Although Margaret was not born until 1946, she shared her family’s memories of the day as they were later told to her.

The first Canadian soldiers landed on Juno Beach just before 10 pm Vancouver time on June 5th. The Germans reported the amphibious assault on Normandy at 9:37 pm Vancouver time, and Allied sources would later verify the accounts. As news of the invasion finally crackled through the radio, Betty had no indication as to whether her husband was involved in the battle. 

While casualties and updates came through, Margaret described how her older sister Susanne, then a toddler, dropped her beautiful Cowichan sweater down the outhouse. With tears running down her face, Betty fished the soiled sweater out with a stick. She brought it down to the lake to rinse it out, all while frantically trying to listen to the radio. Very little information was coming through, and the short clips that were audible were followed by twenty minutes of maddening static. 

“It was a bad day. And all this being my father’s birthday,” said Margaret. Thankfully, her father survived the war and would have many more birthdays, passing away in 1986 at the age of 74. His ashes were spread at Alta Lake.

Logan Roberts is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.

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Whistler’s Answers: July 3, 1986Whistler’s Answers: July 3, 1986

July 3, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In the 1980s the Whistler Question began posing a question to three to six people and publishing their responses under “Whistler’s Answers” (not to be confused with the Whistler Answer).  Each week, we’ll be sharing one question and the answers given back in 1986.  Please note, all names/answers/occupations/neighbourhoods represent information given to the Question at the time of publishing and do not necessarily reflect the person today.

Some context for this week’s question: In June 1986, Chris Wilcox was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and became the first person in Canada to be convicted of a criminal offence following a ski accident. Wilcox had struck Whistler Mountain Ski Scamps instructor Ingrid Wypkema in March 1985, leaving her with multiple injuries. The verdict was welcomed by some in the ski industry, including Whistler Mountain lift and safety manager Roger McCarthy, as it was expected to give them more power to ensure safer skiing.

Question: Do you think the Wilcox verdict will have any effect on skiing?

Mark Patton – Artist – Whistler

I don’t think it will have much effect on skiers who want to ski radically. It won’t make much difference; they’ll do it anyway. Once they get the urge, they’re not going to worry about getting charged.

Stephen Coroner – Landscape Worker – White Gold

I don’t think it’s fair to skiers who want to ski fast. I think it will set a precedent in the event of any future accidents but I don’t think it will stop people from skiing fast.

Bill Aback – Carpenter – Whistler Cay Heights

I come from Ontario where they’ve got a real head start on BC because of more crowded skiing conditions. I agree with the way the court came down on him and there will be a stronger awareness of safe skiing as a result.

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