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 1985. 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: When construction began on the Whistler Resort Centre (today the Whistler Conference) in March 1980, plans included a swimming pool and an Olympic-sized ice rink. A major recession in the early 1980s, however, meant that the Resort Centre was redesigned as a conference centre without all of the planned extra recreational facilities and by 1985 Whistler was still without a skating rink or a public swimming pool (there were hotel pools that were used by various groups at different times).
Question: Would you prefer a swimming pool or a skating rink as Whistler community sports facility?
Shirley Lomer – Diet Technician – New Westminster
A swimming pool, for the simple reason that I know how to swim but I don’t know how to skate. I’d use the swimming pool if I were just visiting.
Kirby Young – Substitute Teacher – Whistler
An ice rink. That goes with the idea of winter sports. I’d try to use one if we had one, but I’m not a hockey player. The waterslide already answers the need for a pool.
Carmen Hambalek – Waitress – Whistler
I’d rather see a swimming pool so you’ve got something to do in the winter other than be outside in the cold.
From World Cup downhills to IronMan triathlons to the annual October Turkey Trot, Whistler has been the host of countless athletic competitions and events featuring many different sports. The Alta Lake Sports Club was founded in 1975 and, though a lot of their efforts went to organizing cross-country ski trails and events, the group soon began organizing running events in the Whistler area. It was not until 1982, however, that Whistler hosted its first marathon.
Whistler’s first marathon and half-marathon took place on August 29, 1982 and drew 131 entrants, though Race Coordinator Tom Sutherland had earlier expected only 50 to 75 participants to sign up. A couple of weeks before the race, the course was carefully measured by Sutherland and Wayne Fisher using a Jones Counter, a bicycle odometer, after the pair rode a measured kilometre that was certified by local surveying company Brown & Associates.
Runners (mostly) stick to the shoulder of the road during the first Whistler Marathon and Half-Marathon. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
The 13.1 milo or 21.1 km course took runners from the bus loop in the Whistler Village, north along Highway 99, through White Gold Estates, back to the highway, into Alpine Meadows and down Rainbow Drive, along Alta Lake Road, back up the highway, through Brio, and then back onto Highway 99 and into the Village to finish at the bus loop. Those who chose to run the full marathon then ran the entire loop a second time.
While measuring the course, Sutherland and Fisher carefully placed milage markers to indicate distances and aid station locations. Unfortunately for them, two days after they marked the route, Alta Lake Road was sealcoated and all of their markers were gone. The process also left the road less than smooth and Highways District Manager Ron Winbow told organizers that crews would not be able to sweep the road until it had rained and the surface was damp, making it safe for the operators of the sweeping equipment. Thankfully for the race, Art Den Duyf of Sabre Bulldozing Ltd. agreed to use his equipment to water the stretch of road, allowing highways crews to follow behind with the sweeper.
Runners keep their heart rate up while the waiting for the train to pass through. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
Despite being described by many as a difficult course, most participants appear to have had a positive experience, including Stephanie Greenall who at fourteen was the youngest runner. She ran the half-marathon alongside her father Dave you, having completed the course, spontaneously decided to run it again and finish the full marathon. Former Whistler resident Dag Aabye who in 1982 was living in Squamish told the Whistler Question, “I’ve run in five marathons, and this one is great!” According to Murray Coates, the only full-time Whistler resident to register for the full marathon, “To say it was good would be an understatement. Everybody – the spectators, organizers, volunteers and runners – put all they had into it. It was mind-boggling how great it was.” Because it was the first time the event was held, winners of each category set new records, including Loreen Barnett, a member of the ALSC, who came first in the women’s marathon.
Runner Murray Coates eats his post-race watermelon while Myrtle Philip watches the festivities. Whistler Question Collection, 1982
The marathon and half-marathon event returned the next summer as part of the Whistler Fitness Festival held in July 1983 that also included the Whistler Molson Bicycle Race, a Windsurfing Regatta, and the Mr. Mountain Contest (the summer of 1983 also saw Whistler’s first triathlon). This time, almost 250 runners were registered, including local residents, repeat racers, and one couple from New York who decided that the race would be a great addition to their honeymoon.
In 1984, the half-marathon returned but the full marathon did not and, despite early hopes to establish the Whistler Marathon as part of a marathon circuit, the event appears to have stopped altogether in 1985. Today, Whistler hosts a variety of running events, including the Whistler Half-Marathon that began in the mid-2000s.
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 1985. 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: This one seems pretty self explanatory, so we think we’ll leave it there.
Question: What sort of winter do you think we’re going to have?
Rod Mitchell – Psychologist – Dallas, Texas
You’re going to have a helluva lot of snow, and it Dallas we’re going to have nothing. So I’m going to come up here and ski and have a lot of fun.
Heather McGregor – Unemployed – West Vancouver
I think it will be a great winter. Lots of snow. I’m looking for a job. It should be a long, cold winter with lots of skiing. It’s been an extremely hot, dry summer and all the moisture has to come down.
Cameron Lloyd-Jones – Student – North Vancouver
I think it will be very cold and good for skiing. I was here two or three weekends last year and it was excellent. Maybe we’ll get 300 cm this year, I don’t know. Going to stay home if it rains.
We love getting personal curiosity requests, as they give us a chance to dive into the archives to learn and share more. Last week we wrote on the race events Blackcomb Mountain held when they entered the mountain bike scene, including the Can-Am Challenge. Ken Austin, who competed in the race, recently reached out to see if we had photographs and to see if his memory of the event was correct. He gave us quite a story!
Ken Austin competes with a Ridley’s jersey and a few bandages picked up along the way. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, 1989
The second annual Labatt’s Can-Am Challenge in 1989 took place from August 18-20 and saw approximately 350 riders compete for $10,000 in cash and prizes.
Austing rode for Ridley’s Cycle in Calgary and participated in all four races. The cross-country race started off the weekend on the Friday, with dual slalom on the Saturday, and the uphill and descent on the Sunday.
According to Austin, he went “too hard having fun the day before [the cross-country race], then drinking only water, with no fuel mix.” Envy kicked in when he saw that the Ritchey Team had a fuel station for their riders, “as the rest of us were dumb enough to be only on water, no support, no special fuels.”
The next day was not much better with the dual slalom, though Austin’s teammate Pete Lawrence did well.
Austin smashed the uphill climb and finished in 6th place, but “never having climbed that hard for that long, [Austin] spent the entire lunch break a the gondola station trying to not get a massive butt cheek cramp, gently stretching. The glutes were just twitching to lock up.”
So far for the weekend, the weather had been perfect for each race, until the clouds rolled in on Sunday afternoon, just in time for the Kamikaze Descent.
Clouds roll in during the Can-Am Challenge Kamikaze Descent. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, 1989
Austin recalls, “Right away, we were in the clouds, couldn’t see my handlebars for quite a stretch. There were braver fools crying in the ditches with broken collarbones and such. In the dense fog, as I crawled along, Greg Herbold came flying by, as if it was a clear day! He must have pre rode the course quite a bit, days before, to have it memorized.”
Several Whistler riders placed well in the top 3 of many categories. Cindy Devine beat California’s Cindy Whitehead in the Women’s Pro. Whitehead captured the top spot the year prior.
The Can-Am Challenge was another success with strong attendance. Though the first two years did attract many pros, some did not see a point in competing as these races were not sanctioned and did not count towards points for being on a national team. According to the Whistler Question, in 1990 there was a rule change for the world championships, where each country could only have 5 riders, which resulted in fewer American riders participating in the Can-Am challenge than usual.
A year later, the Can-Am Challenge was renamed to the Blackcomb Challenge. It was the fourth and final stop in the Canada Cup Points Series. The Canadian Cycling Association created the series to establish a national ranking system for riders when choosing a national MTB team.
The Blackcomb Challenge occurred again the next year, but in 1993 there was instead the Labatt/BRC Mountain Bike Race weekend, which in previous years was a series that took place over the course of the summer.
We always love hearing more stories. Have one to tell, or have items or photographs that we can preserve in our collections? Email us at archives@whistlermuseum.org.
