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 1984. 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: The Fall Festival took place from Saturday, September 22 to Sunday, September 23, 1984. It featured puppet shows and musical performances in Village Square, sport competitions and horseback riding at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, and movies and contests in Mountain Square, as well as a bonfire to Ullr in the Day Skier Parking Lot. There were also carnival rides, Village tours, treasure hunts, craft demonstrations, and even the Terry Fox Run. Even though the Saturday was slightly cooler than expected, the weather cooperated for the mostly-outdoor festival.
Question: What did you think of Fall Festival?
Bob Mallet – Morgan’s Dad – Whistler
What I liked about it was the diversity of activity. There were a lot of different things to do. The comics in the square were a world apart from the rides in the VIP lot and those were a world apart from the musicians. When my three-year-old enjoys it, it’s a good barometer.
Sid & Luke – Soup-line Waiters – In the Park
We just came in and grabbed this here bench and all these people stared at us. We liked the bake sale. Next year they should have a bake sale and free drinks for everybody too. Then more of our friends would come up. We’d be happy to come back to Pemberton in the future.
Nila Hajevsky – Unemployed – Alpine Meadows
I thought it was good for Whistler. Kids really enjoyed it too. The fold singing was particularly good, and there was a general congenial atmosphere. Now it’s be quiet until November, so it was a good way to end the summer.
With restaurants, bars, and even a beer festival earlier this month, there are quite a few places in Whistler today serving alcohol. From stories of Alex Philip sharing a few drinks with guests in the 1920s, the Witsend girls getting their gin discreetly delivered in a shoebox by train int he 1950s, and a homebrew contest being established in the 1970s, we know that visitors and residents of the area have been bringing and making their own drinks for decades. While searching through past editions of the Whistler Question, however, we came across a three part series written by Stew Muir and Kevin Griffin in 1984 entitled “Bar Wars,” in which the two looked at the history of licenced establishments in the valley.
Paul Burrows carries a few cases inside Whistler’s liquor store. Whistler Question Collection.
Liquor regulations in British Columbia meant that until the mid-1950s, liquor could only be served in beer parlours, social clubs, and veterans clubs, and these venues had strict regulations around entertainment and food (both forbidden in beer parlours), as well as how liquor was served. According to “Bar Wars,” Rainbow Lodge got is licence after these regulations changed int he mid-1950s (years after Alex and Myrtle Philip had sold the lodge and retired), followed by Hillcrest Lodge in 1961. After Whistler Mountain opened for skiing during the winter of 1965/66, ski lodges like Mount Whistler Lodge (formerly Hillcrest) and the Cheakamus Inn served guests and visitors in lounges and, in some cases, restaurants. The Christiana Inn, opened by Sandy and Puddy Martin in 1967, included a lounge and dining room and was reportedly the first establishment in BC to be licensed to serve liquor outdoors on their poolside patio.
When Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. opened L’Après at the base of Whistler Mountain in 1968, it was not connected to any accommodations and so was regulated differently than the lodges. According to Jack Bright, then the mountain manager for the lift company, L’Après was granted a cabaret licence, which required that any alcohol be served with food and that patrons pay a fee to enter. A lift ticket was accepted as proof of payment and L’Apès became known for fondue, though Bright recalled one RCMP constable who was not convinced that fondue fulfilled the food requirements.
Excitement abounds at the ‘boat races’ at L’Apres Beach Party, an event that the RCMP constable most likely would not have approved of. Whistler Question Collection.
Through the 1970s, more options were opened to thirsty skiers (and non-skiers). The Ski Boot Motel, which had opened in the late 1960s, added a beer parlour and dining room in 1972 and, according to Muir and Griffin, was the first place in Whistler to receive a licence to serve draft beer rather than bottled. (Though they don’t name their sources, they also reported “Locals helped build the bar addition to the existing hotel in the early 1970s. Some wanted the new pub so badly they worked for free.”) Restaurants such as Rudi’s Steakhouse were licensed to serve alcohol with meals and in 1974, the Keg N’ Cleaver restaurant, better known as The Keg, opened on the shores of Alta Lake at Adventures West. The Highland Lodge received its liquor licence in 1978.
According to Allan Gould, at one time the general manager of the Liquor Control and Licencing Branch of BC, the 1970s also saw the government bring in special recreational centre licences for ski resorts and so the lift company was able to get a licence for the Roundhouse. Leo Lucas, who worked as a bartender at the Roundhouse, recalled that they served only beer and wine, all poured into plastic cups to reduce the potential hazards of broken bottles.
The Keg building at its original location in Adventures West. Garibaldi’s Whistler News.
By the time businesses began opening in the Whistler Village in the 1980s, the regulations around liquor in BC had changed a lot from the requirements of the 1920s and food and entertainment of various types could be found alongside liquor in pubs, bars and restaurants. Since Muir and Griffin’s “Bar Wars” series of 1984, regulations have continued to change and many more licenced establishment have opened, closed, and evolved in Whistler.
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 1984. 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: With the development of Whistler Village and as part of an ongoing effort to increase summer business, the early 1980s saw more events and festivals happening in Whistler, and not all of them were related to sports. However, there were still relatively few concerts, performances or other cultural events when compared to the selection available in larger towns and cities or more established resort and recreational areas.
Question: Would you like to see more cultural events in Whistler?
Kay Beckon & Wendy Downes – Waitress & Longhorn Manager – Brio & Alta Vista
Most definitely! We enjoyed last year’s plays by Peak Performers and would like to see more of the same in the future.
Myette Raynes – Waitress – Alpine Meadows
Yes, I would. It is important for the children of our community to have the advantage of viewing cultural events.
Kevin Burton with son Chris – Bartender – Brio
Yes, I think more cultural events would really benefit the Whistler community.
No matter the time of year, there are sure to be people out on the Valley Trail, whether biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, walking, jogging, or skiing. The popular multi-use trail system runs throughout Whistler and, for decades, has been used by many for both practical and recreational purposes.
The origins of Whistler’s Valley Trail go back to 1976, just one year after the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) was formed. A Rec Report prepared by representatives of the Whistler Developers Association, the Alta Lake Ratepayers Association, the Advisory Planning Commission, and the RMOW looked at existing recreation infrastructure within the municipality and made recommendations for future recreation development. These recommendations included “a main valley trail of a minimum 12 foot wide, dust-proof surface” connecting the existing recreational and community facilities and residential developments for cyclists and pedestrians.
Winter commuting along the Valley Trail. Whistler Question Collection, 1996.
This call for a trail system through the valley was echoed four years later in the 1980 Recreation Committee Report and by the Whistler Outdoor Recreation Master Plan Study prepared for the RMOW by Professional Environmental Recreation Consultants Ltd. in 1980, often referred to as the PERC report.
One reason that the PERC report prioritized the development of a bikeway was in order to make travel safer within Whistler. According to the report, “the [then] current system of bicycling on Highway 99 through Whistler is unsafe due to the heavy traffic and especially due to the number of logging and other heavy vehicles using the highway.”
To address this issue, the PERC report proposed building about 13 km of paved bikeway over five years to create a north/south spine that began at the RV campground at the south end and terminated in Alpine Meadows to the north. Along the way, the bikeway would link subdivisions and other developments, including the Village. The master plan also included plans for a Lost Lake Loop and a Fitzsimmons Creek Loop that could be added to the trail system, as well as an extension of the spine north to Emerald Estates along Green Lake.
A newly paved section of the Valley Trail heading towards Alpine Meadows in 1983. Whistler Question Collection, 1983.
Over the next four years, the Advisory Parks and Recreation Commission (ARPC), guided by its chair Trevor Roote, led public consultation meetings, passed a referendum to fund their master plan, and negotiated rights of way throughout the valley for the Valley Trail. By 1982, the trail was paved from the Village to Alta Vista and from the River of Golden Dreams to Rainbow Drive. According to Roote, the trail “immediately became a popular commuting route, particularly with school children who no longer had to ride their bikes to school along Highway 99 playing dodge’m with logging trucks.” In 1983, the trail was paved from the Village to Whistler Cay and from Rainbow Drive through Meadow Park.
Many elements of the trail system described in the PERC report are part of the Valley Trail today. The ARPC did incorporate the trail right of way into the negotiation of sewer rights of way and the general location of the trail matched much of what the PERC report proposed. The next five year plan of the ARPC (1985 – 1989) included the expansion of the Valley Trail out towards Emerald Estates. The physical design of the trail, however, is not quite as the PERC report envisioned.
Steve Martin? No, this wild and crazy guy is parks worker Ted Pryce-Jones who was out last week painting arrows and yellow lines on Valley Trail curves and bends. The new lines and arrows are designed to give cyclists and pedestrians warning and keep users to one side. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.
While most Valley Trail users are accustomed to a mix of walkers, cyclists, skateboarders and more, all keeping to the right of the yellow line except to pass (and then using their bell or calling out to alert those they’re passing), the PERC report proposed a 6′ two-way paved bikeway with a separate but adjacent 3′ gravel pedestrian trail.
The importance to the community of developing recreation and in particular the Valley Trail was recognized quite early on. For his work as the chair of the ARPC, Trevor Roote was named Citizen of the Year in 1981 and was awarded the Freedom of the Municipality in 1984. Since then, the Valley Trail has continued to expand throughout Whistler and continues to be a popular commuting and recreational route for residents and visitors alike.
