During the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games it was common to see mascots Quatchi, Miga and Sumi around, as well as their sidekick Mukmuk the marmot. However, before these mascots descended on Whistler a different marmot mascot ruled Whistler. That marmot was known as Willie Whistler.
The Whistler Resort Association (WRA) began operations in 1980 with the aim ‘to promote, facilitate and encourage the development, maintenance and operation of the resort land.’ The new mascot of the WRA, Willie Whistler, was introduced in 1981 to promote Whistler. The name ‘Willie Whistler’ was chosen through a competition for local children to ‘Name the Whistler Marmot’. Eight-year-old Tammi Wick won a Blackcomb season pass for choosing the winning name.
Willie Whistler with Ski Scamps on Whistler Mountain, February 1982. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation (WMSC) Collection.
Willie’s first big event was the Fall Festival, an event to celebrate the upcoming winter and bring life to the time of year still known as the ‘shoulder season’. Each day of the festival had a scheduled meet and greet with Willie Whistler so everyone could get a picture with the new mascot.
Mascots were so popular in the 1980s that the ‘First Annual Mascot Race’ was held on Blackcomb Mountain on March 26, 1983. The race was held as part of the Yukon Jack Challenge, which also saw the Pacific Western Pro Tour Finals race on upper Springboard and a ‘Hospitality Cup’ – where local hospitality staff were tasked with minimising spillage while carrying loaded trays through a challenging obstacle course.
Mascots making their way up Blackcomb Mountain for the First Annual Mascot Race in 1983. Whistler Question Collection..
There was no shortage of local mascots to compete in the Mascot Race. The Whistler Question did not mince words when discussing the popularity of suited figures. ‘Though Pro Tour racers are supposed to hold centre stage for the weekend, they just might lose it for a while to a herd of furred, feathered, and finned mammals who will ramble, scramble and swim their ways up Blackcomb Mountain to participate in the First Annual Mascot Race.’
‘Confirmed entries in this unpredictable contest include: Whistler’s own famous marmot, Willie Whistler; the race’s sponsor Yukon Jack; E. Bunny, the mystery rabbit, from Blackcomb Mountain; The Mountain Inn’s Delta Duck; the A&W Root Bear, Hemlock the friendly sasquatch; and Bee Bob the Beluga Whale from the Vancouver Aquarium. It will be strictly a case of survival of the fittest in that event.’
From left to right: Delta Duck, Moose, Bee Bob the Beluga, Willie Whistler, Yukon Jack, E. Bunny, Hemlock the sasquatch and A&W Root Bear. Whistler Question Collection.
Though the mascots featured on the front cover of the Whistler Question the following week, it is unclear who won the First Annual Mascot Race. We also could not find any evidence of the mascot race continuing annually.
Willie Whistler was always in the middle of the action greeting visitors, shaking hands with dignitaries, playing golf, skiing and presenting awards. After a busy life eventually it was only mice that wanted to be inside the mascot suit. Ultimately, Willie went the way of Dusty the Horse and finished up in the landfill.
Willie Whistler was popular with celebrities and dignitaries. Here Willie Whistler tees off with Arnold Palmer during the construction of the Whistler Golf Course in 1981. Whistler Question Collection.
In may technically still be (and at times even feel) like summer, but for many people the beginning of September signals the beginning of fall. While many people will have spent this weekend celebrating a certain beverage at the Whistler Beer Festival, in the 1980s this past weekend would have featured a celebration of the upcoming season with the Whistler Fall Festival.
The Fall Festival was first organized by the Whistler Resort Association (WRA, now known as Tourism Whistler) in 1981. At the time, the Whistler Village was beginning to emerge from a craze of construction and Blackcomb Mountain was looking forward to its second season of operations. There was a lot to celebrate in Whistler and the festival featured many of the growing community’s arts, crafts, sports, and activities.
The Fall Festival also included a Paint a Snowflake contest, leaving the fences around construction sites covered in snowflakes. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.
One of the local characters showcased at the Fall Festival was Willie Whistler, the new mascot of the WRA. Willie’s name came from a “Name the Whistler Marmot” contest for children in the area in which the winner, eight-year-old Tammi Wick, won a Blackcomb season pass. The mascot was created to promote Whistler at local and other events and the Fall Festival, which included time each day to “Meet Willie Whistler,” was his first big event.
Willie Whistler takes a ride with Bo Bo the Clown during the Fall Festival in Village Square. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.
The festival also featured local artists and artisans who demonstrated their crafts in the village, including pottery, fibre spinning, stained glass, and painting. Performers over the weekend included acts such as Evan Kemp and the Trail Riders, the Alpini Band, and local favourite Doc Fingers, as well as dance performances and Bo Bo the Clown.
For visitors and residents alike, the Fall Festival offered different ways to see the Whistler valley. Snowgoose Transportation offered free 50 minute bus tours, showing off everything from residential areas to the gondola base in Creekside to the Blackcomb daylodge. To see the valley from above, participants could enjoy a flight from Okanagan Helicopters, take advantage of Blackcomb Mountain’s offer of free chairlift rides, or, subject to wind conditions, go up in Chuck Bump’s hot air balloon, billed at the festival as the “World’s Largest Hot Air Balloon.”
Evan Kemp and the Trail Riders perform in Village Square. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.
Perhaps not surprisingly, sports and competitions also featured prominently at the Fall Festival. Spectators could take in volleyball, Pro/Celebrity tennis matches that paired pro players with notables from politics, business, and media, a softball game between the Whistler Contractors Association and the Whistler A’s, or even a parachuting demonstration. For those looking to compete, the Waiters Race challenged Whistler’s servers to run a timed obstacle course without spilling a drop, and the Labatt’s Great Whistler Water Race relay covered four lakes and the River of Golden Dreams through canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and windsurfing.
A softball game was fun for participants and spectators. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.
Though the Fall Festival was primarily about showcasing Whistler, it also raised money for several different causes. On the Sunday, Whistler hosted a run as part of the first national Terry Fox Run, raising over $7,600. The proceeds from a beer garden hosted by the Whistler Athletic Society that evening were also donated towards cancer research.
Local causes benefited as well. The WRA donated enough funds from the Village Centre beer garden to replace the snowmobile of the Alta Lake Sports Club that had been destroyed in a fire. Umberto Menghi, who was then opening his new restaurant Il Caminetto, contributed to the festival by both providing the firework display for the Saturday evening and hosting a gala dinner at Myrtle Philip School to benefit the Whistler Health Care Society.
If you look really closely, Chuck Bump’s balloon also featured some advertising for local restaurants. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation.
According to Glenda Bartosh of The Whistler Question, the first Fall Festival was about far more than raising money and generating revenue for the resort. She reported that the festival “created laughter, high energy and a true appreciation of what Whistler is all about.” The WRA must have agreed, as they continued to organize the Fall Festival for at least three more years.
At the moment, Whistler’s golf courses are an unlikely place to find a game of golf or even a determined player at the driving range. Instead cross-country skiers, snowshoers and, in the case of the Whistler Golf Club, dog walkers can be found taking advantage of the layer of snow on top of the greens. In just a couple of months, however, the skiers and dogs will be replaced by carts and clubs.
Looking through one of the books on the museum’s reference shelf I came across The Whistler Handbook containing a summary of the courses found in Whistler, written by Doug Sack in 1993. Sack was the first sports editor for the Whistler Question; he started in 1984 and held the post for 18 years. During that time he also contributed to other publications, including The Whistler Handbook put together by Bob Colebrook, Kevin Raffler and Jennifer Wilson in the early 1990s.
Work on the Whistler Golf Course as seen from the bluffs where the building lots are situated. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.
In the golf section of the Handbook Sack covers all of the courses from Furry Creek to Pemberton, including a few that hadn’t yet opened or were still under construction. His commentary, like most of the book, is informative while entertaining.
The oldest golf course in the corridor is the Squamish Valley, first opened in 1967. According to Sack it was built “by community-minded loggers and businessmen” and then renovated under the direction of Robert Muir-Graves in 1992.
The next course to open in the area was the Whistler Golf Course. Though it originally opened with 9 holes, the full 18-hole course designed by Arnold Palmer officially opened in the summer of 1983. Ten years later the course was reportedly busy with tournaments and visitors, making walk on tee times almost impossible except for “weekday twilights.” This course is probably the most photographed in the museum collections as the Question was there to cover all aspects from its construction to the golf lessons Palmer once gave mascot Willie Whistler in 1981 on the 9-hole course to the commercial Sean Connery filmed on the greens in 1984.
Sean Connery seen filming a Japanese commercial for Biogurt on the Whistler Golf Course. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.
By 1993 the Pemberton Valley Golf Club, designed by Boyd Barr and opened in 1989, was described by Sack as having “two distinctive nines, one in the open with lakes, and one in the trees” and offering a “diverse golfing experience.” In only four years the course had developed a reputation as “the most popular course for locals and the most relaxed for visitors.”
Unlike the Pemberton Valley course, neither the Fairmont Chateau Golf Course nor the course in Furry Creek, both newly opened in 1993, were described by Sack as “relaxing”. According to Sack, “You know a golf course is tough when you’re standing on the first tee and you hear one of the assistant pros walking off the 18th green bragging to his co-workers about almost breaking 80.”
As of 1993 Big Sky and Nicklaus North were under construction, set to open in 1994 and 1995 respectively.
Summertime in the Whistler Village in the 1990s. Greg Griffith Collection.
The golf courses of Whistler are only one aspect covered in The Whistler Handbook, which includes sections on the community, the resort services, winter sports and more. Anyone who experienced Whistler in the 1990s will find the contents familiar, whether they golf or not. The 1990s are not often highlighted at the museum (in part because the decade still seems recent, despite ending 19 years ago); having resources like The Whistler Handbook and others in our collection ensure that the 1990s will be preserved as part of Whistler’s history.
A lot has happened this week in Whistler’s history – this week in 1982 has almost 400 photographs. If you’re interested in seeing more the Fall Festival and other events from that year, check out the whole album here.
1979
Potholes galore! The entrance to Alpine Meadows as it appeared last Sunday.
Typical Town Centre scene last week – the rain keeps coming and the mud gets deeper!
Swinging in the rain! A foursome tees off at the first hole in the Bob Parsons Memorial Golf Tournament.
The bottom terminal of Blackcomb lift #2 takes shape.
The front entrance of the new Fortress Mountain Blackcomb base facility.
1980
Crowds begin to mass for the Town Centre rally organized by the Whistler Contractors Association. Over 300 people took part in the rally and march through Town Centre.
Crowd marches past the still uncompleted Resort Centre.
Not a skateboard ramp but the Olive Chair’s newly-paved loading and discharge platform at the Gondola Station.
NO PARKING! Itinerant pickup decides to use the new Olive Chair ramp as a parking spot.
Bob Wick points out golf course features to a group of appreciative horticulture students from Langley.
Recently created public access to Alta Lake in the Alta Vista subdivision. This area is unknown to many Whistler visitors and residents.
1982
Whistler Mayor Pat Carleton and Howe Sound MLA Allan Williams take in some of the scenery in Lost Lake Park. They were en route to the September 11th official opening of the 500-acre recreational site.
Myrtle Philip cuts the opening ribbon held by Health Care Society Chairman Rollie Horsey, September 12.
One of the vehicles which helped wipe out both signals at the Green River railway crossing – a 1979 Ferrari which was driven by Brent Freitag of Vancouver.
Two waiters roll through the Waiter/Waitress Race during Fall Festival fun.
Shasta Trampoline Club members soared as part of a festival demonstration.
Edelweiss Dance Group from Victoria chopped. It was all going on at Whistler’s second Fall Festival.
They also danced in Village Square.
Kids anticipated winter in the snowflake drawing contest.
Fun was also had in the bouncy castle.
Delta Duck and Willie Whistler tee up.
A fitness class gets everyone moving in Mountain Square.
Gumboot Lollipop gets a helping hand from a couple of “volunteers”.
Terry Boston lauded the lowly duck.
Tapley’s A’s player streaks over home plate as a Pemberton Zipperhead fumbles the ball. Tapley’s went on to win the game but came in fourth in the tournament.
1983
The Rangerettes Baton Corps of North Vancouver goes through its clown routine at Sunday’s Fall Festival. Other entertainers at the weekend event included folk and can-can dancers and live music in Village Square. Despite the wet conditions about 1,500 people were attracted to the end-of-summer extravaganza.
Whistler’s new Arabesque tent protects dancers and drinkers from the rain.
Kids had their bit of fun riding the giant merry-go-round set up in the VIP parking lot.
And at the bouncy dome outside the service building.
Tim Cleave from the New Westminster-based Shasta Trampoline levitates over Whistler Mountain.
Workmen from B & O Blacktop put the finishing touches on the Valley Drive bridge that was washed out in 1981.
Ross Smith, manager of Stoney’s Restaurant, does his Hamlet imitation while teaching would-be bartenders the finer points of slinging gin. The three-week course takes place in Mountain House Cabaret.
Instant curbs ooze out of Alpine Paving’s machine along Mountain Lane by Delta Mountain Inn. Paving is expected to be finished next week.
Parks employee Ted Pryce-Jones completes the new suspension bridge on Callaghan River near the Cheakamus River junction. Parks Planner Tom Barratt says the $12,000 bridge should be ready to cross this week.
Alpha Lake Park officially opened to the public.
1984
The summer students hired by Whistler Resort Association said goodbye last week following a season-long series of performances in Whistler Village. (L to R) Rob McQuaid, Mike McQuaid, Karen Overgaard and Rick Johnson were four of the university and community college students who helped create a festive atmosphere in the village this summer. WRA summer students who were absent include Kimberley Paulley, David Lyford, Paul Ciechanowski, Kristine Keiland and Susan Mathew.
Peter Oblander, winner of the Rotary Club of Whistler lottery for a lifetime dual mountain pass, was presented his prize Friday by Lorne Borgal, president of Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation, and Hugh Smythe, president of Blackcomb Skiiing Enterprises. Oberlander, a University of British Columbia professor and director of human settlement for the United Nations, spoke to Rotarians at their weekly luncheon, on his own experiences in this area since he first visited Diamond Head at Easter, 1950. Oberlander recalled the trip by water to Britannia Beach from Horseshoe Bay, and from Britannia to Squamish by jeep. In the 1960s, Oberlander assisted Keg owner George Tidal in laying out his restaurant on Alta Lake. Later, Oberlander helped plan what was to be the Olympic townsite, and has since then been a frequent and enthusiastic weekender here. Winning the lifetime pass, he said, is “in many ways a crowning achievement” to his three decade-long familiarity with the area.
Tony Brummet, Land, Parks and Housing Minister, officially opened the Black Tusk Village subdivision Saturday. The 94 strata-lot subdivision was built to provide a new home for former residents of Garibaldi, which in 1981 was declared hazardous because of the Barrier, a rock face nearby.
Whistler residents Lee MacLaurin and Ian Mounsey were wed Saturday in a ceremony at Tyrol Lodge. Lee is the daughter of Isobel and Don MacLaurin of Whistler, and Ian is the son of Ken and Sylvia Mounsey of Galiano Island. Best man at the wedding was Jim Lang, while Lee’s sisters Sue and Jill were bridesmaids. Marriage Commissioner Joan Hinds of Squamish performed the ceremony and guests at the Tyrol Lodge reception were treated to a topographic wedding cake sculpted in the form of Whistler Mountain and decorated with a pair of “ski-niks” and candy trees. Lee started a family tradition by wearing they same dress mother Isobel wore at her wedding 26 years ago.
