Tag Archives: chairlift construction

This Week In Photos: October 11

This week had some major events in the 1980s, some of which resemble things happening in Whistler today.  For more photos of the construction of Lift No. 6 (Jersey Cream) on Blackcomb take a look here.  For more photos of the 1984 floods, check here.

1978

A quiet day at Garibaldi Building Supplies Ltd.

Dancing was a must at the recent Quonset hut party, and few people were left off the dance floor.

Diners fill their plates at the Community Club dinner this past weekend.

1979

The game is on! Students from Signal Hill play the Myrtle Philip School soccer team on Wednesday.

Construction of the town centre continues as this building stands alone.

Builder and artist, Trudy Salmhofer decorates one of her new chalets in Blackcomb Estates.

Lorne O’Connor (left) from the Vancouver Olympic Committee and Whistler alderman Rolly Harsey lead the visiting C.O.A. delegates from the plane on Saturday. Following behind are Frank Shaugnessy and Cliff Powell, both from Montreal.

1980

The dinner part of the Community Club dinner & dance hosted in the Myrtle Philip School gym.

Paul and Jane Burrows take a turn around the the floor.

Kelly and Max Maxwell with their new daughter Fiona at the Community Club dinner.

Whose legs were on display at the dinner?

The Whistler Liquor Store has a curb outside but there still remains some paving to be done.

RCMP & wrecker crews remove the van from the fast flowing Lillooet River.

1982

Whistler’s future firefighters examine the tools of the trade at Myrtle Philip School.

Crowds swarmed to Whistler Village over the Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy some sun and relaxation.

Chop-chop! Dozens of Whistlerites took advantage of a stockpile of free timber left on the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain after trail clearing operations. The mountain was open to the public Saturday and Sunday.

Sikorski S61 chopper lifts cement for the tower pads of Blackcomb’s new Lift No. 6.

Worker welds part onto tower head assembly due to be installed on Lift No. 6, under construction on Blackcomb Mountain.

It’s a dog’s life at the pound when your master hasn’t shown up yet to pay the fine and bring you home again.

Sergeant Jim Hogarth settles into his new duties as head of the Whistler RCMP detachment. With 17 years on police forces, Hogarth brings a good deal of experience to the position. He resides in Emerald Estates with his wife and two daughters.

1983

It was a case of a bridge too high and a house too wide last Thursday at the Fitzsimmons Creek Bridge in White Gold. Although the house owned by Len and Patty Richie was eventually moved from Garibaldi Estates to Lot 30 on Ambassador Crescent, it couldn’t go by the bridge for more than six hours.

House mover Bob Malaughney takes a chainsaw to one of three bridge-posts (one had already been ripped off) that have to be removed.

And resting behind it all on a beam supporting the house was the fragile bird’s nest.

John Robinson puts final touches on his MDC home with help of wife Diane and daughter Kristal.

1984

Pat Carleton, ex-mayor of Whistler, came out of the closet Sunday to join aldermanic candidates Paul Burrows and Nancy Wilhelm-Morden in celebrating the official opening of Whistler’s new municipal hall. The building, which was opened six weeks ago, was formerly used by Keg Restaurants, relocated and later renovated at a cost of $492,000.

Passersby saw the Soo River leap its banks on Highway 99 close to Pemberton Monday, but highway crews soon had the river under control.

Fifteen loaded freight cars were forced off the B.C. Rail track just north of Pemberton after the Lillooet River eroded material supporting ties and tracks. The railcars were part of a 96-car freight train southbound when the accident occurred early Monday morning. Elsewhere in Pemberton, houses, farmland and roads were flooded badly, but by Tuesday afternoon the flood was on the wane, although more rain was forecast.

Pemberton fire chief Milt Fernandez, who supervised rescue and flood control operations in the besieged town, takes a moment out at the rescue centre for victims of the Meager Creek disaster. Fernandez and other rescue workers laboured around the clock Monday and Tuesday before outside help arrived to push back the rising waters. But Pemberton wasn’t the only victim of torrential rains.

In Whistler, two log jams developed on the Cheakamus River and by Tuesday had reached a precarious point. Mailoch and Moseley logging company employees survey a major buildup at the garbage dump bridge six miles south of Whistler. Clean up operations began Tuesday night.

50 Years of Green

When the mountains open this winter things will look a bit different.  Over the summer both mountains have undergone some changes.  On Whistler a new six-person Emerald Express will replace the four-person chair.  This will be the fifth chairlift installed along this lift line, with this season marking fifty years since the installation of the Green Chair.

Blizzard! The scene looking down the Green Chair during a snowstorm in February, 1979. Whistler Question Collection.

The first Green Chair, a two-person lift with an uphill capacity of 1000 people per hour, was installed on Whistler Mountain for the 1968/69 season and opened up new terrain for skiing.  Over the summer of 1968 two new beginner-intermediate runs were cut and groomed, known today as Ego Bowl and Jolly Green Giant, and advanced skiers were promised fantastic bowl skiing and powder skiing in the evergreens around the lift.

Once open the Green Chair made it possible for skiers to ski down to the valley on the northeast side of Whistler.  A new intermediate run was cut from the top of the Green Chair to what was then referred to as the “gravel pit”, the future site of Whistler Village.  A bus service provided by Whistler Mountain would then run skiers back to the gondola base at Creekside.

The two Green Chairs can be seen heading up towards the Roundhouse. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

The Green Chair and the runs it serviced proved popular and in 1970 the lift was extended.  Loading now took place further down the hill where skiers and boarders were still loading when the mountain closed this spring.  At the same time Ego Bowl and Jolly Green Giant were widened and cleared of trees, stumps and boulders.

The Orange Chair, built in 1972, added more access to the Green Chair area and enabled the building of the Whiskey Jack run, which ran from the top of the Orange to the bottom of the Green Chairs.  By this time the “gravel pit” had been renamed the Olympic parking lot and Olympic Run was a regular ski out for many skiers.

Skiers head up the Green Chair on a sunny day, 1980. Whistler Question Collection.

By 1973, the popularity of the Green Chair and its beginner-intermediate runs already indicated the need for greater uphill capacity.  A second double lift, imaginatively named Green Chair II, was planned for the 1974/75 season.  Running parallel to Green Chair I and transporting 1200 skiers per hour, this new chair promised to eliminate lift lines in the area.

The next few years saw more changes for the Green Chairs.  A new run was cut in 1976 to reduce congestion in the area and the winner of the accompanying contest named the new route Green Acres.  Green Chair I gained a new tower in 1977 to allow the addition of a mid-station loading ramp.  The new loading point was meant to allow for skiing both earlier and late in the season.

Skiers board the Green Express at the bottom of Ego Bowl. Whistler Question Collection.

The two Green Chairs ran side by side until 1989, when both were replaced by the Green Chair Express, Whistler Mountain’s first quad chair.  This Green Chair lasted only eight years before the high-speed Emerald Express, also a quad, replaced it in 1997.

More than 20 years later the old Emerald Express has been disassembled and will reappear on Blackcomb this year, replacing the original Catskinner Chair from 1980.  The new six-person Emerald Express will provide access to the same runs built under the original Green Chair fifty years ago, though it may look a little different today.

This Week In Photos: September 27

1978

Trucks head up Whistler Mountain during the summer construction of the new chairlift.

The top drive station of the new “Little Red” chairlift being built at the top of Whistler Ski area.

1979

Smoke pillars up from the fire behind Garibaldi last week.

The concrete is poured on Wedgewood Properties Package #8 while workers get up to the roof level on the condominiums above Packages #4 and #5.

David Fairhurst proudly shows off the first Pine mushrooms he found last month.

Air West’s new Twin Otter on Alta Lake after bringing the C.O.A. delegates to Whistler.

The students give Dennis Lamarche’s wagon a good wash while the bake sale goes on behind.

The ad for Espresso Express Line, a unique business set up in Whistler.

1980

BC CABINET AT WHISTLER: Mayor Carleton greets Premier Bill Bennett and Labour Minister Allan Williams as they get off the train.

The Mayor shows the Town Centre off to Health Minister McLelland, Premier Bennett, Mrs. Aubrey Bennett, Provincial Secretary Hugh Curtis & Labour Minister Allan Williams.

Bennett poses with some Myrtle Philip students.

Miss Pemberton 1980 Kristi King presents the Premier with a giant potato casserole dish on behalf of the people of the Pemberton Valley.

Work on bridge over Fitzsimmons to bring skiers from Blackcomb into Town Centre.

Franz and Annette Wilhelmsen admire new Whistler pin while Hastings West president Ken Tolmie, Peter Alder and Trudi Salmhofer look on.

Heavy rain caused deep mud near the Town Centre. Golf course practice fairway 1 – Mark Clark truck 0.

Kayak is totally submerged at this portion of the course.

1982

Awarded a winged hat for being the fastest base runner in the beer league. Don Beverley of the 2.5 Rollbacks has all of next season to look forward to. Jan Simpson and M.C. Terry Boston presented him with his memento.

This W5 crew was on location in Whistler last week while covering a story on human rights. Segment of story covered here involved the theory of relocating Garibaldi residents to protect Whistler.

Students from UBC and the infamous University of Whistler braved chilly temperatures over the weekend to compete in the First Annual Intercollegiate Windsurfing Championship.

No one was hibernating on Whistler Mountain this summer. Renovations are nearly complete on the Roundhouse, including this new sundeck and snack stand on the east side of the building.

As the new Director of Ski Racing for Whistler Mountain, Dave Murray will be coordinating downhill race clinics, ski promotions and special events. Murray, 29, retired from the Canadian National Ski Team last year after the World Cup held at Whistler.

Parks Planner Tom Barratt and plant specialist Karen Edwards bone up on some of the plant species indigenous to this area.

1983

Brownies Karen Kogler, Sonja Richli, Madeleine Domries, Sara Jennings, Marika Richoz, Jessica Wilson, Adrienne Richters, Joanne DenDuyf, Jessica Humphrey, Melanie Busdon, Leah Wuolle and Heather Paul listened attentively to leader Brown Owl (alias Bettina Weidermann) at the first meeting of the season at Myrtle Philip School Wednesday. Brown Owl says that Brownies meet once a week, from 6:30 to 8 pm at the school, and are open to girls aged six through nine.

John Hunter Trucking goalie Steve Brunn misses a shot that grazes the post in Saturday’s Howe Sound Hockey League game opener against Tapley’s Winterhawks. Brunn was pestered with shots from Winterhawk forwards and defencemen all game long. A porous John Hunter defence coupled with fast skating Winterhawks players proved too much for the Squamish team as they went down to defeat 6-3.

Getting down is the way to get in shape at Bodyworks. Workouts will be moving to Myrtle Philip School starting Monday.

The skiing never stops for Philippe Lavoie and Brent Wood, seen here atop Whistler Mountain Sunday before boot-skiing on remaining snow.

Alpine Paving workmen roll along Mountain Lane and put the finishing touches to the route. With Village Stroll paving now complete, all that remains is completing Whistler Way from Tantalus Lodge to the underground parking entrance.

Greg Lee, new head skiing coach at Blackcomb, gets a head start working out with local girls and boys Sunday morning. Lee, a former World Pro Skiing Circuit skier, also does colour commentary for CBC Sports. Before Sunday’s soccer game Lee showed kids how to take their heart rate for better fitness.

Out for a postprandial training ride, cyclist Todd McPhalen coasts down Village Gate Boulevard. Not seen are Dave MacPhail, Don Barr and Murray Sudden, nuclei of the soon-to-be Team Whistler.

1984

An unidentified dog finds refuge from the rain beneath a Wedgemount Blasting truck parked in village parking lot “A”.

Chilly temperatures kept crowds to a minimum Saturday, but sunny skies brought throngs out Sunday for the fourth year of Whistler’s Fall Festival.

Pat Earley was one of six Vancouver-based artists who demonstrated their creative talents during the Sept. 22-23 Fall Festival. Earley specializes in oil pastel portraits which are exquisitely detailed and warm. Although the displays were moved indoors to the Delta Mountain Inn because of chilly weather, it was the first time artists were allowed to demonstrate and sell their wares in the streets of Whistler.

Playland set up an instant amusement park…

… but some youngsters weren’t too sure if they enjoyed the pony rides or not.

Television and movie producers seem to have developed a taste for Whistler. Actor Sean Connery, best known as James Bond, agent 007, starred Tuesday in a Japanese TV commercial for Biogur yogurt. Production coordinator Martin Yokata said they needed a “strong, healthy, clean” image, and 007 fit the part. In the ad, Connery is seen doing calisthenics and running alongside a golf green at the Whistler Golf Club with a Doberman Pinscher.