We won’t be able to host our annual Kids Après program at the Whistler Museum this season, but you can take part of it home with you with our Kids Après Activity Book! Activity books include stories from our exhibits, colouring pages, and activities such as word searches and mazes. Activity books are available for free at the Whistler Museum during our open hours through April 5, 2021.
Back in September 2020 we posted photos on our social media of exploratory trips taken by the UBC Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC) in 1964 and the construction of the VOC Cabin from 1965. The photos were donated by Karl Ricker, a VOC member who had substantial involvement in the VOC Cabin. Recently, Ricker brought in copies of the VOC Journal from 1964 to 1968 to add to our research collection and, though we’ve only taken a quick look so far (and are looking forward to examining the journals more closely), they appear to be a very valuable addition.
One of the photos posted on our social media, showing the construction of the Cabin by VOC members. Karl Ricker Collection.
The journals cover a period during which the VOC was exploring the possibility of a cabin in Whistler, constructing the cabin in Whistler, and beginning to put the cabin in Whistler to use. According to the VOC Journal of 1964, the VOC Cabin on Mount Seymour was rarely being used as a ski cabin, as members could drive right up to the lifts, and skiing on Seymour was becoming increasingly crowded. They also found that Seymour was “inadequate as an area for ski touring, for hiking, or for mountaineering,” the “most important activities of an outdoor club.” Building a cabin in the Whistler area was thought to be an improvement as the long drive from Vancouver ensured most skiers would stay overnight, there was a proposal to develop lifts on Whistler Mountain, and the surrounding mountains would “present spectacular opportunities for touring and hiking.” Members of the VOC made their first reconnaissance trips to the area throughout 1964 and began construction of the cabin in 1965.
Skimming the journals, mention of progress on the VOC Cabin are frequent and, as far as we’ve seen, optimistic. In 1967 then VOC President Paul Sims wrote in his report of the upcoming completion of the cabin, saying: “When the last shake is nailed to the wall, and the last stone mortared into the fireplace, the construction at Whistler will be of a different nature. The shaking will continue but from dances, pots and pans, sing-songs, laughter and conversation. The building will bulge with eager and exhausted outdoor groups instead of construction crews.”
Karl Ricker in the midst of a socially distanced recording session (anyone not in front of the camera is also masked at all times).
The journals were brought in by Ricker when he came to the museum to record an interview for an upcoming exhibition by the Museum of North Vancouver. We were excited to help facilitate the recording as it gave us a chance to try out equipment we’ve now been using in our virtual events. This past weekend marked our first BC Family Day Kids Après: At Home Edition. Rather than invite families to the museum, we created Kids Après Packs that brought parts of the museum to you. Packs were picked up for free at the museum and included materials for two crafts and a Kids Après Activity Book, which combines stories from our exhibits with colouring pages, mazes, trivia and more. We released craft videos online so that participants could craft along from home, creating their own skiing snowpeople and a (non-edible) mug of hot chocolate, a staple of Kids Après.
The same equipment was also used to create the craft videos as part of BC Family Day Kids Après: Home Edition.
Tomorrow evening we’ll be hosting our first Virtual Speaker Series of 2021, kicking off the series with Whistler Pride: A Look Back with Dean Nelson. Though the Whistler Pride and Ski Festival was not able to go ahead this year, you could still see the spirit of the festival in the flags along Village Gate Boulevard – we’ll be learning more about how the festival started and how it has grown and become more visible with one of its long-time organizers. You can register for the free event here. Find out more about the rest of our Speaker Series line up for 2021 at our website here.
Our popular Kids Après is back for the BC Family Day Weekend, February 15 – 17 from 2 – 5pm. This is a great chance to bring the whole family by the museum to learn something new about Whistler’s history, enjoy free hot chocolate (courtesy of Blenz), add your own colour to archival images, and take home a unique button (magnet or pin) created by you! Entry is free.
The Province of British Columbia has provided the Whistler Museum a grant in support of our free, community Family Day Weekend event. To learn more visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/celebrating-british-columbia/bc-family-day”.
Posted in Museum News & Events
Tagged button making, Family Day, hot chocolate, Kids Apres, LEGO, museum events, scavenger hunt, Whistler Museum
Our popular Kids Après is back for March Break! This is a great chance to bring your youngsters by the museum to experience a bit of history with colouring, button-making, LEGO and more. Entry is always by donation. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Posted in Museum News & Events
Tagged crafts, Kids Apres, LEGO, museum events, scavenger hunt, Whistler Museum
Our popular Kids Après is back for Family Day Weekend, February 16th to 18th from 3-6pm. This is a great chance to bring your youngsters by the museum to experience a bit of culture, colouring, button-making, LEGO, and more. Entry is always by donation. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Posted in Museum News & Events
Tagged crafts, Kids Apres, museum events, Whistler Museum
The past year has been one of great exhilaration, vision and accomplishment for the Whistler Museum & Archives Society. Together with the Board of Trustees, staff and volunteers, the museum continued to advance its mission to collect, preserve, document and interpret the natural and human history of mountain life in Whistler, and broaden our program offerings.
2018 marks the busiest year in the museum’s history, with over 12,800 exhibit visits and an additional 10,600 people partaking in the museum’s many events and programs. These programs included our long-running Valley of Dreams Walking Tour, which educates guests and locals alike on the pioneer history of the region, tales behind the development of the mountains, and the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The tour is currently in its 22nd year and runs daily throughout June, July and August.
Walking tours have been run by the museum for 22 years, making it our second longest running program (beaten only by the Annual LEGO Building Competition).
The museum’s Discover Nature program was another highlight from the past year. This program, which runs in July and August, included a Discover Nature Station at Lost Lake Park and a nature-based walking tour. Our friendly interpreters used the touch table items to engage participants and to encourage questions about the marvels of natures. Participants also had the opportunity to dig deeper into any of our items on display (or things not on display) to discover fun facts about some of Whistler’s local organisms.
Other museum program highlights this year included Kids Après, Crafts in the Park (in partnership with the Whistler Public Library), Nature 101 training seminars, our 3rd annual Mountain Bike Heritage Week, Feeding the Spirit and, of course, our long-running Speaker Series.
Brandywine Falls, now a provincial park, was once the Conroy family homestead and then a bustling resort run by the Gallagher family. Photo: Whistler Mountain Collection
My personal favourite Speaker Series event we held this year was with Julie Gallagher, who grew up at Brandywine Falls, and whose parents Ray and Ruth Gallagher ran a resort in the current location of Brandywine Provincial Park. After delivering a riveting talk on April 28th, Julie offered to take staff and guests on a walk through Brandywine Falls the following day, describing where many lost structures were located, and even showed us a few remnants of structures just off the main viewing area that I personally have walked past many times but would never have noticed if she had not pointed them out.
One of the major accomplishments of the museum this year was the completion of Coast Mountain Gothic: A History of the Coast Mountain Gothic Arch Huts, a virtual exhibit with the support of the Virtual Museum of Canada. This exhibit explores the story, design and construction of Coast Mountain Gothic Arch Huts and the people and organizations who brought them to life. This was a major endeavour that took over two years to complete and was also the museum’s first fully bilingual exhibit, with all interpretive text available in French. You can check our the exhibit on our website under exhibits: VMC – Coast Mountain Gothic.
The VOC building the Harrison Hut in October 1983. Photo: Jay Page; UBC-VOC Archives, October 1983.
Given our lack of physical space in our current location, we are glad to have the opportunity to tell Whistler’s stories through our Museum Musings column every week – thanks to the Pique for allowing us to share 52 Whistler narratives in 2018 that would have otherwise been left untold. We are grateful to everyone who reads our column and attends our events. Thank you for your continued support and we’ll see you in the new year!
– Brad Nichols, Executive Director
Kids Après is back at the Whistler Museum for March Break! There will be LEGO building, a scavenger hunt, colouring and button making at the museum, as well as chance to explore the museum’s exhibits. All ages are welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult.
Posted in Museum News & Events
Tagged button making, crafts, Kids Apres, kids crafts, museum events, Whistler Museum
