Tag Archives: Mountain FM

This Week In Photos: May 3

From road conditions and ski races to golf tournaments and end-of-season competitions (LA Legs Contest?) the Whistler Question reported on everything and anything going on in town.

1980

Nester’s residents won’t have any speeders in their neighbourhood if they can help it. And to help them are large- to dangerous-sized boulders strewn about the roadway in an attempt to slow drivers to a crawl.

This bus seems to be missing a key component.

(L to R) Minister of Tourism Pat Jordan chats with our Pat – Mayor Carleton – at the Town Centre during a tour of the site and an explanation by the mayor of what exactly is going on at the busy construction site. With Honourable Minister and Mayor are Tourism Ministry staff Joan Jarvis and George Plul.

A golfer drives one off the third tee at the Whistler Golf Course during the Bob Parson’s Memorial Golf Tournament.

Chauffeur Chris Speedie and assistant Rod McLeod take the golf course refreshment buggy around the course.

This temporary decking on the bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek on the Blackcomb access road will be replaced during May by a full width concrete surface.

A spring trip to Meager Creek Hot Springs BC Forest Service Recreation Site.

1981

Architect Joe Yamauchi and Alderman Mark Angus inspect the model of the controversial Whistler Tower Building planned for Parcel 26.

Jody Wick, 10, of Myrtle Philip Elementary, brings out the shine on Ike’s tow-truck during the WPTA’s successful carwash held May 2.

Costumed members of the Vancouver Telemark Society practice group telemark turns on the last day of the season.

For being the top MPE artists, not to mention electrically alert, Tami Wick, Rya Kirkwood and Cris Simpson were awarded these framed certificates. Standing behind (l to r) are Ross Dinwoodie, Laroy Watt and Gary Wong.

We don’t know whose best friend this is, but who could resist that face?

Whew! All tuckered out at the end of the season, Donald Campbell, 4, of North Vancouver decided that the best place for a weary skier to lay his helmetted head was the front step of Jim McConkey’s Ski Shop.

1982

Wind’s up… and that’s enough for Chris Jacobs to drag out his sailboard and take on the ice! Jacobs uses a wooden platform with skis attached and finds the boardsailing just fine. Andrew Stoner photo.

They’re switched on and tuned in at Mountain FM.

That toe-tapping beat inspired even the heavy-footed to get down to the music of the Sailboats at Blackcomb Daylodge on Sunday, May 2.

Pas de demux amid the hubbub during Boogie-in-your-ski-boots. Fiona Maxwell (2) is led by Neal Jennings (3), both of Whistler.

Move over J.R. On location to shoot a 10-minute promotional short for a possible new TV series called “Whistler”, this film crew from Eighth Avenue Productions was the centre of excitement. Driving his own Rolls-Royce is Peter Mueller (no, not the skier) who is reported to be providing financial backing for the project.

Whew! What a win! After tight competition through the season, Jim Wharin and Megan Armstrong skied to the top of the local championship series on Blackcomb.

1983

In Whistler, even line-painting comes with a view.

Workers at The Madhouse on Whistler Mountain at the end of the season.

A bunch of real hackers, Team Hack cleaned up on one of the valley’s most coveted trophies, the Whistler Cup. And the winners, ladies and gentlemen, were (l to r) Sue Boyd, Rob Denham, Mike Turcotte and Jim Wharin.

Hubba, hubba! What a beaut! This mystery entrant in Blackcomb Mountain’s LA Legs Contest April 30 strutted away with first prize.

Semi-finalists at Stoney’s Suitcase Party May 1 let off some steam before the final name was selected. The lucky winner? Dave Cipp of Tapley’s (fourth from left in back row, with his mouth wide open). Cipp grabbed his golf clubs, Brenda Davidson of Today’s Video and headed to Honolulu that night.

Yowser, yowser, yowser! The gang at Rendezvous Restaurant on Blackcomb Mountain have their own special way of saying goodbye. Of course they were in the midst of the clutches of spring fever Sunday, May 1.

1984

Former Delta Mountain Inn Food and Beverage Manager Dave Roberts received an unceremonious going away party last Wednesday, and to not let him forget what his job’s all about, Delta staff applied raw eggs, tomatoes and various other foodstuffs to Roberts’ body.

Simon Gould and family have yet another car in their collection after winning the Winterfest lottery Saturday. The prize was a $12,000 1984 Jeep Cherokee graciously supplied by Mountainview Motors of North Vancouver. Gould, from West Vancouver, happened to be on the scene when the draw took place and said it could mean that his daughter, the most thrilled of the lot, will be getting a car of her own.

The Squamish Youth Chorale, with a cast of 69, presented its latest production, “Dreamer”, to a packed house at Myrtle Philip School Saturday night. The story is based on the biblical saga of Joseph and his 10 brothers.

Soundbite-Sized History: Whistler Heritage Minutes

In our never-ending quest to spread the word of Whistler history as far and wide as possible, a few months ago we started producing a weekly series of audio clips called Whistler Heritage Minutes that air every Monday on Mountain FM.

We’ll continue to produce a new one to be played on the air every week, after which they will be uploaded to our SoundCloud page where our entire catalogue is hosted.

In the meantime, we’ve decided to share a few of our favourites here to this blog for your listening pleasure.

First off, Myrtle & Alex Philip are considered the founders of the community that became Whistler, as it was their Rainbow Lodge, built in 1914, that first established this valley as a tourist destination. In this clip, Myrtle recalls the first time she ever laid eyes on her future husband and life-partner:

Myrtle & Alex with their dog Skookum, circa 1920.

WMA_P86_0527_Philip

 

 

Long-time local, professional forester, and dedicated environmentalist Don MacLaurin made innumerable contributions to our community over the more than 50 years that he lived here. In this audio clip he recounted how Lost Lake was nearly lost in the early 1960s, and what he did to save it.

 

Myrtle Philip entertaining Rainbow Lodge guests at Lost Lake, early 1930s.

Myrtle Philip entertaining Rainbow Lodge guests at Lost Lake, early 1930s.

 

One of Whistler Village’s major assets is the abundance of gorgeous sight lines towards the surrounding mountains. If these seem almost too perfectly aligned, well, they’re no happy accident. In this clip, Eldon Beck, the lead architect of Whistler Village, explains some of the early inspiration for his designs.

Lots of attention were paid to ambiance, the flow of traffic, and sight-lines of the surrounding mountains.

Lots of attention was paid to ambiance, the flow of traffic, and sight-lines of the surrounding mountains when designing Whistler Village.

 

When snowboarding first emerged in the 1980s, the new sport was met with a lot of skepticism and outright opposition. Blackcomb Mountain was one of the first ski hills in Canada to allow the sideways sliders on all of its slopes. In this clip Blackcomb Mountain VP-Marketing Dave Perry explains his mountain’s rationale.

Early snowboarders on Blackcomb. Photo: Greg Griffith/WMAS

Early snowboarders on Blackcomb. Photo: Greg Griffith/WMAS

We’ve got 8 clips so far, with lots more to come! Make sure to check out all of our Heritage Minutes at http://www.soundcloud.com/whistlermuseum

Listen to the top 5 Whistler Anthem entries!

Now that we’re able to let out a sigh of relief after last week’s greatly successful 100 Years of Dreams celebrations, we can take a look back on some of the events. The Whistler Anthem Project was certainly a highlight for us. Of the 29 initial submissions, the field was whittled down to five top candidates to become Whistler’s official anthem. These were then performed last Wednesday night at Millennium Place in an American Idol-style showdown.

The panel of judges: Long-time radio host Tarzan Dan; Juno Award-winning singer/songwriter Norm Foote; Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed; Sophie Simmons, daughter of KISS frontman Gene Simmons. Photo: Joern Rohde/wpnn.org

The judges repeatedly noted how tough they found it to choose a single winner, but in the end, singer/songwriter Chad Oliver took home the glory (and $5000) for his catchy country-rock tune “Top of the World.”

Chad Oliver with his big cheque! Congrats Chad! Joern Rodhe / joernrodhe.com

Event sponsor MountainFM has uploaded the 5 top entries for your listening pleasure. Enjoy these for now, but several times throughout the night allusions were made to a potential CD compilation including more of the entries. Keep your ears open for that.

Glen Mishaw brought a full backing band out to perform his classic rock tune.       Joern Rodhe / joernrodhe.com

Jeremy Thom and friend. Joern Rodhe / joernrodhe.com

Rachel Thom performs her ballad for Whistler. Joern Rodhe / joernrodhe.com

Adam Legget and friend perform “Drive”. Joern Rodhe / joernrodhe.com