In January 1966, skiers in the Lower Mainland saw the beginning of two new ventures: Whistler Mountain held its opening day on Jan. 15 and Ski Trails published its first issue on Jan. 20 (though a typographical error dates the first issue as Jan. 20, 1965). Luckily for us at the Whistler Museum, this means the opening season of Whistler Mountain is documented throughout the first volume of Ski Trails, which was published every two weeks.
The aim of Ski Trails, according to editor Michael Horsey, was “to provide an informative and entertaining service for B.C. skiers,” while targeting “the average recreational skier who wants to know about new skiing areas, new products and what other skiers are thinking about.” To that end, Ski Trails published longer pieces detailing specific resorts and ski areas and what they had to offer, beginning with Whistler Mountain in its first issue. It also published articles on new ski signs, ski fashions, regular columns that listed new developments and events, and letters from readers, as well as more comical pieces that commented on the ski culture of the 1960s. Throughout its first volume, Ski Trails also published race results for the various races and ski clubs in the province, often including names that would become very familiar in the Whistler area such as Andrée Vajda (Janyk), Bob Calladine and Karen Dokka (Vagelatos).
In its first issue, Ski Trails announced that “the hottest skiing news for Lower Mainland skiers is coming from the cold, cold slopes of Whistler Mountain,” and listed the different facilities, accommodations and après options available. It would appear the early season did not go off without a hitch, however, and by the second issue published Jan. 29, Ski Trails reported on long lineups for the gondola and T-bars that still weren’t in operation. This trend continued into February, with a photo caption that read “Backed up like rush hour traffic, these skiers queue at Tower 9 at the Whistler chairlift.”
Because Ski Trails reported on ski areas throughout the province, we know this problem was not unique to Whistler Mountain, and all of the mountains considered local to the Lower Mainland were experiencing capacity difficulties. The staff at Ski Trails attributed this to a “ski boom” of about 80,000 skiers in the area, leading to “predictable results” including long lineups and crowded slopes.
For Whistler Mountain, this problem was partially alleviated by the Feb. 26 issue, which reported that “the opening of the two T-bars at Whistler has reduced lineups and is giving skiers a full day of skiing.” At that time, Whistler had one T-bar located in the valley and another above the chairlift (today’s Red Chair) near its current location.
Throughout Whistler Mountain’s first season, Ski Trails continued to update skiers about new developments and events such as the First Aid Ski Patrol fundraiser to help build a ski patrol cabin, road conditions, and plans for the next season, while continuing to situate the ski area within the context of other ski areas in the province.
As we head into another winter season in Whistler, skiers (and now snowboarders) are sure to experience a very different Whistler Mountain than the one reported throughout Ski Trails in 1966. While we have quite a few issues of Ski Trails in our collection spanning from 1966 to 1973, we do not have a full run. If you happen to come across an issue while cleaning out an attic or crawlspace, we would love to see it!
