He’s one of the most positive people I know. Always smiling. Always ready to lend a hand. And he’s one of the most talented too. Sports, work, relationships — doesn’t matter what it is, he’s good at it. But you’d never know it from talking with the guy…
“You don’t want to write about me,” was Dave Patterson’s first response when I suggested doing a piece for Alta States. With his usual “ah-shucks” chuckle, the youthful 47 year old was doing everything he could to wriggle off the story hook. “There’s nothing to write about,” insisted the longtime Whistlerite. “You’ll get bored. The readers will get bored.”
But I persisted. The result: a three-hour conversation that passed by in a blur. And the range of topics was truly impressive. Born and raised in Southern Ontario — the third son in a family of three boys — Dave Patterson’s life as an adult is deeply entwined in Whistler’s life as a mountain community. In many ways, he’s a Whistler archetype. And in many ways (too many to count, in fact), Whistler would be a sadder place without him.
“It’s all about quality of life,” explains Patterson. “And that, to me, was the basis for Whistler in the early years. After all, most of us moved here for the same reason. There was this great way of life here and we all wanted to be part of it.” He stops speaking. Another short chuckle escapes — almost as if he’s embarrassed to go on. Finally he continues. “Now,” he says, “we’re having to deal with a far more complex environment at Whistler. The challenge today for all of us who live here is to determine what that term, ‘quality of life’, should stand for …”
He pauses again. “And in my opinion, that doesn’t mean turning this place into an alpine shopping mall.”
When I ask him to define the term in his words, Patterson doesn’t hesitate. “It’s simple,” he answers. “For me it’s family, community, adventure and playing on the mountain. Nothing more, nothing less.”
He certainly appears to have walked his talk. From his early teenage cross-country odysseys (“on our first trip to Whistler, we just about froze in the prairies.”) to his insatiable appetite for adventure sports (“I remember going 149 km/h down the headwall during my short-lived speed skiing career.”); from his inspired work at the municipality (“I was fortunate enough to be involved in the creation of every park at Whistler.”) to his volunteer time with the Whistler Ski Club (“I’m not into the politics. So I get to be in charge of everything ‘outside the fences.’”), the father of two is a walking-talking-breathing-laughing advertisement for healthy mountain living.
And if, as an old gypsy saying goes, the quality of your life can be traced through the friends you’ve kept throughout the years, then Dave’s life must be charmed. “I’ve got absolutely nothing to complain about,” he says. “If I had to live my life all over again, I’d pretty much do it exactly the same way.”
Like a lot of other Southern Ontario kids, Dave got his first taste of skiing in rather modest mountain circumstances. His family belonged to a small private club called Pine Ridge, just north of Barrie. “It wasn’t much of a hill,” he remembers. “But then, when you’re a kid you don’t really need all that much vertical to have fun…”
It was also at Pine Ridge that the young skier met Jim Wharin. For the sake of this story, consider Jim the Huckleberry Finn to Dave’s Tom Sawyer. “It was the early ’70s — the Wayne Wong era,” says Dave. “Jim and I were into the flippy-dog style of skiing. You know, doing front flips and stupid-style jumps.”
Fortunately alpine skiing soon came along to rescue them from their unorthodoxies. “Somehow we got convinced to get involved in the racing thing,” he explains. “And we turned out to be pretty good at it. Jim and I raced the local circuit for the next few years. It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of ski clubs in Ontario. Lots of competition.” But by the time the boys were 18, the anticipation of racing at another 350-foot ski hill just didn’t cut it for them anymore. “I remember, it was the spring of 1978,” says Dave. “I went: ‘OK. This is all nice and dandy. But the West is calling…’”
For his part, Huckleberry Wharin had already decided to drive to B.C. with a high school buddy. Another friend of Jim’s, Brian Farge, was planning to drive his old MGB out with them too. But he needed a wingman. “That was my opportunity,” says Patterson. “And I jumped on it.”
The trip was epic by all accounts. “We froze our asses off,” laughs Dave. “Going through Saskatchewan, the car totally iced up. I mean totally. Even the shock absorbers were frozen.” But they were young, the country was beautiful and they got to ski at all the different resorts along the way…
Dave’s first impression of Whistler? “We drove up from Vancouver at night,” he remembers. “All I could think about was just how crazy the highway was. More than once, I wondered: ‘Where the heck are we going…’”
But they eventually made it. “Wow! Even now I get excited thinking about it. What an adventure it was that first spring. Big mountains. Freedom. Skiing anywhere we wanted to. No need to be accountable to anyone.” He laughs. “No village, no services — it was so small you got to know everyone really quickly.”
Dave’s first job was as a liftee for Whistler Mountain. “I worked in the Combat Zone,” he says. Then laughs. “That’s what we called the old Green Chair. Remember the twin doubles they had? That was quite entertaining…”
Still, no matter how savoury his first taste of Whistler was, Patterson wasn’t ready for a permanent move west just yet. So he went back to Toronto, got a diploma in ski area management from Humber College and continued wooing a certain Leslie Carpenter. “She was part of Wharin’s Oakville crowd,” he explains. “We met during a party at Beaver Valley and hit it off pretty good.” An energetic, outgoing gal with a taste for adventure, Leslie too was intrigued by the Whistler lifestyle and had already spent a winter there with her friend Laurie Mitchell. Could it be that the young lovers’ destiny included a life on the west coast together?
Indeed it did. “When I finally got my diploma, Leslie and I packed up my old beat-up Volkswagen bus and headed for Whistler again,” he says with another burst of happy laughter. For some reason, probably for the adventure, the couple decided to try the Duffey Lake Road this time. “What a mistake,” says Dave. “The Duffey Lake was all gravel in those days. And the grades were really steep. Sadly, the van never recovered.”
During a practicum at Whistler the year before (part of his school requirements), Patterson had realized something very important about himself. “I couldn’t play in the same spot where I worked,” he explains. “In other words, I enjoyed skiing way too much to work for the mountain. That’s why I decided to apply for a job at the muni.” Another quasi-embarrassed smile. “They put me to work in the Parks Division. And I’ve been there ever since…”
And he’s been with Leslie ever since too. And Jim Wharin is still around to entice him out on his snowboard, or his mountain bike or his snowmobile or his windsurfer. Talk about consistent. “It’s not like I planned it or anything,” he says. “It just kind of worked out that way…
Just recently, Dave Patterson celebrated 25 years employment at the municipality. When I congratulate him on attaining such a hallowed milestone, the current manager of parks operations is quick to deflect the attention off him. “There’s a whole group of us who celebrated the same anniversary,” he tells me. “Bill Barratt, Keith Bennett, Eric Crowe, myself — we all pretty much started together.” And they’ve remained together for what will surely be seen as Whistler’s most intense quarter century of growth.
“It all works pretty well,” he explains. “Bill speaks in half sentences and Keith and I know exactly what he means.” But seriously, he says. “It’s been really cool to work for the parks division all these years. I mean, it’s been a good ride. When we first started out together, there was nothing here. The Valley Trail, all our parks and amenities — it was Bill and Keith and the rest of our team that put it all together.” A short pause. “Most locals take it for granted. But Whistler’s infrastructure is pretty impressive. We’re very fortunate to have the facilities that we have today.”
So what does he think of the muni’s recently-appointed Chief Administration Officer? “Whistler is lucky to have Bill Barratt as CAO,” he says. “Bill has no agenda. He’s totally focused on what’s good for the community. I mean, I really like the guy. And I totally respect his vision. He’s done a fantastic job on behalf of Whistler over the last 25 years. And I know he will continue to do a great job in his new role.”
Our conversation is drawing to a close. Dave has scheduled a mountain bike ride with Wharin and the boys and he’s getting antsy. “Do you really think you have enough stuff for a story now?” he asks in his most solicitous voice. I smile. “No problem,” I tell him…
