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Pop Quiz: Whistler You’ve been here how long? It’s a point of order that when people speak at a public hearing in Whistler they state their name and address.

Pop Quiz: Whistler You’ve been here how long? It’s a point of order that when people speak at a public hearing in Whistler they state their name and address. It has become a peculiar Whistler tradition that they also state how long they have lived here — the inference being that the longer you’ve lived in Whistler the more moral authority you carry. It’s not unusual to see successive speakers at a public hearing pull rank on each preceding speaker, the ante being upped from 10 to 12 to 15 to 25 years as the hearing wears on. This tradition stems, at least partially, from the fact Whistler has had so many public hearings in the last two decades; change has been one of the few constants in Whistler. Which leads us to our first Whistler Pop Quiz. It’s not just that school resumed this week — in itself a good excuse for a quiz — but last Sunday, Sept. 6, also marked the 23rd anniversary of the incorporation of Whistler. Many people have been here for the entire 23 years, but it is not enough just to have survived the ’70s and the ’80s, what do you remember about them? Could you still give directions to the Sundial? Who ran Le Magasin du Ski? And just what was the impetus for building the village where it is today? Keeping track of the changes in the past 23 years, and of the changes since Whistler first became a ski resort, is one indication of your Whistler pedigree, but there’s also the matter of understanding Whistler today. In an effort to shed just a little bit of light on Whistler in 1998 and have some fun looking at the past we humbly provide Pique’s first Whistler Locals’ Quiz. Our answers are included, although some will no doubt be open to debate. 1. Who were the members of the first Whistler council? 2. What was the race held every May 24 weekend? 3. Fill in the blank: Franz Wilhelmsen, ____, Lorne Borgal, Charles Young, Patrick O’Donnell, Doug Forseth 4. What was MDC? Where is it now? 5. Where was the first freestyle water ramp in Whistler? 6. What year was the Keg Restaurant fire? 7. Who was "Dusty?" 8. Between Nasty Jack’s and Essentially Blackcomb, what were the names of the restaurant in the Carleton Lodge? 9. Who was the first coach of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club? 10. What was the first event put on by the Whistler Mountain Ski Club 11. Two firsts in Canadian building were made in Whistler in 1965 and 1966. What were they? 12. Who wrote The Village Voice? 13. Who wrote The Voice of da Working Class? 14. What was BTV? 15. When Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. was seeking investors in 1965, what company stepped in to purchase enough shares to ensure the development of Whistler Mountain went ahead? 16. Why was the final bump in the 1986 Whistler World Cup downhill called Rod’s Revenge? 17. Where was Beau’s restaurant located? 18. What was the Whistler Conference Centre originally supposed to be? 19. Where did the Garibaldi Ski School’s bell come from? 20. Who is Bagel Bowl named after? 21. The 1984 World Cup downhill at Whistler was significant in that it was the first World Cup race for one Canadian and the last race for another. Who were these racers? 22. Who published The Answer? 23. Name the company that built the original lifts on Whistler Mountain. 24. What Whistler restaurateur broke his leg trying to keep up with members of his native country’s ski team? 25. Who is older, Rob Boyd or the lift-serviced Whistler Mountain? 26. What year did Whistler host its first World Cup races? 27. Name the first civilian validated rescue dog in Canada. 28. List the names that Tommy Africa’s nightclub used to go by? 29. What year did the RCMP open a Whistler detachment? 30. Who were The Two Fat Boys? 31. What used to be the steepest pitch on the entire Green Chair network? 32. What gave Localman his super powers? 33. The Rainbow Lodge burnt down in what year? 34. The Bosa Challenge helped build what? 35. Name the first female professional firefighter in B.C. 36. What steakhouse once stood where Nesters Market is now? 37. In the early ’70s what food did L’Apres provided for free with apres ski drinks? 38. What was the first pub built in the Whistler Village? 39. What famous tennis player was originally associated with the Whistler Racquet and Golf Resort? 40. Why did Whistler’s first council threaten to resign en masse? 41. How many years has Whistler been No. 1 in Snow Country’s (now Mountain Sports and Living’s) rankings? 42. Which country is Whistler’s top overseas market? 43. What is Whistler’s estimated annual contribution to the provincial economy? 44. The average price of a single family house sold in Whistler in 1997 was a) $456,341 b) $519,899 or c) $654,124? 45. Name the North American mountain resorts owned by Intrawest. 46. What percentage of employment positions in Whistler are filled by Whistler residents, 80, 70, 60? 47. Median incomes for Whistlerites is higher or lower than the provincial average? 48. Total skier visits to Whistler/Blackcomb last winter were approximately a) 1.5 million, b) 1.6 million, c) 1.8 million, d) 2 million? 49. November is the slowest month of the season for visitors. What is the second slowest month? 50. How many bridges or overpasses are named after former Whistler mayors? Pop Quiz: Answers 1. Mayor Pat Carleton, provincially-appointed alderman Al Raine, elected aldermen Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson. 2. The Great Snow, Earth, Water Race, a relay event which started on skis on Whistler Mountain, continued on foot when snow ran out part way down the mountain, then on bicycle, canoe and finally on foot. 3. Peter Alder 4. Mountain Development Corporation (Mothers, Dogs and Children came later) was the employee housing subdivision now known as Tapley’s Farm. 5. Lost Lake. 6. 1981 7. A stuffed horse, originally purchased to decorate L'Apres (now Dusty’s) in the early days. The horse changed hands many times in the late ’70s and ’80s and periodically appeared in places such as Whistler Mountain’s practice lift tower, the peak of the mountain and various fund-raising events. 8. Johnny Jupiter’s; Johnny’s. 9. Byron Grayce 10. A dance at L’Apres featuring The Poppy Family, April 13, 1968. 11. The country’s first condominiums, Whistler Alpine Villa, and the first interdenominational chapel, the Skiers’ Chapel. 12. Peter Vogler 13. Francois Lepine 14. Blackcomb Television, a morning show which ran for one season on Cable 6, featuring Steve Podborski. 15. The Power Corporation of Montreal 16. Prior to the race Swiss downhiller Peter Mueller upset race organizers, including slope manager Rod MacLeod, with his boorish attitude on the mountain. Mueller posted the fastest times all the way down the course on race day but misjudged the final bump and fell. 17. The old Rainbow ski site, between Alpine Meadows and Emerald Estates. 18. An ice rink. 19. It originally hung in a church in Burnaby. In 1905 it was given to the Mount Currie Indian Band. The Mount Currie church burned down in 1947. Jim McConkey and Jack Bright borrowed the bell for the ski school in 1968. 20. Former Whistler Mountain President Lorne "Bagel" Borgal. 21. It was Rob Boyd’s first World Cup race and Steve Podborski’s last. Podborski was fifth, Boyd was 55th, and last. 22. Charlie Doyle 23. Gerhard Mueller Engineering Co. Ltd. of Dietlikon, Switzerland. 24. Umberto Menghi. 25. Trick question. Boyd was born Feb. 15, 1966 and Whistler Mountain officially opened for skiing on Feb. 15, 1966, although the mountain began operating lifts for skiers in January, 1966. 26. 1975. Men’s and women’s giant slalom races were held; a men’s downhill was cancelled. 27. Radar. After being buried in an avalanche, and surviving, pro patroller Bruce Watt decided rescue dogs were needed on the mountain. He founded the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association in 1978, and his dog Radar was the first canine member. 28. Beauvalon, Golden Bowl, Mountain House, Moguls, Barry T’s, Animal’s. 29. 1980 30. Pascal Tiphine and Herbie Niemann, who opened Les Deux Gros Restaurant together. 31. The unloading ramp at the top of the lift. 32. The Magic Vuarnets. 33. 1977 34. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club and Blackcomb Ski Club cabins. 35. Sheila Kirkwood. 36. Rudy’s Steakhouse 37. Cheese fondue. 38. Tapley’s Neighbourhood Pub 39. Björn Borg. It was originally going to be called the Björn Borg Whistler Resort. 40. The provincial government initially refused to approve plans for the municipal sewer system and the land use plan for the village. 41. Seven, 1992-1998. 42. The United Kingdom passed Japan as Whistler’s top overseas market this past winter. The UK is also Whistler’s largest overseas summer market. 43. $700 million, and growing. 44. c) $654,124. Figures a) and b) are average house prices in 1995 and 1996 respectively. 45. Whistler/Blackcomb, Panorama, Mont Ste. Marie, Mont Tremblant, Stratton Mountain, Mountain Creek at Vernon, Snowshoe, Copper Mountain, Mammoth. 46. 80 per cent, according to the 1997 municipal monitoring program. 47. Lower. A Whistler husband/wife family earned a median income of $49,200 in 1997, 98 per cent of the provincial median ($50,300). 48. 1.854 million 49. October and May are about equal in terms of room nights sold. 50. Two, the Terry Rodgers Bridge on Lorimer Road and the Ted Nebbeling pedestrian overpass connecting Village North with the original village.



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