In the early ‘80s I had been living in Whistler for a few years.
I had a great group of friends and work colleagues with whom I partied and did what most locals did in the summer: head to the bars or to a lake.
Those sunny months were fantastic with the action usually centreing around Whistler’s Alta Lake. We would meet up on the west side at the old dock at Rainbow. Back then, clothing was still optional and there usually wasn’t much of a crowd. The odd family on a canoe trip from Adventures West or River of Golden Dreams would unknowingly encounter a bunch of naked locals frolicking on the dock and swimming.
This lifestyle continued for years. As the years passed, I enjoyed all the lakes, sampling each one for its treasures: Lost Lake with its huge swing, Alta for its wind and Nita for its calm evenings.
Working on the mountain, every year a new group of staff would come and go. Similarly, girlfriends would come and go. That is, until one day, in the late ‘80s when I spotted one of the new lifties at a staff party in the shop. Her name was Trudy and I couldn’t stop checking her out.
That summer, I was working on the Horstman Glacier in charge of maintenance on the two t-bars. We had to re-position the towers as they move with the glacier like a fence across a muddy hillside. I needed a small crew to do the grunt work
and managed to get
Trudy on my crew.
Along with Trudy came four Aussies, a French Canadian and another woman. We made a great crew and proceeded to do our work. I gave the Aussies some hard labour, digging and chopping the ice as well as dragging the rigging and gear around.
The women were tasked with the maintenance of the overhead cable gear. Now, if you have never climbed a tower before, especially on an obtuse angle over an icy glacier, you haven’t lived. It takes a certain kind of person to set aside their fears and get the job done. Trudy and Michelle, the other female worker, put on the harnesses I gave them and promptly went to work without complaint. I remember my first tower was in the middle of the parking lot at Base Two and I had a death grip on the ladder rungs the whole time. What those two did impressed the hell out of me. I decided right there that Trudy was the one for me.
She signed up for more maintenance at the next “shut down” and I got to spend more time with her. Once the season started I kept pursuing her until we finally had a date at Flo’s on the southside.
As it turns out, summer love can blossom on an icy glacier. In 1990, we were married in a little A-frame church that used to be across from the Husky gas station. It had just been moved to that location and while we initially planned our wedding before its relocation, we decided it would be more appropriate in its new spot — just blocks away from where we had our first date.
It was the greatest day of my life. And 25 years later, we’re still married with two children.
While we officially met on the mountain, it turns out our first encounter might have been on the shores of Alta Lake.
Years after we were married, we would often share stories about Whistler. Trudy and her family like to tell a story about paddling past Rainbow and having to tell the kids to look the other way because of all the naked people.
Sea to Sky stories features personal essays from the corridor. Our goal is to collect tales from all over the valley to showcase the compelling characters in our midst. If you would like to contribute, please email [email protected].
