As we all thank Ullr for another exciting winter in the Kootenays, we can also raise a glass to the Scandinavian prospectors of the late 1800s for first introducing skiing to the area and starting what would become one of our favourite pastimes and economic drivers.
The Kootenay mining booms of the late 1800s enticed many Scandinavians prospectors to the area, who used wooden skis up to four metres in length to travel through the snowy region. As railway networks were developed, CPR hired Scandinavian mountain guides to find the safest routes for the railways and identify where avalanche sheds should be built. The early Scandinavian influence in our area is evident in some of the place names that come from Norse mythology—Loki Mountain, Valhalla Mountain Range and Park, and Ymir Mountain and village.
In 1897 a Norwegian mining engineer named Olaus Jeldness organized the first recorded ski competition in Canada. Jeldness won the downhill event at Rossland’s newly opened Red Mountain Ski Resort.
Ski racing took a little longer to develop in Nelson, although the city was soon making a name for itself in the popular sport of ski-jumping. By the 1920s a circuit of a Kootenay ski-jumping events had developed, including the Kingsgate-Eastport Ski Tournament in 1932 — a true international event where over a thousand spectators watched competitors take off in the U.S. and land in Canada. The longest jump of the day was achieved by Nelson High School student Roy MacKay, with fellow N.H.S. student and friend Danny McKay finishing second.
Cross-country skiing also has a rich heritage in our community. In 1962 races took place from the ski lodge at Silver King Ski Hill to the Nelson Golf Course as part of the Western Canadian Nordic Ski Championship. The Nelson Nordic Ski Society dates back to 1979 and has long maintained trails and provided ski programs in and around Apex.
In 1956 plans for a major ski hill development for Nelson were announced by the newly organized Silver King Ski Club. Leading members such as Danny McKay, Roy MacKay, all-round sport star Lillian Hickey, and Austrian-born professional skier Helmuth Mayrhofer were among those instrumental in the development and operation of the Silver King Ski Hill. The site on the north-east slope of the Silver King Mountain, featuring two T-bars, operated between 1958 and 1974.
On a jaunt up logging roads on borrowed motorbikes, Nelson Silver King Ski Club vice-chairman (and future Nelson mayor) Tex Mowatt and industrial development commissioner John Stanger came across the Whitewater ski bowl in 1969. Following a provincial government grant fund, a bank loan, and local funding plus almost 9,000 hours of volunteer labour, Whitewater was ready to open on Dec. 19, 1975. First-year season passes were $100 for adults or $205 for “man and wife and two or more children.” You could pick up your passes from several Nelson stores including Emory’s, Godfrey’s, and the Silvertip Sports Shop.
The early years of Whitewater were not without difficulty. The resort struggled to turn a profit and owed huge sums of money. The closure of Nelson’s sawmill, university centre, and the loss of many government jobs eroded the local skier base, and Whitewater faced competition from ski hills at Salmo, Morning Mountain in Blewett and Red Mountain in Rossland. There was a fear that Whitewater would not survive.
In 1986 the Whitewater Society decided to sell the ski area to a group of 12 investors and now, nearly 50 years on from its humble beginning, is a mainstay of the Nelson economy and community.
Jean-Philippe Stienne is the archivist and collections manager at the Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery. History Buff runs monthly.
