Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Free Fallin’: Wet and Wild At The Lost Lake Ski Jumps

  • June 29, 2018
  • Ben Osborne
Total
30
Shares
30
0
0
0
0
0
Total
30
Shares
Share 30
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
730LOSTLAKE 1
Whistler’s first water ramp was located near the current nude docks on Lost Lake. Photo: Courtesy Whistler Museum & Archives

words :: Allyn Pringle

In 1977, a group of Whistler freestyle skiers frustrated at the lack of summer aerial opportunities began plans for their own ski jump in the valley. Like many structures built in Whistler at the time, the ski jump had no development permit, nor any official permission from authorities of any kind. This necessitated an inconspicuous, out-of-the-way site; and the shores of Lost Lake fit the bill perfectly.

While rich in renegade spirit, the ski jump had no real funding. The timber was scrounged from a number of sources and the plastic grass ski-out from the Olive Chair (located next to the original gondola in Creekside) was taken from the dump and given a second life as the ski jump’s new in-run surface. Once the materials had been gathered, construction took only two weeks.

The finished ramp projected 20 feet out over the lake and willing skiers could launch themselves up to 40 feet above the water. According to David Lalik, one of the original workers on the ramp, “injuries were commonplace but [an] acceptable risk in the sport and environment of the day.”

At the time, Lost Lake was still somewhat lost. Whistler’s summer tourism wasn’t exactly booming and few visitors were searching for a swimming hole surrounded by logging roads. These qualities were not lost upon Whistler’s local population, however and in 1979, The Whistler Answer newspaper dubbed Lost Lake “the ultimate swimmin’ hole.”

Lost Lake is one of Whistler’s first bodies of water to warm up once the snow melts in spring. It was also known to be clothing optional (The Answer reported that the RCMP, in response to complaints, once arrived at Lost Lake “only to find that no one had ID or pockets to put them in.” And like any good swimming hole, Lost Lake provided a variety of entertainment apart from simply swimming – everything from docks and rafts for sunbathers, a 60-foot tree to jump from for thrill seekers, and “hot-doggers” flying off the ski jump to regale spectators.

In 1981, the ski jump began hosting competitions and the following summer saw the first Summer Air Camp at Lost Lake. Freestyle skiers came to Whistler to train with Peter Judge, the national team coach. Far from being inconspicuous, film crews arrived to record events for television broadcasts.

Today, Lost Lake is most definitely “found.” The ski jump and jumping tree are gone, a concession and washrooms have been added, and nudity is limited to one dock. And for those who struggled to find their way in the 1970s and ‘80s due to some dubious directions, know that, according to the writers at The Answer, “it wasn’t malicious, it was just an attempt to preserve the meaning in a name. Call it historic preservation.”

And Whistler ski jumpers can still catch big air into water now that there’s a modern pool and jumping facility on the lower flanks of Blackcomb Mountain. Keep your clothes on though… -ML

For more on lake ski jumps or other pieces of Whistler history head into the Whistler Museum & Archives next door to the library or hit up whistlermuseum.org.

Total
30
Shares
Share 30
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Ethics: Backcountry Etiquette For Dummies

  • June 28, 2018
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Beyond: In Search Of The Lost Camel

  • June 30, 2018
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Win Adventures to the Filming Location of the HISTORY® Channel’s “Alone” Season 8!

  • Sarah Bulford
  • June 8, 2021
Featured Posts
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 1
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML 2
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop 3
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
  • Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf 4
    Behind the Photo: Rockies Edition
    • January 19, 2023
  • knorthphotography.Beverly-Glenn Copeland-crop 5
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Finding the Universal Broadcast
    • January 17, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Wachs_Fairly-Mellow
    Friday Flick: “Fairly Mellow” at Fairy Meadow Hut
    • January 20, 2023
  • Season-Pass-Skis-and-Splitboard-both
    Gear Shed: New Season Pass Skis + Splitboard Exclusive to evo
    • January 15, 2023
  • Vincent-Colliart-Caroline-Cote-antarctica-sunset
    Canadian Explorer Caroline Côté Reaches South Pole in Record 34 Days
    • January 13, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Behind the scenes of three action photos from ML’s Rocky Mountains edition.
The @banffmountainfestival 2023 Signature Image Search is on🚨
In 1986 @beverlyglenncopeland recorded Keyboard Fantasies using an Atari computer, a keyboard and a drum machine. After releasing it on cassette and selling maybe 50 copies, he went back to writing for Sesame Street and making the odd guest appearance on Mr. Dressup. In 2015, a cassette made its way to Japanese collector Ryota Masuko, a record store owner with a big online presence, who quickly bought, and then sold, all the Keyboard Fantasies cassettes he could find. Record labels worldwide lined up to reissue the hidden gem on vinyl.
MUSIC SERIES TICKET SALE IS NOW LIVE 🗣️
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.