Remembering Canadian Ski Hall of Fame inductee Roger McCarthy.
Words :: Feet Banks
A New Zealander who grew up skiing on his father’s wooden skis, Roger McCarthy showed up in Whistler in 1971 to check it out for a year…and he ended up dedicating his life to the community, and the ski industry at large.
A Canadian Ski Hall of Fame inductee, McCarthy passed away earlier this year at age 74. The community of Whistler recently celebrated his enthusiasm for skiing, travel, friendship, and hard work with a community-wide service and this excellent memorial video. They also avy-bomb blasted Roger’s ashes into the snow atop Whistler Mountain, a fitting end to a life and career focused on sharing the stoke of skiing around the globe.
Roger’s first ski industry job was as a lifty at the top station of the Whistler T-Bar. He later joked that management put him there because he was a Kiwi, and “They never stick around.”
Roger did though, eventually joining the Whistler Ski Patrol then rising through the ranks to become Safety and Lift Ops Supervisor. When Blackcomb Mountain opened in 1980, Roger joined the executive team there and helped usher in the more innovative, edgier (and snowboard-friendly) vibes of “the dark side” of the valley. In 1991, Intrawest sent Roger to Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
The operation there was struggling—hated even—and needed a leader who not only understood the potential of the hill and the sport in the area, but also wasn’t afraid to get out in the field and work to make things happen. Within five years Tremblant was named the top ski area in eastern North America.
Next, Vail Resorts scooped Roger up to run the show at Breckenridge and Keystone. Not surprisingly, both hills thrived under Roger’s tenue, and in 2007 he moved to Russia to oversee the beginnings of the ski resort that would end up hosting the 2014 Sochi winter games.
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Roger returned home to Whistler in 2011, working as a municipal councillor and skiing his days away with friends. In 2023 he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in the “Builder” category.
““We’re in the fun business,” Roger once told Whistler’s Pique Newsmagazine. “And if the people who work on your mountain aren’t having fun, then you’re doing something profoundly wrong….I mean c’mon, it’s a phenomenal thing that we’re doing. Let’s make sure we keep reminding each other just how special this business really is.”
Wise words for anyone, on any hill. Roger McCarthy will be missed by all, but it’s a pleasure to be able to ski in the tracks he’s laid down for us.
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