MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall / Winter 2017

108 MLCM FALL/WINTER 2017 Whistler Party Animals (1985) Another advertisement for Whistler Mountain’s Share the Magic twentieth anniversary campaign, this piece was originally intended to be an oversized billboard in downtown Vancouver promoting a dual message of the family-friendly ski hill and hip flask-wielding party animals. “The idea was that Whistler (Mountain) was the old gang of party animals,” says Hurst. “If you were veteran to Whistler, this was meant to keep you loyal to Whistler Mountain. Driving down Georgia Street, it was so large that it would hit you smack in your eyeball and you’d have to smile. We were disappointed when we got the call that the billboard was getting taken down to make room for an apartment tower. I liked the image so much I didn’t want to waste it so we made a run of posters and handed them out.” Peak Dreams (1986) The Peak zone was already well-explored by adventurous skiers hiking up to the summit of Whistler, but after Blackcomb Mountain opened its 7th Heaven T-Bar in 1983 and declared itself the “Mile High Mountain,” Whistler had no choice but to compete with its own alpine offering. The Peak Chair required its own campaign of marketing, which Lynch depicted as a dream-like chair lift ascending to the heavens with no towers or cables. The tag line “Lift Us Up Where We Belong” was lifted directly from the 1982 hit song performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. “We actually made this poster before the Peak Chair was completed to build the excitement, then we handed them out when skiers went up for their first ride,” says Hurst. “Lorne Borgal (Whistler Mountain’s president at the time) took a lot of flack for (building the chair) because it cost a lot of money. But it’s safe to say it’s proven itself now.”