Today's guest doesn't just have a ski story — he is ski history. Jim McConkey was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1926, and by the 1960s, Austrian ski legend Ernst Hinterseer was calling him the best all-round skier in the world. Jim became a pioneer of deep-powder, big-mountain skiing decades before "extreme skiing" was even a phrase — famous for hunting out the gnarliest ice, crust, and gullies from Utah's Alta to Snowbird, just to get better.

But skiing was only half the story. Jim taught, directed ski schools, and helped build the sport across North America — from Quebec's Gray Rocks, to Alta with Alf Engen, to Park City, to Sun Peaks — before landing at Whistler in 1968, where he ran the ski school, shops, and heli-skiing operation for nearly two decades and helped put the resort on the map.

He appeared in Warren Miller films, survived a crevasse fall on the Athabasca Glacier, and has a bowl at Alta named after him. He was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 2026, Jim turns 100 — and he's here to tell us what almost a century on skis actually looked like.

There are people who work at a place, and then there are people who become a place. Bob Dufour is the latter.

In 1972, a young ski instructor from Quebec's Laurentian Mountains packed his bags and headed west to join the Whistler Ski School, then led by the iconic Jim McConkey. He came for a job. He never left.

When McConkey moved on in 1980, Bob was the obvious successor as director of the ski school. It wasn't a surprise — he'd spent years earning it, achieving top certifications with both the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation. He didn't just know how to ski; he knew how to lead, how to teach, and how to build something people wanted to be part of.

As Whistler grew into a world-class destination, so did Bob's role. When Whistler and Blackcomb merged in 1997, he took on oversight of mountain operations for both resorts — a fitting evolution for someone who had been shaping the mountain experience since the early days. He served under every president the organization ever had, from its pioneering founders through to the modern corporate era.

What set Bob apart wasn't just his longevity — it was his presence. He was the kind of leader you'd find in a lift line or out on the hill at the end of the day, not behind a desk. The culture he helped build was rooted in a genuine commitment to the guest experience, and that attitude filtered through every department he touched.

He was also a pragmatist who adapted with the times — advocating for snowmaking infrastructure long before it became standard, and traveling internationally to study the latest in resort engineering and mountain management.

After 48 years, Bob retired — leaving behind a mountain that bears his fingerprints everywhere. If you've ever skied Whistler Blackcomb, you've experienced the place he helped build. That's not a career. That's a legacy.

Destination Resort Specialist - 5 decades in North America's #1 Destination Resort, Whistler, BC.

"I can't predict the future but I have experienced the many changes of growth in a small Community. The road ahead is now far shorter than the road travelled."

Community engaged in the many aspects of a fast growing Community and Resort.

Still living the dream.