The copy of the Edmonton Journal dated November 25, 1964 is yellowed, its corners dog-eared, but Jack Pugh’s memory is nowhere near as faded.

When  Marmot Basin  opened its major expansion — a 3,000 foot t-bar to replace the existing rope tow — 41 years ago this week, the Journal reported that a significant increase in ski traffic was expected that winter. According to Pugh, who ran the bus service from the valley bottom to the ski area that season, the crowds arrived on the very first day.

“It was a little bit too instant,” he recalled with a laugh. 

An advertising campaign in the Journal leading up to the opening weekend had piqued interest on the part of city dwellers, leaving Pugh and his fleet with a daunting task.

“There were 412 people on the very first day,” he said. With three old Dodge buses which had space for 25 passengers each, it took the better part of the day to accommodate all the eager skiers.

“By the time we got the last load in we had to start taking people out,” said Pugh. With a return trip to the mountain base clocking in at over one hour in those days, it’s understandable that the final passengers in the afternoon were none too pleased with the wait.

Coordinating the access bus in the 1960’s was hardly Pugh’s first involvement with the Marmot resort. He recalls his first trip as a backcountry skier over Marmot Pass in 1943 and three years later helped Ted White to survey the first access route for a small skiing facility. The road, built in 1947, was only big enough for snowmobile traffic and for awhile, that was how keeners could arrive at the bottom of the basin.

“They would run snowmobiles up, you’d maybe have twenty or thirty people there for the day,” Pugh remembered. A primitive rope tow was eventually set up to haul skiers to higher elevations, but most arrived at the beginning of their runs by means of human power.

“You’d have to strap the climbing skins on,” Pugh said. “You might get two or three runs in and then you’d be done for the day.”

At the time of Marmot’s expansion, the area on the east face of Whistler’s was a popular local ski area. Once the new facilities at Marmot provided for easier access to higher elevations and better snow, the local competitor was not around for long.

“They both operated for about two years and then Whistler’s folded,” Pugh said.

Besides the new t-bar, 1964 marked the opening of the first chalet at Marmot. The building has been renovated and expanded several times in the ensuing years, but is still part of the day-use lodge at mid-mountain in the modern resort.

The project cost an estimated $100,000 and it helped to create Jasper’s current status as a winter destination.

“It put a few more people in the motels and restaurants and then those businesses hired more people, which helped some of the other businesses in town,” Pugh said, adding that for those with little direct economic interest, there were other benefits to having a better Marmot Basin.

“It was a damn good ski area, so they had fun with it,” he said. “For only one lift it covered a pretty large amount of terrain...it serviced a pretty big chunk of the basin.”

Marmot, which is scheduled to open tomorrow, now provides access to 1,675 acres of terrain. There are more than 80 named runs, nine lifts and the resort has the capacity to take 11,931 skiers up the mountain every hour.

The size and statistics of the ski hill aren’t the only things to have increased in the past half century or so. The 1964 Journal article referenced a special early season ski package offered by the Overlander Hotel. For the bargain price of $29, skiers could enjoy a return bus trip from Edmonton, lift tickets, accommodation and some meals. In 2005, a regular lift ticket at Marmot Basin costs  $56.