Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Fenner, Clifford
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Fenner, Cliff
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
October 2, 1909 - June 21, 2002
History
Clifford 'Cliff' Austin Fenner was an outdoors explorer, mountaineer, photographer and writer who was instrumental in the development of Garibaldi Park and the selection of the Whistler area as a potential Olympics site. Born in Ringmer, Sussex, England, he worked in the lumber industry in his home country and served the Ministry of Production and Supply during the Second World War. In 1947 Fenner moved to Vancouver, where he worked in various logging camps before joining the parks division of the B.C. Forest Service and assisting in running Mount Seymour. Around this time he also joined a local alpine group and explored several mountains around the province.
Fenner's outdoor expertise and love of the wilderness led to his appointment as Park Supervisor for Garibaldi Provincial Park in early 1953. He played a key role in opening the park up to the public, preforming field inspections and climatic checks and building roads and trails. In 1960 Fenner carried out a helicopter survey in search of an appropriate Winter Olympics site. His ultimate selection was the west end of Cheakamus Lake, with ski runs on the southwestern slopes of Whistler Mountain. This would lead to the creation of Whistler as a ski town during the 1960s. Throughout his career, Fenner documented the B.C. wilderness through thousands of photographs.
After his retirement from the parks division, Fenner continued to pursue outdoor exploration, photography, and travel writing. He died in North Vancouver at the age of 92.
Places
Whistler
Garibaldi Park
Vancouver
Mount Seymour
Ringmer, Sussex, England
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Worked in the lumber industry in England (c. 1920s-30s?)
Worked for the Ministry of Production and Supply during World War II
Worked in logging camps in B.C. (c. late 1940s)
Worked for the parks division of B.C. Forest Service, helped run Mount Seymour (c. late 1940s/early 1950s)
Park Supervisor for Garibaldi Provincial Park (1953-?)
Professional photographer
Writer
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
CA-BC-FC002
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
March 30, 2019
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
1) http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/vancouversun/obituary.aspx?n=clifford-fenner&pid=157296826#sthash
2) https://www.whistlerquestion.com/opinion/columnists/museum-musings-cliff-fenner-s-lifetime-of-exploring-1.2051962
3) https://blog.whistlermuseum.org/2011/08/19/from-the-archives-cliff-fenner-mountain-man/