Whistler Blackcomb

Geographical Setting and Mountain Profiles

Whistler Blackcomb occupies two parallel ridge-lines running northwest to southeast, separated by the deep valley of Fitzsimmons Creek. The primary base area at Whistler Village sits at the valley's northwest end, where Fitzsimmons Creek meets the larger Green River, which forms a floodplain to the west. The Sea-to-Sky Highway runs along this Green River valley, providing the main access route from Vancouver. Ski runs generally descend toward the village or into the valley between the ridges, with a smaller number of runs on Whistler Mountain's south side leading to the separate Creekside Base area some distance to the south.

Whistler Mountain forms the southern ridge of the resort, with a summit elevation of 2,184 metres. It offers a vertical drop of 1,530 metres and 4,757 acres of inbound, lift-serviced terrain. The mountain is served by a network of 19 lifts, including two gondolas, five high-speed detachable quad chairs, four high-speed sixpack chairs, two fixed-grip triple chairs, one T-bar, and seven carpet lifts. It features four on-hill restaurants and a children's ski school, and is accessed from two base areas: the original Whistler Creek (Creekside) and the main Whistler Village. The Whistler Village Gondola and the Fitzsimmons Express provide uplifts from the village core, while the Creekside Gondola serves the southern flank, and the mountain also hosts the drive station for the Peak 2 Peak Gondola.

Blackcomb Mountain is the northern ridge, presenting a different character. Its lift-serviced elevation reaches 2,240 metres at the top of the 7th Heaven chair, though the mountain's true summit is higher at 2,440 metres and is not lift-served. Blackcomb has a greater skiable vertical at 1,565 metres but a slightly smaller inbound area of 3,414 acres. It is serviced by 15 lifts, including two gondolas, six high-speed quads, one fixed-grip triple, and seven surface lifts, as well as the end-station for the Peak 2 Peak. Blackcomb is known for its steep, expert terrain, most notably the world-famous "Couloir Extreme" run, considered one of the top ten steep in-bound runs globally.

Resort Operations and Key Features

The full integration of Whistler and Blackcomb into a single operational entity was finalized in 2003, unifying ticketing and access systems after Intrawest's earlier merger with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation in 1997. Together, the two mountains create the largest ski area in North America, spanning 8,171 acres of terrain, and each mountain alone would rank among the continent's top five largest ski areas. The resort's overall lift capacity is an industry-leading 65,507 skiers per hour, a figure that highlights its scale and efficiency in moving guests up the mountains. This capacity is delivered through a mix of gondolas, high-speed chairlifts, and surface lifts from manufacturers like Doppelmayr, Poma, and Lift Engineering.

Access to the primary skiing terrain begins about one-third of the way up the mountains, with ski-outs to the valley typically available from December through April. The mid and upper mountain areas are served by 10 high-speed detachable chairs and 5 fixed-grip lifts, while two T-bars service the Horstman Glacier and Whistler alpine regions and take skiers to the entrance to Blackcomb Glacier. The resort is accessed via several major lifts from its base areas, which provide efficient transport from the village and outlying areas to the expansive ski terrain. This extensive network ensures skiers can efficiently explore the vast terrain available across both mountains.

• The Blackcomb Excalibur Gondola in the village.
• The Whistler Mountain Village Gondola in the village.
• The Fitzsimmons Express in the village.
• The Blackcomb Gondola in Blackcomb Base/Upper Village.
• The Whistler Creekside Gondola in the Creekside area.

The most significant addition to the resort's infrastructure is the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which opened on December 12, 2008. This engineering achievement connects the two mountains at an elevation of approximately 1,800 metres, eliminating the need to travel down to the village to switch mountains. The lift has a total length of 4.4 kilometres and holds world records for the longest unsupported span for a lift of its kind at 3.02 kilometres and the highest ground clearance at 436 metres above the valley floor. This feature improved skier circulation and became a major tourist attraction, offering aerial views of the Fitzsimmons Creek valley between the two ridges.

Historical Development from Trails to Tourism

The area's modern history began with surveyors and prospectors in the 19th century. The valley between the future mountains was first documented in 1858 by Hudson's Bay Company men seeking an alternate route to the Cariboo area further north. This path, later known as the Pemberton Trail and similar to the modern Sea-to-Sky Highway, became a Gold Rush route at the turn of the century. British Naval surveyors in the 1860s named the peak "London Mountain," but it soon garnered the nickname "Whistler" because of the shrill whistle made by the Western hoary marmots who lived among the rocks. The highest lake along the trail was originally called Summit Lake, but was renamed Alta Lake in 1910 to avoid confusion with another Summit Lake in British Columbia.

The transition to a tourist destination began with trapper John Millar, who set up a cabin next to the trail just south of the base of the mountain. During a trip to Vancouver in 1911, Millar invited Maine-born cook Alex Philip to visit the Alta area, and Alex and his wife Myrtle Philip purchased 10 acres on the northwest corner of Alta Lake in 1913 for $700. By 1914, they had built the Rainbow Lodge fishing resort, named for the rainbow trout that were the main attraction. The completion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway to Alta Lake that same year made the lodge accessible from Vancouver in less than two days, catalyzing its growth into the most popular west coast resort for 30 years.

The success of Rainbow Lodge spurred the development of other tourist resorts in the valley. Following its launch, several other resorts set up, including the Alta Lake Hotel, Jordan's Lodge, Harrop's Point, and Hillcrest Lodge. Alongside tourism, the area saw commercial logging operations made more profitable by the arrival of the railway in 1914. The fur trade remained for some time, later supplanted by a mink and marten farm, and Jimmy Fitzsimmons ran a prospecting support company. This era established the Whistler valley as a retreat long before the advent of major ski development.

• Russell Anderson Jordan's Alta Lake Hotel, which burned down in 1930.
• Jordan's Lodge on nearby Nita Lake.
• Harrop's Point, built by Bert and Agnes Harrop in the 1920s, later becoming Cypress Lodge.
• Hillcrest Lodge, built by Cecilia and John Mansell in 1945, later operated as Mount Whistler Lodge.
• Parkhurst Mill on Green Lake, operated by the Barrs.
• Rainbow Lumber Company on Alta Lake, operated by the Gebharts.

The Olympic Bid and Founding of a Ski Resort

The direct impetus for creating a world-class ski resort came from Olympic ambitions. In 1960, the Canadian Olympic Association visited the west coast looking for potential sites for a future 1968 Winter Olympics, initially looking at Diamond Head just north of Squamish. Local businessman Franz Wilhelmsen, who had been scouting areas for a new ski resort, met with the COA and convinced them to look further north at the London Mountain area, and they were impressed. Encouraged by their positive reviews, Wilhelmsen organized the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) to make a formal bid, which was unsurprisingly rejected due to a complete lack of infrastructure, with the Canadian bid given to Calgary.

Undeterred by the failed Olympic bid, Wilhelmsen decided to press ahead with development of a resort. In 1962, Garibaldi Lifts Limited was formed with Wilhelmsen as president to finance studies and erect ski lifts, and they hired well-known developer Willy Schaeffler who proved enthusiastic and wrote a good feasibility study. From 1962 to 1965, the company raised funds and began development on the south side of the mountain, with the government agreeing to bring a highway if they could raise enough money. By 1965, they had reached their goal of raising $800,000, and on August 27 of that year, London Mountain officially became Whistler Mountain, with a gravel road and electricity arriving to support construction.

By the fall of 1965 the ski area featured its initial lift infrastructure and runs, all provided by GMD Mueller. Whistler officially opened for skiing for the first time on January 15, 1966, winning instant acclaim for its vertical drop, good snow conditions, and huge alpine area. The only problem at the time was the road, which was a dirt logging track only plowed on Saturdays, to the detriment of Friday travelers. GODA continued its Olympic pursuit, making bids for the 1972 and 1976 Games, but these efforts were unsuccessful, with the 1976 joint Vancouver/Garibaldi bid ultimately withdrawn after political turmoil following a change in government.

• A four-person gondola to the mountain's mid-station.
• A double chairlift to the alpine tree line (the Red Chair).
• Two T-bars.
• Six ski runs cut into the hill.
• A day lodge constructed at the base.

Expansion, Rivalry, and the Rise of Whistler Village

Following Whistler's opening, infrastructure and terrain expanded steadily throughout the 1970s. The gravel road was paved to Whistler in 1966 and on to Pemberton in 1969, while the Blue and Green chairlifts were added in 1970 to provide access to additional terrain. These were joined by the Olive and Orange chairlifts in 1972, a parallel lift to the Green Chair to alleviate crowds in 1974, and the Little Red Chair in 1978, with the Roundhouse on-mountain lodge and restaurant completed in 1980. However, a major shift occurred in 1974 when the provincial government, concerned about overdevelopment around Alta Lake, instituted a development freeze and decided to focus development on the table between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, about 4 km to the north of the existing facilities.

In 1975, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) was formed as the first Resort Municipality in Canada, which also allowed bars to be open on Sunday. The act also created the Whistler Village Land Company to oversee all development of the new Whistler Village on the site of the old Alta Lake dump. In 1977 the provincial government named Al Raine, the former National Coach for the Canadian Women's Ski Team and husband to skier Nancy Greene, as the Provincial Ski Area Co-ordinator. Raine saw the potential in developing Blackcomb Mountain, then part of Garibaldi Provincial Park and zoned for logging, and successfully lobbied the government to remove the zoning and allow development as a ski area.

This set the stage for the era of intense rivalry. Blackcomb Mountain opened as a separate resort in December 1980, initiating a decades-long competition with Whistler. The two resorts engaged in a continual series of upgrades and expansions, driving improvement at a pace unseen at other North American resorts. This rivalry propelled both mountains to the top of ski magazine rankings by the mid-1990s. The competition culminated in corporate consolidation when Intrawest, the real estate firm that developed Blackcomb, purchased Whistler Mountain in 1997, with operations fully merged in 2003 to formally create the unified Whistler Blackcomb resort.

The 2010 Olympics and Modern Ownership

Whistler Blackcomb served as the centrepiece for Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which they were selected for in July 2003. During the Games, the resort hosted all the alpine skiing events for both the Olympic and Paralympic competitions, including the men's and women's disciplines of downhill, Super-G, slalom, giant slalom and super combined. In contrast with Cypress Mountain, which hosted freestyle skiing and snowboard events and was plagued with a lack of natural snow, Whistler Blackcomb had the second-highest snowfall on record with 1,432 cm by the end of the 2009-10 season. The global exposure from the Olympics confirmed the resort's status as a world-class destination and the premier venue for alpine ski racing in Canada.

Following the Olympics, ownership of the resort underwent significant changes over the next decade. Intrawest, which had expanded by purchasing additional ski resorts across North America before expanding into golf and other resorts, sold off much of its 75% interest in Whistler Blackcomb Resort via a public share offering in 2010. Throughout these changes, Nippon Cable's minority interest in Whistler Blackcomb Resort has continued by way of ownership of a 25% interest of the Whistler and Blackcomb partnerships. The most dramatic shift occurred in August 2016, when the American company Vail Resorts bought Whistler Blackcomb Holdings for $1.39 billion, bringing the resort into its Epic Pass network.

Whistler Village and Community

Whistler Village is the pedestrian-oriented hub at the base of the mountains, though it is governed by the Resort Municipality of Whistler, a geo-political entity not directly associated with the resort company's operation. Situated at an elevation of 675 metres and located 137 kilometres from Vancouver International Airport, the village is directly served by the Whistler Mountain Village Gondola and the Blackcomb Excalibur Gondola. Its design, widely recognized for its livable, Tyrolean-inspired aesthetic, formed the basis of similar developments at Intrawest's expanding series of resorts and other resorts that hired the firm. The village incorporates community services, shops, entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, hotels, condominiums and vacation properties in a concentrated, walkable core.

Whistler Village is situated at the base of the Whistler Mountain Village Gondola and Blackcomb Excalibur Gondola. The village incorporates community services, shops, entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, hotels, condominiums and vacation properties. Its creation represented a deliberate shift from the scattered development around Alta Lake to support sustainable growth. Whistler Village is widely recognized for its livable design and formed the basis of similar developments at other resorts. The village's success is evident in its role as a year-round destination, not just a winter ski base.

Questions about Whistler Blackcomb

How big is Whistler Blackcomb compared to other ski resorts?

Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America by several key metrics. It offers a combined skiable area of 8,171 acres across its two mountains. Its total lift capacity of 65,507 skiers per hour is also the greatest on the continent. Each mountain individually would rank among the top five largest ski areas in North America, with Whistler providing 4,757 acres of inbound terrain and Blackcomb offering 3,414 acres.

What is the Peak 2 Peak Gondola?

The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is for moving between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains at the top. It opened on 12 December 2008 and connects the two mountains at approximately 1,800 metres. The lift has a total length of 4.4 kilometres and the longest unsupported span for a lift of its kind in the world at 3.02 kilometres. It also has the highest ground clearance for a lift of its kind, 436 metres above the valley floor.

What was there before the ski resort was built?

Before ski development, the Whistler valley was a region of tourist fishing lodges, logging operations, and trapping. The first major resort was Rainbow Lodge, built by Alex and Myrtle Philip on Alta Lake in 1914, which became a popular destination accessible by the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Other lodges followed, and the area was known for logging and prospecting. The mountain itself was originally named London Mountain by surveyors but was nicknamed Whistler for the call of the local hoary marmots.

When did Whistler and Blackcomb merge into one resort?

The two previously separate ski areas of Whistler and Blackcomb were integrated into one operation in 1997 after Intrawest merged with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation. This followed a period of intense rivalry between the two mountains through the 1980s and 1990s. The full integration of ticketing, pass, and access control systems for the two ski areas was completed in 2003. Together, they now form the largest ski area in North America at 8,171 acres. The merger was a key step in the resort's evolution from competing entities into a single, world class destination.

What role did Whistler Blackcomb play in the 2010 Winter Olympics?

Whistler Blackcomb was the centrepiece of Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which was selected in July 2003. The resort hosted all the alpine skiing events for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, including downhill, Super G, slalom, giant slalom, and super combined. During that season, Whistler Blackcomb experienced favourable conditions with the second highest snowfall on record, receiving 1,432 centimetres. This contrasted with other venues like Cypress Mountain, which faced challenges with a lack of natural snow. The resort's infrastructure and reliable snow made it a key competition site.

Who owns Whistler Blackcomb?

Whistler Blackcomb is currently owned by the American company Vail Resorts, which purchased Whistler Blackcomb Holdings for 1.39 billion dollars in August 2016. Prior to this, the resort was owned by Intrawest, a BC real estate firm that developed Blackcomb Mountain and purchased Whistler in 1997. Throughout these ownership changes, Nippon Cable has maintained a consistent minority interest in the resort, owning a 25 percent interest in the Whistler and Blackcomb partnerships. The resort's ownership history reflects its growth from a local operation to a major international asset.

Sources: Wikipedia and current public reporting, checked by the Garbutt Disposal desk. Last updated 2026-10-20.