Whistler-Blackcomb

Whistler-Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia which comprises a village with several large hotels, eateries and bars, condominiums, and expensive homes. The village is 675 metres (2,214 feet) above sea level, and is located approximately 126 kilometres from Vancouver, and Vancouver International Airport.

There are two mountains developed for skiing, Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. The highest lift elevation, on Blackcomb, is 2284 metres (7,494 feet), and the terrain is accessed by 24 major lifts. The vertical drop of 1609 metres (5,280 feet, or one mile) at Blackcomb is the highest of any ski resort in North America. Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski area in North America, has a skiiable area of 8,171 acres (33 km²), over 50% larger than that of Vail, the runner-up, with 5,289 acres (21 km²). By some reports, Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in the world, but because of the practice of many European ski resorts (the largest are in France, Austria, and Switzerland) of measuring total trail length rather than total area, a definitive answer isn't currently available. Blackcomb has a glacier that allows for summer skiing from June until August. Whistler Blackcomb will host events for the 2010 Winter Games, including the men's and women's slalom and GS, and the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events.

Windows XP's project codename was Whistler, where design retreats were held. The next version of the Windows operating system is codenamed Longhorn, a bar at the resort, and the successor to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is codenamed Blackcomb.

Whistler Mountain

Whistler Mountain opened for skiing in February, 1966, with a gondola lift, double chairlift (the Red Chair) and T-Bar. The new mountain won instant acclaim for its vertical drop, good snow conditions, and huge alpine area. The only problem at the time was the road—it was a dirt logging track, which was only plowed on Saturday, to the detriment of Friday travellers.

The mountain soon expanded, adding the Blue and Green chairlifts in 1970, as well as a mountaintop lodge, the Roundhouse, which provided respite for cold skiers who had survived the long ride up on the Red Chair. After the Sea-to-Sky Highway was paved in 1969, more people than ever came to Whistler Mountain, which is conveniently located two hours north of Vancouver and four hours north of Seattle.

The mountain added the Olive and Orange chairlifts in 1972. A parallel lift to the Green Chair to alleviate crowds came in 1974, and the Little Red Chair came in 1978.

Because the number of visitors was rapidly increasing, the town in the valley had to expand as well to accommodate them. A plan was drawn up, and the village of Alta Lake was incorporated into the Resort Municipality of Whistler in 1975. The new municipal government, which had powers that enabled better management of the growing community, immediately initiated construction of Whistler Village.

Whistler Village opened in 1980. Along with it came a succession of three triple chairlifts, the Village, Olympic, and Black Chairs, that carried skiers from the Village to the Roundhouse in no less than 45 minutes.

The next major addition came in 1986, when the Peak Chair to the summit of Whistler Mountain was constructed. This lift revolutionized skiing on Whistler Mountain, allowing access to the largest alpine ski area in North America.

In response to Blackcomb Mountain’s construction of three high-speed quad chairlifts, Whistler Mountain undertook one of the biggest ski lift construction projects ever realized in Canada, the construction of the Whistler Express Gondola. Carrying passengers 1,157 metres vertically and 5 kilometres horizontally over 62 support towers, the lift opened on November 24, 1988.

In 1990 Whistler Mountain reached another milestone, the addition of its first high-speed quad chairlift. The Green Chair Express, which replaced the Green Chairs, was built by Lift Engineering (Yan), and substantially cut long lift queues in the Green area of the mountain.

A year later, in 1991, Whistler Mountain continued in its construction streak, replacing three double chairlifts and the original gondola with two high-speed quad chairlifts, the Quicksilver and Redline lifts, also built by Lift Engineering.

1994 saw the removal of the Blue Chair, and the construction of the Harmony Express, which started from the base of the former Blue Chair, but ran all the way to the top of Little Whistler Peak.

In 1995, tragedy struck. On December 23, the lift operator on the Quicksilver lift pressed the button to make a routine stop, to allow a fallen skier to get out of the way of the unloading ramp. Instead, the emergency brake activated, sending shockwaves down the cable. Grips on at least two of the chairs slipped, and caused chairs to slide down the cable and slam into each other. In all, 70 were injured, and two were killed in the worst ski lift accident in North America. The disaster ended up causing the bankruptcy of the lift’s manufacturer, Lift Engineering.

In 1996, the Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation was bought out by Intrawest, which had owned Blackcomb since 1986. As well, the Quicksilver lift was replaced with a gondola.

In 1997, big changes were made on Whistler Mountain. The Green Chair Express and Redline lifts were removed and replaced with modern Doppelmayr lifts. The original Roundhouse was demolished, and a new lodge was built in its place.

2000 brought more changes, as the Black Chair was replaced with a high-speed quad, and another was added, following the line of the long-gone Village Chair.

Blackcomb Mountain

Blackcomb Mountain opened in 1980, under the ownership of the Aspen Skiing Company with four triple chairlifts (the Cruiser, Stoker, Catskinner and Fitzsimmons lifts), supplied by Lift Engineering. The mountain was not initially appreciated. Indeed, the mountain was considered “new kid on the block” into the early 1990s.

Even so, the mountain began quick development, beginning with the development of the Blackcomb Benchlands with homes. In 1984, the Jersey Cream lift opened, expanding the mountain down into Glacier Creek and adding more terrain.

Things really began to pick up in 1986 when the mountain was bought by newly-formed Intrawest Corp, which resulted in the addition of the 7th Heaven T-Bar, making Blackcomb North America’s first, and so far only, mountain with a skiable height change of one mile (1600 m).

The next year, in 1987, the first high-speed chairlifts at Whistler opened. The Wizard and Solar Coaster quad lifts cut the lift ride time from base to alpine from 45 minutes to 15. As well, the Rendezvous lodge at the top of the Solar Coaster opened, as well as two T-bars on Hoarstman Glacier, allowing for summer skiing.

In 1989, the Jersey Cream lift was replaced with a high-speed quad.

In 1992, the Glacier Express opened, which runs from the bottom of Glacier Creek to the Horstman Glacier.

In 1994, Blackcomb made its last major expansion to date, the replacement of the Stoker, Cruiser, and Fitzsimmons lifts with the high-speed Excelerator Quad Chair and Excalibur Gondola.