WHISTLER BLACKCOMB MOUNTAIN History

WHISTLER BLACKCOMB
Whistler is home to two main mountains, Whistler Mountain and Whistler Blackcomb Mountain. Whistler Blackcomb Mountain opened in 1980 under the ownership of the Aspen Skiing Company with four triple chairlifts (the Cruiser, Stoker, Catskinner and Fitzsimmons) which were supplied by Lift Engineering. The mountain was not initially appreciated. Indeed, the mountain was considered the “new kid on the block” well into the early 1990s.

Whistler Blackcomb Mountain soon progressed with development of the Blackcomb Benchlands homes. In 1984 the Jersey Cream lift opened expanding the mountain down into Glacier Creek and adding more terrain. This lift was replaced in 1989 with a high speed quad. Big changes were a foot when in 1986 the mountain was bought by the newly formed Intrawest Corporation. This resulted in the addition of the 7th Heaven T-bar making Whistler Blackcomb North America’s first, and so far only, mountain with a skiable height change of one mile (1600 m).

The following year the first high speed chairlifts at Whistler Blackcomb opened. The Wizard, Solar Coaster, and 7th Heaven quad lifts cut the lift ride time from base to alpine from 45 to 15 minutes. The Rendezvous lodge at the top of the Solar Coaster opened as well as two T-bars on Hoarstman Glacier which allowed for summer skiing. In 1992 the Glacier Express opened, which runs from the bottom of Glacier Creek to the Horstman Glacier. In 1994 Whistler Blackcomb made its last major expansion to date with the replacement of the Stoker, Cruiser, and Fitzsimmons lifts with the high speed Excelerator Quad Chair and Excalibur Gondola.

Whistler Blackcomb is the location of the world famous Couloir Extreme run, which is one of the top ten steep in bounds runs in the world according to Skiing Magazine. The mountain can often be less busy than Whistler because of its slightly more difficult access from the Upper Village which is a one to two minute drive and a short walk from the main village. This is rapidly changing due to increased access from the main village with the Fitzsimmons Express and Garbanzo high speed quad chairlifts from the same base as the Whistler gondola.