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What's New - Winter |
Whistler Blackcomb is casting an optimistic gaze toward its 2007/2008 winter season after last year was heralded as the resort's second snowiest year on record, with a total snowfall of 14.16 metres (46.5 feet). That's 40 per cent more than the resort's average annual snowfall of 1,022cm (33.5 feet).
"With the landmark PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola project underway, the return of the popular Symphony Amphitheatre, and a host of other on-mountain improvements, this winter promises to be one of the most exciting yet," says Dave Brownlie, Whistler Blackcomb's Chief Operating Officer.
Construction is well underway on one of Whistler Blackcomb's landmark projects and Canada's newest tourism icon, the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. This autumn, Peak to Peak crews expect to complete concrete pours at the terminal sites located at Blackcomb Mountain's Rendezvous Lodge and Whistler Mountain's Roundhouse Lodge. They also expect to have towers Two and Three erected before the 2007/2008 winter season. Construction will resume in April 2008 and is scheduled to wrap up in time for a December 2008 grand opening.
"This exciting project is such a huge undertaking and one of the largest of its kind in the world," says Rick Temple, Peak to Peak Gondola project manager for Whistler Blackcomb. "The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola project is just an entirely new horizon for Whistler Blackcomb and it's going to spark all kinds of opportunities and growth for tourism in the region."
Once completed, the gondola will become a tourism icon for British Columbia and Canada, bringing visitors from all over the world into the high alpine to experience scenic views. Supported by only four towers, the gondola will travel 4.4 kilometers (2.73 miles) in just 11 minutes – reaching a highest vertical point of 415 m (1,361 feet) above Fitzsimmons Creek, which is a world record. Coming in at $51 million, the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola also breaks the world record for longest free span, with a distance of 3.024 kilometres (1.88 miles) stretching between the two towers furthest apart.
For more information on this project, construction updates, and to view downloadable high resolution images and video, visit: whistlerblackcomb.com/peak2peak.
Whistler Blackcomb is the venue for the men's and women's Olympic and Paralympic alpine skiing disciplines of Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Super Combined. In preparation for these events, crews led by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), are contouring and reshaping the men's and women's downhill courses, located at Whistler Creekside. The men's downhill will take place on the Dave Murray course, while the women's downhill and all Paralympic alpine skiing events will take place on a newly designed race course on Wildcard and mid to lower Franz's Trail.
Improvements to snowmaking technology have been ongoing since 2006 and include doubling the size of the reservoir, installing snowmaking pipework and pump station upgrades. VANOC is spending approximately $17.6 million on snowmaking infrastructure for the Games, a legacy for Whistler Blackcomb long after 2010.
Meanwhile, construction is continuing on the Whistler Sliding Centre, located on Blackcomb Mountain. The Sliding Centre will host the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events with construction finalized in November 2007.
The FIS World Cup Alpine Ski Races are scheduled to run February 18 to 24, 2008. Whistler will host the women's Downhill and Super Combined, and men's Super G and Giant Slalom on the new Olympic course.
"The World Cup race events returning to Whistler Blackcomb and Panorama Mountain Village this season represent a major step toward Canada's goal of being a world-leading alpine ski racing nation by 2010," said ACA chief executive officer Ken Read. "As we prepare for the 2010 Games, Whistler has become our home away from home as it will host various race events - such as the Pontiac GMC Canadian Alpine Championships - and dry land training camp for our athletes."
The Pontiac GMC Canadian Alpine Championships will run February 6 to 12, 2008.While skiers and riders may not be able to see all of the changes, Whistler Blackcomb crews have been hard at work making some very important on-mountain improvements, including building new water treatment plants at Glacier Creek and Crystal Hut on Blackcomb Mountain and the Children's Learning Centre on Whistler Mountain, at a total cost of $480,000. Meanwhile, the Lift Maintenance team spent nearly three months during the spring conducting $5 million mechanical refit on the Whistler Village Gondola.
The award-winning Whistler Blackcomb Parks Team, known around the world for its innovation, is spending $40,000 on refurbishing rails and purchasing new ones. Last season, the terrain parks, spread across both mountains, accounted for 80 acres and boasted 150-plus features, including jumps ranging from 25 to 80 feet, a rollercoaster rail, a 50-foot single bar rail, 20-foot quarter pipe and a world class super pipe. Park riders can expect to be dazzled again by their gravity defying designs this winter.
The Symphony Amphitheatre on Whistler Mountain is entering its second season after a snowy debut in December 2006. Last season, skiers and riders experienced many a powder day as they explored the 1,000 acres of intermediate and advanced terrain. The Symphony Express high-speed quad chair brings guests to Piccolo Peak, where they can access a vast expanse of wide open bowls, groomers and gladed runs – with superb views of Blackcomb Mountain and the surrounding Garibaldi Provincial Park. MORE INFORMATION >>
Whistler Blackcomb's environmental awareness during the development of Symphony has caught local and international attention. A team of planners and engineers, which included a bear biologist, foresters and mountain planners, developed a minimalist design that kept wildlife habitat intact, reducing the project's footprint from an original estimate of 40 per cent down to less than five per cent. Crews used heli-logging to thin out clusters of alpine trees and reduce damage to the area.
As a result of these initiatives, in 2006, Whistler Blackcomb received the international First Choice Responsible Tourism Award for Best In A Mountain Environment and the BC Tourism Award for Environmentally Responsible Tourism. Then, in 2007, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) gave Whistler Blackcomb the 2007 Silver Eagle Award for Fish & Wildlife Habitat Protection.
Meanwhile, Whistler Blackcomb's Habitat Improvement Team celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The Whistler Blackcomb team has completed over 80 projects in the Whistler community – eight projects during Summer 2007.
This summer, the team packaged and sent 3,500 items of winter clothing to Petrosani, one of Romania's poorest regions. The project, supported by partners in the Whistler community, first began in 2002. To date, volunteers have shipped a total of 20,000 winter clothing items to the region, as well as books, computers and medical supplies. Whistler Blackcomb's team also provides in-kind consultation services to help develop ecotourism in Romania.
