We never like to pass up on a party — this is Whistler after all. So, as you can imagine, it really doesn’t get much better than the chance to celebrate Whistler History itself: All it was, all it is, all it is yet to become.
A Little Whistler History
Forty years ago, on Sept. 6 1975, Whistler was born, the first official resort municipality in Canada. That moment set the stage for many more firsts to come, as Whistler set about trailblazing an unforgettable four seasons resort in the West.
Just take at look at these “firsts”…
#1 Whistler was first major player to truly embrace the renegade sport of snowboarding in late 1980s. True, snowboarders were only allowed on Blackcomb Mountain at the time. But we all know that didn’t last long.
Ross Rebagliati made Whistler Histroy as the first snowboarder up Blackcomb Mountain. Photo: Whistler Museum
#1 The first Canadian to win a World Cup downhill on home soil — local legend Rob Boyd — won it right here on Whistler Mountain in 1989 to a wild home crowd. The win not only cemented his place in ski racing history, it secured Whistler’s too.
Rob Boyd 1989 World Cup Win in Whistler. Photo: Whistler Question Collection / Whistler Museum.
#1 Two years after that fateful race, Whistler became the first mountain resort outside of the U.S. to be named Number 1 by a major American ski magazine. Now that’s a first that never gets old. We should know. We’ve been there often enough. Just last year Whistler was first again — Number 1 out the Top 50 North American ski resorts, rated overall best ski resort by SKI Magazine Reader’s Poll for 2014/2015.
So what’s the secret?
Well… the 8,100 acres of ski terrain helps, as does the endless B.C. backcountry beyond. The summers here aren’t too shabby either — sun-drenched music and sports festivals, lazy lakeside days, an epic mountain bike park that just won’t stop.
But here’s the real secret…
The core of this town is its people; they are Whistler’s heart and soul. That is the simple reason why it endures at the top of its game. Like the pioneers in 1975, when the town was less than 1,000 people strong, filled with a motley crew of ski bums and hippies and entrepreneurs and optimistic developers, the people of Whistler today are cut from the same cloth.
They share that same spirit of adventure, fueled to live a life less ordinary. They’ve found it here.
You can see it in the lifties, stomping their hands and feet in the cold; in the bartenders serving your après beer; in the knowing smiles of hotel concierges and pro skiers and the helicopter pilots whisking you into the backcountry.
Want to know what they’re all smiling about?
At Gibbons Life we’re going to show you — we’ll show you the Whistler that you won’t find in any official press release. Don’t miss this Insidescoop every week to keep up with what’s going on here — how we do things in Whistler and why we do things in Whistler.
In the meantime, a party awaits – we’ve got 40 years of celebrating to do on Sunday Sept. 6, 2015…
