Whistler is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, approximately north of Vancouver and south of Pemberton. It has a permanent population of approximately 13,982 (2021), and 3,241 seasonal residents (estimated).
Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and snowboarding and, in the summer, mountain biking at Whistler Blackcomb. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards, and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines since the mid-1990s. During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Whistler hosted most of the alpine events, Nordic, luge, skeleton, and bobsled events.
History
The Whistler Valley is located around the pass between the headwaters of the Green River and the upper-middle reaches of the Cheakamus. It is flanked by glaciated mountains on both sides; the Garibaldi Ranges on the side that contains the ski mountains, and a group of ranges with no collective name but that are part of the larger Pacific Ranges and are essentially fore-ranges of the Pemberton Icefield. Although there are a few other routes through the maze of mountains between the basin of the Lillooet River just east, the Cheakamus-Green divide is the lowest and most direct.
Indigenous settlement Before European settlement, the Lilʼwat First Nation and Squamish Nation both used the Whistler area, which they called Cwítima and Sḵwiḵw, respectively. They also shared a village known as Spó7ez at the confluence of Rubble Creek and the Cheakamus River south of Whistler. Spó7ez, a hub of trade and commerce, was buried after the Black Tusk volcano erupted. Both Nations continued to cohabit the region, travelling to the area in the warmer months, where they established seasonal camps for hunting and trapping. Spó7ez was re-populated until it was destroyed by another rock slide in the 1800s. Evidence was found of an ístken pit-house on the land that became the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, which was used by the Wolf Clan (now known as the Wallace Family) as shelter.
European settlement
The first British survey by the Royal Navy took place in the 1860s.BritishColumbia.com – Whistler, British Columbia These surveyors named the mountain London Mountain because of the heavy fog and cloud typically gathering around the mountain, but the area informally acquired the name "Whistler" due to the call of the hoary marmot.BritishColumbia.com – History and Heritage of Whistler Mountain In the late 19th century, the Lillooet Cattle Trail was cut through the valley, linking Lillooet via Pemberton with Burrard Inlet via a pass from Squamish to the Seymour River. The trail was completed in 1877, but because of the difficult and unforgiving terrain, it was only used once for its intended purpose, which was to drive cattle.
The area began to attract trappers and prospectors—such as John Millar and Henry Horstman—who established small camps in the area in the early 20th century. The area began to gain recognition with the arrival of Myrtle (whom the Myrtle Philip school was named after) and Alex Philip, who in 1914 purchased of land on Alta Lake and established the Rainbow Lodge. The Philips had relocated from Maine to Vancouver in 1910 and had heard rumours of the natural beauty of the area from Pemberton pioneer John Millar. After an exploratory journey, the couple was convinced.
Rainbow Lodge and other railway-dependent tourist resorts were collectively known as Alta Lake. Along with the rest of the valley bridging the Cheakamus (pron. CHEEK-a-mus) and Green River (a tributary of the Lillooet River) basins, they became part of British Columbia's first resort municipality in 1975.
Completion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway in 1914 greatly reduced the travel time from three days, providing ease of access from Vancouver, and the Rainbow Lodge gained a reputation as the most popular vacation destination west of the Rockies. The lodge was primarily a summer destination, with boating, fishing and hiking among the most popular activities, and soon other lodges began to open not just on Alta Lake, but on other valley lakes as well.
Appreciation of the outdoors was not the only activity in the valley, however. Logging was a booming industry. During the first half of the 20th century, most of the lower slopes of the surrounding mountains were cleared of old-growth. At its peak, four mills were in operation, most located around Green Lake. Prospecting and trapping were pursued as well, though no claims of great value were ever staked.
The resort town was granted heraldic symbols by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in January 2016.
Geography Climate Whistler has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsb/Dfb) or a Mediterranean climate bordering on an oceanic climate (Köppen: Csb/Cfb) depending on the isotherm used. It has cold wet winters with significant snowfall and cloud cover, and warm summers which are somewhat dry. On average, Whistler receives approximately 11 days with temperatures over and approximately 24 days with temperatures falling below .
Flora Whistler is a collection of microclimates ranging from coniferous mixed forest on the valley floor, to slightly drier slopes, to alpine tundra in the alpine.
The wet West Coast marine temperate climate in the valley floor is characterized by a coniferous mixed forest, with a preponderance of western red cedar—a continuation of the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest.
The slopes are slightly drier and are also coniferous mixed forest with western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Whistler hybrid spruce (Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis and Engelmann spruce, Picea engelmannii).Getting to know Whistler's trees – Museum Musings The last is "a hybrid spruce that is unique to Whistler, aptly dubbed the "Whistler Spruce". "The Whistler spruce hybrid is indicative of Whistler's geographic position—we're not quite coastal, but not quite interior". It is a hybrid of the wetter West Coast Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), which ranges from Northern California to Alaska, and the drier Interior Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). Others include the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and endangered whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis).
The higher slopes transition to many species of scrub juniper (genus Juniperus), Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), and many species of scrub willow in the genus Salix at the tree line, and to Arctic tundra-like conditions in the high alpine above the tree line.
Both the valley floor and the mountain sides are characterized as mixed forest, predominantly conifers, but with a peppering of a few deciduous trees like the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), locally extinct Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) or Pryus fusca, bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata), pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana), red alder (Alnus rubra), Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), and Douglas maple (Acer glabrum).
Whistler was clear cut twice. The Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium or Berberis aquifolium ( hollyleaved barberry) USDA Plants Database and were accidentally re-introduced as escaped landscaping plants, and may all be Oregonian subspecies. All the wild Pacific crabapples were dug up by Pemberton Pioneers for grafting rootstock. It is unclear whether the was indigenous or introduced by Indigenous transcontinental trade networks or later Western contact. All the wild plums were dug up too by Pemberton Pioneers for fruit trees to transplant and as rootstock. Once abundant on the forest floor, lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) is no longer found because of the loss of habitat through the clear-cutting.
Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Whistler had a population of 13,982 living in 5,597 of its 10,065 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 11,746. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Ethnicity Panethnic groups in the District of Whistler (2001–2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 European 11,570 9,905 7,960 8,515 8,265 Southeast Asian 660 425 280 140 75 East Asian 620 460 505 315 360 Indigenous 145 130 55 120 115 Latin American 140 100 45 30 10 South Asian 105 140 180 40 20 African 90 35 75 20 10 Middle Eastern 40 30 0 55 15 Other/multiracial 65 30 25 15 40 Total responses 13,425 11,245 9,135 9,245 8,895 Total population 13,982 11,746 9,824 9,248 8,896
Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Whistler included: Irreligion (9,755 persons or 72.7%) Christianity (3,280 persons or 24.4%) Judaism (145 persons or 1.1%) Buddhism (75 persons or 0.6%) Islam (50 persons or 0.4%) Indigenous Spirituality (10 persons or 0.1%) Other (95 persons or 0.7%)
Arts and culture The Whistler Film Festival is produced by the Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS). It is held over five days from the first weekend of December.
Attractions Attractions include skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, ice skating, snowshoeing, tobogganing, golfing, and fishing.
Sports 1968, 1976, and 2010 Winter Olympics
Until the 1960s, this quiet area was without basic infrastructure. There were no sewage facilities, water, or electricity, and no road from Squamish or Vancouver. In 1962, four Vancouver businessmen began to explore the area with the intent of building a ski resort and bidding for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Garibaldi Lift Company (Whistler Blackcomb) was formed, shares were sold, and in 1966, Whistler Mountain opened to the public.
Later, the town, then still known as Alta Lake, was offered the 1976 Winter Olympics after the selected host city Denver declined the games due to funding issues. Alta Lake Whistler declined as well, after elections ushered in a local government less enthusiastic about the Olympics. The 1976 Winter Olympics were ultimately held in Innsbruck, Austria.
Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, the first time the International Olympic Committee has bestowed that designation on a community. Whistler hosted the alpine technical and speed events, the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton at Whistler Sliding Centre located adjacent to Fitzsimmons Creek, the Nordic events at the Whistler Olympic Park in the nearby Callaghan Valley and all the Paralympic Games events except the opening ceremonies, sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.
The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village (commonly referred to as the Athlete's village) housed around 2,400 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials. Post-games, the site has been turned into a new residential neighbourhood, Cheakamus Crossing.
Infrastructure Transportation Whistler is located on British Columbia Highway 99, also known as the "Sea to Sky Highway", approximately north of Squamish, and from Vancouver. The highway connects Whistler with the British Columbia Interior via Pemberton-Mount Currie to Lillooet and connections beyond to the Trans-Canada and Cariboo Highways.
Passenger rail service is only provided at the Whistler railway station between Vancouver and Jasper by the Rocky Mountaineer, using Canadian National Railway tracks from North Vancouver via Whistler and Prince George. The station for tour passengers embarking from Whistler is in the Southside area, between Nita and Alpha Lakes.
Local bus transit service is provided by the Whistler Transit System, formerly the Whistler and Valley Express, which also provides service to Pemberton.
A shuttle bus service from Vancouver International Airport and Downtown Vancouver is provided by the Whistler Shuttle and YVR Skylynx.
Local airports include: Pemberton Regional Airport