LOCAL VIBE
This ‘n’ That … Whistler Style
North America’s top four-season resort just keeps getting better. Two new attractions will open this summer atop the Peak Chair on Whistler Mountain: The Peak Suspension Bridge and a new, cantilevered viewing platform at Whistler Peak’s West Ridge. The Peak Suspension Bridge, part of Whistler Blackcomb’s “Renaissance Plan” for on-mountain improvements, will be 130 metres (425 feet) long, stretching from the Peak Chair offload area to the new West Ridge viewing platform, and will afford guests a 360-degree view of Black Tusk, Garibaldi Lake and the breathtaking Coast Mountains. Being on the suspension bridge “will be a bit of a landing pad,” said Jennifer Smith, WB senior communications specialist. “We’ll string the different cables using a basket, sort of like a shopping cart. Once completed, it will hang and will have that feeling of being suspended.” The second part of a two-phase expansion of the renowned Whistler Mountain Bike Park, with a total of 21 kilometres of new trails and the opening of the new Creekside base area, is set to open this summer as well. Other on-mountain upgrades have been occurring on both Whistler and Blackcomb. Another major project is a $66 million suite lift upgrade, including the addition of a new 10-passenger Blackcomb Gondola and replacement of the three-passenger Catskinner chair with a high-speed quad on Blackcomb. The project will also include the replacement of the Emerald Express quad on Whistler Mountain with a six-passenger, high-speed lift. The three new lifts are expected to be in service for the start of the 2018-’19 ski season, Smith said. The Blackcomb Gondola project is likely to cause only minor changes to facilities and events in the Upper Village/Blackcomb base area. Once open, the Blackcomb Gondola (which will replace the Wizard and Solar Coaster lifts) will form the world’s first continuous, three-gondola lift system in the world — the others being the Peak 2 Peak and Whistler Mountain gondolas. For details, visit whistlerblackcomb.com.