Category: Dual Mountain

Jurassic Park : Blackcomb is 50-70 million years older than Whistler Jurassic Park : Blackcomb is 50-70 million years older than Whistler

June 2, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Featured Image: Prospector Henry ‘Harry’ Horstman arrived in 1913. Though Horstman Glacier and Hut on Blackcomb are named after him, he did not stake any claims on the mountain. Photo: Brock Collection.

‘The Fault of Fitzsimmons’

Whistler and Blackcomb mountains have very different histories.

Their differing stories far predate the 80s and 90s ‘Duel of the Dual Mountains’ which played itself out in past battles to access vaster and more expansive alpine ski terrain, faster (a one-upping between once-independent resorts, jostling for prominence, where the launched weaponry was the 7th Heaven T-Bar with the retaliatory firing of the Peak Chair, followed by 7th Heaven Express and Peak Express)…

We’re not talking decades-ago-differences, here.

We are speaking about epochs, eras, periods… years. Hundreds of millions of them.

We are talking geology and geography: the language of our local landforms.

We are speaking about the background of our backyard rocks: what follows is a barebones breakdown of the basics.

Blackcomb came first. A product of the Jurassic Period, the mountain is about 150 million years old. Blackcomb is formed primarily of hard, salt-and-pepper coloured granodiorite. Granodiorite forms about 80% of the Coast Mountains: igneous rock, developed from cooled and crystallized magma protons. It would be fair to say when venturing on Blackcomb, one is entering Jurassic Park.

Whistler is about 80 million years old. It is formed of sedimentary, volcanic rock: shale and andesite, deposited in a marine basin during the Cretaceous Period. Fossils can be found high atop its peak. It was once the ocean floor. During the summer, the famed ‘Shale Slope’ appears as a red streak, visible as one rides the Peak Chair: rising through the stratas of geologic upheaval.

“The reason there is such diverse geology crammed together in the Whistler area is that the rocks are exotic and were actually formed in different geological settings, hundreds or thousands of kilometers west and south of where they are now. Over time, they were transported by massive oceanic plates like a conveyor belt to the West Coast, until 100 million years ago when they started to “accrete” (stick on) to continental America,” wrote geologist Steve Carney for the Whistler Naturalists (2023).

Blackcomb was (as were Wedge, Weart and Cook) pushed up by the Pacific Plate. Whistler rose up due to tectonic action of the Fitzsimmons Fault: the dividing valley line between Blackcomb and Whistler and “a recurring geologic feature in the valley and around the townsite,” according to Fire and Ice, the website spearheading the petition to have the area designated a UNESCO GeoRegion. The Fitzsimmons Fault line runs directly through Whistler’s Ego Bowl and is also clearly exposed along a 4-km stretch of Hwy 99 between Creekside and Whistler Village. It can be identified by its “mineral-rich rocks whose yellow cast is the result of sulfuric gasses circulating over thousands of years deep in the fault zone.”

The Fault, Valley and Creek that runs through it (into Green Lake) is named after prospector Jimmy Fitzsimmons. The miner staked copper claims, and dug for metals – in shafts still visible – along the Singing Pass Trail.

Just opposite, on Blackcomb’s lower flanks, prominent “gossans” can be seen. Fire and Ice describe them as “outcrops of oxidized and heavily metamorphosed rocks that can indicate the presence of ore deposits.”

Prospecting forms an active part of the area’s ‘more recent’ history. Whistler was known previously as London Mountain: likely named for the mineral claim “staked for Frederick James Proctor of the London & British North America Mining Co. of Vancouver, in 1903,” according to the BC government. The Horstman Glacier (and hut) on Blackcomb were named after the prospector who arrived in the area in 1913 in search of gold. However, ironically, Horstman did not stake any mining claims on Blackcomb.

Down in the valley, in the rich wetlands of the Fitzsimmons Delta, the Alta Lake Mining Company began mining in 1916 for iron. The metal originated from the mineral-rich from the towering igneous rocks, and was transported in groundwater and runoff into the lakeside bogs where it oxidized and was deposited as “bog iron.” At its height, the company was producing 150 tonnes of iron per day, which it transported by railway to Squamish, then onward to Washington state.

From plates to peaks, the local area is one of the most geologically diverse.

For more information about local geological features visit https://fireandicegeoregion.ca and https://www.whistlernaturalists.ca.

The Dual Mountain Duel: 7th Heaven and Peak ChairThe Dual Mountain Duel: 7th Heaven and Peak Chair

January 20, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Top Image: Skiers atop Whistler Peak. 1990s. Griffith Collection.

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Whistler Mountain’s opening. Blackcomb Mountain opened in 1980. Whistler’s runs were designed more to side-run the mountain, whereas Blackcomb’s followed more of the fall lines.

Up until 1997, the two mountains operated separately. There was, however, a Dual Mountain Pass that could be purchased, granting access to both mountains. The pass was one of the only points of collaboration between the two competitors, whose rivalry was best showcased in their alpine lift duel.

In 1985, Blackcomb installed the 7th Heaven T-Bar: at the time, becoming the continent’s first, and only, “Mile High Mountain.” A vast amount of new terrain was opened up by this development – expansive glacial access and four powder bowls – extending Blackcomb’s skiable area by almost two-thirds. The significant upgrade served to dispel its previous uniformity in design. Skiers now could travel down runs covering 1160 acres, a substantial increase over the previous 420.

The alpine world had been opened up.

The mid-1980s, short-lived 7th Heaven T-Bar. Griffith Collection.

A young Mike Douglas (“Godfather of Freeskiing”, filmmaker and founder of the Canadian chapter of Protect Our Winters) described the experience of arriving at the top of 7th Heaven as being “dropped off at the edge of the world.” Nancy Greene (Olympic gold medalist voted Canada’s Female Athlete of the 20th Century) declared “The enormous variety of slopes and spectacular views are unequalled in North America.” In the forefront of those views was Whistler Mountain.

Whistler responded by countering a year later with the opening of the Peak Chair, a three-seater, one kilometre long lift depositing people just beneath the summit of the mountain at 2182 metres. The bar had literally just been raised (in every sense of the word!), one upping Blackcomb in the process.

Peak Chair was initially restricted to just advanced skiers. Snowboarders, at this time, were still not welcome on the mountain.

Whistler’s original Peak Chair. Griffith collection.

Challenging, cliffed, corniced and steep terrain characterized the area off the peak. Glaciated bowls and bouldered outcrops earmarked the summit’s geologic geography; whereas, its demography was being populated by seekers-of-skiing’s-extreme.

Blackcomb was not to be outdone. Riding 7th Heaven, arguably, remains the pinnacle of the Blackcomb experience. The following year, in 1987, 7th Heaven Express opened, replacing the two-year existence of the T-bar. The new four person chair, running along a longer and new lift line is the same one in operation today. Much like the Peak Chair, only skiers were permitted, when both first opened.

Blackcomb was the first to welcome snowboarders in 1988/89. Whistler followed suit; however, in this case, the mountain was much more reluctant to follow this trend, only opening their slopes to shredders a full year later.

In 1996, the two mountains joined forces, merging under the banner ‘Whistler Blackcomb.’ Continuing the streak of earning international accolades, the united front earned the Number One spot in SKIING Magazine’s ranking of the ‘Top 25 Resorts in North America’ (Tourism Whistler, 2019).

Two years later, Whistler further upgraded access to its alpine summit, with the unveiling of the four-seater, Peak Express. This same high speed, detachable chairlift remains in operation today.

And every morning, the eager and the energetic mingle and gather at the bases of 7th Heaven and Peak Express, awaiting Ski Patrol to finish their avalanche clearance protocols, in a bid to carve fresh tracks through unparalleled terrain.
The duel of the dual mountains – the rivalry of lifts and runs – may have ended on a financial and marketing level, but preferences ran – and still run – strong between slope-sliders and stylers as to which side of the mountain they prefer… along with their preferred method of flying down their chosen hill!