The natural terrain features, beginning of boardercross, and the early adoption of a terrain park all helped cement Whistler’s important place in snowboard history. The early snowboard shops in Whistler were also important for supporting local snowboarders and the growing sport. The first snowboard shop to open in Whistler, known simply as the Snoboard Shop, […][...]
Despite skiers and snowboarders charging down the mountain together today, there was a time when single-plankers were strictly not allowed. Skier complaints and safety concerns resulted in both Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain remaining closed to snowboarders until the late 80s. Snowboarders were forced to ride smaller undeveloped hills, head to the backcountry, or hike […][...]
We’ll be taking a look at the history of snowboarding with Ken Achenbach and Graham Turner in our first in-person event of 2022! Snowboarding is an important part of Whistler and, though it is a younger sport than skiing and was in fact banned in the area until the late 1980s, has a rich history […][...]
With the return of “The Festival” upon us yet again, winter gets to enjoy one last hurrah in the spotlight before we officially begin looking forward to summer. Here at the museum, we’ve taken this as an opportunity to reflect on the meteoric rise of snowboarding. Way back in the 1980s (before the Whistler-Blackcomb merger) […][...]