Tag: Mountain Biking

The Origins of the Whistler Bike ParkThe Origins of the Whistler Bike Park

August 10, 2013 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

It’s as good time as any to look back at the origins of the Whistler Bike Park.

One of Whistler’s first mountain bike operators was Whistler Backroads, started by local resident and disillusioned breakfast server Eric Wight in 1982. They offered mountain bike rentals, sales and guided tours, operating from a number of different locations throughout Whistler during the 1980s.

As early as 1985 Eric approached Whistler Mountain about the potential of using chairlifts for summer trail access within the resort. It was obviously a great idea, but a little ahead of its time. There was still too much of a disconnect between what the average biker on the average bike could handle, and the experience that Eric was trying to provide.

Early mountain biking on Blackcomb Mountain. Greg Griffith photo.

Sometime around 1990 (dates can get a little fuzzy after a few decades) Whistler Mountain approached Eric about the possibility of taking over the guided bike tours they had been offering for the last few summers. Eric agreed, secured permission to build bike-specific trails (including Bear Cub), and within a few years (definitely by 1993) he finally succeeded in convincing the ski resort to run the chairlifts in summer for bikes. Blackcomb Mountain also experimented with lift-accessed mountain biking for a few years during the early 1990s.

The genius of Eric’s idea was becoming apparent by 1996 when opening weekend in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park drew more than 500 opening weekend riders. Yes, some riders will always appreciate the physical and technical challenge of a good uphill slog, but the comfort and convenience of a chairlift became a surefire driver of growth in the mountain bike world, just as it had for skiing decades earlier.

An early design for Whistler Bike Park ad, courtesy Whistler Backroads. Circa 1996. — An early design for a Whistler Bike Park ad, courtesy Whistler Backroads. Circa 1996.

Lift-accessed trails started from Olympic Station, most running down ski runs, while “two of the new routes even [took] riders right into the forest, with designers opening up old logging roads for the two-wheeled, knobby-tired set.” Also in 1996 in a separate guided tour for advanced riders, Eric’s guides invited guests to “bike the peak” by climbing access roads from the Roundhouse all the way to Whistler Peak. It wasn’t until 2012 that the Whistler Bike Park began offering lift-access to Whistler Summit and the new “Top of the World Trail.”

Despite this early success, Whistler Backroads was forced to change paths in 1998, when Intrawest purchased Whistler Mountain. Their contract was not renewed, despite the considerable efforts invested in building trails and growing the operation. They continued to offer guided mountain biking throughout the valley, but over time their focus shifted to water sports, especially guided canoe and kayak descents down the River of Golden Dreams, which they still offer to this day.

Next Wednesday May 18th, see Eric, WORCA trailbuilder Dan Raymond, and others discuss the past, present, and future of MTB trail-building in Whistler at “Dirt Masters: Whistler Trail-building through the Decades.” This is the opening event of our first ever Whistler MTB Heritage Week.

Mountain Biking

Whistler MTB 20 years agoWhistler MTB 20 years ago

May 17, 2013 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

So the Whistler Mountain Bike Park opened for the season yesterday! Mountain biking has quickly grown to become Whistler’s most high-profile summer attraction, but even before our ski lifts began shuttling fat-tire types up Whistler Mountain Whistler already had a well-developed biking scene. It’s just that hardly anyone knew about it.

For a little perspective we dug into our archives and consulted a copy of the 1993 publication “The Whistler Handbook.” In an article titled “The Trails Are World Class But Few Know About It – Yet” local artist, sign-maker, and former editor of the Whistler Answer Charlie Doyle had this to say about the local mountain biking scene in 1993:

“Mountain biking in Whistler today is like skiing was twenty years ago. In those days the skiing was every bit as astounding as it is currently, but it hadn’t been dubbed “World Class” yet… All we had was the best skiing in the world and hardly anyone outside the Lower Mainland knew or cared anything about it.” Just to be clear, Charlie wasn’t complaining about this lack of recognition.

The article describes how Whistler decommissioned logging roads formed the backbone of the local trail network, frequently re-cleared by rogue bike enthusiasts to provide smooth climbs and trunk roads servicing an ever-expanding network of single track routes.

Newcomers to the sport will be surprised to learn how many of these trails had already been built in 1993. Some of Whistler’s bike trails might even be older than most of the people riding today!

An early x-country race on Whistler Mountain, early 1990s.

Griffith img070 large — About as technical as downhill descents got at the time, many of the images from in this collection show the racers walking their bikes down this section. Way up in the Whistler Alpine, early 1990s.

Among Charlie’s suggestions were now-classic trails such as Cut Yer Bars (“offers a truckload of technical drops, obstacles, climbs and slalom descents”), Northwest Passage (“runs like a roller coaster across creeks and big sweeping corners”), the Black Tusk climb (“not to be missed for those who love gut-wrenching climbs”) and a few Westside favourites like A River Runs Through It (“you may never want to leave”).

A poster for — A poster from an early Loonie Race (late 1980s). These weekly summer rides still run to this day (although inflation forced them to be re-branded “Toonie Rides” a few years back) are now massive social events, often with hundreds of participants.

As an aside, Charlie noted that “the municipal government has yet to be convinced that the bike scene can provide sufficient retail kickback to jump on the bandwagon.” Since that assessment the RMOW has clearly seen the light, as it is widely considered a case study in the positive impacts that follow from local government support for mountain bike trail networks. Interestingly, the first place Charlie suggested for prospective riders was Lost Lake Park, which is now a municipally-operated bike park.

Fast forward 20 years and Whistler’s biking scene is firmly in the situated in the mainstream. As the trail network expanded, all the accompanying markers of “world class” status Charlie referred to are here as well: overseas visitors, global media recognition, dozens of dedicated bike shops, and media blitzes that are as calculated and labour intensive as the trails themselves.

For more info on the history of local trail-building, check out WORCA’s trail history article, and “Quest for the Holy Trail” run in the Pique last summer.

And for fun, we’ll re-post this classic clip from our archives, showing some sweet mtb action from 1988: