Tag: Whistler Mountain Bike Park

The Four-Wheel Force

The Four-Wheel ForceThe Four-Wheel Force

May 19, 2026 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Featured Image: Kohut in the Whistler Bike Park, in 2000. Whistler Museum/Insight Photography Collection.

May 15 marks Opening Day of the Whistler Bike Park. For Kohut, the day marks the start of his 26th season riding the park.

“In ‘92, I originally saw a picture of someone riding a four-wheel bike.” Kohut wanted one. Badly.

“I had to wait until 1999 to get my first four-wheel bike. Seven years it took. Seven years of winning gold medals. Seven years of being in the paper. Seven years of being on the TV. Seven years of pouring my heart into just being a real, true, integrated individual.”

Those seven years followed a life-changing accident. At age 21, Kohut broke his back attempting a “super-loop” on a swing set. Within a year, he was back skiing. By 23, he had become “Canada’s first-ever gold medalist in sit-skiing”. In 1996, he won the World Championship of Disabled Skiing in Austria, followed by three silver medals at the 1998 Paralympic Winter Games in Nagano.

“It’s all about being quick. And looking good. Being good.” Following that, Kohut came to Whistler and spent almost a month just shredding the snowboard park and half pipe. “You gotta pay your dues with pain, blood, tears, and a tremendous amount of determination to attempt the trick, fall, get up. Attempt the trick, fall, to get up. That method is exactly why I’m successful.”

In 1999, Kohut also quit the National Ski Team. He did return for one last Paralympics in 2002 in Salt Lake, but has not been on snow since 2003. His focus since then has been solely on biking. In 2017, Red Bull called him “the world’s fastest mountain biker on four wheels.” The year following the acquisition of his bike, he was competing in an American national downhill race. Without question, an able-bodied one.

 In 2000, he was competing in Whistler.  “ it’s announced that starting next year, the bike park is going to be open for five and a half months. … Well, all the dudes that were sitting with me were like, holy @#$%. We can do it. We can become the world’s first bike bums.” And that’s exactly what Kohut proceeded to become when he moved full-time to Whistler.

“That’s what I am. I’m a bonafide park rat. I was a skate park rat. I was a BMX track park rat. I’m a downhill park rat.” He continues, “We don’t adaptive bike. We don’t handicap bike. We have bikes that are four wheels. You can call it a four-wheel bike or a four-cross and that’s that.”

Kohut is a pioneer. Not by choice, but by default, he is also an advocate. “I’m anti adaptive. I can’t do any of it. … I’m a big proponent of having no more Paralympics. I just think the Paralympics should be blended into the Olympics. … Same day. Same discussion.” Locally, “the people that I owe so much to is people like Phil Chu and Linda Chizik,” prominent Whistler athletes.

The 55-year-old Kohut was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. “My heroes are like dirtbags… They’re rock and roll musicians. They’re punk rockers.” Kohut fondly reflects,  “Daddy was a Top Fuel drag racer, Mama was bleach blonde. My whole life has never been normal, everything was cool, I didn’t miss out on anything.”

With 25 previous seasons in the bike park, Kohut knows a thing or two about preparation and approach. “I do 100 B-Lines every year before I go on any other trail.” He rides a minimum of three-and-a-half days a week – sometimes seven – and aims for 10 runs a day.

“it’s so fun to race yourself,” he claims. “I don’t work on my weak skills. I cash in on my strengths.”

Kohut is both motivated and a motivator. “I’m pulling the rope that everyone else should be pulling and that’s to make this town as best as it can, as inclusive as it can, as friendly as you can, and let’s just get people from all over the world to come here to shred and be stoked.” 

40 years from now, “I’m going to be the 95-year-old guy that’s doing one run a day.” He will likely also be the first in line.

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Before the Fitzsimmons ExpressBefore the Fitzsimmons Express

October 25, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

With a new eight-person chair announced to replace the four-person Fitzsimmons (Fitz) Express chairlift (pending approvals) we take a look back at how mountain access from Whistler Village has changed.

The first lift from Whistler Village opened for the 1980/81 season, around the same time the Town Centre opened and lifts on Blackcomb started turning. Prior to this, everyone accessed Whistler Mountain from the area known today as Creekside. When Garibaldi’s Whistler Mountain officially opened in January 1966, it had a four-person gondola, the original double Red Chair and two T-Bars.

Whistler Mountain trail map from 1966 or 1967. Whistler Mountain Collection.

Trees were eventually cleared on Whistler Mountain for the aspirationally-named Olympic Run, however skiers who skied down the north side of Whistler Mountain were only met with a garbage dump where the Village now sits and had to catch the bus back to Creekside. Olympic Run generally only opened on weekends when the bus was running, otherwise skiers had to hitchhike back to Creekside.

Janet Love Morrison described being a rebel and skiing the closed run on a school trip. “I remember we went under the rope to ski the Little Olympic Run and we were really cool until we got to the bottom and had absolutely no way to get back to Creekside. Suddenly we were super scared because we knew we had to get back to get to the bus, because we went to school in Port Coquitlam.” Finding no cars or people at the base of the mountain, the grade eight students followed a gravel road to Highway 99 where they were picked up by a tow truck driver. They proceeded to get a dressing down by the driver and then their teachers, a first-hand experience that helped when Janet was writing Radar the Rescue Dog.

The garbage dump at the base of Whistler Mountain, where the Village is today. Whistler Question Collection.

When the lifts from the Village finally went in for the 1980/81 season multiple chairlifts were required to make it to the top. To get to the Roundhouse from Skiers Plaza, skiers first took the Village Chair, which finished slightly higher in elevation than today’s Fitz, and then skied down to Olympic Chair. Olympic Chair is still the original chair from 1980, however it was shortened in 1989 to service strictly the beginner terrain. Originally Olympic Chair met Black Chair at the bottom of Ptarmigan. If you wanted to continue on to the Roundhouse or Peak, Black Chair dropped skiers where the top of Garbanzo is today, then skiers would ski down and take Red or Green Chairs to the top. Four lifts to get to the Roundhouse and they were all slow fixed grip lifts, not the high-speed lifts that service the mountains today. (Olympic Chair, Magic Chair and Franz’s Chair are the only remaining fixed grip chairs in Whistler.)

Before Fitzsimmons Express and the Whistler Express Gondola, skiers could upload on the Village Chair. Whistler Mountain Collection.

Uploading from Whistler Village was simplified in 1988 when the Whistler Express Gondola replaced the four chairlifts, taking skiers and sightseers straight from the Village to the Roundhouse, in a gondola (apparently) designed to hold ten people.

The four-person Fitz that we know and love was built in 1999 and, together with Garbanzo, eliminated the need for the Black Chair. Prior to 1999, the biking on Whistler Mountain was predominately run by private enterprise, notably Eric Wight of Whistler Backroads, who mostly used the Whistler Express Gondola to access terrain. When the Bike Park was taken over by Whistler Blackcomb in 1999 and further developed, Fitz began to be used to access the Bike Park throughout summer, as the sport rapidly grew. These days the Bike Park sees way over 100,000 riders a year, most of whom who access the terrain from Fitz Express.

If Fitz is upgraded next summer it will be the start of a new era, greatly increasing the number of riders and skiers arriving at midstation.

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Crankworx Numero UnoCrankworx Numero Uno

August 16, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Eighteen years ago the first Crankworx was held in Whistler Village to roaring success. As the Crankworx World Tour is back in town this month we are throwing back to the original Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival, which started in Whistler in 2004.

We cannot talk about the start of Crankworx without first mentioning Joyride and Whistler Summer Gravity Festival. Joyride Bikercross was first organised by Chris Winter and Paddy Kaye in 2001. Four riders simultaneously jockeyed for lead at full speed down the course featuring tight turns and fast jumps. It instantly drew the crowds. Joyride continued in 2002, then was incorporated into the week-long Whistler Gravity Festival in 2003 – combining all the disciplines of gravity-assisted mountain biking including Air Downhill and Slopestyle. In 2004 the Whistler Gravity Festival rebranded to Crankworx.

Crankworx in 2004. Andrew Worth Collection.

Crankworx started as a way to pull together all gravity-assisted mountain bike disciplines and events, bringing all the best mountain bikers together. The idea was also to showcase the bike park. Rob McSkimming who was the managing director of Whistler Mountain Bike Park at the time, approached Mark ‘Skip’ Taylor who had experience working on the World Ski and Snowboard Festival. According to Rob in 2004, “Crankworx was designed so we could strive to be on the progressive edge of mountain biking.”

In 2004, Crankworx took place July 22 to 25, with concerts, pro-rider shows and an expo throughout the four days. Events included the Air Downhill along A-Line which was in its third year. The bike park had newly opened the terrain to the top of Garbanzo and the Garbanzo Downhill was another signature event, along with the BC Downhill Championship and the Biker X.

Definitely the most popular for spectators was the slopestyle. The course, which Richie Schley helped design, featured a road gap, wall ride, massive teeter-totter, step up to scaffolding, and huge gap jumps and drops. Prior to the event Rob McSkimming said of the course, “You should see what they are building for the Slopestyle session. It looks like an Olympic facility. There are some features in there that are hard to imagine riding let alone throwing tricks on.”

There were many memorable moments during the competition. Kirt Voreis left an impression, falling off his bike on top of the teeter-totter. He was able to keep both himself and the bike on the teeter-totter and continue the run after the fall.

Kirt Voreis managed to hang on after falling of his bike on the teeter-totter. Andrew Worth Collection.

Spectators will also remember Timo Pritzel from Germany who went really big, massively overshooting the funbox transition near the bottom of the course and flying over the scaffolding. As the Whistler Question explained, “He did clear the scaffold, but bailed his bike in mid-air and landed the old-fashioned way, which looked to most of the spectators like a guy jumping out of a two story building.” He broke his wrist and ankle in the crash, and placed second in the competition.

In an impressive underdog story, Paul Basagoitia took top honours in the 2004 slopestyle when he was 17 and relatively unknown. He had a background in BMX, no sponsors and no bike, so he borrowed a bike from friend, Cam Zink, and went on to win the contest. In an in interview from Pique Newsmagazine at the time, he said, “It was awesome, it was only like my fifth time on a mountain bike, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Paul Basagoitia during Crankworx 2004 where he came first in the slopestyle. According to an article in The Red Bulletin, following his victory Paul said, “I would like to thank my sponsors, but I don’t have any sponsors, really.” Andrew Worth Collection.

Still on the progressive edge of mountain biking, the evolution of the Crankworx from 2004 to today is evident in the village this week. Whistler has again come alive in celebration of all things mountain biking and no doubt legends will continue to be created.

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Getting into Gear: Have Bike, Will RideGetting into Gear: Have Bike, Will Ride

June 7, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Like much of the Whistler community, we have the Whistler Mountain Bike Park on our minds. When talking about the history of the bike park we often hear that mountain bike design and rider ability had to catch up before the bike park could take off. Thanks to generous funding from 100 Women of Whistler, and the local community who have been generous with their time, we have heard some great reflections on that recently through oral histories.

An unidentified rider heads down Blackcomb Mountain in the late 1980s or early 1990s, cut-off jeans the only armour required. Blackcomb Mountain Collection.

Not interested in road biking, Jim Kennedy, preferably Jimbo, was inspired to buy a mountain bike after watching the ET movie where they ride through the forest. Purchasing one of the first bikes when Doris Burma opened the door to Summit Cycles in 1983, Jim was the proud new owner of a $500 Nishiki Bushwacker. Not everyone was thrilled with his purchase, however. Mountain biker riders regularly copped abuse in the Village in regards to their choice of transport, as expletive laced “get a real bike” rang out.

In the mid-1980s, long before the bike park opened, Jimbo and friends were taking their bikes up the gondola to mid-station to ride down as part of a stag party. Luckily for them, a friend was working at mid-station, and with much encouragement let them stay on until the top of the mountain. A group filled with many former downhill racers, the ride was fast, wild and they didn’t see a single other person. Starting on snow and then following Jolly Green Giant, Jimbo remembers, “We were on these bikes, just handbrakes, no shocks or anything like that. By the time you got down your hands were just seized.” Additionally the rim brakes could get so hot they would burn or cause the tires to blow. So to ride more comfortably the bike technology had to catch up.

A few years later, the Kamikaze Descent down from the top of Blackcomb as part of Labatt’s Can-Am Challenge in 1989 followed the 15 km service road down the mountain, still no features involved. When Backroads Mountain Bike Adventures started to offer commercial downhill tours on Whistler Mountain many of the trails ridden were still the gravel access roads dotting the mountain, although Eric Wight and other passionate individuals had started to build some mountain bike specific trails across the mountains.  

Mountain bike riders cruising down Blackcomb. The marketing photos for on-mountain riding adventures have also changed in the last 30 years. Blackcomb Mountain Collection.

The opening day of the bike park in 1996 saw 500 keen riders take to the lifts. Then when Intrawest took over Whistler Blackcomb in 1998 they were convinced, with much lobbying, to further invest in the bike park. However rider ability and gear still had some catching up to do. After the first staff demo day an employee from Guest Relations remarked, “After trying the trails I couldn’t believe some of the people who had been getting on the lifts, even the greens are much harder than we were led to believe. We warn people that they need enclosed, appropriate footwear and I’ve seen people in slip-on flats go up, completely unprepared for what they are about to do.” Today it is recommended that every rider has a full face helmet, gloves, armour and a full suspension downhill bike.  

Some things change while others stay the same. A commonly heard adage in the 1990s was “You can tell if someone is a Whistler local because their bike is worth more than their car.” In many cases this still rings true today.

You wouldn’t want to crash in these outfits. Part of the Whistler Question Collection from 1992 this photo was captioned ‘All the nudes that’s fit to print: Whistler’s newest acapella group bares their wares.’ We’ve seen enough, but we want to know more. Whistler Question Collection.

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