2007 News

Peak to Peak tour 'breathtaking'

Jennifer Miller, Whistler Question
Published: Friday, September 21/07

WB officials take media, VIPs on heli-assisted preview of gondola route

Whistlerites and visitors to the resort will see a new and spectacular view of the Coast Mountains when they take the 11-minute journey across the valley between Whistler and Blackcomb on the Peak to Peak Gondola, which is currently nearing the end of its first phase of construction.

Whistler Blackcomb (WB) officials gave local politicians, business leaders and members of the media their first hands-on Peak to Peak experience last Thursday (Sept. 13) with a presentation at the Roundhouse and helicopter tours that took participants along the route the gondola will take.

West-Vancouver Garibaldi MLA Joan McIntyre said the views from the gondola route are “breathtaking.”

“You realize how impressive that will be for the visitors,” she said. “I think it will be very significant for tourism and for Whistler.”

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said the excitement of WB officials is contagious.

“It’s very impressive. It’s hard to be excited about the lift being complete,” he said. “I believe the claim that it’ll become one of the icons of the Whistler experience. There’s no question.”

Councillor Bob Lorriman said he gets asked about the gondola often, so getting an update on construction progress was great.

“Flying following the path of the gondola — I think that’s going to be an incredible experience for our guests,” Lorriman said. “I believe people want to come from all over the world to see this thing. It’s something nobody else has.”

Construction on the record-breaking gondola has been under way for almost six months and so far everything is on schedule and on budget, said Dave Brownlie, executive vice president of Intrawest, WB’s parent company. Right now the goal is to get the foundations for all four towers and two terminals completed before the snow flies.

Phase 1 of construction is set to wrap up next month, with Phase 2 beginning in spring 2008. The gondola is slated for completion by December 2008.

Some of the construction numbers so far are staggering: 21,000 cubic metres of rock and earth have been removed from Blackcomb Mountain, 3,000 cubic metres of concrete, the equivalent of about 400 cement trucks, have gone up the mountain and more than 8,000 pounds of steel rebar have been used in the tower foundations, he said.

“We believe this will revolutionize our experience here, both summer and winter,” Brownlie said. “I’m looking forward to December 2008.”

One of the most significant milestones is that the first tower has been erected on Blackcomb, making the project more tangible and visible.

“For a lot of people, it’s difficult to grasp just how big this project is,” Rick Temple, WB’s Peak to Peak project manager, said in a statement. “With the towers beginning to take shape, it hits you; this is going to be one amazing gondola system and a phenomenal experience for all of our guests.”

For some, the appearance of the first tower also brings up issues of how the new gondola will affect views of the mountains. But Melamed said he thinks people will get used to the new towers.

“It’ll just become a new part of our view,” he said.

©Whistler Question 2007