Wonderful Whistler!

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After a great time touring Vancouver, we were ready to move to the resort town of Whistler. Here, we learned many interesting things about the previous Olympics and the history of the town at the Whistler Museum.

The Whistler Museum
The Whistler Museum

One of the first settlers, Myrtle and Alex Phillips, arrived in 1911. They built the Rainbow Lodge which became very popular for tourists. Eventually as the town began to develop, other lodges were built and the logging and mining industries opened. Businessmen from Vancouver recognized the potential of Whistler and wanted to open a ski resort to host the Olympics. They formed the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association to raise funds to construct the ski resort.

What the Rainbow Lodge might have looked like
What the Rainbow Lodge might have looked like

By 1965, several ski lifts had been installed, including a 4 person gondola and a chairlift. The resort was finally opened for skiing January 15, 1966. A lot of people came to the town so many condos were built in a short amount of time.

Zoe and I in an old gondola
Zoe and I in an old gondola

The town made 4 bids to host the Olympics. Finally by pairing with Vancouver, on July 2, 2003, they won the bid to host the 2010 games. The Olympics lasted from February 12 until March 19. It took 50 years, but the Whistler Olympic dream came true.

The Whistler Museum explained its history and more. There is also an exhibit dedicated to the 2010 Olympics. I liked this section because we were able to hold an Olympic torch and dress up in some Olympic apparel.

Outside of the museum, we also saw a big innukshuk that marked the entrance to the village of Whistler.  Throughout the village, we found the Olympic rings, and the Paralympic Agitos. The word “agitos” means “I move” in Latin. The Agitos are red, blue, and green because most of the flags in the world have these colours.

My favourite Olympic place was definitely the Whistler Sliding Centre. This is the fastest track for skeleton, luge, and bobsled in the world and was built for the 2010 Olympic Games. It is 4,757 feet/1.45 km long. Construction started in 2005 and was finished November 2007. The first sled was sent down the track December 19, 2007 by Pierre Lueders. The fastest speed on the track was by a German luger Felix Loch  of 153.09 km/h!

We are the Olympic Rings at the Whistler Sliding Centre
We are the Olympic Rings at the Whistler Sliding Centre

The track is kept cool with tubes of ammonia flowing through holes that have been drilled inside the track. The system is highly energy efficient and has a Gold standard LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

A piece of the track showing the holes for the ammonia tubes
A piece of the track showing the holes for the ammonia tubes

We went to the Sliding Centre main building where we had the chance to wear some of the gear for skeleton, luge, and bobsled and sit/lie down in the different types of sleds.

Usually, the sleds go down the track in the winter on runners, but in the summer it’s too hot for ice. There is a neat summer program at this centre where tourists can ride down the track in a bobsled on wheels.  The sled is steered by a pilot, so they need to train. Newer pilots have to do 20 training runs in order to work with the public, while pilots from previous years only have to do 10. We stayed here for the rest of the afternoon talking with the pilots and watching the sleds come down.  We found out that Zoe and I are the perfect age to start sledding, so if we want to compete in the Olympics, this is the best sport for us. 🙂

It was really interesting to learn about the town of Whistler and the sports which took place here. We have seen many Olympic parks around the world such as London, Beijing, and Sydney, and they were all so fun to visit and to compare them to each other. It is really amazing that Toronto has the chance to hold the Pan Am Games this year, but it would be really cool if Toronto could host the Olympics one day.


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Comments

8 responses to “Wonderful Whistler!”

  1. Doreen Avatar

    We just earned the first gold at the Pan Am games Zoe for kayaking! The city is hopping. It looks like you had a great time exploring Whistler. Hope you are continuing to have fun in Ecuador. Travel safely and see you soon. Love Teta Doreen xoxo

    1. Mikhaila Avatar
      Mikhaila

      Hi Teta Doreen,

      Wow! It’s really great to hear that we are doing well in the games! Hopefully some more golds are on the way. 🙂

  2. Ingrid Stevens Avatar
    Ingrid Stevens

    hello Mikhaila and family 🙂
    it is always such a pleasure to read your travel stories. Everything is interesting 🙂 every place has its own specialities.
    Thank you for your blog !
    In the mean time things have changed around here. Yesterday we said goodbye to Ege, and welcomed back our daughter Dymphi 🙂 The goodbye was really painfull ! Of course the welcoming felt good 🙂
    Enjoy your familytrip. Always happy to read your stories.
    Friendly greetings, Ingrid

    1. Mikhaila Avatar
      Mikhaila

      Hello Ingrid,

      Thank you for reading our posts and commenting! It’s great to hear how you and your family are doing. 🙂

  3. Hi Mikhaila,

    Great Blog! I enjoyed seeing some of the Olympic apparel you were wearing as well as the torch you were holding! It was very interesting to learn the history of how Whistler became a resort area. As far as the Olympics are concerned, it has been said that the Pan Am Games are the beginning of our chance to show the world that we can handle the Olympics. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the opening ceremonies certainly were excellent! Love, Baba

    1. Mikhaila Avatar
      Mikhaila

      Hi Baba,

      I hope Toronto has the chance to host the Olympics! The Pan Am games are a great start. 🙂

  4. Hi, Mikhaila, I enjoyed your posting and the really neat photos and your matching commentary. I didn’t know much about Whistler, other than what I learned during the Olympics, great to get the background history. But you and Zoe taking up sledding????? Every time I watched these events I would close my eyes until the run was over, this sport is insane – so close to the ice and so fast, I can’t even imagine!!! I hope you are too busy with all the animals, your exotic cooking school etc. and will forget about sledding. Thanks for sharing your experience. Love to all

    1. Mikhaila Avatar
      Mikhaila

      Hello Oma,

      Well, if I can’t do bobsledding, I guess I’ll have to do skeleton instead. 😀

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