Whistler Mountain Bike Park is renowned for its machine-built flow trails so mountain bikers flock to the West Coast resort from all over the world to ride them.

The original Whistler Bike Park opened in 1999 with a handful of trails but saw only 11,000 visitors in its first year. Needless to say, that number has grown and mountain biking in Whistler now draws almost as many visitors as its headliner snow sports: skiing and snowboarding.

Back in 1999, having a chairlift dedicated to mountain bikes was a relatively new concept. Bike tours had been running on Whistler Mountain for years through a local company, Whistler Backroads, which used the Whistler Village Gondola for access. But the mechanics of making a chairlift work for mountain bikes were still being figured out.

Flash forward to 2025 when three lift-accessed riding zones allow you to descend from the alpine peak right into the village. That's 1,507 metres (4,946 feet) of lift-accessed vertical starting at the top elevation of 2,182 metres (7,160 feet above sea level).

Terrain type is nine per cent beginner, 31 per cent intermediate, 34 per cent........

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