Colorado-based Ski Magazine has returned Whistler to the top of its list of best ski resorts in North America. Whistler last year ranked No. 6 behind Jackson Hole Resort in Wyoming and was last ranked No. 1 two years ago.
“It’s nice to get this recognition because it’s a reader poll and it’s largely U.S. readers,” Whistler Blackcomb CEO Dave Brownlie told Business in Vancouver September 23. “We’re also the only Canadian resort to rank high.”
Ski Magazine editor Greg Ditrinco explained that his magazine asks readers to vote for the top resorts in the western half of North America and separately to vote for resorts in the eastern half of the continent.
“Whistler is the No. 1 resort in North America because it is in the west, which is where all the major destination resorts are,” Ditrinco said.
None of the other top 30 ski resorts in the west were in Canada.
Quebec’s Mount Tremblant ranked No. 1 in the east.
More than 41,000 readers completed the online survey. Ditrinco told BIV that security measures were taken so people could not vote more than once.
Whistler ranked No. 1 for terrain variety, No. 2 for its lifts and No. 5 for its service.
“Readers are giddy,” the magazine noted online before providing snippets of comments such as “nothing else in North America compares” and “the mountain is an 11- plus... Just more in every way.”
Brownlie said that the Whistler Mountain gondola will operate until October 13, when it will close for a $6 million upgrade.
By the time the gondola reopens in late November, there will be 160 new eight-person gondola cabins, he said.
Another new system involves requiring skiers to carry a tag with a radio frequency identification chip to ensure that everyone on the mountain has valid lift tickets.
