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Whistler, British Columbia

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Whistler, British Columbia is a Canadian resort town incorporated as a resort municipality, with a permanent population of approximately 9,965. Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for its world-famous snow skiing and mountain biking at Whistler-Blackcomb. Whistler is located on Highway 99 approximately 44 kilometers north of Squamish. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines for the past 15 years.

Whistler is the Host Mountain Resort of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the first time the IOC has bestowed that designation on a community. Whistler will host the alpine technical and speed events, the sliding events, the Nordic events in nearby Callaghan Valley and all the Paralympic events except the opening ceremonies. The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village will house approximately 2,400 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials. Post-games, the site will be turned into a new resident neighbourhood.

Whistler in late sumer
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Whistler in late sumer

Whistler is moving toward becoming a sustainable resort community. Whistler residents are fully supportive and participate in efforts such as a "hydrogen highway," planned to link Vancouver and Whistler by 2010, allowing environmentally friendly hydrogen powered vehicles to travel freely between them. Similarly, numerous Whistler community members provide input to support "Whistler 2020" - a vision of what Whistler is to be in the year 2020. Principles behind Whistler 2020 are based on "The Natural Step," a scientific framework of sustainable development.

But there have been some disappointments, when for two Christmases in a row (2004 and 2005) there was an inadequate amount of snow for boarding and skiing; especially in 2005 when the temperature was 1° C and all of the snow either melted or turned into slush.

See also

The Windows XP codename "Whistler" is named after this community.
The Windows Vista codename "Longhorn" is named after a famous bar in Whistler.

External links

British Columbia
Regional Districts Alberni-Clayoquot - Bulkley-Nechako - Capital - Cariboo - Central Coast - Central Kootenay - Central Okanagan - Columbia-Shuswap - Comox-Strathcona - Cowichan Valley - East Kootenay - Fraser Valley - Fraser-Fort George - Greater Vancouver - Kitimat-Stikine - Kootenay Boundary - Mount Waddington - Nanaimo - North Okanagan - Northern Rockies - Okanagan-Similkameen - Peace River - Powell River - Skeena-Queen Charlotte - Squamish-Lillooet - Stikine - Sunshine Coast - Thompson-Nicola
Communities over 100,000 Abbotsford - Burnaby - Coquitlam - Delta - Kelowna - Richmond - Saanich - Surrey - Vancouver
70,000-100,000 Chilliwack - Kamloops - Langley Township - Maple Ridge - Nanaimo - District of North Vancouver - Prince George - Victoria
Other major communities Campbell River - Cranbrook - Fort St. John - Mission - New Westminster - City of North Vancouver - Penticton - Port Coquitlam - Port Moody - Vernon

Coordinates: [50°7′15″N, 122°57′16″W]

 


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