Whistler Bike Park targets early opening date for 2024

With winter rapidly disappearing in the mountains, Whistler Bike Park is targeting an early opening date for the 2024 season. The iconic Canadian bike park is aiming to have the first chairs spinning for May 17.

Fitzsimmons Express returns

Opening Day will see the return of Fitzsimmons Express to the park’s chairs. The central village chair recieved a major overhaul that saw it closed for much of the 2023 summer bike park season. WBP is aiming to get five rider and five bikes up the hill on each chair with the new lift, which would be a significant upgrade in capacity over the old chair.

While the new chair will take on opening day duties, other lifts will follow slightly later. Whistler Village Gondola is currently scheduled to open on June 15. Creekside Gondola will open up that side of the mountain slightly earlier, on June 8. That’s the same day that access to the upper, Garbanzo Zone opens. The Peak Zone, with its famous Top of the World trail, does not yet have a scheduled opening date.

Fitzsimmons re-opening should also wrap up a few seasons of disruption to summer operations. Before Fitzsimmons, it was the Creekside area that was disrupted by construction for lift upgrades during the 2022 season.

Summer at the bike park

Whistler Bike Park has, as always, a big summer plans for the mountain bike park. Crankworx Whistler anchors those plans with its annual week of celebrations and racing. This year, Whistler is once again the final stop on the four-location Crankworx World Tour. That means Canada will, once again, get to crown the King and Queen of Crankworx.

Crankworx also includes the Canadian Open DH which, last year, saw the opening of the 1199 race course. That track is dedicated to the late Canadian downhill icon, Stevie Smith. The name references his points World Cup points total from his winning season. Smith remains the only Canadian man to have won the World Cup overall title.

Whistler Bike Park season passes are already available.