Whistler, British Columbia

Vancouver International Airport (IATA: YVR, ICAO: CYVR)[10] is the main international airport for Whistler residents and tourists and is located 140 km (87 mi) south.

Pemberton Regional Airport (ICAO: CYPS)[10] is a public airport serving Pemberton and Whistler. It is the closest airport for fixed wing non-amphibious aircraft and is 38 minutes north of Whistler. There are no scheduled flights but three charter services operate out of the airport.

Whistler (Municipal) Heliport (TC LID: CBE9) is a public heliport operated by the Whistler Heliport Society.[10] Currently there are no scheduled flights but charter services to/from Vancouver International Airport, Vancouver/Harbour (Public) Heliport and Victoria Harbour (Camel Point) Heliport (TC LID: CBF7) are available.

Whistler/Green Lake Water Aerodrome (ICAO: YWS, TC LID: CAE5) is a public floatplane base owned and operated by Harbour Air Group and Whistler Air.[10] Seasonal scheduled flights are provided by Harbour Air Seaplanes and West Coast Air to Victoria Inner Harbour Airport and Vancouver Harbour Water Airport.[11] The seaplane base is located at the Nicklaus North subdivision on the South end of Green Lake.

Whistler is a collection of microclimates ranging from coniferous mixed forest on the valley floor, to slightly drier slopes, to Alpine tundra in the alpine.

The wet West Coast marine temperate climate in the valley floor is characterized by a coniferous mixed forest, with a preponderance of western red cedar—a continuation of the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest.

The slopes are slightly drier and are also coniferous mixed forest with western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Whistler hybrid spruce (Sitka spruce and Engelmann spruce).[13] The last is

...a hybrid spruce that is unique to Whistler, aptly dubbed the "Whistler Spruce." The Whistler spruce hybrid is indicative of Whistler's geographic position—we're not quite coastal, but not quite interior.

— Robyn Goldsmith, Getting to know Whistler's trees – Museum Musings[13]

A hybrid of the wetter West Coast Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) – that ranges from Northern California to Alaska and the drier Interior Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). Others include the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii),[14] lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta),[15] endangered whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis).[16]

The higher slopes transition to many species of scrub juniper, Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), and many species of scrub willow in the genus Salix at the tree line, and to Arctic tundra like conditions in the high alpine above the tree line.

Both the valley floor and the mountain sides are characterized as mixed forest, predominantly conifers, but with a peppering of a few deciduous trees like the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), locally extinct Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) or Pryus fusca,[17] bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata), pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana),[18] Red Alder (Alnus rubra), Sitka Alder (Alnus sinuata), Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera), big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), Douglas maple (Acer glabrum)[19]

Whistler was clear cut twice in succession. So it is not an old growth rain forest with 1,000s of species, but a mere plantation with only 100 species. The Oregon Grape Mahonia aquifolium (AKA hollyleaved barberry) and Highbush Cranberry Viburnum opulus were accidentally re-introduced as escaped landscaping plants, and may all be Oregonian Subspecies. All the wild Pacific crabapples Malus fuscawere AKA Pyrus rivularis Douglas and AKA Pyrus fusca were dug up by Pemberton Pioneers for grafting Rootstock.[20][21] It is unclear whether the Chickasaw Plum, Prunus americana was indigenous, or introduced by Indigenous Transcontinental Trade Networks or later Western Contact. All the wild Plums were dug up too by Pemberton Pioneers for fruit trees to transplant and as rootstock. Once abundant on the forest floor, Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea is no longer found because of the loss of habitat through the clear-cutting.[22]

Whistler has one weekly newspaper, Pique Newsmagazine, published every Thursday. The Whistler Answer was published intermittently from 1977 to the 1990s. The Lost Duck is a monthly events guide and calendar that lists what's happening in the resort. Other tourist-oriented, print media such as FAQ, Visitors Choice and Whistler Magazine are published from quarterly to once or twice a year.

An internet radio site for the community exists It is designed to be a community radio station showcasing local music talent and interests of relative importance. History: 28 November 2003, "Feds shut down local pirate radio station... frequency 105.5 FM in the Whistler area, received a visit from Industry Canada and local RCMP officer", Federal Police.[24] Freeradio Whistler still legally broadcasts over the Internet at freewhistler.com.[25]

The incumbent cable television provider in Whistler is Shaw Cable. Additional service providers covering whistler include Telus TV (Optik IPTV service and Telus Satellite TV), Shaw Direct (satellite), and Bell Satellite TV (satellite).

Whistler was previously served by CBUWT-TV channel 13, a CBC Television repeater of CBUT-DT (Vancouver); that station shut down in 2012 due to budget cuts affecting the CBC.

The television show Whistler takes place in Whistler. Whistler, the series is a Canadian television drama centring on the aftermath of the mysterious death of a local snowboard legend. The series was set in the ski resort of the same name and aired for two seasons from 2006 to 2008. It was created by Kelly Senecal and developed by Patrick Banister, John Barbisan, Mindy Heslin, and Susan James.

The television series Peak Season is filmed in Whistler and documents the lives of people that live there. Reality Show Fresh Meat II was filmed in Whistler. The community also appeared as the location for Shane and Carmen's wedding in The L Word (season 3, episode 12) Whistler was also featured on The Real Housewives of Orange County and ABC's Extreme Weight Loss.

Reality Show Gene Simmons Family Jewels filmed some episodes in Whistler, it is an American reality television series that premiered on A&E on 7 August 2006. The show follows the life of Kiss bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons, his longtime partner and wife Shannon Tweed, and their two children, Nick and Sophie.

Sophie Tweed-Simmons has her own reality TV series spin off in production. Filming began December 2013, in Whistler, Vancouver Los Angeles and Nashville. Sophie and her mother, model Shannon Tweed, will be the focus of the new show. Producers of the show are Force Four Entertainment, Vancouver. Eight ​¹⁄₂-hour episodes are to be broadcast on W Network Canada in the spring of 2014.[26]

Kansai TV Japan was produced in Whistler with a ​1 ¹⁄₂-hour TV special, Race to the Canadian Northern Lights. Thirty minutes of footage on Whistler's winter activities, shopping, Village and spa. The show aired March 2001. It had a viewership of 3 million and had an estimated public relations value of $2 million.[27]

Stewardess Cops Fuji Television AKA Fuji Network, a popular Japanese drama, shot a two-hour special on location in Whistler during the fall of 2001. It was aired January 2002 and had an estimated audience of 22 million.[27]

Besides the 2010 Winter Olympics broadcasters from the United States, Australia's Today Show,[28] and Japan have done daily up to week long segments from Whistler.

ESPN2 shows BMX Races from Whistler but they are really from nearby Pemberton's Green River BMX Track.

Most videos of Whistler Backcountry skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling are filmed in the Pemberton Valley or area. The Whistler name has a much higher brand recognition.

The Whistler Film Festival is produced by the Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS). It is held over five days from the first weekend of December.[29]

The Crash Reel, a 2013 documentary and reality film, directed by Academy Award Nominee Lucy Walker, was filmed on location in Whistler. It features top-ranked American snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who because of injuries missed the 2010 Winter Olympics, dealing with his rival Shaun White. It was a selection for the Whistler Film Festival, the Montreal World Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival.[30]

Ski School, a 1991 comedy, with Dean Cameron, was filmed on location partially, in Whistler and on the mountain.[31]

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) used the glacier above the community to stand in for Antarctica.[32][33]

Why Did I Get Married? (2008) which was directed, written and starred Tyler Perry, was shot on the slopes of Whistler Blackcomb ski resort.[33][34]

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994) was directed by Ken Olin, and stars Scott Bairstow, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Lewis and Ethan Hawke. Whistler is the back drop for this Disney film.[33][35]

The Grey (2011) which was directed by Joe Carnahan. Liam Neeson sips cocktails in The Cure Bar at Whistler's Nita Lake Lodge.[33]

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012) were not filmed in Whistler proper, but north and south of town. The crew was housed in Squamish and later Pemberton, but the stars were housed in Whistler hotels, hence the reason for all the star sightings in the village.