Whistler Creekside Gondola and Big Red Express Replacements: Low-Key But Effective Upgrades
Whistler Blackcomb’s Big Red Express six-pack replaced a high-speed quad for the 2022-23 season, providing a welcome capacity upgrade for a busy mid-mountain area on Whistler Mountain.
Background
Whistler Blackcomb introduced a series of upgrades for the 2022-23 season in accordance with Vail Resorts’ Epic Lift Upgrade initiative. Both upgrades have been installed on Whistler Mountain, and both have been executed with capacity in mind; the resort’s outgoing six-pack Creekside Gondola has been replaced with a 10-passenger gondola, while the outgoing Big Red Express has been replaced with a high-speed six-pack chairlift. Both lifts run at approximately the same speed as the ones they replaced, and both run in the same alignment as their predecessors. No new terrain has been introduced as part of these upgrades.
We recently had the chance to visit Whistler Blackcomb and check out these new lifts as they exist today. Here are our thoughts on the lift setup for the 2022-23 season.
Whistler’s new 10-passenger Creekside Gondola cabins are indistinguishable from those on the Blackcomb Gondola; the new machine is much more efficient than the 6-person lift it replaced.
The Experience
Whistler Blackcomb’s crowds have never been low, and they’ve only gotten worse since Canada has lifted its COVID-19 border restrictions, allowing much more tourism from the United States and abroad. If you start your day at Whistler’s Creekside base or spend much time anywhere on Whistler Mountain, you’ll likely benefit from the Creekside Gondola and Big Red Express upgrades to at least some degree.
The locations of the new Big Red Express (highlighted in red) and Creekside Gondola (highlighted in orange) on Whistler Blackcomb’s trail map.
Starting with Creekside, the lift’s new 10-passenger cabins allow for a 35% capacity upgrade from the outgoing setup. The extra capacity has done wonders for lines at the Creekside base at the beginning of the day; waits are still quite long on peak weekends, but unlike in previous years, the lines no longer get to the (arguably unacceptable) point where they wrap around the highway. That being said, Whistler hasn’t added any additional parking at the Creekside base, so the new lift isn’t servicing any more people than had already been there—instead, it’s shuffling up the same quantity of guests in faster fashion.
The Big Red Express lift is located directly above the top terminus of the Creekside Gondola, and it’s the natural next lift that guests coming from the Creekside base take to get to Whistler’s upper mountain. Big Red’s 29% capacity upgrade has helped it handle the faster traffic from the Creekside Gondola, but the additional capacity has also made the area a bit more desirable to spend time in during the early AM before the high-alpine lifts open. Lines are still fairly lengthy (which is likely partially a product of more people from Creekside coming up more quickly), but they’re a bit better than in previous seasons.
It’s easy to look at the Creekside Gondola and Big Red Express upgrades as benefits merely for those spending time in the western lower-mountain Whistler zones. However, the upgrades also have some low-key benefits for those spending time in Whistler’s above-treeline Peak zone. Many Peak runs filter into Big Red—and a handful even filter all the way back to the Creekside base—without many guests even realizing it. As a result, many visitors will find themselves taking these lifts even if they don’t intend to—and, while doing so, benefitting from the extra capacity.
The Creekside Gondola and Big Red Express provide one continuous lift route to Whistler’s upper mountain. Lines are still lengthy with the higher capacity lifts, but the waits are improved from previous seasons.
Ultimately, these two new lifts effectively get people up the mountain quicker than the old setup—and that’s really what they’ve been designed to do. While those who start their days at the Whistler Village or Blackcomb bases won’t notice the same enhancements as Creekside guests, it’s hard to argue that the capacity upgrades aren’t justified after spending time in this area of the resort.
We’re looking forward to doubling back to Whistler Blackcomb next year to check out replacements for the Fitzsimmons and Jersey Cream lifts—both of which have the potential to transform key chokepoints—and seeing how they influence the resort’s overall mountain experience and place in our rankings.
Considering a ski trip to Whistler Blackcomb this year? Check out our full Western Canada rankings, as well as our comprehensive Whistler Blackcomb review from the 2021-22 season (a refreshed 2022-23 review will be out in a few months). You can also check out our thoughts on North America’s major 2021-22 ski resort lift and terrain upgrades in video form below.
