On a seasonally wet, dark October evening in Whistler, the Whistler Institute welcomed community members to the Maury Young Arts Centre for the 2025-2026 Global Perspectives Speaker Series kick off: Peaks and Pressures: From Resort to Resilient Mountain Towns. The inspiration for this talk came from previous season’s guest feedback and was brought to reality by the Global Perspectives Speaker Series Committee. Considering the Resort Municipality of Whistler turned 50 this year, we thought this was the perfect topic to align with the community’s anniversary.
The Speakers:
What was discussed:
The three panelists brought a breadth of knowledge to the conversation: Erick Villagomez lent his academic, journalist and designer lens, Eric Callender contributed his resort master planning expertise, and Bryce Phillips infused the conversation with his community-forward, mountain culture perspective.
Following the Whistler Institute-led conversation, the microphones were handed out to audience members to pose their own questions:
- What can we do to make this a place that people want to come and be treated well?
- What’re mountain towns doing to offer a product that is an alternative to getting wet out there?
- How do we create spaces and environments that nurture community relationships?
- How do we problem solve as a community?
- How do we balance protecting biodiversity and habitat with trail network growth and increasing pressures on the environment?
- How do we bring more innovation to the community?
- How do we empower council and staff to do things in a different way?
True to his academic and journalist routes, Erick Villagomez prepared a comparative matrix of mountain towns and lessons for resilience. Following the event, he prepared a final recommendations document for building a more resilient Whistler.
In combination, the panelists’ insights and audience’s questions reflected the depth of curiosity and care within the community—highlighting a shared desire to shape mountain towns’ evolution toward a more connected, resilient future.
Watch the Recording:
This event was made possible by:
