Whistler Museum

I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly staff, Olympic representation, amazing people (particularly the women who were highlighted), snow sports in general and Natural History shared within such a small space. They have something for everyone. From an old gondola, passes through the years, a fridge full of retro stickers, funny outrageous photos, and colorful adventurous characters defying cultural norms (loved the stories of women!). This museum's history is mostly within a short period of time. (I'm sure this was taken seriously in how it was shared but) it was surprising how little First Nations People were mentioned. Definitely go to the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre as well. I recall this being the library when I used to live here in 2004-2005. 😆 Great use of space!

The Whistler Museum is located next to the Whistler Library and is a great place to visit to learn about Whistler’s history as well as the 2010 Winter Olympics held there. You can touch a bear hide, look more closely at pinecones, and learn about what Whistler was like in the past. Accessible entrance ramp to enter. There is a small gift shop at the entrance. Suggested donation is $5.

The museum was small, and smelled musky, but was pack with information regarding native species, first settlers and 2010 Winter Olympics. I spent 10 minutes in there.

Great experience! Game a few times during my stay here, cool place to come and learn they have videos you can watch and it’s cool to see the history!

Lovely little museum. It’s small and tucked around the corner by the library. It’s really not huge so you can walk around it fairly quickly but entry is by way of donation (they suggest $5). We had no problem paying that. Gives a nice history of Whistler, from its early days, through to the Winter Olympics being held there in 2010.

Adorable creative local community museum, made with big Love and respect to the history of Whistler and people who built it. Strongly recommend.

A great place to go on a down ski day. A small museum with a big heart. Lots of great stuff on the good ol' days before Whistler made it to the jet set circle. I think I would have preferred it back then.

This museum has great history of whistler including geography, sport and wildlife as well as a nice part on the Olympics that lets you hold the Olympic torch and a replica gold medal!

The museum is a great way to not only learn about the area but also the people that made Whistler what it is today. A short walk from the main Whistler ski area this makes for a nice break from the slopes. Free admission (donations welcome and encouraged) makes this that much more appealing but definitely worth more than free. I think we donated $5 per person. I think we spent about 90 minutes reading through everything. It can definitely be a quicker visit but we were in no rush.

From the outside, this place looks small, but inside is a surprisingly comprehensive museum on the history of Whistler from the very early beginnings all the way to the 2010 Winter Olympics. You can even hold a torch from it!

3.5 Stars There's not much to do in Whistler if you don't want to (or can't afford to) eat, shop, or engage in outdoor snow - related activities. My company holiday party is held in Whistler and I needed to find a Saturday afternoon activity for my friend and I that was cheap and indoors. I was happy to discover there is a museum in town, and better yet, it's only $7. After a brief jaunt to the library (http://www.whistlerlibrary.ca/) we eventually found our way to the Whistler Museum & Archives. It took us awhile to find even though it was nearby because Whistler is laid out insanely and I swear all of the maps are backwards. The woman at the desk was surprisingly apathetic. I think she should have been more friendly/excited, considering we were the only people in there for the duration of our visit. The museum is pretty small, and I think we were there for about an hour. I'm a history nerd so I was fairly interested in most of the exhibits, but my friend eventually got bored and sat down in a chair while I was still checking stuff out. The exhibits cover geology and plant/animal life, history of the city/area, and of course, the 2010 Olympics. There is lots to look at, but you definitely have to read the captions to make it meaningful. There are some things to pick up and touch, but there are also area where you are not supposed to touch anything (but they are not blocked off). For both of these reasons, I'd say the Whistler Museum is not the best museum for children*. Or someone with a short attention span. Or someone that needs to have information presented to them without having to do most of the work. It's interesting, but not that exciting. I thought the most interesting thing was realizing that Whistler is probably the newest/youngest town I've ever been in. Of course natives and settlers were in the area long ago, but the town as we know it (officially Resort Municipality of Whistler) did not start to be developed until the 1960s. It's barely older than I am! I'm always in favor of supporting educational institutions, so while the Whistler Museum is not the biggest or the best, I'd still recommend it and think it was worth the $7. Plus it's even cheaper if you're a student, under 18, or over 65. *There's also a photo of a bunch of naked hippies, which some parents may not want their children to be exposed to.

Really nice little museum. My seven year old had fun with a scavenger hunt the staff provided and was excited to find everything and earn a sticker. Cool history of Whistler displays and local wildlife information. I'm glad we stopped in!