Behind the scenes of the upcoming Whistler Outdoor Festival
Written by Cam Fenton.
When Sam Waddington laid out plans to open the first Mt. Waddington Outdoors location fifteen years ago, he wanted to create more than just a place to buy fuel, gear, and shoes. He wanted to create a hub for the outdoor community, a place where hikers, climbers, runners, paddlers, skiers and everyone in between could connect with each other and a broader outdoor culture.
“I wanted to share outdoor knowledge,” he said. “I wanted to show people this thing that had transformed my life, this thing that I love so much.”
That’s why Mount Waddington started organizing the Mountain Town Series, a film and speaker series bringing mountain culture to Chilliwack, a town that few people outside of the Fraser Valley viewed as an outdoor community. It’s also why, from October 9-11, 2026 Waddington and the team at his shops are helping to organize the Whistler Outdoor Festival, a three-day celebration of mountain culture in one of Canada’s most iconic ski towns.
A packed crowd at a community event in Chilliwack last year
The event kicks off with the world premiere of Whistler Blackcomb’s newest ski film, Home, that profiles Whistler-based athletes making the most of their own backyard mountain. The following night is a screening of the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Between and through Sunday is a series of activities, workshops, and panels. According to Waddington, it’s the sort of thing where you can spend your morning on a trail run, your lunch hour at a panel on trail access, and the afternoon at an adventure writing or filmmaking workshop.
“I know it's cliché, but we’re focusing on three main pillars: entertain, educate, and inspire,” he explained. “If those three elements come together appropriately, where there's people getting stoked, people having a really good time, and people leaving with new skills or knowledge, we're all winning.”
Watch the trailer below
The event will coincide with Whistler’s iconic Turkey Sale, a once-a-year event when Whistler Blackcomb and businesses throughout the town sell off last year’s gear and old rentals. It’s a tradition that’s been running for decades in Whistler, rooted in a history of the community ski swaps. Events that packed community halls and gear stores, not just to sell off old skis, but as a way to bring people together and start ramping up for the coming ski season.
“There’s this crackly, sizzly, excited feeling that everyone has when first snow flies on the webcams at the summit of their local mountains,” said Waddington. “All of a sudden, your social media feed is filled with ski sizzle reels; you’re going to ski swaps and community organizations or gear shops are hosting ski films. It’s that feeling that winter is coming.”
This year, Whistler Blackcomb has announced plans to open on November 20, 2026. It would be the earliest opening in resort history, but some people are nervous about the coming winter. Meteorologists have been tracking a so-called “Super El Niño” event in the Pacific Ocean, which has historically been correlated with drier, warmer winters in the Pacific Northwest. This year is on track to be the strongest El Niño ever recorded, thanks in large part to our changing climate. Waddington said it’s part of why the outdoor festival is teaming up with Protect Our Winters Canada, an outdoor-focused climate change organization.
“We've got Protect Our Winters taking over the stage for portions of Saturday and all day Sunday, bringing in experts from across to talk about environmental sustainability and the big risk profiles for mountain towns and the sports that we all love,” he said.
But that’s not the only thing that panels and films will focus on. Athletes, search-and-rescue professionals, guides, and brands will be there, too. There will be gear demos and panels on backcountry access and land use policies in British Columbia. At the center of it all is what the organizers are calling a Festival Basecamp, with brands and companies showing off their latest gear, offering demos and more.
You can find more information about the festival and buy tickets at this link.
