Fitzsimmons Creek
Whistler Village
Issuing onto the relative lowland of the Whistler Valley just adjacent to Whistler Village, the creek turns more northwest, flowing past the White Gold residential area and entering Green Lake just east of Mons. Fitzsimmons Creek is a very large and dynamic creek with a history of debris-laden flash floods in times of heavy weather, and is dyked with heavy rip-rap in its source through the area of the village.
Adjacent to the creek on the lowermost slopes of Blackcomb is the Whistler Sliding Centre, built for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which was co-hosted by Whistler and Vancouver. The creek's valley is spanned by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, the world's highest and longest inter-montagne gondola span.
Name
The creek, and Fitzsimmons Glacier and Mount Fitzsimmons, are named for Jimmy Fitzsimmons, who operated a small mine near the head of the creek.
Fitzsimmons Creek Hydro
A run-of-river hydroelectric plant, completed in 2010, the project temporarily diverts creek water through a penstock 4.5 km downstream, an elevation drop of nearly 250 meters, to a powerhouse generating 7.5 MW of electricity. The powerhouse is located between the creek and the lowest point of the bobsleigh track built for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is majority owned by Innergex Renewable Energy who has a contract as an Independent power producer to sell its power to BC Hydro.
Whistler Museum - Hydro layout