From traditional Coast Salish designs on gondolas at British Columbia’s Whistler Blackcomb to Indigenous-owned resorts in Utah and Arizona, we go downhilling with Native America.
As a little girl, Janice George (Chepximiya Siyam’) was always fascinated with a black-and-white photo that hung in her family’s house. The snapshot, taken in 1906, showed a delegation of chiefs preparing to meet King Edward VII in England.
“They were put in robes,” says George, a hereditary chief of the Squamish Nation. “The robes were made for them, woven for them, and I always admired them. I always thought they looked so regal, and I always wanted to learn how to do that.”
The Wings of Thunder gondola wrap soars over Whistler Blackcomb.
For the last two decades, George and her husband, Willard “Buddy” Joseph (Skwetsimeltxw), have dedicated themselves to carrying on the tradition of Coast Salish wool weaving. They’ve not only mastered the craft themselves but have also taught hundreds of people from more than a dozen tribes and nations.
Now, the couple’s work is soaring to new heights — literally — at Whistler Blackcomb. Skiers and snowboarders visiting the resort in Whistler, British Columbia, this winter will notice a striking geometric design in black, red, yellow, and white on one of the cars on the Peak 2 Peak gondola.
Artists Janice George and Willard “Buddy” Joseph took inspiration from a weaving pattern.
George and Joseph took inspiration from a weaving pattern to create the bold, brightly colored gondola wrap for the ski area. Their artwork, called Wings of Thunder, tells the story of the Thunderbird, a protective, winged creature who roosts atop the Black Tusk volcanic rock formation in British Columbia’s Garibaldi Park.
“The Thunderbird watches over all of us and takes care of all of us and has so much power,” says George, who co-founded the L’hen Awtxw Weaving House with her husband. “It’s spectacular to see a thunderbird flying through the air on a gondola — I love that idea. You can see him coming and going.”
Wings of Thunder tells the story of the thunderbird. Nelson’s wrap, titled Red, brings additional color to the Peak 2 Peak gondola.
Wings of Thunder is part of The Gondola Gallery by Epic, a new art series created by Vail Resorts that aims to promote diversity, inclusion, and representation in the mountains. For the project, Vail Resorts tapped visual artists to create original artwork to permanently adorn four gondola cabins at its North American ski resorts.
Whistler Blackcomb, which is located on the shared unceded land of Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation, has two gondola wraps: George and Joseph’s Wings of Thunder, plus another created by Lil’wat Nation painter Levi Nelson. The others are at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort (created by Black artist Lamont Joseph White) and Vermont’s Stowe Mountain Resort (designed by Jim Harris, who was paralyzed after a kite-skiing accident).
Lil’wat Nation painter Levi Nelson created the other gondola wrap at Whistler Blackcomb.
Nelson’s gondola wrap at Whistler Blackcomb, called Red, features curved white, red, and pink shapes inspired by nature. Through his artwork, Nelson explores how Indigenous identities evolved after first contact with Europeans. “To have the aesthetics of Indigenous art emblazoned across the Peak 2 Peak gondola, it’s representational of the people who grew up here, who share the land … in this place which, decades ago, tried to sort of hide my people. They’re now lifting us up,” Nelson says.
From our January 2025 issue.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Vail Resorts
