Whistler's a community with vision, the type that lays out a plan for a successful and sustainable future. It was created and put into practice by people who call Whistler home. It's called Whistler 2020 and it's a blueprint for success.

Whistler's home to the world's largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses. It's all part of the Hydrogen Highway, which stretches up the west coast of North America. The 20 new buses can reach a top speed of 90 km per hour and are twice as efficient as internal combustion engines.

Not only will the Whistler Athletes Village be home to more than 3,500 athletes and officials during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, it will also be Whistler’s newest and greenest communities.

From bamboo floors to the groundbreaking District Energy System to the LEED standards in the High Performance Centre, everywhere you look at the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Whistler, you will find something "green."

With over 23,000 ski-related head injuries and 19,000 mountain biking related head injuries occurring every year in Whistler, the new 64-slice Computer Tomography (CT) scanner is literally a lifesaver. For residents and athletes this 2010 legacy means that treating and diagnosing a head injury won't require a flight to Vancouver.

Whistler 2010 Sport Legacies is a not-for-profit business that will own and operate three 2010 Winter Games facilities post-Games - the Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park and the Whistler Athlete's Centre. While the community prepares for Games-time, Whistler 2010 Sport Legacies is laying the groundwork for success.

Whistler has become the world’s premier destination for athletes and visitors with disabilities

Whistler is proud to be the host of approximately 90 per cent of the Paralympic events in 2010. This provides Whistler the opportunity to substantially build on its international reputation as an accessible destination and grow visitation with all guests, including those with mobility challenges. During the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Whistler will host 62 of 64 medal events and Whistler Live! - a fusion of sport, art and entertainment that’s free and accessible for all. Whistler will also host the Closing Ceremony.

Providing access to sport and recreation for all

The Whistler Adaptive Sports Program plays a central role in attracting elite and recreational athletes with a disability to Whistler. Working together with the Resort Municipality of Whistler, VANOC, the Whistler Housing Authority, and 2010 Sport Legacies Society, WASP is creating a community where people with disabilities can live, work, and play.

High Performance Centre is the first-ever permanent and affordable, accessible training facility in Whistler

The Olympic and Paralympic Athlete’s Village in Whistler is one of the most tangible legacies of the 2010 Winter Games. Not only will it be home to more than 3,500 athletes and officials during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the neighbourhood will provide much needed affordable housing to Whistler residents as well as a world-class accessible training centre, known as the High Performance Centre.

Getting up the mountain in Whistler is accessible for all

Consistently ranked as North America's premier ski and snowboard resort, Whistler Blackcomb has a big reputation - and an even bigger incentive to keep raising the bar - for every skier and rider. Whistler Blackcomb and the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program, a non-profit organization aimed to make sports, particularly those in our mountain playground, accessible, have teamed up to develop accessible programming. Programs cater to a broad spectrum of skiers and boarders, from beginner to advanced levels and focus on making skiing and snowboarding accessible to people with a disability.

Whistler is home to the world’s largest fleet of accessible hydrogen fuel cell buses

Short: Whistler is home to the world’s largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses. The buses -- each with 37 seats, a 60-person standing capacity, and a top speed of 90 km per hour -- are twice as efficient as internal combustion engines and produce no smog-creating emissions – only water. The buses are also more accessible for wheelchairs and strollers featuring wider doors, extendible ramps and hydraulics that allow the bus to lower nine inches.

13,000 square-foot inclusive playground will provide play opportunities for all children

Opened just prior to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Whistler’s newest 13,000 square-foot inclusive playground provides play opportunities for all children - meeting the needs of children with disabilities and allowing these children to play side-by-side with their friends, families and caregivers. Themed “Nature Play, Play with Nature,” the new playground touches on Whistler’s resort history, outdoor recreation culture and 2010 Winter Games competition environments.

The focus on sustainability at Cheakamus Crossing leaves a healthy legacy for Whistler’s newest neighbourhood

Whistler’s Olympic and Paralympic Village has become the site of yet another first – a test pilot for their newly designed urban structures – accessible bus shelters and bike racks that also substitute as exercise equipment. Organic in nature, inclusive in design, these structures are designed to change the way we interact with everyday structures in the urban environment. Your wait for the bus in Whistler’s newest neighbourhood no longer has to be boring – you can practice your favourite yoga pose at the bus stop.

Brad Lennea's personal motto is "Don't just sit there watching life go by, get out and ride," which is exactly how Lennea lives his life

Whether it's teaching the sport he loves as a coach for the Whistler Adaptive Sport Program or drag racing, Lennea lives in the fast lane. He spent six years on the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team.

Born and raised on a small farm in Mission B.C., Lennea moved to Whistler in 2001, following a car accident and began skiing with WASP and the BC Disabled Ski Team.

Brad initially taught himself how to sit-ski, through trial and error. After a timely phone call to the Disabled Skier's Association of BC, Brad was introduced to coach Phil Chew and started training with the BC Disabled Ski Team. Shortly afterwards Lennea was named Canada's Para-Alpine World Cup team, and competed for Canada in the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Turin.

Throughout his career competing Brad trained, raced and coached with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program, and will continue to do so now that he has retired from competitive sport. In the winter, Lennea can still be found on the slopes, coaching other young skiers with Paralympic dreams.

Phil Chew, a three-time Paralympic skier, is also the toughest mountain biker and skier you'll ever meet. He's an icon for able bodied and disabled athletes a like.

Chew is also a tireless volunteer and coach. He has been dedicated to grassroots disabled skiing for the past 13 years and has helped raise the profile of disabled skiing in British Columbia as Head Coach for the BC Disabled Ski Team.

“Skiing takes your disability out of the picture,” said Rob Gosse, a skier since 2007. “I love that I ski as an equal with both able-bodied and adaptive skiers. It gives me a whole new freedom.”

Injured in the summer of 2006, Rob came out of Vancouver rehabilitation facility, GF Strong, 12 weeks later wanting to try everything. From basketball to athletics to waterskiing Rob said that skiing “just stuck.”

“I’d always been an active guy and coming from a sports-oriented background, people at the rehab centre were telling me I was a perfect candidate for many disabled sports, which I laughed off at first,” remembers Rob. “But going to a bunch of different events, I realized that the disabled sports community is a small one, and really helped to connect me throughout the sports network.”

With an eager willingness to try something new, Rob joined a group of skiers heading up to Whistler with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program. He fell in love and almost immediately entered the competitive program.

He was named to B.C.’s Disabled Development Team in 2007, and by the end of his first season he had collected two silver medals and a bronze. Let the racers of 2014 be forewarned. Rob Gosse is on his way.

Long-time Whistler resident Tyler Mosher has helped create and develop adaptive snowboarding in Canada.

Seven years ago, Mosher broke his back in nine places while snowboarding. Although 40 per cent paralyzed from the waist down, he regained enough mobility and strength to learn to walk again. When recovering from his injury, Mosher learned to cross-country ski because he couldn't walk.

Mosher hasn’t parked his love of snowboarding. He splits his winter training on both the alpine and Nordic courses. At the inaugural World Adaptive Snowboard Championships in Cardrona, New Zealand last July, Mosher won gold just narrowly passing a New Zealand rider and fellow Canadian for the coveted podium spots.

Mosher is now on the 2010 National Para-Nordic team. He is also focused on adaptive snowboarding with the help of programs like WASP and the Canadian Snowboard Federation; Adaptive Snowboarding is now a recognized sport in Canada

Whistler Live! is where the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games come to life with an energetic fusion of sport, art and entertainment. For 27 days, Whistler’s wintery pedestrian village will pulsate from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m against the spectacular backdrop of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

In April, Whistler Blackcomb is known for some of the best spring skiing and riding on the planet! Timed around spring fever, the TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival celebrates snowsports, music, arts and mountain life. This legendary festival is a celebration of everything core to mountain culture and it draws a range of artists, athletes, adrenaline junkies and outdoor lovers to Whistler.

Whistler's Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA) was founded in 1989 with a mandate to keep bike trails open in nearby Garibaldi Provincial Park. After this initial success, WORCA has evolved and become an integral community group. Today, an eleven-member board of directors serves more than 1,000 members.

Life in Sea to Sky country is a little different - people are giddy when it snows and the local mayors moonlight as ski patrollers. While the rest of the world prepares for another 9-to-5 day, Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed and Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy are already on their skis as part of the Whistler Blackcomb volunteers ski patrol. After all, skiing is in their blood - it was the mountains that drew both politicians to life in the mountains.

Not only does Whistler have an impressive roster of restaurants, it has a community of chefs and farmers working together to bring the best of the Sea to Sky corridor to your plate. For Whistler's conscious chefs, environmental issues are an important impetus for choosing local ingredients. Beyond the tables of Whistler's amazing restaurants is Whistler’s grass roots community take on food

Whistler is the "dog-friendly" capital of Canada with dog treats at the local bank and five-star canine hospitality. Whistler loves dogs and organizations like Whistler Animals Galore (WAG) serve as a safety net for animals without a home. It's not unusual to see four-legged friends tagging along with the locals. Many of these matches were made with the WAG Matchmaker program. It is one of many services WAG provides to Whistler's furry friends.

Whistler's library is more than just books, it's a unique timber framed structure built to blend into its natural surroundings. The effort has not gone unnoticed. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has recognized the building's environmental innovation including the passive solar design principles, a geothermal heating and cooling system, high efficiency baseboard heaters, and compact fluorescent light bulbs with LEED Gold status. The library may blend into its natural surroundings but its design is award winning.

Did you know that Whistler was actually born for the 2010 Winter Games? Franz Wilhelmson, the man who opened Whistler for skiing in the 1960s, did so in hopes of hosting the Olympics. It's just one of many interesting facts in Whistler's history. Whistler has a unique story and the Whistler Museum & Archives Society is gearing up to share it with the world through the launch of "Whistler Olympic Journey Exhibit." Created by the local community, the exhibit brings history to life.

Taking a stroll is a perfect way to explore one's surroundings. To make the exploration easier and more enjoyable, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, in collaboration with community partners, produced a suite of self-guided audio podcast tours, downloadable from the web. The podcasts orient visitors, help them locate key destinations, tell Whistler stories to inform and entertain, and tailor the information for each visitor's needs, whether that requires a different language, barrier-free route or visual assistance.