Whistler Mountain was opened by the Garibaldi Lift Company in 1965 and Blackcomb opened under separate ownership in 1980. It wasn't until 1997 when Intrawest, the owner of Blackcomb Mountain, bought Whistler Mountain and brought both mountains together on a single lift ticket. Ever since, many skiers wanted a way to be able to ski both mountains in one day without having to ski down to the village and ride multiple lifts to get back to the alpine. In 1997, Whistler-Blackcomb's Director of Mountain Operations, Hugh Smythe, and Paul Mathews, president of Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners, took a trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. After seeing the number of lifts connecting resorts around the Matterhorn, they got the idea of connecting Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains with a ropeway.