Rainbow Lodge was the first fishing and weekend retreat cabin on Alta Lake

Alta Lake (British Columbia)

Alta Lake is a lake in the Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.Originally named Summit Lake, Alta Lake was renamed to avoid confusion with the many other Summit Lakes in British Columbia. The name is derived from the Spanish for "high up" or "upper". The lake's southern end...

, which is now metropolitan Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...

, and stood from 1914 to 1977. The lodge was a log cabin with peaked roof on the north west verge of the lake by the railway line. Railways in North America were keen to capitalize on tourist traffic, hence the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 created Banff National Park in the mountains, and Mont-Tremblant

Mont-Tremblant

Circuit Mont-Tremblant is a race circuit about north of the village of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. Formerly the village of Saint-Jovite was often included in the name but was amalgamated in 2000.-History:...

 in Quebec; Canadian National built Jasper Park Lodge

Jasper Park Lodge

The Jasper Park Lodge opened in 1922 in Jasper, Alberta, Canada to challenge the CPR's Banff Springs Hotel.The lodge had first been established in 1915 as a "Tent City," in association with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, but by the 1920s the property was under the management of Canadian National...

; UPRR built Sun Valley, Idaho

Sun Valley, Idaho

Sun Valley is a resort city in Blaine County in the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum, lying within the greater Wood River valley. Tourists from around the world enjoy its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling. The population was 1,427...

; D & R G built Winter Park

Winter Park Resort

Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in Winter Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. Located just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about an hour and a half's drive from Denver, Colorado....

 in Colorado; Milwaukee Road started Snoqualmie Pass

Snoqualmie Pass

Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 through the Cascade Range in the U.S. State of Washington. The elevation of the pass summit is , and is on the county line between Kittitas County and King County...

 near Seattle.

The Pacific Great Eastern Railway saw the benefits of having a resort in the mountains close to urban centres.
In this way, Alex and Myrtle Philip, who built Rainbow Lodge in 1914, catered to the railway, visitors and loggers. They provided lodging and meals for patrons, and for travelling through traffic. Rainbow Lodge also served as the area's post office. Horse loggers were busy in the valley prior to the Second World War.

By the 1940s, Rainbow Lodge had been enlarged to serve over 100 guests, and was the most popular camping lodge west of the Rocky Mountains. In 1948, the Philips sold the property to Alec and Audrey Greenwood.

Myrtle Philip lived in Whistler until her death in 1986. Rainbow Lodge burned down in 1977.