The site was selected in 1983 and opened for skiing in the fall of 1986, in preparation for the
1988 Winter Olympics. Pre-Olympic races on the North American Cup circuit (Nor-Am) were held in December 1986 and
World Cup downhill and
super G races were held in March
1987. At the 1988 Winter Olympics, Nakiska hosted the ten
alpine events, as well as
freestyle moguls skiing, then a
demonstration event. A temporary
surface lift to the gusty top of the mountain was used for the men's
downhill event. This
poma can be seen from the top of the "Gold Chair" and is sometimes used for avalanche control. The starting gate of the men's Olympic downhill was at , above the present lift-served summit. That race was postponed a day due to winds at the summit. In 2008, Nakiska was named the official training centre of
Alpine Canada (ACA). Each year Nakiska welcomes alpine teams from around the world for early season ski training. During the summer of 2008 the ski area embarked on a series of renovations. Snowmaking enhancements increased capacity by 33%. The 100-metre Monster Magic Carpet was added and the creation of a dedicated Training Run was completed on Mapmaker. In 2009, in preparation for the
2010 Olympics in
Vancouver, more enhancements occurred. A new
high-speed quad lift was installed (Gold Chair Express), replacing the original fixed-grip (Gold) triple chairlift. The ride time is 4.7 minutes, less than half of the previous chair's 9.7 minutes. In 2009 new ski trails were also created with the addition of the new Monster Glades (trails in the trees). The Olympic flame still burns at the entrance to the resort. Of note is that the men's downhill shown on the board inside the restaurant is not the actual run used. With test skiers saying the proposed run was too easy, the men's downhill course was changed with only 3 days to go, leaving no time to change the course board which had already been painted and mounted on the wall inside the restaurant. On November 13, 2017, the French
Alpine ski racer David Poisson died in a crash during training. ==Climate==