Image: Sam Waddington / Sam Waddington is pictured with his wife Alannah inside the new Mt. Waddington Outdoors under construction in District 1881.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Business expansion

Mt. Waddington Outdoors to expand, open new store of nearly 5,000 sq. ft. in Chilliwack

Oct 8, 2025 | 7:35 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack resident and entrepreneur Sam Waddington founded Mt. Waddington Outdoors nearly 15 years ago with a mission to offer the community the right gear and trusted expertise needed to explore the vast backcountry of Chilliwack, the Fraser Valley and beyond.

That vision of his is about to take on a whole new meaning, now that he plans to open a new retail location of nearly 5,000 square feet in District 1881 – with an expected opening date in November 2025 – at 101-9270 Sasquatch Alley in Chilliwack.

“We opened our business almost 15 years ago in Chilliwack,” Waddington told Fraser Valley Today over the phone in a wide-ranging interview. “Since then, we’ve tried to offer this community sort of the best of the mountain products available in the global marketplace. I believe Chilliwack is rapidly becoming one of the great mountain towns of B.C., which is a top-tier mountain destination worldwide. You shouldn’t have to leave the mountain town to buy what you need to then come back to the mountains to recreate. As a community, we can support a store with a proper offering.”

Image: Sam Waddington / Sam Waddington inside his new Mt. Waddington Outdoors under construction in District 1881.

Waddington plans to keep his existing store at 5643 Vedder Road open to maintain a presence in Sardis. The Vedder Road store is an estimated 1,250 square feet, while his store in Whistler is about double that size. It opened in December 2024.

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The new District 1881 location is estimated at just under 5,000 square feet.

Image: Sam Waddington

“We’ve been feeling our constraints [at the Vedder Road] store,” he said. “It’s about time that we brought a proper-sized offering of outdoor equipment and clothing to Chilliwack. We’ll be the largest tenant in District 1881. It’s also being calibrated on a lot of our learnings from our Whistler location. Obviously, Whistler is a different market, it’s certainly enabled us to showcase some new categories, product offerings, a lot of new brands, and learn a lot from a very mature backcountry and retail market. Hopefully we’ll be carrying a lot of that knowledge and expertise back into Chilliwack.”

Image: Sam Waddington / The exterior of Mt. Waddington Outdoors.

Waddington says the new District 1881 store will showcase a more comprehensive selection of paddle sport equipment, in addition to paragliding equipment and trail running footwear and related gear.

The new store will also offer backcountry skis and bindings and have staff that know how to mount them.

“This location will be our business flagship store that we’ve always dreamed of building,” he said. “I think this store is a reflection of the backcountry reality that exists in our community. We have very vibrant trail running communities, alpine skiing communities, and hiking, paddle sport and camping communities. All of these exist here, and yet in terms of servicing those communities, accurately supplying and carrying products that match that need, it hasn’t existed. Chilliwack is home to me, I love where we live, and yet our retail offering has always been lacking. I’ve traveled all over the world for backcountry pursuits, and gleaned knowledge from the best mountain shops on earth. I believe this location will be a reflection of that offering.”

Image: Sam Waddington

Just like it has for the past 15 years, Waddington says his new store will continue to support local recreation and outdoors organizations.

“We view business in general as a two-way street; yes, we require community to succeed, survive and thrive,” he said. “When the community supports us, we’re able to support them back. In the last 15 years, we’ve given hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and support organizations like the Fraser Valle Climbing Society and Chilliwack Parks Society and help build trails, bolt new rock climbs, clear dangerous wood hazards out of whitewater features and a whole host of other elements that make it possible to go out and play safely. None of my staff would work in retail if they were just selling items. They’re accurate in believing that every customer that they sell a product to, they’re outfitting for a whole host of great experiences to come.”