The nature of a resort will reflect the varying coalitions, partnerships and discourses that emerge from the relative power of actors within the dominant political regime (Gill 2007). In this paper we examine the evolving discourse around the implementation of a governance approach to sustainability in the resort of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Despite introducing an innovative comprehensive sustainable resort policy in 2005 that has gained considerable global attention from other resorts for its apparent success in translating the ‘guiding fiction’ of sustainability into action (Gill & Williams 2008), recent changes in local government have resulted in a significant deviation from Whistler’s path towards sustainability. To understand the drivers of change we apply a path creation lens drawn from evolutionary economic theory. This approach focuses on the role of human agency and offers insights into the changing discourses and politics of the resort. The research for this study is drawn from various long-term community-based field research projects in the resort employing multi-method approaches that have included analysis of official community documents and reports; newspaper reports; key informant interviews (both formal and informal); and participant observation at community meetings. Following a brief overview of the path creation approach our discussion seeks to understand how and why shifting power relations in Whistler have resulted in a deviation from the new path towards sustainability.