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  5 of 5, "Another great trip" 22/03/2008 @ 16:07:34 |
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| 1 member has given this review a rating of 4 of 5 |
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| Price Paid |
| £1000 all-in for 10 days |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| DIY |
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| Times Visited |
| 2-5 Times |
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| Review Detail |
As an update to my previous review, here's a quick summary of my latest trip:
Flights
£440 direct with Air Canada. The plane (A330) was quite old, so no seat back TVs, a couple of broken headrests, and the audio was knackered. Luckily we'd brought laptops/ipods and had planned to watch films on there.
Transfer
£55pp return with Perimeter. The trip to Whistler was fine, but the return trip took about 45mins longer than it should have done because the driver had to detour around Vancouver to drop some guys off at their hotel. They hadn't understood the list of drop-off locations so you could argue it was their fault, but surely Perimeter should have a list of the drop-offs?
Accomodation
5star, but then I would say that wouldn't I :-)
Favourite Runs - Blackcomb
The blues from the Crystal Chair are great fun, although it takes a while to lap them because you come out onto the Blackcomb Glacier Road back to the Excelerator chair, come down to Crystal chair and then ride it up.
We spent ages doing an off-piste run from the 7th Heaven chair down to the Everglades black run. This was absolutely brilliant, including a great bit which had a kind of natural quarterpipe so you could fly up it and then land in a pile of powder. Unfortunately my brother misjudged it on the last day, flew 10ft through the air and fractured his elbow!
Favourite Runs - Whistler
My favourite area on Whistler is the Symphony amphitheatre, particularly Jeffs Ode to Joy and Rhapsody Bowl. The only downer is that there's a bit of a walk from Rhapsody Bowl but then you go into a cool natural boardercross bit back to the chair.
Peak to Creek, this is a 6km rolling run from the top of Whistler Mountain to Creekside which is great fun, but when we did it this time the bottom half was ungroomed, so was frozen and lumpy.
Favourite Restaurants
Burgers - Splitz Grill
Hotdogs - Zogs (esp. the Chilli dog)
Steak - Rics or The Keg
Nachos - Merlins or Amsterdam
Breakfast - Brasserie (esp. the boarder omelette)
Favourite Bars
Tapleys - 1 fun night playing darts and another great night listening to a guy doing acoustic 90s rock covers
Amsterdam/Cittas - Great places for casual beer, and the prices for apres are quite a bit cheaper than GLC/Blacks/DubhLinn Gate/Longhorn
Brewhouse - Bit more low-key, but good for a quiet beer and burger
The mountain was fairly quiet for all 9 days of riding, other than a couple of times over the weekend/Monday when there were some 10minute queues at the Harmony and Emerald chairs
Cost breakdown
Flights = £440
Transfers = £55
9 Day Lift ticket = £320
Food/drink = £250
TOTAL = £1065 |
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| Strengths |
Size and scope of the mountains - Everything from wide open powder bowls to gladed tree runs
Number of bars/restaurants |
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| Hot Spots |
7th Heaven zone
Symphony Amphitheatre |
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| Weaknesses |
Getting to Harmony chair via GS/Marmot - horribly flat spots
Whistler Village gondola - you can never sit down comfortably, due to a mixture of uncomfortable seats and too many people! |
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 4.5 of 5, "Not the ultimate but probably the best all round..." 22/02/2008 @ 15:57:00 |
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| 2 members have given this review an average rating of 5 of 5 |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 28/02/2008 @ 21:56:44) |
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| Price Paid |
| 1k(incl. lift pass) |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Ski World |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Having sampled a variety of European and American resorts, Whistler was next on the list. From recommendations and a last chance saloon for a few mates, three of us ventured out there meeting up with some friends already out there.
First impressions are that it's kind of 'Disney World' Alipne resort in Canada, might not be to everyone's taste but think of it as a resort and not just a hardcore boarding destination. The terrain available is very good, on a par with the larger european resorts. It's not got the dramatic cliffs/ peaks that you find in the alps but it's the closest to it I've found to it in North America.
Where it does score big is that there is a massive amount of area available, basically you can go anywhere within the defined ski area without having to worry about wandering off piste. Great when your the sort who gets off the lift and quickly get's off the pisted runs.
The bowls are great and we had several good days when it snowed, bombing through the trees and exploring the terrain. For a boarder, Blackcomb is without doubt the better mountain and we spent most of our time here - around the 7th Heaven lift was great in the good conditions. Whistler has more traverses and sushes so is more skier friendly. But a 25 min hike to drop into the North flute bowl is worth the effort, providing it's not tracked out.
Unfortunately after 2 quiet days/ no lifts queuing etc. half of Washington, Oregon, and California descended on the place - was a public holiday in the US (Presidents day) so be sure to check out the N.American holiday dates and avoid them (lesson learnt). The runs were still pretty empty but the lift queues went up to 15 mins at times and our previously virgin powder stashes were soon rather hammered.
Anyone used to average European conditions will find the Whistler-Blackcomb conditions marvellous when we heard Canadians moaning a bit at how Icy it was ! (obviously haven't spent a week boarding on Ice in France)
We ate out for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was probably the best value meal, no.1 recommendation would be Wildwood, followed by the Dublin Irish pub which is right by the Gondola's.
You can eat as expensive or cheaply as you like and overall found the food quality very good. Couple of the Italian places like Quattro and Trattoria are kind of trying to be something they are not and be upmarket. Felt a bit stung by the gratuity at the Trattoria because we were a group of 11, food was good but not that good !!. Do treat yourself to a Splitz burger though.
Accomodation wise, stayed in the Pinnacle International- clean, comfortable and an excellent shower, all one needed !
Shops, on a par with UK prices so either buy in Vancouver or get your gear beforehand, might be a bit different at the end of season sales.
The biggest plus is the general politeness and manners on and off-piste. Everyone alternates in turn when a que merges, you won't get a set of ski's clattering over your board or someone sliding their ski's up and past you in the que. The lifties all have a quick chat with you and often when getting on the gondola, load and unload your board for you !!! could you imagine that in France !!
The benefits of Europe and N.America combined into one place with something for everyone would be my summary of Whistler. Not 5 out of 5 but not far off..... certainly will be going back.
And if you can spare £250, and want a day away from whistler. Then book yourself a cat skiing day at Powder mountain - well worth the money !!! |
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| Strengths |
Amount of terrain available
Politeness and good manners of skiers boarders and canadians in general
Probably more boarders than skiers, and many nice lady boarders too :o)
More snow... |
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| Hot Spots |
| Garabaldi Lift co. for an apres beer, |
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| Weaknesses |
| 9 hr flight and 4750 odd miles away...... |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Les Arcs, Lech, Chamonix, Meribel, Killington, Lake Tahoe, Vail, Breck. |
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| 5 of 5, "Telus Festival Whistler 2007 April. Westin Spa Resort" 27/04/2007 @ 13:13:31 |
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| 2 members have given this review an average rating of 4.5 of 5 |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 29/04/2007 @ 18:52:02) |
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| Price Paid |
| 850 pounds |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Trailfinders |
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| Times Visited |
| 6-15 Times |
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| Review Detail |
Just got back from Whistler Telus festival and managed to get a great deal with Trailfinders to stay in the Westin Spa resort .
The Hotel was amazing , huge bed , sofas , gas log fire and a huge window with a view of Rainbow mountain to wake up to .The restaurant and bar are way too expensive so we ate out at Ricks Grill superb steak and sea food , Earls for excellent value meals with a smile , and La Boca and blacks for breakfast . The GLC and the Longhorn are great for Apres .
First day there was a 8cm dump so we palyed around the Peak in the new snow , second day was still powder and the rest of the week good conditions . The parks were good fun , Loads of Japenese riders doing great freestyle .
The night life was also excellent with nightly parties in all the clubs , Tall paul , Trevor Andrew , and loads of other DJs . Watched the Big Air comp in the square awesome as the say in Whistler .
As usual a highly recommended resort and they are now putting in a lift from paek to peak . 11 mins to the other mountain instead of a couple of hours . Wow . |
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| Strengths |
| Two huge mountains , excellent restaurants and night life . Good vibe . |
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| Hot Spots |
| Getting a little corporate and the olympics in 2010 may make in worse . |
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 4 of 5, "A little bit of everything" 01/12/2006 @ 11:53:17 |
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| 6 members have given this review an average rating of 5 of 5 |
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| Price Paid |
| £1300 (+passes) |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Ski Safari |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
The date was set, the flights were booked and the board shops had been ransacked for new kit. I'd heard the tales of the powder drought of 04/05 and it was pretty hard trying to push that to the back of my mind for the last few weeks' wait. But having signed up to the Whistler Blackcomb snow alerts, that constant dumping into my inbox could mean only one thing - the pow was back!
I have to say that the holiday actually really started before we landed at Vancouver. Ski Safari were more than helpful with our booking, and the travel kit they sent with the tickets, trail maps, Whistler guide and other info even came with a cocoa butter lip balm lanyard thingy, ensuring that even if our trip wasn't as great as we hoped, at least we'd have soft, unchapped lips. Awesome.
On arrival, well, it was dark so really all we could see were a lot of twinkling lights, and to be fair despite my pant-wetting excitement, I was absolutely knackered from jetlag, so a quick visit to the supermarket (which unfortunately was also located next to the Westbeach store - my poor poor credit card) meant we had a fully stocked fridge in our fantastically huge, warm, well-equipped, self-catered room at the Summit Lodge. I would recommend a stay here to anyone wanting more hotel-style accommodation; although we went self-catered, the staff are great, a sushi bar just outside the front door and the tapas bar downstairs are a welcome retreat when your legs won't carry you back up the road to the main bars in the evening because you've ridden epic amounts of powder all day. There's also a thai spa, where you can get a great hot stone massage - this went a long way towards getting me back out on the hill for the last few days after taking a massive slam (I'll come back to this bit).
The next morning, I don't think I have ever got out of bed so fast in my life. Straight to the balcony to be greeted by Dumpy himself - the pool, hot tub and surrounding trees were simply lumpy white things. The snow was falling and we were straight out of the door. Lift passes safely tucked into pockets, we made our way up the main street to the gondola. Intrawest have a pretty good hang of this resort lark, and Whistler is big enough to have everything but still retains that village feel - nothing is more than a 10 minute walk away from where you are, there's bars and restaurants aplenty (watch that credit card again) and a multitude of board stores all wanting to part you from your pennies, or cents, or dollars in the hundreds. Personal recommendations are the Mongolian Grill (you choose what you put on your plate and they cook it right in front of you - try beating the boys on the wall!) followed by Tommy's or the Savage Beagle (all the Brits go here). For the spender this is mecca, but Showcase Snowboards are seriously helpful, will give you free laces when yours decide to break and if you can find an instructor friend, grab a loyalty card from them for your 10% off and a boost to their commission! For all the commercialism of this legendary North American resort, it still does the job and it does it bloody well.
Breakfast was devoured at the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub which is situated at the base of the Blackcomb Gondola. The best eggs ever, and we came back most mornings, and for apres, and evenings actually. Heading off to the Whistler gondola, there were no queues to speak of, no more than 5 minutes wait most days (Saturday excluded!); it was merely a case of remembering to share space and snow with a few hundred other people. You can cram a good 8 people in those gondolas and like most places, just keep your eye out for ski poles, or they'll take it out for you.
Truth be told, this was one of my first big trips, and my excessive excitement could be down to my lack of seeing proper big mountains and snow before. However, everyone I spoke to or glanced at, had the same massive smile on their face as I guessed must be plastered across mine. The first few days were spent getting my snow legs attached and working in sync, and it was excellent. Every one of the 11 days we were there, we went somewhere new, and just when you'd reached at the bottom of a run wondering where to go next, all you had to do was look left or right and there'd be more powder tempting you off again. I woke up 8 mornings out of those 11 to snow, and on the eighth day, Whistler announced that it had been the biggest snowfall for January, breaking a 25yr record at 469cm. It seriously made up for all those sleepless nights in December.
As has been mentioned before, Whistler is known for its low light conditions, and we only had one bluebird day whilst we were out there - we did have to head to the top of Harmony (the name speaks for itself) to get that though. It was damn cold, and I would definitely recommend layering rather than a down jacket, because the vertical drop here means you can go from -16 to 0 in a matter of a run or two and it can be uncomfortable if you can't strip off a hoody.
Whistler mountain is a great place for beginners, the greens are simple but interesting, the piste is wide and always well groomed and the lifts are accessed easily. The blues are fantastic, though on the front face they're a little short, slow and far too flat in places, so if you want a proper, teeth clenching ride then head out over the back to Harmony. The new Symphony express is open for the 06/07 season as well, extending the terrain which you definitely won't want to miss. Do the Peak to Creek run, apparently the record is something like 20 minutes (no quotes on that please, it was a drunken JD-fuelled conversation) so see if you can beat it - just don't get stuck on the cat tracks or you'll be hours.
The freestyle kings and queens out there will love this place, with the Habitat Terrain Park on Whistler and the Nintendo (scary ass one) Park on Blackcomb. Though probably not as great as some of the US resorts like Heavenly they still had enough to keep you occupied with stomping that backside 9. They weren't too busy either, but thats 'cause I just rode straight through - didn't want to bring in the crowds with my skills...
Unfortunately though, my experiences on Blackcomb will only stretch to a few lines, but what I did do was pretty awesome. Again, well serviced by lifts and 7th Heaven is just that. Make sure that if you go you give both mountains a fair crack. I took a nasty front flip slam with four days to go, but carried on riding as best I could - there was no way I was missing any powder days. Another nasty confrontation with a chair lift and a Californian skier cutting me up kinda put paid to my last day riding Blackcomb, and I was very carefully carried like a baby down the mountain by ski patrol. I suppose at least I can add a little review of the medical services in Canada.
On the last night, over a celebratory beer at the Longhorn, I casually said I would go to the med centre, just to make sure the agonising pain my ribs were in was not too serious. Four hours later, and I was hooked up to drips and morphine in a Vancouver hospital, having a scan to ensure my spleen hadn't split and to check damaged ribs. It meant my stay in Canada was extended by a week (and I'm never going to forgive BA for not allowing me to fly after I was discharged so extending it by another, expensive, day). But the medical services in Canada are extremely good, friendly, clean, and they care about you (whether it was some kind of trick to get money out of my insurance company, I'll never know). But seriously, make damn sure you have fully comp insurance.
For me, Whistler was amazing. You can throw the commercialism argument at it all you want, but the fact is, it is an awesome place. However long you go for you are guaranteed to have something to do every single day. True, it is hyped and shouldn't necessarily be #1 on every snowboarder's list of places they want to ride, but it should be on there somewhere. |
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| Strengths |
- Canadians are a great species, always helpful and friendly
- You could probably just go with hand luggage - you can buy everything you need here
- Good on-mountain services
- Awesome scenery if you get a clear day
- POWDER! |
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| Hot Spots |
- Anywhere that serves Corona
- Burnt Stew Trail for scenery and beginners
- Enchanted Forest, Harmony Piste, 7th Heaven and around for an intermediate taster
- Whistler bowl for the mental
Just go explore... |
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| Weaknesses |
- It is commercial and hence you pay more buck for your fun
- Does get busy at weekends - do not lie in on Saturdays! |
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| 4.5 of 5 01/12/2005 @ 16:35:15 |
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| 3 members have given this review an average rating of 4.67 of 5 |
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| Price Paid |
| Can't remember - too much no doubt |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Alpine Elements |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Whistler
Whistler; the carrot dangled in front the English boarder to fly the Atlantic for a little snow, the greatest resort in the world™, the ‘powder capital of the world’. Well, it certainly didn’t feel that way on the 2nd February 2005, the first day into a 3 month snowboarding trip. I arrived to find there was not enough snow to board all the way down the hill, to tales of January rain flushing away the snow base and new chalet mates all wondering whether they’d chosen the worst season ever to come.
I had chosen to do a 3 month sabbatical in Whistler as I pretty much knew it was the only chance I was going to get to do something like this and that Whistler was supposed to be the best place in the world for snowboarding. During my research everyone raved about the amount of powder it would get, the guaranteed snow and the amazing range of runs over the two mountains. It had sounded pretty bloody good until checking the forums and the webcams with two weeks to go and finding brown runs and foreboding messages of ‘the worst season ever experienced’.
I’d only ever been boarding for a week at a time before, though I have been boarding for over 10 years, so a month felt like a very long time and February saw a little more snow but predominantly blue skies and sunshine. In the shortest month in the year I think Whistler saw more sunshine than it gets most seasons. It felt like spring boarding and that was pretty much what we did. Bar a couple of days hiking up round the back of Blackcomb we spent most of the time in the parks, desperately trying to get up enough guts to clear kickers.
This was the first time I’d spent much time in a park, I’m generally more into freeriding, and although I didn’t learn any new tricks the challenge of hitting decent size medium kickers and clearing the knuckle was pretty interesting. For a late twentysomething boarder who has lost both the first and second flush of fearlessness, making sure you have enough speed to fly over a jump and land on the downslope can feel pretty scary and once completed a few times was a brilliant feeling.
Anyway, come the end of February and come the end of the drought. Much to everyone’s relief the clouds arrived and with it the snow. Gone were the long lie ins and late nights as suddenly the whole chalet was getting up early to hit first lifts and queue for the powder. Days were suddenly filled with mass rushes to get the first lines down 7th Heaven. Skies were suddenly ominously grey and we started to get used to the low light boarding that Whistler is known for. Even into mid April we were getting days of cloud cover and snow as the season truly rescued itself before the mid April thaw came and we were treated to some proper spring boarding with two weeks of sunshine, slushy slopes and bear spotting on the ‘slowest gondola in the world’ up to Whistler.
So, after 3 months is Whistler the ‘greatest resort in the world’. Well, of course not. In the same way that every resort has it’s plus and minus points, every good thing about Whistler can be turned on it’s head and yet again, it falls down to taste.
For example, as it is owned by Intrawest it does have a great infrastructure, because the snow was so poor everyone with a season pass got food for half price up the mountain which you would never get in a European resort. As it supports such a large community it is run very professionally and if you are there for a long time you will really appreciate the sense of community and the fact that the town is of a decent size and is close to Vancouver. However, the flip side to this is that it is very commercial and very expensive. It has none of the charm of a European resort but never really tries to and as such there is very little pretension and everyone is incredibly friendly.
For a beginner the lessons are apparently very good and can be booked on a daily basis meaning you are less likely to get caught with a duff instructor and a slow group for a frustrating week. The fact that they speak English also helps I imagine. Also, the parks are always very well kept and have really good kickers and rails and a good sense of community most of the time (not on American holidays mind).
As for the terrain, apparently for North America it has the most pistes and the highest vertical drop. However, compared to the big European resorts the terrain does feel limited, as it is just one resort with two mountains rather than a big range of interconnecting resorts. Also, it is a little flat. It doesn’t have quite the jaw dropping beauty that you find at the top of a mountain in the Alps with it’s huge rugged peaks and scary as **** drops. However, saying that, a couple of the double diamond blacks off the Blackcomb peak are truly scary.
Snow wise I have to admit that the season I was there was a freak. However, as it is so low it will be one of the first resorts to feel the pinch of global warming. Also, to my surprise I did notice the difference in the powder to Europe as it is wetter and heavier. This combined with the slight lack of really steep off piste riding means that it can be hard work sometimes. Saying that it was still a blast and one particular run down Blackcomb Glacier will stay in the memory for a long time.
So, yes, this is a very, very good resort one that can keep you occupied for months at a time and you will never regret spending a week or a season there. However, no, it is not THE answer to snowboarding, snow and everything important. Nice try though.
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| Strengths |
Great terrain
Friendly people
Big Resort
Good infratructure
Snow when it comes |
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| Hot Spots |
| Tapleys - terrible bar but good for darts and you can always get a seat |
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| Weaknesses |
Commercial
Lack of charm
Self contained |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
Alp D'Heuz
Le Plagne
Kitzbuhel
Les Deux Alps
Flaine
few others I can't remember |
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