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  5 of 5, "Lives up to the hype" 06/02/2010 @ 14:58:00 |
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| Price Paid |
| £1400 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Crystal |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Been wanting to go to Whistler for ages, finally made it Jan 2010. After trawling through Tripadvisor decided on the Nita Lake Lodge. It is situated in Creekside a couple of miles outside the Village. This was not a problem as there are a number of restaurants, shops and bars there, plus the hotel did an hourly shuttle to/from the village.
The advantage of staying in Creekside is it is much queiter than the village and a bit cheaper for accomadation. It is situated at the bottom of Whistler Mountain so there is a gondola from the bottom followed by a chairlift (the slowest and coldest I have ever come across) to the top. Whistler is not as steep as Blackcomb and is where all the beginner slopes are. There are some great Green runs from the top in the "Family Zone" and down the side of the mountain which take you all the way into the village. Apart from these the rest are very long Cat tracks which became excruciating by the end (my calves muscles cramped up).
We went for 11 nights and there was more than enough to keep us entertained. The majority of the runs are blues so is a great place for Intermediates (like us). However there were some which by European standards would have been more like reds (e.g. Saddle), especially on Blackcomb.
It was unusually mild while we were there - by 10 degrees. This didn't seem to have a detrimental effect on the conditions of the slopes as there was a big dump of snow the day before we arrived. It continued to snow for the next three days so there was plenty of powder which was amazing. Then the skies cleared and we had 3-4 bluebird days. A sight which was unexpected as I had been told the sky is always grey in Whistler.
Overall an amazing holiday. I will definitely be back!
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| Strengths |
Vast ski area
Lack of queues (apart from the weekend)
Friendliness of lift attendants, waiters etc
Symphony bowl - loved Jeffs Ode to Joy and Adiagio
Orderly queuing - unlike Europe's free for all. |
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| Hot Spots |
Village - Earls, The Keg
Creekside - Rolands (great cheap food & beer), Chop House (fab steak), Creekbread (organic pizza and salad for when you have had enough chips!!). Stateside Diner - massive breakfasts
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| Weaknesses |
Tipping - knowing when to and when not to/how much . Told to tip after every drink but didn't see anyone else doing it. Became far too stressful!
Cat tracks to 7th heaven & back from Harmony
Chairlifts are very slow with the exception of Solar Cruiser and one or two others. This can feel even longer when riding in a snowstorm.
Largest lift is a four-man. This led to long queues at the Harmony & Symphony lifts especially on the weekends. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Banff, Courchevel, Alpe D'hues, Chamonix, Les Arcs, Sauze D'oux, |
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| 5 of 5, "Return to WB" 09/01/2009 @ 15:35:16 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| Lots and lots (children are expensive) |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Me |
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| Times Visited |
| 6-15 Times |
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| Review Detail |
I posted about Whistler back in 2002. Had kids, hadn't been snowboarding for 4 years, went back in Mar 2008. Got back from Christmas in Oz in Jan 2008 and tossed toys out of pram about not having been boarding for a long time. Fair play to wifey, she bought into a trip to WB, so off we trooped in Mar. Still one of my favourite places in the world. Went catboarding with Powder Moutain Catskiing. Oh boy. If you go to WB, look them up.
My 4.5 year old had a great time in ski school and she loved the tubing park. Not much to do for 2 year olds. |
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| Strengths |
| Powder Mountain Catskiing |
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| Hot Spots |
| Callaghan Valley (PMC lease area) |
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| Weaknesses |
| My kids were jetlagged |
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| 5 of 5, "Another great trip" 22/03/2008 @ 16:07:34 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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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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| 5 of 5, "Not the ultimate but probably the best all round..." 22/02/2008 @ 15:57:00 |
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| 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: |
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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 of 2 people found the following review helpful: |
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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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| Read more reviews for resorts in CANADA. |
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