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  5 of 5, "Whistler - how to get the most out of it" 28/03/2011 @ 06:28 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #4 (Last edited: 31/03/2011 @ 00:10) |
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| Price Paid |
| Alot! |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Self-booked |
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| Times Visited |
| 6-15 Times |
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| Review Detail |
Whistler can be the best resort in the world, or the worst, depending on the weather. When it's on form it's unbeatable.
There are lots of places to get basic info about Whistler, so I'm going to focus on some of the ways to get the most out of a trip to Whistler.
The weather
Your first challenge will be the weather. Whistler isn't known for its bluebird days. It's often grey, often shrouded in cloud, often windy, and can change quickly. It can be snowing from top to bottom, raining at the base & snowing at the top, raining from top to bottom, or even snowing at the base and raining at the top ("inversion", though that's rare). Whistler is 2000ft above sea level at the base, and 7000ft at the peak. That's pretty low. It's also quite near the ocean. For those reasons the snow has a high water content so feels thick, wet, & heavy. It forms lumps & moguls quickly, packs down hard after a day or two, or can form a hard "crust" if it melts & refreezes (or there's freezing rain). Like European resorts, Whistler needs a constant supply of new snow to keep conditions nice. Fortunately, Whistler often gets exactly that. A 4-5 day storm can drop a couple of meters of fresh snow from mid mountain upwards. (Mid mountain and below get about half that.)
So how do you deal with such conditions? Check the Whistler website! There's loads of useful info:
1) Check the Snow Report to see how much snow has fallen overnight. If it's a lot (and you like powder) then you'll want to target some nice powder fields. Seventh Heaven and Symphony Bowl are popular intermediate (blue) powder fields but you need to take a long cat track to Seventh Heaven and a long cat track back from Symphony Bowl. That's not a problem if you're going to be there for a while, but check there aren't huge lift queues before you set off. Anywhere above the Alpine (i.e. tree level) is a powder field for advanced skiers/riders, but see below for more specific info. If there has been some snowfall but not a huge amount check what the website says about the "surface conditions". If it says "machine groomed and packed powder" then chances are that the snowfall didn't do much to soften things up. If it says "powder" or "lightly packed powder" that's more promising.
2) Check the Alpine Forecast and Village Forecast before heading out. In particular:
i) Check the expected temperatures and dress appropriately (taking extra layers and/or a neck warmer just in case).
ii) Check the Alpine and Peak visibilty. If it's "poor", "limited", or "variable" you might be facing white-out conditions and you need to plan accordingly.
iii) Check the Alpine and Peak winds. If winds are high they might close or not open some lifts.
iv) Wear glasses/goggles and sunscreen even when it's cloudy.
3) Listen to the Snow Phone Snow Report on the website (top right of the Snow Report page). It sometimes has extra info that's not elsewhere on the website.
4) Check the Grooming Report. Target or avoid runs depending on whether you want groomed or not. If there hasn't been snow for a few days you can pretty much guarantee that black runs will be mogulled up if they haven't been groomed. Bear that in mind.
5) Check the Live Lift Status before you set out. This will show you which lifts are open right now. Green means "open", red "closed", and orange "standby". Standby usually means it's about to open, but if winds remain high it can be on standby for a while. Lifts typically open from the base upwards, starting with the gondolas at about 8:30am. But it can vary depending on winds and avalanche control. If you set off before 8:30am they'll probably all show as closed, but sometimes the gondola's open early. On windy days or after a heavy storm the alpine lifts might not open until lunchtime, if at all. You have to keep an eye on the light boards. When a lift opens people will often rush to it to get fresh tracks, so you need to be in the right place at the right time. Bit if you want to hit the peak terrain after a big dump you probably don't need to be on the gondola when it opens, because the Peak Express is unlikely to open before 10am while they do avalanche control.
6) Check the Webcams to see what visibility and conditions are like right now. Things can change pretty quick, but if the forecast is for snow all day and the top is socked in first thing, it'll probably stay that way.
Once you've set off, you can get further info as follows:
7) In the base area you'll find light boards which tell you which lifts are open, and which runs have been groomed.
8) Outside the Roundhouse (on Whistler) and Rendezvous (on Blackcomb) you'll find light boards which tell you what lifts are open, whether the lift lines are "light" (0-5 mins), "medium" (5-15 mins) or "heavy" (15mins+), and whether Alpine visibility is "poor", "fair", or "good". Have a backup plan in case the area you're after has long lift lines or poor visibility. There are also boards listing the runs that have been groomed.
Other tips:
9) Cloud seems to be attracted to the mountains, but it's not uncommon for one to be in cloud while the other is clear. Thanks to the new Peak to Peak gondola you can get from one to the other in 11 mins if that's the case. The Seventh Heaven area is particularly prone to cloud, so hit that when conditions permit. But bear in mind that others may do the same, so lift lines can be long at Seventh Heaven in good weather. Harmony and Whistler Peak can suffer similar problems.
10) Cloud can sit on the mountains in a band that affects some elevations but not others. Sometimes the top will be socked in while the rest is clear, but (almost as often) the middle of the mountain is socked in while the top and bottom are clear. When the top is socked in the light can be so flat that you can't see what's under your feet, or even tell if you're moving or stationary. It's no fun and the only escape is to head down until you find some tree-lined runs. Trees provide some contrast so you can see features in the snow. For that reason, cloud at tree level isn't as serious, but it can sometimes be so thick that you need to stay right next to the trees, on the sides of the run, to see where you're going.
11) Try to take lunch before 11:30am or after 1:30pm. The restaurants will be heaving between those times, so it's a good time to be on the mountain. Note that the restaurants often stop serving hot food at 2pm though, so don't go too late if you want a hot lunch.
Lifts - Whistler
Whistler Village Gondola is the main route up Whistler mountain, but it's the world's most uncomfortable gondola. There are no chairs - just a narrow ledge for six people to perch on, with two poor suckers standing in the middle. At peak times they pack people in, but they don't split groups up. It's pretty well organised. But it's a long ride. 25 minutes to the Roundhouse (with a stop after 8 minutes at the Olympic Station). You can get on at the Olympic Station, but if all the gondolas coming up are full it can be a long wait. If the gondola line is very long they'll open up the Fitzsimmons Express as an alternative. This is a chair lift that'll take you to near the Olympic Station, and you can take the Garbonzo Express from there to Chick Pea. Chick Pea isn't quite as high as the Roundhouse, but there are some runs you can only get to from Chick Pea, so it's not a bad place to be.
Olympic Chair serves the main bunny (total beginner) area on Whistler.
Emerald Express serves the Ego Bowl, family zone and Habitat Terrain Park area. Ego Bowl and Upper/Lower Whiskey Jack are probably the best areas to graduate to after the bunny slopes (unless you like long windy narrow cat tracks). They can be busy and have some pretty steep sections (for green runs), but are great fun once you've mastered them. Lift lines can be long here, particularly during school holidays when all the kids are out.
Creekside Gondola is the only way to get up the mountain from Creekside. It has proper seats though, which is nice. From there you can either take the Expressway green run (which looks like a cat track on the trail map but is actually ok) to the Whistler Gondola or Garbonzo Express, or more likely take the Big Red Express to just above the Roundhouse.
Big Red Express is a very long express chair from the Creekside Goldola to just above the Roundhouse. Lines can be quite long because it serves all the Creekside traffic plus anyone heading down from the peak and the runs to the right of Chick Pea (as you look at the map).
Franz's Chair is pretty much never open. Christmas and President's Day maybe. That's it. Which is annoying because going all the way to the Big Red Express is a pain.
Peak Chair serves all the black terrain off Whistler Peak. But there is one blue run (the Peak to Creek, an insanely long thigh burner down to Creekside) and a traverse over to the Saddle (the challenging and impressive blue run you can see from the Roundhouse).
Harmony Express serves a valley of blacks and a few blues which can be great fun after a decent dump. It's an oddly popular lift though, so lines can be long. Be careful around the intersection of "Harmony Ridge" and the "Burnt Stew Trail" (coming back from Symphony Bowl). It's busy, quite steep, and people have to go fast to clear the flat section near the lift.
Symphony Express serves the Symphony Amphitheatre and Flute Bowl areas. It was officially opened a 06-07 and Whistler staff are keen to encourage people to go over there. It's mostly blue terrain (unless you hike up Flute Bowl or drop in from Sun Bowl) but there are lots of flat sections to trap unwary snowboarders.
Lifts - Blackcomb
Blackcomb Excalibur Gondola takes you from Whistler Village Base to about 1/4 of the way up Blackcomb. You then have to take the Excelerator Express, then ski/board down to the Jersey Cream area to get a lift to somewhere useful. It's a crazy and time consuming process. Nonetheless it's probably faster than taking the Whistler Gondola and the Peak to Peak. Probably. Just.
Magic Chair serves the bunny (total beginner) terrain at the base of Blackcomb.
Wizard Express is the main chair up the mountain from Blackcomb base, linking to the Solar Coaster to get to Rendezvous.
Excelerator is mostly a link from the Excaliburt Gondola to mid mountain, but does serve a few decent blues. They're busy at the end of the day though, so do this area before then.
Solar Coaster serves a decent mix of green, blue and black runs, and takes you back to Rendezvous - the main junction from which you can get to most places on Blackcomb, and the Peak to Peak to Whistler mountain.
Jersey Cream gets you from the bottom of the Jersey Cream valley to just above the Rendezvous area. It's used by people coming up the Excalibur Gondola and Excelerator Express to get to Rendizevous, but otherwise only serves a couple of blue runs. Lift lines are generally quite short so you can lap those blue runs pretty quickly if they're what you're after.
Glacier Express is quite a popular lift so lines can be moderately long, but it serves a wide area of open terrain around the Horstman Glacier, plus the double diamond terrain the other side of Spanky's Ladder. After a decent dump this area will retain powder for quite a while, but the final descent back to the lift is mostly black.
Crystal Chair is an old slow lift that serves some nice quiet blue runs on the left side of the map. The problem is that they all end on the "Blackcomb Glacier Road", which is a busy, narrow-ish, and typically hard-packed run back from the Blackcomb Glacier area. Advanced and expert skiers & riders will whizz past you all the way down. Then you need to take the Excelerator Express and Crystal Chair to get back to the top. The run-to-lift ratio generally puts people off doing this much.
Seventh Heaven Express serves the Seventh Heaven area, and a tunnel takes you through to the top of the Horstman T-bar and access to the "Couloir Extreme" & "Secret Bowl" areas. You have to take the long and flat "7th Heaven" or "Expressway" cat tracks to get to it, but if the lift lines aren't too long and the light isn't too flat you can spend the whole day in Seventh Heaven doing blues and open powder fields. Note that "Sluiceway" doesn't get groomed so is often mogulled up, as is "Sunburn" due to heavy traffic. Winds and visibility are sometimes high at the top but ok once you descend a bit. Sadly each lap requires about 200m of descent on a very narrow track at the top, if you don't fancy picking your way through rock and ice below the lift. There are several ways to get back to civilisation - the "Green Line", "Last Resort", or "Sunset Boulevard" cat tracks, or the less obvious blue & black descents down the Horstman Glacier side.
Peak to Peak connects the upper areas of both mountains in just 11 minutes, and allows you to sample both in a day without having to head down to the base. Before the Peak to Creak it just wasn't practical to do both mountains in the same day, so it's a fantastic (if completely insane) addition. On a sunny day it's worth doing just for the views.
Trails and Bowls
There are over 200 marked trails on the Whistler-Blackcomb trail map, so I'm just going to mention a few. First though, you should:
1) Take a look at the 3D trail map at http://whistler3dsolutions.com/whistler/ for a better idea of how the trails are located on the mountains. Sometimes the official 2D trail map isn't very clear. This 3D version is superimposed on high resolution satelite pictures courtesy of Google Earth. They're so detailed that you can see individual moguls and snowboarders' rooster tails. Obviously the moguls will be different now, but the detail on these images is superb for planning your day.
2) If you're going to be doing black runs, buy a copy of "Ski and Snowboard Guide to Whistler Blackcomb - Advanced/Expert Edition". It lists over 120 runs that aren't on the trail map, with pictures of exactly where they are and how advanced (single diamond, double diamond, or triple diamond). They're mostly very short runs but once the mountain is tracked out this book will tell you how to find any remaining powder.
A few notes on specific areas (mostly black):
Gladed Runs in Whistler aren't much like gladed areas in other resorts. The trees tend to be very large conifers seperated by about 3 or more meters of space, so they tend to be more like "runs with trees on" than traditional gladed areas. They can get tracked out pretty quick, then they're like mogul fields with trees on.
Trails and Bowls - Whistler
Seppo's and Garbonzo Express Lift line are tricky black runs off the Garbonzo Express. You can't get to them
from any other lift. You'll need to navigate a flat and bumpy area near the top to get to the runs, but they seem to get more powder than other runs at this altitude, so if the peak is a white-out these are an interesting alternative. Not for the timid though. They're steep in places, with narrow descents through cliffy spots, and can have some pretty major moguls on them. The Garbonzo lift line is below the lift (obviously) so expect an audience the whole way.
Harmony Express is great when it's not whited-out. Harmony Ridge is a great blue cruiser with awesome views. From there you can drop into the valley at numerous points to hit single or double black diamond terrain. Watch out though, the cornices can get pretty big. Especially around Harmony Horseshoes. The valley floor is a bit flat in places, but if you keep your speed up you can find fresh powder that everyone's left untouched for a couple of days after a dump. Keep either left or right of Harmony Piste for the goods. "Lower McConkey's" (not on the trail map, but sign posted) gets mogulled up pretty quick, but veer left onto Harmony Piste if you want to avoid it. "Boomer Bowl" is a small but often neglected bowl near the end of "Harmony Ridge", but once you hit the trees it gets more tricky and in deep powder you'll struggle to make it to the lift. "Glacier Bowl" can be accessed from Harmony by staying skiers' left on "Little Whistler", but once you're in you only have the Peak and Big Red lifts to get you back up. Some nice powder though, quite often. Watch out for signs at the lift stations saying that there's avalanche debris though - being thrown off your feet by an invisible ice boulder is no fun. If everything's tracked out, try hiking 160m up near the top of the Headwall T-bars for a few turns down "Ridge Run".
Peak Express provides access to a huge area of black terrain that retains powder pretty well after a dump. Start with some laps at the top, doing "Whistler Bowl" and various lines ("Surprise", "Shale Slope", etc) back to the Peak Express. Then head straight down "Grand Finale" or traverse left a bit to "Doom", "Gloom", and "Frog Hollow". There are loads of lines to try here. Beware of the flat section towards the end - go either left or right to stay high, or you'll be walking. Unless it's packed down, in which case you'll be fine. There's a steep mogulled section down into "Highway 86", but there's no avoiding that. Next either traverse over to "West Ridge" or take "Peak to Creek" along the top and drop in to "West Bowl" or "Bagel Bowl". They're sign posted but once you're in you're on your own. As soon as you hit "Highway 86" follow it to the Big Red Express or you'll have to go all the way to Creekside.
Dusty's Descent and Big Timber to Creekside are tricky, long, and probably not worth the effort. They're also outside the patrolled ski area so you're on your own if you get hurt.
Symphony Bowl is not an area I'm a fan of. Although it gets lots of powder it's flat in several places and you can end up walking or skating a lot. The whole "Glissando Glades" area is basically inaccessible because it's too flat to get to it. You also need to take a long green cat track ("Burnt Stew Trail") from near the top to get back to civilisation. Still, if you're over there don't neglect "Rhapsody Bowl" on your right, which is less crowded. And if you're into hiking then "Flute Bowl" may be worth a look for some fresh powder after everything else is tracked out.
Trails and Bowls - Blackcomb
Catskinner is an area that's often neglected, probably becase it's so confused on the trail map. If the alpine is white-out (or the lifts are closed) but there's fresh powder on the ground, take "Catskinner" or "Bark Sandwich" then "So Sweet", "Gear Jammer", "Freefall" or "Undercut" for some blacks that won't get tracked out as fast as other sub-alpine areas. Even "Springboard" and "Ross' Gold" to "Black Magic" and "Sorceror" can be good before 2pm.
Horstman Glacier is great for powder and most people who go there seem to stay on the marked trails, so the off-trail powder is well preserved long after a dump. Stay between "Crystal Traverse" and "Blue Line" for some nice lines, then hit "Dakine" or "Heavenly Basin" down to "Glacier Drive" and "The Bite". "The Bite" gets pretty mogulled up though. Alternatively, traverse far left of "Blue Line" and hit the powder below "Pakalolo". There are some nice short-ish descents ("Salmon Belly", "Smoked Salmon" and "Don't Stop") off "Crysal Traverse" that aren't on the trail map. Check the book mentioned above to find them. Hardly anyone ever does them.
Couloir Extreme and Secret Bowl can be accessed from the top of the Seventh Heaven Express if you don't fancy the Horstman T-bar - just head left of the Horstman Hut off the lift. If you find "Couloir Extreme" a bit too extreme, or too mogulled up, you can try "Big Bang" and "Quasar" which are on the less steep right hand side of the slope, or ditch that and traverse further round to "Secret Bowl" instead. It's not particularly secret, since it's on the trail map, but it's a bit of effort to get there so you won't see many people on it. It's not a huge area, and you need to watch out for rocks, but I like it. The only way out is via double diamond runs "Pakalolo" to your right, or "Cougar Chutes" straight ahead (not sign posted or marked the map, but keep heading straight ahead and you can't miss it).
Seventh Heaven is a wide open blue paradise when the weather's good, or a windblown white-out nightmare if the weather's bad. After a dump there will be powder everywhere. There's a natural quarter pipe on your right, but be careful - it's responsible for a lot of broken arms and dislocated shoulders. Traverse far left for more powder once the right hand side is tracked out. You'll need to hike or undertake an heroic traverse to get as far as "Lakeside Bowl" though.
Summary |
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| Strengths |
Lots of snow.
Huge extent and variety of terrain.
Large pedestrian village with pretty much everything. |
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| Hot Spots |
Terrain-wise see above.
Apres & food wise, see other reviews. |
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| Weaknesses |
Often cloudy with flat light or fog.
Lift passes cost an absolute fortune.
Gondola takes forever and some lifts aren't well placed.
Snow is often accompanied by high winds that keep upper lifts closed. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Nowhere is quite like Whistler. |
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| 5 of 5, "Lives up to the hype" 06/02/2010 @ 14:58 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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) |
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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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| Read more reviews for resorts in CANADA. |
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