Musings from Whistler
Scott and Marc at the top of the T-Bar on Whistler. Seventh Heaven in the background.
Whistler is really a combination of two large areas – Blackcomb, Whistler, and a small village called Creekside. Each has a gondola that will take skiers up the mountain. Getting off any of the gondolas, it is an easy ski down to
Blackcomb has a vertical drop of 5,280 feet, and Whistler Mountain has only 5,020! In practical terms, if, at so2me time in the day, you are at the top of the Blackcomb Gondola at 5,784 feet and decide to ski to the bottom, be aware that Whistler Village is only 3,660 vertical feet away!!!
Blackcomb Peak tops out at 8,000 feet, but as a practical matter, unless the Showcase T-Bar is open, the top of Blackcomb’s skiable terrain is 7,449 feet. Over on the Whistler side, the quad Peak Express will take you to the top of Whistler Mountain, 7,160 feet above sea level and the intermediate Peak to Creek will take you down to the Creekside Gondola, 5,020 vertical feet below.
Skiing the mountains. Whenever my brother and I ski at Whistler, we joke about the trail markings. At most ski areas in the world, what Whistler marks as an intermediate would have diamond or double diamond ratings.
For example, the intermediate runs Ridge Runner and Rock ‘n Roll off the quad Chrystal Ridge Express are narrow for a Western area. They are full of twists and turns, changes in camber, and steep pitches that lead you to a waterfall!
The good news is that most, but not all, of the beginner and intermediate runs are well-groomed. The expert runs like the Dave Murray Downhill may be groomed, but you can expect lots of moguls on those that are not.
How and where to ski the two mountains is an article unto itself. Suffice it to say, Whistler has enough terrain and long, thigh burning trails to keep skiers of all levels entertained for months. And, BTW, all the chairs except the triple Magic Chair have footrests.
Paper trail maps are available. At Whistler, they are appropriately called Mountain Atlas!
Food and bathrooms. There are restaurants and bathrooms all over the mountain. Glacier Creek has the most variety of food, but the food court is upstairs. The bathrooms are on the floor you enter.
Rendezvous and Roundhouse are often crowded from 11:30ish to 1 p.m. Bathrooms on the entry floor. One of my favorites is Chic Pea, which makes cinnamon buns to die for and has no stairs to climb.
The huts – Raven’s Nest, Crystal, and Horstman – all have limited menus, but again, no stairs. For those of you who like to be served lunch on the mountain, there’s Steeps and Cristine’s.
Food prices are comparable to most U.S. resorts, and show your Epic Pass and you get a 20% discount. The Canadian dollar was worth about US$.73, which makes it even cheaper.
Bottom line is that the best recommendation for a destination resort is how often a skier returns. I ski at Whistler every year. ‘Nuff said.
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I agree, Whistler – Blackcomb is a great mountain but be aware that it is not uncommon to have flat light. The last time I was there we couldn’t see the mountain for 5 of the 6 days we were there!!
Well residing in PA I will tell you W/B is a great area to ski providing various levels of ability However Getting there is difficult ( long ) from the East coast Be prepared to spend @ least 1 full day to get there Once in Vancouver you still have a reasonable drive to the resort Once on the highway though it’s clear sailing to W/B For those of you who have never been there I recommend @ least one trip before you retire from skiing Good Luck !
We SO looked forward to skiing Whistler with that huge vertical drop – but both times we spent a week there, it RAINED on us in Feb in different years! Since we flew in for the week we had picked early Feb thinking it would be great! Not so- ICE from top to bottom. Great mountain IF you can pick when you go at the last minute vs planning a ski week
I skied Whistler in the spring of 1968 with friends from college and Canada ski team – it was the first full season it was open. Our skiing was limited to the top t- bar – I think it was called The Blue T-Tbar. Had a wonderful time and occasionally caught trout for dinner in Alta Lake. Pemberton Rodeo came complete with greased pig chase. There was a cabin across the lake which was legendary. Ah memories.
The infamous party shack across Alta Laje was known as Toad Hall.
A few years ago I did a Father Daughter trip to Whistler. We had the pleasure to do a few Heli-Ski days with Whistler Heli -Ski. I was 74 at that time and they had a grouping for those of us that need to do easier terrain.
It was a superb experience and we even got in an extra run on one day.