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Whistler Destinations and Activities

HITTING THE SLOPES

The skiing and snowboarding season for Whistler and Blackcomb begins in late November, although sometimes earlier if nature permits. While the amount of snow varies from year-to-year, the yearly average is a whopping thirty-feet of snowfall. Blackcomb closes at the end of April, while Whistler stays open until early June. Then the mountains switch places, as Whistler closes and Blackcomb reopens in early June for glacier skiing and snowboarding, staying open until late July. The lifts are open daily 8.30am-3pm, and until 4pm after January.

Lift tickets give you full use of both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, and it will take days for even the most advanced skiier or snowboarder to cover all the terrain. Tickets are available from the lift base in Whistler Village, but the queues can be horrendous. Instead, plan ahead and purchase your tickets online from www.mywhistler.com , or in Vancouver from Sport Mart at either 495 8th Ave W (tel 604/873-6737) or 735 Thurlow St (tel 604/683-2433). Your hotel can often set you up with tickets if you prebook far enough in advance. Call 1-877/932-0606 from North America or tel 604/932-0606 from Europe for more information.

Prices increase in peak season - over Christmas and New Year and from mid-February to mid-March - and lift tickets are subject to a seven-percent tax. You can save money by purchasing your lift pass before the end of September or, if you plan to ski regularly at Whistler, by purchasing an Express Card . These cost $79 for adults, $67 for youths and $39 for seniors, and are valid all season - scan it each time you ski and it automatically charges your credit card. Your first day skiing is free and then you pay a discounted rate of $35-53 depending on the season; call 1-800/766-0449 for more details.

Adults Youth (13-18) Child and Senior (65 plus) Regular Peak Regular Peak Regular Peak One-day $59 $61 $50 $52 $30 $31 Seven-day $378 $392 $321 $333 $189 $196 Sightseeing $21 $21 $18 $18 $14 $14 Afternoon $44 $46 $37 $39 $21 $23

Intermediate and expert skiers can join the free tours of the mountains that leave at 10.30am and 1pm daily. The Whistler All-Mountain tour departs from the Guest Satisfaction Centre at the top of the Whistler Village gondola. The Blackcomb All-Mountain tour meets at the Mountain Tour Centre, top of the Solar Coaster Express, or at the Glacier Creek Lodge . To explore Blackcomb’s glaciers join the tour at the Glacier Creek Lodge , weather permitting.

For snow conditions call 604/932-4211 in Whistler or tel 604/687-7507 from Vancouver.

Skiing and snowboarding on Whistler and Blackcomb

Winter-sports enthusiasts can argue long and late over the relative merits of Whistler Mountain and its rival, Blackcomb Mountain, both accessed from Whistler Village’s lifts. Together they have more than two-hundred runs, thirty-three lifts, twelve vast, high-alpine bowls, and three major glaciers. Both are great mountains, and both offer top-notch skiing and boarding, as evidenced by world-class events like the Snowboard FIS World Cup each December and North America’s largest annual sports event the World Ski and Snowboard Festival in April - both take place on Whistler. Each mountain has a distinctive character, however, at least for the time being, for major injections of money are on the way to upgrade Whistler Mountain’s already impressive facilities. Traditionally Whistler has been seen as the more intimate and homely of the two mountains, somewhere you can ski or board for days on end and never have to retrace your steps. Highlight runs for intermediates or confident novices are Hwy 86, Burnt Stew Basin and Franz’s Run, a high-velocity cruiser that drops virtually from the tree line right down to Whistler Creek. Real thrill-seekers should head to three steep above-tree-line swaths of snow: Harmony Bowl, Symphony Bowl and Glacier Bowl. Of the 3600 odd acres of terrain, 20 percent is beginner, 55 percent intermediate and 25 percent expert. There are over a hundred marked trails and seven major bowls. Lifts include two high-speed gondolas, six high-speed quads, two triple and one double chair lift, and five surface lifts. Snowboarders are blessed with a half-pipe and park. Total vertical drop is 1530m and the longest run is 11km.

Blackcomb Mountain , the “Mile-High Mountain”, is a ski area laden with superlatives: the most modern resort in Canada, North America’s finest summer skiing (on Horstman Glacier), the continent’s longest unbroken fall-line skiing and the longest and second longest lift-serviced vertical falls in North America (1609m and 1530m). In shape, its trail and run-system resembles an inverted triangle, with ever more skiing and boarding possibilities branching off the higher you go. The most famous run is the double-black diamond Couloir Extreme, the first such run in Canada and one of several precipitous chutes in the Rendezvous Bowl. Three other runs are also particularly renowned: the Zig-Zag, a long, winding cruise; Blackcomb Glacier, one of North America’s longest above-tree-line runs; and Xhiggy’s Meadow on the Seventh Heaven Express. If you’re here to board or ski in summer, two T-bars take you up to the wide open cruising terrain on Horstman Glacier.

Blackcomb is slightly smaller than Whistler, at 3341 acres, but has a similar breakdown of terrain (15 percent beginner, 55 percent intermediate and 30 percent expert). Lifts are one high-speed gondola, six express quads, three triple chair lifts, and seven surface lifts. There are over a hundred marked trails, two glaciers and five bowls along with two half-pipes and a park for snowboarders. Even if you’re not skiing, come up here (summer or winter) on the ski lifts to walk, enjoy the view from the top of the mountain, or to eat in the restaurants like Rendezvous or Glacier Creek . If you want some cross-country skiing locally, the best spots are 22km of groomed trails around Lost Lake and the Chateau Whistler golf course, all easily accessible from Whistler Village.

ACTIVITIES

Outdoor activities aside, there’s not a lot else to do in Whistler save sit in the cafes and watch the world go by. In summer, though, chances are you’ll be here to walk or mountain bike. If you’re walking , remember you can ride the ski lifts up onto both mountains for tremendous views and easy access to high-altitude trails (July to early Sept daily 10am-8pm; early Sept to late Sept daily 10am-5pm; late Sept to mid-Oct Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; adults $21, youth and seniors $18). Free mountain walking tours are offered daily at 12.30pm & 2.30pm; call 1-800/766-0449 for more details. Mountain bikers can also take bikes up and ride down, for an additional $3 charge for the bike. You must have a helmet and the bike undergoes a safety inspection. If you’re going it alone, pick up the duplicated sheet of biking and hiking trails from the infocentres , or better yet buy the 1:50,000 Whistler and Garibaldi Region map . The two most popular shorter walks are the Rainbow Falls and the six-hour Singing Pass trails. Other good choices are the four-kilometre trail to Cheakamus Lake or any of the high-alpine hikes accessed from the Upper Gondola station (1837m) on Whistler Mountain or the Seventh Heaven lift on Blackcomb: you can, of course, come here simply for the view. Among the walks from Whistler Mountain gondola station, think about the Glacier Trail (2.5km round trip; 150m ascent; 1hr) for views of the snow and ice in Glacier Bowl - snowshoe rental and tours are possible to let you cross some of the safer snow fields ($15 a day; for tours call Outdoor Adventures tel 604/932-0647 or Whistler Cross Country Ski & Hike tel 604/932-7711 or 1-888/771-2382, www.whistlerhikingcentre.com ). Or go for the slightly more challenging Little Whistler Trail (3.8km round trip; 265m ascent; 1hr 30min-2hr), which takes you to the summit of Little Whistler Peak (2115m) and grand views of Black Tusk in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Remember to time your hike to get back to the gondola station for the last ride down (times vary according to season).

If the high-level stuff seems too daunting (it shouldn’t be - the trails are good) then there are plenty of trails (some surfaced) for bikers, walkers and in-line skating around the Village. There are also numerous operators offering guided walks and bike rides to suit all abilities, as well as numerous rental outlets for bikes, blades and other equipment around the Village. All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) can be rented from Canadian All Terrain Adventures (tel 1-877/938-1616, www.cdn-snowmobile.com ) for guided tours that include splurges through mud-pits. If you want to go horse riding , contact Edgewater Outdoor Centre (tel 604/932-3389), The Adventure Ranch (tel 604/932-5078) or Cougar Mountain (tel 604/932-4086). Whistler Jet Boat Adventure Ranch (tel 604/932-4078) can set you up with jet boating , white-water and float rafting , as will Whistler River Adventures (tel 604/932-3532 , www.whistler-river-adv.com ) and Whistler Jet Boating (tel 604/932-3389). You can play tennis at several public courts, or play squash or swim at the Meadow Park Sports Centre (tel 604/938-7275). If you’re a golfer the area has four great courses, including one designed by Jack Nicklaus - Golf magazine called Whistler “one of the best golf resorts in the world”. Despite a recent upgrade, the Whistler Golf Club course remains the cheapest course at $115 (tel 1-800/376-1777 or 604/932-3280), while the others, including Nicklaus North (tel 604/938-9898), all cost from about $125 at low season to $185 at peak season in July and August. After all that activity there are umpteen spas for massage, mud baths and treatments that soothe all aches and pains - try Whistler Body Wrap (tel 604/932-4710), Blue Highways Shiatsu and Massage (tel 604/938-0777) or for utter luxury Avello (tel 604/935-3444).

NORTH TO LILLOOET

Hwy 99 funnels down to two slow lanes at PEMBERTON , where apartments are now mushrooming in the wake of Whistler’s popularity - all the skiing here is via helicopter or hiking. Beyond, you’re treated to some wonderfully wild country in which Vancouver and even Whistler seem a long way away. Patches of forest poke through rugged mountainsides and scree slopes, and a succession of glorious lakes culminate in Sefton Lake, whose hydroelectric schemes feed power into the grid as far south as Arizona, accounting for the pylons south of Whistler.

At the lumber town of LILLOOET the railway meets the Fraser River, which marks a turning point in the scenery as denuded crags and hillsides increasingly hint at the High Noon -type ranching country to come. In July and August, the rocky banks and bars of the sluggish, mud-coloured river immediately north of town are dotted with vivid orange and blue tarpaulins. These belong to aboriginal Canadians who still come to catch and dry salmon as the fish make their way upriver to spawn. It’s one of the few places where this tradition is continued and it is well worth a stop to watch. The town boasts four central motels if you need to stay: best are the Mile 0 Motel , 616 Main St (tel 604/256-7511 or 1-888/766-4530; $40-60), downtown, overlooking the river and mountains (kitchenettes available in some units for self-catering), and the 4 Pines Motel on the corner of 8th Avenue and Russell Street at 108 8th Ave, also with kitchenettes (tel 604/256-4247; $40-60). The infocentre/museum is in the old church at 790 Main St (mid-May to June Mon-Sat noon-3pm; July & Aug daily 9am-5pm; Sept Tues-Sat noon-3pm; Oct Wed-Sat 12.30-2.30pm; tel 604/256-4308), with displays of local life past and present. The nearest campsite is the riverside Cayoosh Creek on Hwy 99 within walking distance of downtown (tel 604/256-4180; $13; mid-April to mid-Oct).

From Lillooet, Hwy 99 heads east for 50km to Hwy 97; you can then either turn south towards Cache Creek , or snake your way up north to the gold fields of the Cariboo.