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WHISTLER, B.C.
One Of The World’s
Great Ski Resorts
By Ray Chatelin
Photos By Toshi

WHISTLER, B.C. - High in the coastal mountains, 75 miles north of Vancouver and 195 miles from Seattle, Whistler Village sits like a super-star aware of her beauty and knowing that her time has finally come.

It was just 25 years ago that a garbage dump occupied this place. The only inhabitants were a few cross-country skiers and tourists who came down the road from the original Whistler Mountain gondolas to watch the huge black bears rummage through hotel and restaurant leftovers.

Today, Whistler/Blackcomb is one of the world’s great ski destinations, its village, built on the once garbage dump, a snow-draped fairyland.

And Whistler’s international status was cemented when it was recently awarded the 2010 Olympic Winter Games along with Vancouver. Named the best overall ski resort by a variety of skiing magazines for the past decade, the resort caters to the first-class tastes of those who want to be seen at where the very best hang out.

Yes, its celebrity has made it a destination point for the rich and famous and if you take a wrong turn on the hill, you can feel out of place if your head band doesn’t match the color of your boots. Hollywood stars hide behind sun glasses and goggles and corporate execs and politicians live out their own winter fantasies far from the ordinary folk.

But, the snow is real, the mountains are spectacular, the village is fresh and contemporary, and you don’t have to hoc the family treasures to have a great time – unless you want to, of course. And most of us who ski the mountain are real people.

The Whistler region was created for skiing. With 360 inches of snow a year and with more than 200 runs, the variety of skiing available on the two mountains makes them feel like four, rather than two.

With 33 lifts, the mountains transport 59,007 skiers per hour. The longest run on both mountains is seven miles and while you’re on the hills you have a total of 17 restaurants to choose from (excluding what’s in the village itself).

The two mountains - 6,282 foot Blackcomb and 6,118 foot Whistler Blackcomb, have the two tallest vertical drops of any resort on the continent with 5,200 ft. and 5,180 ft. respectively. The roundhouse at the 6,420 foot level provides one of the most spectacular rest and restaurant sites anywhere as the Coastal Mountain range seems to touch the horizon in all directions.

And snowboarders, in addition to be able to use the entire mountain, have their own areas that includes seven different parks runs named Terrain Garden, Terrain Park, Highest Level, Chipmunk Park, Snow Cross, Halfpipe and Super Pipe.

You can’t get bored at Whistler. There are twelve bowls, three glaciers and more than 200 marked trails - steep powder chutes, challenging mogul fields, secluded tree skiing and groomed-to-perfection cruising runs - offer skiers and snowboarders endless enjoyment. The terrain mix at Whistler/Blackcomb is 20% novice, 55% intermediate and 25% expert.

To get from one mountain to the other you simply ski down to the edge of the village site and hop aboard a lift up the other mountain. The runs fall into the village like a giant V with the village sitting where the lines meet.

There’s also helicopter skiing on nearby glaciers and undeveloped peaks. Cross country trails have been cut throughout the area, most leaving from the village. The base of Whistler is just a 10 minute walk through the woods and over a covered wooden bridge away from the base of Blackcomb - or about a minute if you’re driving.

The season opens in mid-November and spring skiing, with sunshine and corn snow, lasts into May. There's an average 450 inch snowfall annually with some artificial snow at the lower level. Because of the west coast weather patterns, you can experience widely varying snow conditions from top to bottom.

The Village is where the major action is once the sun goes down. The sidewalks and "strolls" are all red brick paving stone, giving the Village an almost European feel. Most restaurants and street-level entertainment spots have outdoor café spaces.

It’s a mix of upscale and middle-class restaurants, luxury hotels, snug bars and bistros, places the young go hoping to get lucky.

The most popular places to hang out for après are the "cement beaches": the massive outdoor patios of the Longhorn Saloon, Merlin’s, the GLC, Monk’s Grill, Citta’s, or Dusty’s in Whistler Creekside. Since the invention of the propane tree, quaffing a brew on a cement beach during winter is as pleasant as anything you can do in summer.

Whistler Resort has all services including 115 hotels, condos, bed & breakfasts, offering more than 5,202 rooms; 93 restaurants, bars and lounges; 207 retail shops; banking/foreign exchange and bank machines; church services, medical and dental clinics; physiotherapy and massage therapy; office services; public library; museum; movie theatre and video rentals; health and fitness centres; swimming pool; ice rink; indoor tennis courts; spa facilities and beauty salons.

And, of course, there are a myriad of real estate offices flogging homes that average $1 million per. Even in Canadian bucks, that’s a lot of cash.

Among the high end accommodations are still rooms at reasonable prices, $75-125 a night at many of B&Bs, condos or other types of accommodation.

The kids haven't been forgotten. There are ski programs designed for specific age groups; Wee Scamps for three to six year olds, Ski Scamps for seven to 12 year olds without experience, and Super Scamps for seven to 12 year olds with experience.

There’s a lot to do if you’re not a skier or snowboarder - cat Skiing, dog sledding, heli-skiing, heli-tours, tennis, sleigh riding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, or just lounging around in a spa.

And in summer, the resort becomes a place for golf, hiking the mountain trails, and boating.

This pretty lady has everything – and she knows it.

Contacts:
Whistler Resort Association, Whistler Village, Whistler, B.C. Canada V0N 1B0 (604)932-3434).  Website: www.mywhistler.com