Resort Overview

Whistler Blackcomb, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, is the premier resort in the entire northwest.  It boasts over 38 lifts, 200 plus trails, twelve alpine bowls and 8100 skiable acres over two mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb.  Whistler has a large base area, with over 115 hotels, 93 restaurants and bars, 207 retail shops and a variety of other services. 

Whistler Blackcomb has nearly year round skiing, averaging 250 days per year.  The winter season runs from November through early June, although Whistler Mountain closes a month earlier.  Blackcomb Mountain hosts summer skiing during early summer up on Horstman Glacier.  The resort averages 200+ inches of snow each year. 

Getting There

There are several routes to getting to Whistler.  You can fly into Vancouver airport and drive north from there.  You can take the Whistler train or one of the buses.  Since I live in Seattle, our group makes the four hour drive, stopping by one of the many excellent restaurants in Vancouver on the way back.  US citizens are allowed to bring back one liter of liquor duty free, if you stay the weekend, a great bargain. 

Tickets

All day lift tickets at Whistler run about $80 (CDN).  You can save 20% by buying a five or ten ticket packs on the Edge card (available to Washington and Canada residents), but they must be used that season.  You can also save money by buying your tickets in Squamish, a town on the way to Whistler or one of the other discount places in Washington and BC. 

Trails

The resort consists of two separate mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, each with their own lifts, gondolas and dining areas (although the new Peak-to-Peak gondola allows travel between the two).  With separate micro-climates, it can be sunny on one mountain, while blowing snow on the other. 

Check the weather forecast before leaving to determine which mountain to visit, especially the freezing level.  For reference, the valley bottom is at 685m, the Roundhouse on Whistler and the Rendezvous on Blackcomb, where the better snow reside, are at 1800m. 

From my experience, Whistler Mountain is more popular with beginner and intermediate skiers, while Blackcomb Mountain is more popular with snowboarders and advanced skiers.  Since I'm a blue-green skier, I tend to spend more time on Whistler Mountain. 

For beginners, there are easy runs in the base area, but they tend to get slushy when it warms up.  There is a large beginner area at Olympic Station, which is the mid-way stop on the Whistler Village gondola. 

I normally take the Whistler Village gondola up to the Roundhouse Lodge.  To one side is the Ego Bowl family ski area, with a series of green and blue slopes, as well as a mini mogul run and a terrain park.  Whiskey Jack, Ego Bowl run and Jolly Green Giant are fun runs, but do have some steeper slopes that may be troublesome for beginners.  On the other side of Roundhouse are more green and blue runs, but they tend to be narrower or merely cat tracks. 

After you get bored of Ego Bowl, try heading down Marmot (green) or G.S.  (blue) to the Harmony chair.  The Harmony chair takes you up to the top of the Symphony Amphitheatre, a gorgeous snow bowl.  Burnt Stew trail is a long, sometimes flat (make sure you keep the speed up), trail that goes along the side of Symphony Amphitheatre. 

It can easily take you an hour to travel back down to the Harmony chair.  But there are plenty of places to peel off and head on down the valley.  On the each side of the valley are several blue trails, with one side serviced by the Symphony chair.  You can easily spend all day in the Symphony Amphitheatre, where the views and snow are normally excellent. 

Even as a blue-green skier, I tend to visit Blackcomb Mountain at least once on a three day weekend, or when the weather is bad on Whistler Mountain.  The best bet is to take the Excalibur gondola from Whistler base to its end (there is a green area stop in the middle).  Then take the Excelerator and Jersey Cream chairs to the Rendezvous. 

From the Rendezvous, you can access several blue and black trails (and a couple of greens).  If you get bored of this area, try the 7th Heaven Express lift, which provides access to several more blue and black trails (and one green). 

At the end of the day, you have two options for getting back to the base area: ski down or take the gondola.  I've tried skiing down Whistler several times, but it can be tiring, especially if you use the slower green trails or if the snow is soft towards the bottom.  I prefer to use the gondola.  On Blackcomb, you'll need to ski halfway down anyway, as the gondola doesn't reach up as far. 

Dining

Both on and off the slopes, there is a large variety of dining options to choose from.  For lunch, I normally eat at the diner closest to my skiing area.  On Whistler, that is normally the Roundhouse Lodge and on Blackcomb, the Rendezvous. 

Lodging

With 115 hotels in the Whistler area, lodging can be fairly inexpensive.  I usually search for rooms using Whistler's main website.  Many of the cheapest offerings are condos owned by Resort Quest, Whistler Premier and other property management companies. 

Towards season's end, they offer 3rd night free deals, which can drop the price of a one bedroom condo to $99 CDN per night.  There are also deals to be found on Craigslist, which is where individual condo owners list, as well as several condo rental sites. 

I tend to stay in the Upper Village or Village North areas, for the short walk to the slopes.  There are ski in/ski out condos at the top of Upper Village, but if you visit the pubs in Whistler village after the slopes shut, you'll need to take the bus to get back, as most ski in/ski out lodges exit a few hundred feet up Blackcomb Mountain.  Be aware that the Whistler buses are free, and can be caught close to most lodges in the Whistler area, but stop running about 1 am. 

Apres Ski

Whistler has a very active nightlife in the Village area.  Vehicles are not allowed on the cobbled streets, which tie together the various Whistler Village establishments.  Party goers can easily tour the multiple bars during in a single night.  The Longhorn Saloon and Black's Pub, which face the gondolas, are two popular hangouts useful for waiting the return of friends from the slopes. 

Whistler hosts a number of festivals and events throughout the year.  My favorite is the ten day Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival (Telus is a Canadian telecom) starting in the second week of April.  They have ski and snowboard competitions, band concerts, games, movies, demo booths and more.  I usually go the first weekend to watch the ski jump competition.  It's a great way to end out the ski season. 

What's to Like

• Largest skiable acreage in North America, with multiple ski areas, trail types, alpine bowls, etc.
• Active nightlife within pedestrian friendly Whistler Village.
• Fair priced lodging.
• Long ski season with good snow.

What's Not to Like

• Long drive up BC-99 to get to resort.