I have spent a season riding Whistler/Blackcomb, here is my tuppenceworth on this half of the show. blackcomb and Whistler are both accessed off the same pass, and the main gondolas for each resort start within 50m of each other. In general, when it was sunny we would ride blackcomb, when it ... Read review
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Advantages: Massive. All terrain types. Fabulous park+pipe. great atmosphere. Disadvantages: crowded.
...was sunny we would ride blackcomb, when it was powdery and snowing we would ride whistler. I am not going to discuss teaching or cruising the pistes here, as these are not my forte. For the experienced skiers/boarders thinking of visiting though...
The alpine powder.
Blackcombs premier alpine skiing is in the emerald, ruby, diamond and sapphire runs accessed by hiking across to skiers right from the top of the Glacier chair. ... ...before the avalanche control guides open the area. If you get first tracks down though it is well worth the wait. It is VERY steep and deep - We cut hard skiers left one day in an effort to get to the very last shreds of powder and ended up on a section comprising cliffs and trees. If you dont have any locals with you, wait for a few people to go and follow tracks - but be warned: A lot of very good boarders ride here so following a random bloke ... more
I have spent a season riding Whistler/Blackcomb, here is my tuppenceworth on this half of the show. blackcomb and Whistler are both accessed off the same pass, and the main gondolas for each resort start within 50m of each other. In general, when it was sunny we would ride blackcomb, when it was powdery and snowing we would ride whistler. I am not going to discuss teaching or cruising the pistes here, as these are not my forte. For the experienced skiers/boarders thinking of visiting though...
The alpine powder. Blackcombs premier alpine skiing is in the emerald, ruby, diamond and sapphire runs accessed by hiking across to skiers right from the top of the Glacier chair. Its a steep hike, and there is often a queue before the avalanche control guides open the area. If you get first tracks down though it is well worth the wait. It is VERY steep and deep - We cut hard skiers left one day in an effort to get to the very last shreds of powder and ended up on a section comprising cliffs and trees. If you dont have any locals with you, wait for a few people to go and follow tracks - but be warned: A lot of very good boarders ride here so following a random bloke may well leave you contemplating a track which runs fearlessly out over a 15-foot cliff... if all the powder has been tracked, dont even think about coming here on a board, as it will be 2m high moguls. Other powder is available by hiking straight on at the top of this chair, which gives access to the Glacier. Its a 15 minute walk, but once you reach the top there is something like 15km of skiing before you reach the lifts again. Much of this is relatively flat cat-track (similar to the vallee blanche in Chamonix) but the powder at the top can be great, especially to the sides of the main slope. Also, it isnt unusual to see people building big Jumps on the huge windlip that forms at the top of the glacier.
The trees. Ah, gladed runs. Bring a smile to my face even now, over a year later. There is nothing like ripping down through a field of powder with trees in it. The trees will push you to go faster and turn harder than you would normally because - well, because the option to not going that way is to plant your face into them, which hurts. Take a run through one of the gladed runs with no powder on it as soon as you can, and then work your way up to riding ever deeper powder through the trees. You will soon find that your powder turns improve beyond all recognition. I remember riding with a local soon after arriving and watching him board down a steep section of powder like he was on skis - a turn every few metres - and not ugly jump turns either but smooth flowing ones. Once you get better at riding gladed runs, you can take to the trees. just beside the 7th heaven lift is a good place to start, down near the bottom section, but do it in the morning as the crowds gather here later.
The Park Whistler/blackcombs park is located on Whistler, and it is huge. If you think you have seen it all in the Alps, you are in for a shock. The jumps used for the World champs are available all season, with only minor tweaking (ok - an extra few metres on the tabletops/hips then) used for the competition. There are a range of different parks to visit, graded according to size of hits, and to access them you need a helmet and a special pass. This is fine in my book, the gung-ho approach to learning big air here will get you hospitalised. Start small and work your way up, listen to the locals for advice on speed checks / landings, and enjoy. There is a good atmoshere in the park, and often someone shooting pictures. There are queues for the Pipe, but not too many people snake them, and it is worth waiting for.
The atmosphere. North american resorts are not like european ones. People are serious about there fun... The lift queues are well organised, but also long. Expect to wait 15 minutes min. Also, everyone is on the case if there is a powder day. Many businesses in town have a 30cm rule, where people are either allowed to not turn upp or not expected to turn up in the mornings if 30cm of fresh snow has fallen overnight. Consequently, if you want to get the powder, you gotta be up for the first lifts, at least by 9am. The flip side of this is the stoke - There is an almost physical feeling of adrenaline running through the whole resorts. You can always find someone to chat with on the lifts, and nearly always find someone who knows their way around and will show you - if you can keep up. Counterbalancing this is the legendary BC bud. Available on most chairlifts, compulsory in some gondolas. Not my style, but you almost cannot avoid it...
Apres Ski. Same as Whistler. Watch out for cougars!
Advantages: a great ski resort Disadvantages: a bit to cold
Black Comb is a faboulous mountain to ski on. The slopes are manicured tpo perfection while the mountain offers great ski lessons with highly qualified ski instructors. There are many chalets and hotels to stay in and they are all designed for one thing in mind, Skiing. It is great to go skiing because of the topography of the surrounding area means that the mountain has plenty of snow in the winter months. However I do believe that it does get a ... ...it was -9 without wind chill. This is seriously cold and you don't get this on some of the smaller mountians because they aren't as high up. But you trade off the cold for the snow and it works out that this is a very nice ski resort in deed. ...
Inferno 05.02.2001
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Advantages: Awesome skiing, on and off piste Disadvantages: Relatively expensive, variable weather, crowded on weekends
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Whistler – Blackcombe is a skiresort situated about two hours bus journey north of Vancouver in Canada and is quite simply the most incredible skiresort I’ve ever had the fortune of skiing in. Before I begin to wax lyrically about its virtues a little background on myself as regards skiing. I’ve been skiing now for about 15 years having started at the tender age of 7 and until travelling to Whistler I’ve only ever-skied in Europe. In this time I’ve been all over Europe in all the major skiing countries as well as the less well known Andorra, Bulgaria, Finland and Sweden. I say all this not in an attempt to show off but to show that I think I have the credentials to comment on skiresorts.
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Advantages: You'll look good. Disadvantages: It hurts
OK, this is the next episode in my opinion fairy story. This op is split between the skiresort of Whistler, and snowboarding in general. Both of them are mint.
Whistler
Whistler is located in British Columbia, Canada. Thats on the West Coast, about 2 hours from Vancouver, along the spectacular 'Sea to Sky' Highway. It is a purpose built resort, split into two halves, Whistler and Blackcomb, which used to be separately owned and run but have since been amalgamated into a single world class resort. The skiing and snow is second to none - the range and quality of the runs is unsurpassed, from groomed blues to unpisted glacier runs, open snow at the top to winding tree runs lower down. The area is serviced by a fabulous lift system, so there are few queues. The town itself can only be described as quaint yet functional - it has ...
