Haven't been here for years... all new and shiny these days.
Haven't been here for years... all new and shiny these days.
Member since:31.10.2000
Reviews:148
Members who trust:101
INTRODUCTION
Whistler – Blackcombe is a ski resort situated about two hours bus journey north of Vancouverin Canada and is quite simply the most incredible ski resort 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 ski resorts.
I actually went to Whistler for two weeks in Easter ‘99 to visit my brother who was working in the resort, I spent the first week in a hotel with family and the second sleeping
on my brothers floor in staff accommodation. This allowed me to see a lot more of the resort than on a usual package holiday affair and the added freedom made a pleasant change. For example, after getting off the plane more than a little inebriated (got to love those free drinks) I collected my bags, booked on a coach to Whistler and headed to the bar. Not a bright-jacketed ski-rep jacket in sight. Anyway on to the facts n’figures…
TRAVEL
I suppose that the first thing you need to know about a holiday is getting to the resort. For me it involved slightly over a nine-hour flight to Vancouver from Heathrow. As Vancouver is nine hours behind GMT this means you actually arrive at around the same time you took off which is a bit strange and does make the journey very different from a quick flight to the Alps. On arriving in Vancouver there is a bus that will take you straight from the airport to the resort in about two hours. So the travelling, whilst long and tiring, is not particularly difficult and if like me you take advantage of the free alcohol on the flight passes fairly quickly and painlessly… well until the hangover.
ACCOMMODATION
So you get to the resort and get to your hotel or chalet that you have booked into… obviously I only stayed in one hotel so I can’t comment on the others. Firstly there’s a choice to make as the resort essentially comprises of two different mountains Whistler and Blackcombe and the accommodation is split between the two. The lifts up the two mountains are only separated by a 5-minute walk, but more on that later. The hotel, the Glacier Lodge I stayed in was absolutely fantastic.
The rooms were, compared to Europeanhotels, massive and in our case comprised of a master double bedroom and a lounge with walk-in kitchen and a good-sized bathroom. The lounge area has a comfortable sofa bed and was equipped with a massive TV… one of the channels showed nothing but Friends, ER, Frasier and select other American sit-coms/ dramas… which makes a pleasant change from dodgy french/italian TV. Also in the hotel were a heated outdoor swimming pool and a hot tub that was simply sublime after a day on the slopes.
From what I have seen the other hotels and chalets are all of a similar standard and for a closer look visit the Whistler web site that has a plethora of photos from all the hotels… www.whistler-blackcomb.com
SKIING
Well quite enough of that onto the most important aspect of the holiday…the skiing (or snowboarding). As I have mentioned there are in fact two mountains that make up the resort and one ski pass gives you access to both. First a few facts …the total ski area is a massive 7000 acres which is over 10 times the area on Aspen mountain… there are over 200 marked runs and 33 lifts.
The first thing I noticed about skiing in Whistler is the difference between the skiing area when compared to European resorts. In Europe there are pistes that are ‘groomed’ by the piste-bashers and the vast majority of skiers stick to the piste, leaving the piste generally leads to problems getting back to lifts or falling off cliffs etc… which is always a worry. In Whistler, however the entire area is skiable. There are vast areas of untouched powder snow, gladed runs that take you James Bond style through the trees as well as a huge variety of marked runs that offer something for people of all abilities. There are wide-sweeping pistes ideal for the beginner, harder diamond black runs for the more experienced and double diamond blacks involving 2 to 5 metre drop-ins just to get onto the run for the truly insane (yes before you ask I include myself in this category).
Added to the fantastic range of skiing available, the snow is now widely thought of as the most reliable in North America, and the conditions over the last few years have always been good during the regular season (usually late November to late April). Other things of note in regard to skiing:-
- The equipment for hire is very high quality – usually last only one or two seasons old. - The lift pass is more expensive than in many European resorts, weighing in at around £150 for a six-day pass. My advice would be set it up to be billed to your credit card so if you only use your pass in the afternoon you only get charged for a half-day skiing. - It can be cold, very cold… those of you going over January- February time take plenty of layers as temperatures significantly below freezing (-10 to –20c) are not uncommon. - There is none of the European queue barging waiting for the lifts… everything is organised by the courteous and polite employees who ensure every chair is filled to reduce waiting time – this makes a very pleasant change.
NIGHTLIFE
So after an amazing days skiing, obviously you are going to want to partake in a little apres-ski and Whistler has a fine selection of bars/pubs/clubs in which to wile away until the wee hours. In Whistler village at the bottom of the lift is the Garibaldi Lift Co. Bar and Grill which is always packed and great fun and an Irish bar (no surprise) Dubh Linn Gate Old Irish Pub that has a fine selection of beers and whiskies. At the bottom of Blackcombe, Merlins is the place to be… with a four-pint (approx) pitcher of beer for about six quid it’s great fun… to be honest my memory is a little hazy after consuming far too many of them. Also someone to watch out for is Guitaaar Doug who seems to make a circuit of the bars and appears to be get paid in beer, his sets are usually fun to watch especially the strip limbo… I’ll say no more.
Away from the alcohol fuelled activities there is plenty of other things to keep you entertained… a cinema, some great restuarants including a Hard Rock Café that is far better than any others I’ve been to, as well as a host of shops. There are also various sports facilities for those fit or crazy enough to still have any energy. Unfortunately as I was predominately partaking in the apres-ski I didn’t find out all that much about the other things on offer so I’ll move on.
CONCLUSION
I know that I’ve missed out a lot of things but this opinion is getting essay length already. If anybody wants any more information the official web site (address already given) probably has the necessary info or send me an email and I’ll be happy to try and answer any queries. I can’t advise this resort enough as it beats every other resort that I’ve been to hands down. The hotel was amazing, the skiing unbelievable and the nightlife great fun. Perhaps the only downside other than cost is that having skied here no where else seems as good. If you want to go skiing in the best resort in the world Whistler is definitely the place to go.
I just went up for a peek on the weekend, its a beautiful place! I cant wait till ski season!
salem_witch 24.09.2004 22:54
It sounds fantastic. My sister lived here for a year snowboarding and working. She wants to go back. I can see why now!
MRSCANADA 13.03.2002 02:38
You've been to British Columia! Wow...I was going to end my reading here,(at the end of your page 2) but I'm going to
see if you've been any where else in my Province..LL
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Advantages: Two excellent mountains, plenty of snow, night life, wonderful people, wonderful food, excellent accomidation, plently of room on the slopes Disadvantages: Expensive, very long distance and traveling time
sonyduo 21.05.2006 (21.05.2006)
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Review of Whistler, Ski Resort
Advantages: Two excellent mountains, plenty of snow, night life, wonderful people, wonderful food, excellent accomidation, plently of room on the slopes Disadvantages: Expensive, very long distance and traveling time
sonyduo 21.05.2006 (21.05.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Whistler, Ski Resort
Advantages: Friendly, informative, good snow, excellent skiing, cheap meals, quick moving queues Disadvantages: long journey and price of flight, we had to get a bus to the lifts
Helenp59 13.02.2001 ·
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Review of Whistler (Canada)
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