This was the big trip, celebrating the end of high school for both boys. Also a kind of acknowledgement that they’re adults now and probably won’t want to go on holidays with their mum any more. Even if it is skiing at Whistler overseas.
We booked with Flight Centre, using Skimax, which is not something I would recommend again. It was the longest booking process ever – every query had to be forwarded to Skimax, who often took a number of days to reply. We hadn’t received email confirmation of the snowmobile/huskies/ziptrek bookings until after we arrived. Incredible.
But we arrived, and we were happy.
The snow cover was interesting. I was expecting a lot more snow on the drive into Whistler – something comparable to our March 2012 trip to Jasper and Whitehorse. But even as we drove into the village, the roads were clear and the bottom half of the mountain was still green – amazingly similar to Australia in June.
Checking the snow reports, there was concern about poor snow cover, but they’d finally had 20cm the night we arrived, with fresh powder at the top of the mountain and the 7th Heaven Express lift open for the first time in the season.
The next morning we caught the Blackcomb Gondola, Excalibur, Excelerator & Glacier to pretty near the top of the mountain. Foolishly trusting a confident 18 year old, I followed him up 7th Heaven Express and we started exploring. He chose an expert run. Combined with fresh powder, this was possibly above my pay grade and led to my only stack. Which wasn’t really a stack – just a bit of a rest break after sweating and swearing my way down some black diamond moguls.
We did one more run on 7th Express, with some blue runs before parting ways, where I developed a fondness for the green runs and the Solar Coaster Express.
Despite what the locals thought about the snow cover, for an Aussie it was awesome. There were no queues on the lifts, no ice, no wind, and runs that really did seem to go on forever. The length of these runs – even the easiest routes – is unbelievable. The closest thing to flying without wings.
The Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which crosses from Blackcomb to Whistler, starts at the Rendez-vous, which also happens to have a restaurant called Christine’s.
Part of the magic of skiing is being above the clouds. Looking across from the top of the mountain and seeing clouds beneath you is beyond beautiful.
We skied for 5 days, which was just right for us, as we had only skied weekends in Australia for the last few years. Next on the list was the Ziptrek Eco Tours.
These were absolutely awesome. We chose the Eagle tour, with five separate zip lines, zig zagging down the mountain. It’s not scary at all – just exhilarating, flying above the trees, occasionally spinning around, looking down at rivers, and surrounded by snow.
If you go to Whistler and don’t do the Ziptrek tour, you’re crazy.
We were supposed to have a husky sled trip and snowmobile day, but alas, there wasn’t quite enough snow. Skimax hadn’t answered their phones or provided contact details for us, so we actually rolled up ready for the huskies, only to find out it was cancelled. Ayuh.
There was one alternative available – a night-time snowmobile tour up the mountain. It wasn’t going to be the speed trip on an ice lake I’d had in Whitehorse, but I thought it was pretty cool. As Matt didn’t have his full license yet, he had to have a companion – but I did let him drive the whole way. They’re only young once.
Whistler is huge. The runs are ginormous, the facilities are excellent, and the people are friendly. Even the Australians were friendly – and they were everywhere, from lift attendants to ski instructors and check-out chicks.
I knew I’d made it when I got the ultimate compliment. After stopping on a run to let someone ski past, they said “You must be Canadian!”.
