Widely known to have the best skiing in North America, Whistler-Blackcomb could be considered the “holy grail” of skiing. This year, the resort was included as part Vail’s Epic Pass for the first time. So naturally, Michael and I jumped at the opportunity to take a trip there and get a few days of skiing in on our passes. We’ve skied at Park City and various Tahoe resorts in the past, but after our recent trip, Whistler is by far my favorite. Everything from the breathtaking views at the summit to the great village atmosphere contributed to make an amazing experience. Below are some of the highlights from our trip, both on and off the mountain.
On the mountain:
If I could only pick one run to recommend, the Blackcomb glacier run would be it. To get to the start of the run from Whistler Village, you have to take a gondola, two chair lifts, a T-bar, and then still hike up some 30 feet. But it is so worth it. Once you get to the top, you’re greeted with a majestic view of the snow covered glacier, surrounded by imposing peaks and emptying out into a small valley that eventually joins up with the other runs. We did this as one of our first runs of the day so there were very few other skiers, meaning we were able to get plenty of fresh turns in as we descended the glacier.
View across the top of the glacier
Skiing down the glacier
My second favorite run was the Dave Murray Downhill on the Whistler side, the actual run used for the men’s downhill event during the 2010 Olympics. The smooth turns and nice grooming makes it really conducive to speed runs, and we had some fun going fast (though not as fast as the Olympians, obviously) down the run. Don’t miss the photo op by the Olympic rings about 3/4 of the way down.
Missed taking a picture of the rings on the mountain, so here's one in the village
I’ve wanted to try Ski Cross ever since I first watched it on the Olympics, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Whistler actually had a Snow Cross course open to the public. The course is an offshoot of the main Blackcomb terrain park, and contains all the sharp turns, rollers, and jumps you would expect from Snow Cross. The features weren’t quite as big as what you see on TV, so it’s pretty accessible to anyone intermediate level and above. It was really fun racing through the course. I’d recommend trying it out at least once for anyone interested, not least because it’s the only resort I’ve ever been to that offered an open course like this.
Off the mountain:
The ski resort is obviously the main attraction in Whistler, but Whistler Village shines even off the mountain. There’s so much to see and do, even if you’re not into shopping. Every Sunday evening, Whistler puts on Fire and Ice, an action-packed show featuring performers spinning fire sticks and professional skiers and snowboarders showing off their best tricks off a huge jump. We got there early to grab a good spot, and got to watch the athletes do some warm-up jumps while waiting for the show to start. Best of all, the show was free!
Watching the warm-ups for Fire and Ice
Of course, what’s a ski village without great food? Whistler did not disappoint on this - I don’t think we had a single bad meal while we were there. My absolute favorite were the Aussie pies from Peaked Pies. Picture hearty meat pies, freshly baked with mashed potato, mashed peas, and gravy on top. They tasted amazing after a day on the slopes. It was so good we ended up going there three times in four days…
So many different meat pies!
Fully loaded Peaked Pie
Even though we spent almost four full days in Whistler, I feel like we barely scratched the surface in terms of what it has to offer. I would love to make a return trip to try some backcountry skiing with one of Whistler’s professional guides, visit the Olympic Sliding Center and ride in a bobsled, or ski on the Snow Cross course again, this time racing head to head with a group of friends. Visiting and skiing at Whistler was a great experience, and I hope to be back someday!
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