The enormity of the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada appeals to avid snow-sport enthusiasts, but its size might overwhelm those accustomed to smaller resorts. The right strategy helps you maximize your skiing and riding experience.
Best Time to Go
The Olympic Committee chose February for the 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler Blackcomb. In general, snow conditions are at their finest between late January and mid-February. As Shakespeare says, “Beware the ides of March,” when an international crowd of spring breakers crowd the slopes and party all night.
The Layout
Two adjacent mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb, make up the resort, and the Peak to Peak gondola connects them. The snow gods bless the resort’s 8,100 acres of terrain with 360 inches of snow. Its chairlifts, surface lifts and gondolas serve 12 bowls, three glaciers and over 200 trails, which are divided into 15 percent beginner, 55 percent intermediate, 15 percent advanced and 15 percent expert terrain.
In some cases, a flat, cat-track basic trail winds around the intermediate and advanced bowls. This makes it easy for mixed-ability groups to ski different trails, while remaining in each other’s sight lines.
Getting There is Half the Fun
Visitors to the Whistler-Blackcomb Resort enjoy a full-service, pedestrian village. Perimeter Bus leaves straight from the airport. Enjoy the Sea to Sky Highway without having to worry about your driving.
Start Your Day With Fresh Tracks Breakfast Tickets
Enjoying a leisurely, sustaining breakfast and arriving at the lifts in time to beat the crowds were once mutually exclusive. The Fresh Tracks Breakfast changes the playing field. Here’s the strategy.
The first 650 Fresh Track Breakfast ticket holder that line up at the Whistler Village Gondola get to upload an hour before the late-sleeping skiers and riders. A buffet breakfast awaits them at the Roundhouse Lodge. Meanwhile the ski patrol prepares the mountain, checking for avalanches and other unsafe conditions.
When the patrol gives the all-clear, skiers and riders head to the lifts, and enjoy fresh tracks in untouched powder. On powder days, be on the line as early as 6:20 a.m. If you sleep late, but still manage to get a ticket, do a few runs first, then go back to the Roundhouse Lodge for Breakfast.
Weather and Conditions
You have probably heard about the legendary Pacific Northwest rain, but don’t let a rainy day keep you off the mountain. Rain in the village usually means snow in the upper mountains.
Many people don’t know this, so go high, and avoid the crowds. On any day, rainy or not, the snow on the lower mountain turns into wet sugar. Don’t try to ski top to bottom. Download on the gondola instead.