Whistler, British Columbia
March 5-12, 2005
A tale in which Jason and I embark upon an underwhelming journey to a snowboarding mecca.
We flew from Minneapolis to Seattle, but found this little number waiting on the tarmac to whisk us the rest of the way to Vancouver. We both laughed out loud. We were wondering why we had to walk so far (and down stairs?!) to get to our plane. It was a fun 35-minute flight.
This is the view we had from our hostel room window. It was also the first time we could see just how bad the snow situation really was. Normally there is snow throughout the village (see Jason's pics from a previous year). The pathetic narrow strip of snow winding down to the bottom was all that was left of the man-made snow. More on that later.
Don at the top of Whistler mountain.
View from the peak of Whistler mountain.
Jason at the top of Whistler mountain.
You want a video pan of the view from this peak? Try HERE. 3.7 MB
This is a good example of the bowl riding that was to be had -- bumped-out and already packed. Plus, the depth of snow throughout the mountain, even at the top where there was snow, was far below average.
This was ultra cool, I thought. When it was clear, from the top of one of Whistler mountain's peaks you could actually see almost a vertical mile below to Whistler Creekside (at left, where we stayed) and Whistler Village (right of the lake, 3 miles from Creekside). That is rather uncommon from the mountains I've visited and I'm not even sure how it's possible.
Even though the lower half of the mountain had no snow (you'll see), the upper half did. It was just less than normal. While we were there, we did not get any new snow either (dang). This panoramic shot almost makes it look like we had powder, but it was just a dusting that covered the fairly icy, hard-packed snow beneath.
If the boarding isn't the greatest, you can still eat and drink. Here is a brewpub we found in Whistler Village. The food and beer were average.
Another night we had this excellent "rustic Italian" pizza at Boston Pizza. Looks like it is a Canadian chain. I'm telling you, it was exceptional.
Jason drinks Alexander Keith's pale ale in the Amsterdam Pub, Whistler Village.
Another cause of some concern was how would we get along with our unknown roommates in cramped hostel quarters. Well, it worked out all right. We were with a guy and a girl (friends, not dating) from Eastern US. We respected each other and all survived the week. The hostel owners were great too, sharing their kitchen with all of us.
We rode two days, took a day off, and rode the next two. On our day off we walked from Creekside to the Village, pausing by the illustrious Whistler Creek for this stunning photo. Am I even awake?
