Just got back from our 6 nights and 5 days of skiing on Whistler/Blackcomb. We arrived in Whistler Village on the Saturday before Christmas after thinking we were going to miss the bus due the number of people getting on- but in the end had no trouble, some of the people at the bus stop were waiting for a different bus we found out. It was about 2pm by the time we had found our way to the hotel and settled in, which meant it was time to grab a bite to eat.
Wasn't a bad meal, but quickly left that behind to have a wander through Whistler Village trying to soak up some of the Christmas atmosphere which we had been lacking, and to pick up a few supplies for our stay (just the essentials- beer, cheese, crackers). After a while we got back to our room to finish unpacking and preparing our gear for the big day of skiing ahead before once again leaving the room behind in search of some light snacks and a drink at the Whistler Brewhouse.
Our first day of skiing- Christmas eve: Woke early to try and get our moneys worth with the lifts only operating from 8.30am to 3pm and were amongst the first people up Blackcomb. Had a few runs on the lower slopes to get our balance before heading high up the mountain. As we started to feel a bit more comfortable on the skis, we started going up higher and down faster- the only problem being that by then the snow was coming down pretty hard and we were without ski goggles! Because of the snow we had to take a break, so we slowly zig-zagged our way down the mountain with our eyes virtually closed, had a rest in our hotel room and bought the goggles.
By the time we had finished skiing, tried to talk to our parents for christmas and then stepped out for a cheapy dinner about 20cm of snow had fallen, when it stopped at about 10.30pm about 30cm of fresh powder was lying on the ground in Whistler Village. Christmas eve drinks were also on the agenda for us as we met up with Rueben, a friend of the family who was working in Whistler.
Christmas day was glorious! Up the top of the mountain was about twice as much snow as in the village, the only problem was because of all the snow, everyone decided it would be a good day to go skiing. Tried pushing a bit harder to see what we could do- but only resulted in falling over, which was perfectly fine as the snow was so soft you didn't feel a thing. After a good days skiing which finished around 2pm, we prepared ourselves for our big Christmas dinner. It took us most of our first afternoon trying to find somewhere that would serve ham as well as turkey, but we had to eat at either 4.30pm or 9pm. Feeling very stuffed and tired, we went back to the room and crashed.
Boxing day was another good day of skiing. One of the main areas of Blackcomb was open for the first time since we had been there, so again everyone was there trying to take advantage of the recent snow fall. Stanna and I had split up to try and get the most out of the day before meeting up again in the early afternoon. Had another big meal at the Keg after being unsuccessful in getting into the Old Spaghetti Factory. Had thoughts that we should actually eat lunch and a small dinner rather than no lunch and a massive feed at night.
On Wednesday, the sun came out and completely changed the look of the area. We now had unlimited visibility instead of a few metres on the first day. We took advantage of the conditions and made our way up to some of the higher areas of both Blackcomb and Whistler to not only get the view, but also to ski those areas which had been closed the previous days due to the poor weather higher up. The other good thing about this day was the lack of people, it seemed like most people had not arrived for their holidays, or had decided to take the day off. We stuck to our plan and actually had lunch and a smaller dinner which did the trick nicely.
Last day... the snow conditions were starting to go a little icy as the clear weather made it quite cold and of course meant no new snow on the slopes, the other problem was the crowds, which were getting bigger, especially on Whistler Mountain. We were taking it a bit slower as the previous 4 days was finally catching up to us, but were also pushing a bit harder by going down mostly blue runs and even touched on part of the mens downhill course for the 2010 Olympics! pretty steep. After crossing back over to Blackcomb to get away from the crowds, we stopped for a bite to eat and caught up with Rueben again. From there Stanna made her way back to the hotel, while Rueben and Greg (a friend working at Whistler) took Anthony down some tight little black runs, dodging trees and doing more sliding down the hill than skiing down the hill. Anthony went up for one last run going from the top of the Solar Coaster chair all the way to the bottom of Blackcomb as quickly as possible on some blue runs- the final hoorah! good fun, but the legs were feeling like jelly afterwards.
Our final meal was a bit of a let down- very overpriced for the amount of food we got. We ended up getting a bowl of corn chips with salsa at the pub to fill us up while we had our final catch-up with Rueben before bidding fairwell. Finally got to sleep in the next morning, but even with an extra 45 minutes to check out, still had no time to settle down before taking one last quick walk through the village and jumping on a bus back to Vancouver.
Absolutely fantastic holiday, but in future we would probably try to break up the skiing a bit, 5 days straight was taking a toll on the body. I think we covered just about every green run on the two mountains and had taken a fair chunk out of the blue runs as well. Now we have to look forward to the next adventure, with Las Vegas booked for mid-February.
