Whistler - what is it good for?

[Rag-Doll 0]

This is bit of an odd question to be asking on a Japan forum, but what the hell...

 

For my big 4 0 celebrations this year I'm going to have a blow out holiday and spend a couple of weeks in Whistler with the family. After being spoilt with the quality of snowboarding in Japan (I’m talking about empty slopes, easy powder and general do-ability of the resorts) for the past 6 years, I'm a little worried that the Whistler experience is going to suffer by comparison. So, objectively speaking, what's it going to be like late Jan 2008?

 

I know it's big and well run and has lots of facilities and is commercial and (probably) expensive and it's good for kids and non-skiers and the snow conditions are as variable as most other places and all the other stuff....but will it hold up to a couple of weeks of fairly aggressive snowboarding? I doubt I'll spend much time in the park so I'm mainly interested in the other stuff. Is it prone to moguls? Is it prone to ice? Is it crowded? Is it a boarder's resort? Is fresh powder tracked out as quickly as Niseko on an Aussie long weekend? For a better ex-Japan snow experience would I be better heading to Europe?

 

Oh, and a bit about myself – I like steep and deep, trees and steepish groomed slopes as long as they’re not mogully, I also like walks on the beach, reading and going to the movies! I have a particular dislike for ice.

[daver 0]

the whistler/blackcomb area is massive. niseko doesn't compare. in fact most resorts in the world don't. do yourself a favour and get hire a guide for a few days. Ski Esprit is a great programme, but i don't know if they have a snowboard version.

 

whistler is where the world's best live and ride everyday. the locals know how to ride that mountain on a pow day, they know what chairs open first, what areas get controlled first, and what areas to avoid. not only that, they have been racing each other every pow day. so they go FAST. on a fresh day you can expect it to be tracked out by noon.

 

YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE.

 

but that being said you will still have fun. and you will still get lots of pow. this year they received over 800cm of snow. and the terrain is some of the sickest in bounds available anywhere. they have low angle cruisers like the aussie pow/surf fest of niseko, but they also have stuff that will make you cringe. when peak chair goes off, just sit back and enjoy the show.

 

as for all the other stuff, yeah it is expensive, but it is so well set up. it is designed to be easy. you really can't have a bad time there.

[gerard 6]

Whistler...

It's got more far, far more variety and terrain than any place in North America or Japan. The only place with equal or better terrain is Europe, but they don't have relaible snow there. Whistler gets heaps of snow. Not dry like Niseko and not as much as some areas in Japan, but still -heaps! On powder days, some areas will get skied out quickly of course... other areas are less traveled. A lot of the best areas don't really get moguled up.... Narrower corridors do. You know how it goes.

It's a big mountain and it's got a lot of whatever it is that you want.... A lot of amazing steep terrian and there's so much to explore. Whistler and Blackcomb are very different, and you could probably just ski one of them for a couple of weeks and not get the least bit bord. So... "will it hold up to a couple of weeks of fairly aggressive snowboarding?" YES it will! The lift system is also first rate --convenient, fast, mostly high-speed quads. The village is very convenient, with good very good restaurants, etc.

 

The bad part is that it's lacking in character. It's owned by a huge corporation and has a very contrived --almost disney-like atmosphere. Plus it's very expensive. You don't have to go to Whistler for a great North American ski trip, and you get a lot more local charm at smaller hills.

 

A month ago I skied in Washington State, and Whistler and wrote a little TR here

Check it out at the bottom of the page.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Thanks Daver.

 

>YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE. hehehehe, I never really expected that I would. I'm just hoping to avoid edging down icy double blacks and wishing I had gone to Japan instead.

 

The place looks great and a guide and even a lesson or two is definitely the way to go I reckon. I have some Canadian friends who used to instruct there, hopefully I can convince them to come along - they haven't been to Japan so they can't offer a comparison.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Thanks, ger. I was reading that very post earlier today. Very nice photos. My wife and I only decided to shift the trip from Japan to Canada yesterday and already I can't wait.

[daver 0]

ger is right about the smaller resorts in canada. they are also top notch and offer lots of spectacular terrain at a significantly cheaper rate. but in late january in the interior you have to be ready for a canadian style cold front. most people can't even begin to fathom what that means let alone enjoy themselves if they are unlucky enough to encounter one.

at that time whistler will have the most agreeable temperatures.

[Mantas 3]

RD- i took my family there last winter for 2 weeks. We had a blast.

Whistler gets the thumbs up on all counts. The kids had a ball and were well catered for, I spent almost the whole 2 weeks on Blackcomb, there was enough there to keep me interested.

if you walk up the top of Blackcomb glacier its a 13 km ride down to the bottom. You will encounter almost every type of snow and terrain on the way down. The snow however will obviously not be as light and dry as Hokkaido though.

 

One thing.....BRING PLENTY OF MONEY

 

My advice...Do it in style or don't bother going.

[Ezorisu 0]

Should be great in January. Very board-friendly. There really are so many riding options there that you will find something new every day. Freshies do indeed get tracked out pretty fast, but unless you really have bad luck, the base isn't hard and icy, so it's fine even after there are no unridden lines. I've personally made the first line on a run only to return on the next lift to find it completely plundered. Lots of good tree riding, but since there are more coniferous trees than in Japan, the spacing is tighter or more clumpy. the newly opened Piccollo area has lots of nice gladed runs. There are some areas on Blackcomb that get moguled-out, but it's easy to work around.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Thanks Guys. And Mantas, you're right about the money, jeezus! Taking a family (and a helper!) to the snow for a couple of weeks is gonna hurt.

[thursday 1]

I think the flight would be such a pain. You like movies? Soak them up on the long haul.

 

And do another killer trip report.

[Mantas 3]

 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll

Thanks Guys. And Mantas, you're right about the money, jeezus! Taking a family (and a helper!) to the snow for a couple of weeks is gonna hurt.

Yep . We decided to shut up and just pay the price and not whine for two weeks about how expensive it all is. In hind sight, it was worth every cent.

[thursday 1]

 Originally Posted By: Mantas

 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll

Thanks Guys. And Mantas, you're right about the money, jeezus! Taking a family (and a helper!) to the snow for a couple of weeks is gonna hurt.

Yep . We decided to shut up and just pay the price and not whine for two weeks about how expensive it all is. In hind sight, it was worth every cent.

that's right. whine the rest of the 50 weeks.

[Mantas 3]

RD If your kids are young. I'd recommend staying in the Upper or( Blackcomb ) village.

While it's a little out away from the shops and such, it is nice and quite and there's a good beginners slope right there. Whistler village itself can get a little roudy, especially at night.

[myobie 0]

hey,

 

All i can say is get a good canadian travel agent.

 

I did a road trip in jan 05 (+5 friends). and we stayed on mountain in our own chalet everywhere we went. never exceeding $25AUD per night in whistler, fernie, banff and silverstar. all we did was wait till 3 days out from when we wanted to stay at the next location, then let them know of the next destination. (by that stage, they NEED to fill it)

 

for example. we stayed less than 100m from whistlers gondola. chalet (6person), spa/hot tub everything.. cheeeap as($18AUD/n ea)!

 

its not as cheap as japan. but dont tell any aussies about how good the resorts are out of niseko. when i as there in 06, i was so glad i wasnt an aussie, I would be ashamed.

As soon as I explored out of niseko I didt have to deal w the powder hounds.

 

If you think niseko is ok for finding ok untracked pow on a good day. canada you will love. For whister/blaccomb ride blackcomb. (if you like freeride/boarding)

 

if you want a better than heli ski experience. ie 34000 vertical feet in a day. kicking horse! in a town called golden (1.5hr from banff)

 

Dont tell anyone.

 

[thursday 1]

thanks. I've always given Whistler a glance, but the flight beats me up.

 

So how is Niseko compared to Whistler in terms of Aussies?

[Ezorisu 0]

There is a fairly large Aussie contingent in the seasonal workforce in Whistler (and a pretty big turn-out to the parties on Australia Day), but it's not glaring like in Niseko - where if you're not from the area, there's a 95% chance that you're from Oz. Met lots of nice folks from Australia who were on "working holiday" in Whistler.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

Whistler will make you a man. It will make your wife a man. It will make men out of your children.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Thanks for the great response everyone. I had been looking at the main village but the upper village and blackcomb do sound like better options, might be a tad cheaper too. My kids will be 2 x 11mths and 1 x 2.5yrs come Jan '08 so somewhere quiet in the evenings is an absolute must.

 

Myobie, last minute bookings sounds appealing but with the logistics involved in getting to Whistler, we kind of need a fair amount of lead time. You're right too about Niseko, I was up there this Jan with some mates and a hire car - we had days of fresh powder and sometimes we were the only people on a run but then, in the 7 days we were there we rode Hirafu/Hanazono only on the last day. On the first day in Niseko the entire mountain was closed except for 3 poxy romance lifts, one at each of the main resorts so while Hirafu had a 200-300 man scrum fighting to get on its only operating lift for a 400m ride, we spent the day doing laps of the lower half of Higashiyama in the pow with only a relative handful of others. The rest of the trip followed a similar pattern. In the two days we spent at Rusutsu in thigh deep pow, I reckon the lifties out numbered the punters.

[thursday 1]

 Originally Posted By: Oyuki kigan

Whistler will make you a man. It will make your wife a man. It will make men out of your children.

[thursday 1]

serious flight hassle with your twins at 11 months though. Good luck.

[Rag-Doll 0]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

serious flight hassle with your twins at 11 months though. Good luck.

I know, I must be crazy to even think about it. It was my idea to give up a Niseko boys' week in Feb and a Sahoro family week in March for 2 family weeks in Whistler. Given the massive difference in cost and the nightmare flights, it sort of explains why I started this post in the first place - I really needed reassurance that Whistler is going to be worth it! I think it will. There are places in Whistler that offer a valet ski service, even the prospect of that was enough to get the wife on board with the idea.

[the snowboarding vicar 1]

I'd go for it, sounds like a great idea to me. I would love to do what you are doing (perhaps without the kids!)

[Mantas 3]

Go for it RD.

When your kicking back in the outdoor hot tub, right next to the runs, sucking on a cold one after a big day on a big mountain, that hell flight with the kids will be a faded memory.

I didn't notice any great numbers of Aussies there, seemed like a mixed bag of nationalities to me. More Kiwis if anything.

[Rag-Doll 0]

All good advice. It's definitely going to happen. We're looking at FF points for the flights, renting an apartment and dragging in some family and friends to help share the costs and stuff like that, it is definitely doable.

 

The tricky bit is fitting in a boy's trip to Niseko in Feb as well!

[Marshall 0]

Good for you mate, I'm sure you'll love it. I went there 6 seasons ago and had the best time ever. Great place it is. Hope the snow & weather cooperates.