Whistler Wonderland 2014

I have lived in Canada for many years now, and even though this country is known for super long and sometimes, harsh winter conditions, somehow, I have not developed an interest in winter sports.

I blame that in part to the saying, “You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.” After all, this old dog grew up in a tropical country and had not seen snow until she moved to North America for good.

However, I do not completely agree with this saying. I firmly believe that if one in is motivated and determined enough, there is still a chance to learn new things and develop new habits. The only reason why I say it is impossible to teach me new tricks, that is, “winter tricks” in particular, is because I am not exactly the athletic type, I have a poor sense of balance (in my opinion), and I am not a fan of downward motion (because it makes me queasy). If I cannot even tolerate riding the Ferris wheel or the roller coaster, I do not think it would bode well for me to engage in downhill skiing, sledding, snowboarding, skating, and such. I could try snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, but somehow, I never had the chance.

For this reason, I did not feel compelled to visit any ski resorts. When I was new in Vancouver, I was too busy checking out museums, parks, gardens, islands, and cultural attractions. I went to Grouse Mountain a couple of times, but only because it was close enough to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Usually, when we entertained out-of-town guests, we would take them to both attractions since they are in the same area and but a stone’s throw away from downtown Vancouver.

This is quite ironic because Vancouver has many ski resorts, the most popular of which is the Whistler-Blackcomb Mountain Resort.  I did not get the chance to go there until I was requested to…at work. This was followed by several other visits, with two memorable ones with family.

Whistler 2014

I went back to Whistler a couple more times after I had left the company (and the province) to resettle in the East Coast. The first one was when I returned to Vancouver for a small family reunion. My late aunt traveled from the Philippines, and my brother and his family drove from California to meet with the rest of our relatives in Vancouver. The second was when my husband, son, and I spent the summer with my Vancouver aunt, uncle, cousins and their kids. On both occasions, I played the tourist guide.

My trip to Whistler with my aunt from Manila and my brother’s family happened on a sunny day. We left my aunt’s house in Vancouver very early in the morning and arrived there at around nine o’clock. We had plenty of time to stroll around The Village, do some shopping (my sister-in-law and tween-aged niece were into sporting gear, so it was the perfect place for them), some sightseeing, picture-taking, and local goods tasting (maple products, baked treats, and the like).

And since we had the full day ahead of us, we managed to do a variety of rides. Whistler-Blackcomb has a number of gondolas and ski lifts that take you to different areas of both mountains. We decided to ride the Fitzsimmon’s Express chair lift that took us from The Village to the Mid-Way Olympic Station, where we switched to the Whistler Village Gondola that goes up to the Roundhouse Station.

This area is a hive of activity. Here, you can find the Roundhouse Lodge that houses a restaurant, a coffee kiosk, a bar with an outdoor patio overlooking incredible mountain views, a gift shop, and washrooms. It is a far cry from the original building in the olden days, when it was only a small, round building, with nothing (as in no washrooms, no electricity, no running water) but a big fireplace at the centre to keep skiers warm.

Outside, one could pick from among many of the exciting activities in the area – biking, hiking, ATVing, or even a helicopter ride. There is a chair lift called Peak Express that would take you to the Peak Lookout at the summit, but at that time of the year, it was not operational.

The only way to get to the peak is through a steep hiking trail that would take about two hours. We heard it’s a very scenic hike with gorgeous viewpoints and even snow walls that stand up to 30 feet tall. At the top, there is a giant inukshuk (a figure made of piled stones or boulders constructed to communicate with humans throughout the Arctic) and a skybridge that spans the gap between two cliffs. Alas, we couldn’t spare two hours for a hike (and another two hours going down).

There are other hiking trails around the Roundhouse Lodge with varying lengths, varying levels of difficulty, and varying characters with some on gravel paths and some on lush meadows, some passing through valleys and alpine forests, and some through very rocky terrain. Some even go around lakes and connect to the nearby Garibaldi Park.

We decided to forego the hiking and do something easy. After checking out the viewpoints and taking pictures at the Olympic stand, we “hiked” for a total of two minutes to the nearby building that houses the Peak to Peak gondola ride.

This is one of the highlights of the resort. This spectacular ride traverses the gap between the Whistler and the Blackcomb Mountains and is considered an engineering marvel and a Guinness World Record Holder. It is the world’s longest unsupported span for a lift of this kind at more than three kilometers, the world’s highest lift of its kind at 436 meters above the valley floor, and the world’s longest continuous lift system connecting three high-speed gondolas.

The 4.4-kilometer trip from one mountain to the other takes only 11 minutes. Imagine that! And for the duration of the ride, passengers are treated to amazing views of the alpine terrain below with thousands of treetops and glistening turquoise lakes. It’s not a rollercoaster, but it sure can be thrilling. From a slow creep along the loading bay, the gondola shoots out at full speed, gaining elevation rapidly, and then dips down into the valley before rising up as you approach the other side. There is even a special gondola with a glass floor, which is not suitable for those with acrophobia.

We reached the Rendezvous Station on Blackcomb Mountain in no time. And like Whistler Mountain and its Roundhouse Lodge, Blackcomb has its very own Rendezvous Lodge, which houses a cafeteria-style restaurant, a fine dining restaurant, a gift shops, small business kiosks, and washrooms. There are also several hiking trails around here, which we heard are relatively easier trails compared to those of Whistler.

We had the option to go back to Whistler Mountain via the same Peak to Peak gondola, but we decided to take a different route. There was a gondola ride right at the summit of Blackcomb, just a few steps from the lodge, called the Blackcomb Gondola, of course. It is a straight-forward ride down that lands on the Blackcomb Upper Village, where you will find some of the more luxurious hotels, such as the Fairmont, The Aspens, The Four Seasons, Club Intrawest, and the more exclusive lodges and chalets. From there, it was a ten-minute walk to the Village Centre. We did not mind the walk. It was scenic and relaxing and gave us a chance to be away from the crowds for a few minutes.

We learned afterwards that to reach The Village from the summit of Blackcomb, we could have taken this route  – a five-minute ride down the Jersey Cream Express chair lift, followed by another five-minute chair lift ride on Excelerator Express, and finally the Excalibur Gondola, which lands right on The Village Stroll circle where we started off that morning.

But on hindsight, it occurred to us the one chair lift ride was enough for my aunt. She was fine with the open-air ride during our ascent halfway up Whistler Mountain, but two open-air rides down Blackcomb Mountain would have been a bit much for her. We were actually surprised that she had agreed to do this in the first place. We would otherwise have taken the Whistler Village Gondola from the base to the Round House if she had not, but we wanted her to experience a chair lift ride as well.

It was only when we reached The Village North area, exhilarated by all the rides and all the walking that we realized we were famished. We forgot to eat lunch!

After circling the Marketplace, the Olympic Plaza, and the Town Plaza, we discovered this small Italian deli, Pasta Lupino, run by an Italian husband-and-wife team that also had a dine-in restaurant. The deli offered freshly made pastas, sauces, and bread, as well as gourmet Italian groceries, while the restaurant offered staple Italian dishes made from scratch or from the gourmet products that they were selling. My niece was in the mood for pizza and my sister-in-law, for pasta. We figured this would be a good place to get authentic Italian fare.

My brother and my niece tried their homemade veggie pizza generously topped with a selection of fresh vegetables, mozzarella, and goat cheese. My sister-in-law ordered their signature spaghettini with meatballs. My aunt and I opted for the pasta and soup combo. I had spaghettini with spicy Arrabiatta sauce and she had the linguini Alfredo. Both came with homemade broccoli soup. We also ordered a breadbasket with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and an Italian sausage side to share. I had a glass of red wine from Puglia, as recommended by the owner. Everything was so delicious and it felt like dining in the kitchen of an Italian nonna - very hearty and comforting. We did not have room for dessert, but we bought some homemade spinach Cesare pasta to take home to my other aunt.

We crossed the street to go back to the Village Centre and do some window-shopping at the Village Common, the Village Square, and Mountain Square. We had fun just perusing the goods in the souvenir and novelty shops.

We ended the day with ice cream from Cow’s, a Canadian ice cream parlor chain that was founded on Prince Edward Island and claims to be the best ice cream in the world. They have also expanded their product line to include cheddar cheese and cow-themed products – and was there ever a lot (the wonders of marketing)! We each had a scoop of our preferred flavours, then we bought cans of hot chocolate powder to take home to L.A. and Ottawa.