 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We stayed here, a friend found it when he lived in vancouver and they did single rooms for him. Highly recommended, the food is excellent. Joern will ferry you to the slopes in the morning and pick you up in the evening. a car is handy for getting around in the evening but not essential.
10 days is fine, 14 is better, you could spend a whole season there easily...
we found it fines staying out of the village - the place had a hot tub on the verandahm and was within easy walking distance of the sports centre / swimming pool place.
So late in the season it won;t be too cold, but lower down you may find rain rather than snow
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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1. You could easily spend 2 weeks there. (and if you want, take a day trip to Vancouver at some time during the holiday)
2. Creekside is more sedate, less nightlife, anywhere in Whistler Village will be walkable to the slopes, and staying on the Blackcomb side, you'll get up Blackcomb mountain easily, and won't be too difficult to get to Whistler mountain. Apart from Creekside, the main town isn't that spread out.
3. I'd go for a bus transfer, even if you chose a chalet or hotel at the far end of town, you can still get the free buses to the slopes, but most people will walk it.
4. Some people talk about rain in the village, I've only ever had one day when it rained low down - not an issue. It won't be as cold in late Feb as it is in January, but don't be planning to ski in T shirts.
5. Talk to Ski Independence. Most of the very cheap accommodation is occupied by seasonnaires, but there are a wide range of prices available. Remember, when you're there, eating out is very cheap.
I've stayed at the Coast Whistler Hotel. On a map it looks a long way from the slopes, in reality it's about 5 minutes walk when carrying your skis.
6. Check out places such as Extremely Canadian. They do a 2 day course which is good, if you're a reasonably advanced skier. I've taken lessons from the main ski school, and even the standard group lesson was superior to anything I'd had in Europe - smaller groups, more attention to you, speaking the same language, etc.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well I have been there twice now and will go back again... so I certainly
recommend you get yourself there!
1) 10 days is enough but I would recommend two weeks. And go into Vancouver over the middle weekend. (they have ski passes where you can ski 11 days out of 13 etc)
2) Staying in whistler village itself will give you easier access to both mountains and to more bars. Creekside (which is where I stayed) means it is a slight faff to get over to blackcombe mountain. However the bus system works and there are taxis.
3) Didnt have a car and didnt miss it. Just spend whatever money you save on getting accomodation closer to the snow...
4) I was there Mar 6th this year and I got four days of sun out of 6. And I got rained on a little bit. And some snow. But it was never fearsomely cold.
6) One of our party took a private lesson and it was dreadful. So get someone here to recommend something!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Been there 3 times and still want to go back again so
1) I'd agree with the above go for 2 weeks then take a few days off spread over the 2 weeks to go to vancouver (ice hockey is great), dogsledding or snowmobiling, etc. Hopefully next season we'll be there for a lot longer 
2) We've always stayed in Whistler village so we're close to the main nightlife, it can be a little noisy but if that's what you're looking for it's a great place to be
3) No point having a car - if you do it yourself, then get the perimiter express from the airport(not used it myself but apparently it's frequent, convenient, and reliable) plus if you turn up on a snowy night, the sea-to-sky highway might be better navigated by someone used to it!!
4) was there the last week of feb/first week of march this year - we had a bit of everything sun, rain, powder, fog, hot, cold!! Bit slushy and grim down low during the first week but great up top. It was pretty quiet on the slopes (try and miss the US presidents week if possible).
5) We've stayed in the mountainside lodge and the holiday inn both right in the village and close to the lifts. Been with Inghams each time as it seems if you do it seperately the flight alone costs almost as much as everything in the package
6) The ski school has been very good in my experience. Did a Dave Murray downhill camp which has ex-world cup racers and coaches - sorts your skiing right out (incidently despite the name we didn't spend all the time racing gates, worked on technique then off to the steepest, bumpiest bit of the mountain to see how it applies to double blacks!!)
Also did a private, we had the instructor for that the year before so we knew who to pick - her name is Margie Shaw, another good instructor is her other half Meesh Berthoud, had various others but I can't remember their names
Supergroups on blackcomb are another really good way to improve quickly, max group size is 3, but I was lucky enough to have no-one else with the same (lack of) ability as me, so it ended up a half-price private lesson 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Super informative thread: well done you guys. I know a number of people thinking of Whistler next year. Now I'm the expert! (sounds good, despite the rain).
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Wow - 2 hours - and this is fantastic.
Thanks so much. Like what I'm hearing - and so will pass this on to the rest of the crew and start doing some detailed planning.
Need to avidly keep an eye out now for flight offers - and start looking into somewhere to stay. Will probably avoid getting a car and rely on the buses (maybe put that money towards the lessons that have been mentioned!)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I have been there four times so here is my contribution
10days would be ok , two weeks would be better especially if you take a weekend off to visit say Vancouver. It can be busy in the week, but more so at the weekend when Vancouver (and possibly Seattle) comes out to play so take that off. It is 75 miles to Vancouver, roughly 2 hours on the shuttle bus.
Where you stay depends to a large extent on what you are prepared to pay. Creekside is cheaper than the Upper Village which is cheaper than the Village (this is a large generalisation), but there are places further out which will be cheaper still, but you cant walk to the lifts. Work on the basis that you get what you pay for in terms of location, if not in terms of amenities ie the further out stuff may well be a better plasce to live but it is further out. That said the bus system does work if you want to go for the cheaper option.
For Whistler itself, unless you are really far out you do not need a car, take the bus.
Weather wise it should not be unduly cold in the Alpine then, they get a cold spell with freezing air from the Arctic at some times, but I am told, usually before March. You may be unlucky, but hopefully not. You should expect snow, times of poor visibility and days of sun. Because there is a 5000 ft vertical if it is snowing in the Alpine at 7000 ft it may be raining in the village at 1800 ft. You can often look up and see the snow line or freezing level. It canbe raining/cloudy in the village and clear blue skys/sunny up top
I have done the Dave Murray camp twice and the Ski Esprit twice, once with Meesh and once with Margie, as referred to by Stuarth. I did a Supergroup in January this year which was meant to be 3 but come the day it was just me so I had a 3 day private lesson with Margie, best skiing investment I have ever made.You could not in my view fail to have a good time. The Dave Murray camp is also good value, with a good social aspect to it. They are tough, dont expect some ego massaging comments as these guys/girls are either ex World Cup racers or trainers of that standard, so they have seen a lot better than the likes of me coming along, but you will come out a lot better than you went in, if my experience is anything to go by. Have also heard v good reports of Extremely Canadian but have not done that.
You will not find better skiing terrain in the US/Canada, coupled with an easy transfer from Vancouver, great restaurants at cheap prices (relatively) and a good selection of entertainment. As you might have guessed I love it. Downside is too much ice hockey on the TV, but you can occasionally see some football, in between the ice hockey.
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A ps to my earlier report. Flights are not cheap. BA and Air Canada must have some cartel going to keep the prices high because they tend to be extortionate. It is a lot more expensive to fly to Vancouver than to LA despite LA being 2 hours more or less longer in flying time. But BA and Air Canada fly non stop. For me coming from Scotland the cheap fares are KLM via Amsterdam or Lufthansa via Frankfurt, these can be £150-£200 cheaper than BA/AC. You can try a new kid on the block which is Zoom (www.flyzoom. com, I think) which is starting flights from Gatwick and Glasgow to Vancouver, they look really cheap, but you are stuck to 7/14 days (the others fly daily) and they are a start up so who knows what the "flight experience" will be. KLM and Lufthansa have flights which get to Vancouver at lunchtime so it is dead easy to connect with the bus and be in Whistler later that afternoon, get any ski hire sorted and be ready to go the next morning. Given the time difference of 8 hours if you are anything like me you will be up pretty early that day.........and knackered by 7/8 pm.
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FAQ
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for any info you can give to help me decide whether to go
