 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello everyone - I have returned from my trip to Whistler Blackcomb that I won via a competition on the Fall Line website http://www.fall-line-media.com/skiing/.
Apologies for the time taken to post this; I have been rushed off my feet at work since returning.
I'd best start from the beginning - I received an email from Andy at Fall Line congratulating me on winning the competition that I'd entered.
To be honest I was a bit dubious as I couldn't recall even entering the competition.
I checked the website and called the helpline and it all turned out to be kosher. I then recalled how last year I entered as many competitions as I could in the vein hope of getting on some snow this season.
So I got flights, hotel, ski passes, transfers, and rental - all for free! I was quite chuffed.
So on the 12th my partner and I flew from Glas Vegas (that's Glasgow's other moniker) on Zoom airlines. Whilst this is a budget flight it is worth putting up with the prison food for the views alone.
We flew over Greenland which was barely poking out of the icy blanket that covered it.
I was aware that the Arctic ice fields covered a large area, but it wasn't until I looked out of the window and saw the curvature of the Earth with everything below the horizon being white that I truly understood the word "vast".
After a few hours of staring down at the cracked white sheets I realised that we were no longer over Greenland but had crossed Baffin Bay and were now over Canada.
On the final leg of the flight we flew along the spine of North America - the Rockies. The name really is one of the most modest titles of all time. These snow capped mountains jutted off into the distance as though the gods decided that they needed a balance to the flatness of the North.
There were in-flight movies but I couldn't tell you what they were as my nose was stuck to the portal.
Even the bus from Vancouver was a joy. Usually a 3 hour transfer to a resort is the last thing one wants after a long journey but the bus hugged the coast almost all of the way. Watching the sun set over the outlying islands was simply spectacular.
By the time we arrived at our hotel we were wiped out. Fortunately the bed had taken it's cue from the Canadian countryside and turned out to be massive. To be honest, I think the bed was my girlfriend’s favourite part of the trip.
The rest of the room was pretty good too – dressing gowns, Egyptian cotton towels, big screen TV, coffee machine (and a kettle for me, the tea drinker), lounge area, and last but by no means least, was the view of Blackcomb. Every morning, I just popped out onto the mini-balcony to check on the conditions and just stare at the two beautiful mountains sitting beside one another, begging to be skied.
It was a room that we certainly felt that we could get accustomed to.
After a decent sleep we went down for breakfast where we discovered our first disappointment. We were under the impression that our hotel was full board only to find out that we would have to pay for our food.
The hotel confirmed with Whistler that it was room only so my new skis fund turned into the food fund. A major disappointment as my own skis aren't even fit for a dry slope.
You are probably thinking “Why is he complaining? He did get a free trip after all!” But I had been dreaming of buying a pair of Scott Neos.
But every cloud has a silver lining – the rental shop was like something of the set of a Sci-Fi movie. This wasn’t the usual pine-panelled dungeon smelling of Gauloises and feet with a bored fellow flicking through a magazine; this was stainless steel, computers, and uniformed chirpy staff more than happy to give advice on everything from the equipment and conditions on the slope right through to where the most decent pubs are.
The selection of skis up for rental was pretty damn good. I skied on Salomon Foils, K2 Apache Rangers, and Head iXRCs. It would have been more but the K2s were so much fun I was loathe to leave them be.
This was my partner’s first time skiing (apart from 2 hours at Hillend dry slope) and my first time teaching.
We headed for the Magic Carpet and then stopped. After 10 minutes of coercing, being insulted in quite colourful language and my two trips up and down, I finally persuaded her to travel to the top.
We had our first Liftie experience at the top of the Magic carpet and it was such a refreshing one. This friendly snowboarder from England welcomed us to the top with encouragement for my girlfriend and some tips about his favourite parts of the mountain for me. I even found out that he is a fan of Document, the sister magazine to Fall Line.
I thought this was a one off but once my partner had progressed to her first chair we were met by a Canadian dude (in the proper snowboarding sense of the word) who gave us high fives for being from Scotland, was genuinely happy to have a chat about the resort and even recommended Kootenay Ale, which I’ll be eternally grateful to him for.
Although I can’t vouch for the rest of Canada as I haven’t been anywhere other than Whistler Blackcomb, I have to say that the residents of this resort were extremely polite and friendly.
It didn’t matter if you were a bum with enough luck to win a pass or a multi-millionaire with a slope-side lodge; they still made you feel welcome and were more than happy to spill the beans on the hidden gems that are dotted all over the mountains.
Most mornings were spent teaching my girlfriend but I had the afternoons free to explore.
The runs were varied with miles after mile of runs with challenges for all levels. It really is a resort that caters for all levels.
The snow conditions were not as good as earlier on in the season; but when you consider that there was still snow down to the resort with only a few patches of grass showing, it is a very small gripe.
Most days started off with ice that softened as the day went on. On the Tuesday and the Wednesday I was skiing in my T-shirt in the afternoons.
Wednesday was the day that my partner took off. I’ve got to hand it to her - she lasted longer than most newbies and had fewer tantrums than expected. Not only that but now she is the proud owner of parallel turns.
For me though this was my opportunity to ski the famous Peak to Creek run. I wish I get the chance, some day, to ski this earlier on in the season as it was moguls almost all of the way and pretty icy.
At the Peak it was pure pea soup with only two metres visibility. My low-viz goggles were no help whatsoever so I waited for a couple of locals and tagged on to them.
Once I popped out of the bottom of the cloud I was presented with the glorious panorama of the town and lakes. I was very close to going back bottom-over-tip because of this distraction.
Half way down there is a bench and I took full advantage of it to have a rest and take in the views.
I was tempted to stay there but the adverts for the pub at Creekside enticed me down.
Three kilometres of thigh wobbling skiing after my sit down and I arrived at the pub and the best beer I have had for a while (probably more to do with the run than the brewer).
One thing though, turn right on to the downhill course rather than taking the very last part of Peak to Creek as there was very little cover on this section and your bases could take a serious pounding.
The next afternoon I went on the hunt for the black runs. I highly recommend Higgy’s and the Dave Murray Downhill both will put big silly grins on your face.
On Friday I spent part of the morning by the Roundhouse on Whistler checking out the ski gear at the testing area.
I really have to recommend Movement Sparks and Scott Neo both are so much fun. The Movements just wants to be thrown around whilst the Scotts let you do the most stupid things on them without complaint.
Our last day was Saturday so on this day I got on the first Blackcomb chairs (and tow) and travelled to the top of Showcase. Then I just cruised all of the way back down to my hotel on the most chilled out run of the whole trip.
Whistler may be quite but Blackcomb was like a ghost town. I saw only six other skiers/boarder from top to bottom.
Whilst I was there for the skiing, the après was pretty impressive too.
With the Telus Festival on I could ski to the bottom, grab a beer and watch a very impressive variety of local and international bands performing on the stage.
There were stalls giving out free razors, energy drinks and chocolate bars but strangely enough it was the myriad of shops displaying sale signs that caught my girlfriend’s attention.
Our emergency credit card has taken a serious dent and I can’t go the pub for the next decade just so we can cover it.
If you have some spare cash in Whistler it won’t be spare for long.
I’ll give you another warning – bring elasticised salopettes. We ordered the half portion of nachos at Merlin’s. The table groaned under the weight of tasty Mexican nibbles. This is not a lunch for the faint of heart, if you have the half order between two you won’t need dinner; if you have the full order you’ll need a forklift truck to get you back to your room.
Our most star studded moment was on the hotel patio. Our room was being cleaned so we decided to have a beer on the patio beside the open fire. There was an old man with long weaved hair dyed black, a black suede, rhinestone encrusted jacket and two people flanking him as he just stood there. He looked at us as though we were going to rain on his barbeque. He turned to the guy on his right, “We’re done here.” Off he walked with his entourage scuttling behind him.
Ten minutes later it dawned on me, he was Gene Simmons of Kiss fame. I finished my beer.
It was a great, great trip. I got some fantastic skiing in and my girlfriend is now more than happy to go on skiing trips.
Whistler Blackcomb is a wonderful place. If I could afford to travel to Canada, I would make it my regular resort. One week just simply wasn’t enough; I don’t think one season would be enough.
Thank you very much Fall Line for giving me this fantastic prize and thank you to Whistler Blackcomb for a truly wonderful experience.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 29-04-08 13:41; edited 1 time in total
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