 Poster: A snowHead
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We have just returned from Madonna where my girlfriends confidence took a bit of a knock during a poor lesson where despite the lesson being booked as learner / blue run skier the instructor took her on several red runs that she realy was not up to and as his English was not good the result was that she did not ski the next day and is worried about our trip to Whistler next month.
She is going in ski school for 3 days but is a bit concerned about the grading of the runs compared with Europe (she was getting on well on blues before the lesson).
I have skied in Canada and the USA before (but not Whistler) and have always found that runs whilst different colours seemed to correspond fairly closely to similar levels in Europe, but have seen a couple of reports that suggest that this may not be the case in Whistler.
Any advice would be appreciated as I would not like her to lose confidence again.
Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If I remember rightly the blues are greens in Whistler and there are plenty of lovely gentle slopes around. Take the gondola up Whistler Mountain to the mid station and then head off to the left. The Ego Bowl is a lovely gentle run which I'm sure your girlfriend will love, and there are lots more of them. I have also had lessons in Whistler with Ski Esprit and is the only place I will do lesson now. I found they were excellent and of course they speak english! Tell her not to be worried and she will have a fab time. I love Whistler !
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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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Though Whistler has a reputation for it's more challenging side, it also has a lot of much easier stuff - we went there on our second ever trip and have been going back ever since.
Typical of many North American places it is very user friendly, so for example every lift has a green run (that really is a green run) down from it, which is nice because you can then take even complete beginner friends right to the top after a few days as MrsH did with some friends of ours.
I'd highly recommend doing a lesson called Ski Esprit. It's a multi-day group lesson which mixes up instruction with showing round both mountains and also a good social side. You'll be in a group that's appropriate to your level and the instructor will take you on suitable stuff.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 29-01-08 14:12; edited 1 time in total
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Hi what a coincidence I am also a Nervous skier and I am going to Madonna this year but have skied Whistler twice. Your Girlfriend will be fine in Whsitler as there are both green and blue runs, so she will be able to ski either. You can go to the top of Whistler and ski right down a green run there is plenty of choice. If she has really been put off in Madonna then see if you can get her into a small group lesson (2 or 3 people) becuase these are great to get your confidence back as the instructor can spend time with everyone ( I was put in one by chance as the main group was full and I had a great day of really easy skiing - Ok I didn't learn much but I didn't spend the whole time worrying about where he was going to take us. I guess what I am saying is tell her that if I can ski there anyone can and if for any reason you don't like the lessons it is easy to go up the mountain on your own and ski down in your own time. Of course I hope I don't have the same problem as your girlfriend in Madonna! oh and Whistler is a great place.
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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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If she wants a small group lesson, the one to do is called a Supergroup. Maximum of 3 people in the group. Private lessons are astonishingly expensive and personally I don't really feel that one-on-one lesson really helps as much as having a few other people to share the pain/embarrassment with!  - I had a two on one (oo-er!) from two of the top instructors in the ski school in something the ski school were trying out called a supercamp a few years ago (no-one else turned up because it was raining!) and I found it a bit of a mental overload.
You can check out all the details on www.whistlerblackcomb.com
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If I remember rightly the blues are greens in Whistler
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The blues are BLUE in whistler, from palest baby blue, to dark navy/purple, so stick to greens to start with. We did get into some rather unexpected [though not unwelcome] mogul fields on some blues below ego bowl this Christmas. Would agree about the Ego bowl though, wide, beautiful snow and not at all busy. Cannot wait to go back again.
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Guess it depends which resort you are comparing to but from my somewhat limited European experience and much more extensive Whistler experience I'd say:
Whistler Green = Actually green all the way, no nasty surprises (though burnt stew trail on the absolute worst day of the 04/05 Season was pretty fierce - in the extremely unlikely event it gets that bad give up and to the bar (we did)!!  )
Whistler Blue = varies quite a bit from European blue to European red- the saddle has it's moments particularly the entrance on an icy day, but generally no major surprises
Whistler black = European black
Whistler Double black = Difficult off-piste somewhere in Europe
Whistler Triple black = Hardcore off-piste (probably best avoided on this trip  )
If you decide not to do the lesson thing and you're after the easier stuff, on Whistler Mountain the emerald chair area is a good start - aka the green zone for the obvious reason that most of the runs are green. To get there just get on the Whistler Gondola and go all the way to the top - it's stops sort of halfway, don't get off yet. (This assumes you get it from the village - if from Creekside just get the gondola to the top then the red chair. Incidentally a more pleasant way to get up from the village if it's busy is to get the Fitzsimmons chair up then the Garbanzo chair, then ski to the bottom of emerald).
Also the Symphony chair area is good once you get a bit of confidence, pretty easy terrain but winds through the trees (actually pistes not tree skiing) which is quite cool if you've not done anything like that before.
On Blackcomb a lot of the greens are cat access tracks which makes them a bit boring, probably better to head for the Seventh Heaven area - particularly if it's sunny, you can start off on the windy green and work out which of the blues you like. Again once you get a bit more confidence, if you can bear the T-bar then the Horstmann Glacier is great - superb cruisy carving snow. Alternatively the area near the Crystal chair (rock and roll etc) is nice but it does lead to a long cat road where you'll have some of the hard-core coming past you at speed as it is the way back from Spanky's (don't panic, they should be good enough to to cause you any trouble)
The ski outs at the end of the day can get busy so if you don't like crowds, just get the gondola down from the midstation on Whistler or top of blackcomb gondola (it seems worse on Whistler so Blackcomb skiing down isn't so bad).
Would still recommend doing a lesson, then you don't have to bother with finding your way and just enjoy the slopes - Saying that it is pretty hard on either Whistler or Blackcomb to accidentally find yourself in a tricky spot you won't be able to get down from if you're on the piste (if you go off that's a whole new thing )
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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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Hmm ... on my trip to Whistler last year I would say:
Whistler Greens - are often Cat-Tracks (narrow and pretty boring)
Whistler Blues - encompass everything from a European Blue right the way through to a moderate European red.
This can make things tricky for lower intermediates for the first couple of days.
Best advice, is to talk to the local mountain staff / ski hosts once you're out there. Everyone is REALLY helpful, and will point you in the right direction.
Also worth bearing in mind that they don't groom all the slopes each night. However you can check on the website for which ones are groomed if you prefer to stick to the courdroy.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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stuarth, Sorry mate got to disagree, Burnt Stew starts from the top of Harmony Chair and heads down to the bottom of it cutting through Symphony Bowl on its way. 
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Steve.S, Stuarth has provided an excellent summary of Whistler Blackcomb. To paraphase:
If your GF is nervous to start- please start your holiday skiing the Emerald Chair on Whistler Mountain. She'll graduate from the green runs located in that area to the blue runs located in the same area.
Don't plan to ski from the mountain top down to Creekside- although there are blue runs- they are "dark blue" which are quite long and quite steep in places.
The symphony express is an excellent place for skiing "light blue" aka low intermediate level ski pistes. If it's cold, have her take some hand warmers, and use the restaurant facilities at the Roundhouse before you head out to Symphony bowl, as it's a long trip out and back. Beautiful place to have an easy ski, and well worth the trip. (unless you're snowboarding- it's too flat in too many places)
Burnt stew trail is a very long green piste, that allows even green skiers to enjoy a trip to the top of the Peak or Harmony chairs. (sorry Bones- Stuarth knows what he's talking about) The upper portion from the Peak is actually called "Matthews traverse"- you either turn left, and take the very dark blue pisted "Harmony Saddle", or turn right onto Burnt Stew. All of these areas are only enjoyable on a clear day, or with high overcast cloud conditions- so don't take her up to the very top in poor visibility conditions- she'll be safe at all times, but won't have an enjoyable experience.
Taking a lesson is a given- she will have excellent instruction from an instructor who speaks excellent english and who works for a ski school that is focused on customer satisfaction.
The super groups only run on Blackcomb, which is an excellent mountain, but only for blue runs (European reds) and higher in my opinion. There are green runs, but as explained by Stuarth, they are connected by a series of cat-tracks (skiways), which aren't as exciting as the green runs on Whistler. After a day or so on Whistler mountain, after she's enjoying the blue runs- she should head over to Blackcomb.
And finally, download at the end of the day, if it's a busy day. There's no shame in downloading in Whistler- You never have the best run of the day on your last run at 3:30pm, and it's a long way to the valley if it's crowded, and possibly icy. All of the lower mountain lifts on both mountains are configured for downloading at the end of the day. It's relaxing, and a very nice view.
Enjoy.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks everyone, this is a great help and my girlfriend is a lot happier about our trip now.
Stephen.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Bones, if you ski straight off the peak chair and fork left, there is a cat track that takes you down to the saddle. Opposite the entrance to the saddle is the start of burnt stew trail which is a lovely scenic green run, like stuarth says.
I've done it many times. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The super groups only run on Blackcomb
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Supergroups Levels 1 - 3 run on both Whistler and Blackcomb
Supergroups Levels 4-6 run only on Blackcomb
Sounds like the OP should suggest doing a Supergroup Level 3 on Whistler on the first day, and take it from there.
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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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probably just need to avoid anything higher than blue. they dont seem to piste any reds! they have amazing terrain and good blacks but both single and double diamond are not pisted so there are only a few pistes which are steeper and pisted, these ones are often used for racers to practise on. not the best place to go for a nervous skier but its definately worth the experience, I know that i appreciated iot a lot more when i went again as a more experienced skier.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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ro55mac,
Yep the Dave Murray Downhill is one of those blacks that is groomed - it's generally not too fierce if you are not trying to run it at downhill speeds!! It does have a few steepish and sometimes icy bits (the weasel for example), but this section can be avoided. Steve.S, might be worth a look once if you get confident enough just so you can say you've skied the 2010 Olympic Downhill course!!
Bones, You are right there is an edge to the track and though you might not deliberately want to go down the CakeHole, in the unlikely event you did fall off it would be a pain in the backside, but not exactly the end of the world (so long as you don't carry on down too far - it gets tricky down there and even if you do know how to make it to the bottom have a snowmobile waiting or it's a long walk to function/creekside!). The traverse is wide and mostly dead flat - you often have to pole/skate bits of it. I can't recall seeing anyone in trouble there, I don't think I've even seen a faller. The only time it gets trickier is in very bad visibility and/or high winds, and even then it's still just a cat track.
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