I can’t believe that we have crammed all of what I have talked about so far into one week! I feel like there’s so much more of Alberta and British Columbia to explore, but unfortunately we just didn’t have time to fit it all in – I’ll just have to come back again!
Anyway, on to the next overnight stop on the journey – the winter ski resort and summer biker’s paradise of Whistler. The actual town is a chalet-style pedestrianised hub, which made it very easy to get around. Here’s what we did whilst visiting this busy little town.
What we did
Marble Canyon
We decided to stop at this Provincial Park on the way to Whistler from Sun Peaks as we were getting peckish and it sounded like it would be a nice place to rest. We didn’t actually realise that it was a lovely little campsite popular with fishers and birdwatchers. The pitching area looked over the aptly named Turquoise Lake and over to the waterfall on the opposite side.
I would love to camp somewhere like this one day, although I would be a little scared of the bears! It was also a lovely place to picnic because it was so quiet and relaxing listening to the trickle of water from the falls.
Whistler Olympic Park
The location for the biathlon, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping events in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Whistler Olympic Park was quite the place once. About a 30 minute drive from main Whistler village, it was a little trek but Abby loves sport so we couldn’t not go.
Here we completed the ski jump scramble (450 steps up the first section of the ski jump, then another 20 minute walk through foliage to the top) which was an incredible achievement for all of us and you could see the whole park from the top.
There were also plenty of interpretive signage all through the park telling you about the legacy of the park and the Games, some of which was really interesting. And, of course, you have to get your photo taken next to the Olympic rings…
We also walked over to the biathlon range and witnessed roller skiing – yep, skis on wheels!
If I’m honest, I was expecting better things at the park. There was nothing bad about it as such, but huge parts of it just looked bare. I suppose I am comparing it to the Olympic Park in London which is very decorated down to the last detail, but I just expected it to look nicer. But it was for the Winter Olympics so I guess most of it was covered in snow so you wouldn’t see most of it!
There’s more that we didn’t get a chance to do at the park, such as frisbee golf and E-bike tours, so you could probably make a whole day of it if you wanted to.
Gondolas
The gondola system that serves Whistler and Blackcomb mountains is pretty extensive – and allows people to access some incredible attractions. If you don’t do anything else in Whistler, please go on these because they offer the most incredible views. But do be warned, it gets pretty chilly up there even in the summer so layer up.
As I say, there are quite a few gondolas and chairlifts serving these mountains, so it’s a little confusing at first what to do! I’ll tell you the route we took and what we saw along the way, and hopefully this will give you a better idea.
First, we took the Whistler Village gondola from, you guessed it, Whistler Village. This takes you up to Roundhouse Lodge. From here take the Peak Express Chairlift, which takes you above ice and snow. It was an exhilarating experience, soaring above the peaks and valleys with just a bar to stop you from falling. This took you to the Top of the World Summit, and it certainly felt like we were with how far out we could see!
This is where the real fun started – the Cloudraker Skybridge and the Raven’s Eye Cliffwalk. Mum and I were the only ones out of the family brave enough to go across this bridge that was 7200ft above sea level, but Dad and Abby cheered us on from the sidelines. The bridge only wobbled a little bit (okay, quite a lot but that just added to the excitement) and neither of us realised how long this thing was, it took us ages to get across over to the Cliffwalk. The Cliffwalk is pretty much self-explanatory – it was a see through viewing platform that stuck out from the edge of the cliff.
To access Blackcomb Mountain you have to go back down the Peak Express Chairlift back to the Roundhouse Lodge. From here, you then take the Peak2Peak Gondola. I’d never seen anything like this before, I don’t know how it maanged to stay up because there are very few pylons keeping the cable and the cars up. It was a really amazing thing to do, and the feat of engineering is the proud owner of two Guinness World Records, “highest cable car above ground” (at 436m) and “longest unsupported span between two cable car towers” (at 2.024km apart) which I for one think is pretty cool.
Once across to Blackcomb and back down to the village via the Blackcomb gondola. All these gondolas are also used for mountain bikers in the summer as it is one of the best places to mountain bike in the world (David and his friends were very jealous!), and there are many hikes once up the mountains for you to enjoy with varying difficulties.
Where we ate
BG Urban Grill
This eatery had pretty competitive dinner prices compared with most other restaurants in Whistler, which is part of the reason why we chose to eat there. The food was okay, nothing too special and still pricey for what it was. But we had had a long journey and were starving, so we were glad for the hot meal. Its not got great reviews of TripAdvisor which, if we had seen beforehand, would have meant we wouldn’t have gone here.
Mexican Corner Restaurant
This was another place in Whistler Village but a little bit tucked away on the first floor of another restaurant. I’m so glad we found it though because the food was amazing! As per the name it was definitely a Mexican restaurant, but there was so much variety on what you could have. I had a quesadilla which was just the right amount of crispy and gooey inside, Abby and mum both had tacos with various fillings and they looked jammed full. Dad said his burrito was the best he had ever had, so it must have been good! This was definitely my favourite eatery in Whistler.
Where we stayed
The Listel Hotel
Photo taken from here
This hotel is in the heart of Whistler which means that it is really easy to get where you want to go. We could walk to get dinner in the evenings and only really used the car to go to the Olympic Park! It is also home to the worlds coldest vodka tasting room Ketel Once – it was quite expensive to go in there so we didn’t but the people who did looked VERY wrapped up! There was also an in-room safe and a small fridge that was very handy to have. All in all a great place to stay.
So that was a whistle stop tour of Whistler – are there any fantastic places that we’ve missed??
Happy travelling!
Zoe and David x
Written by Zoe
Not-So-Trendy Travellers 