Whistler for first timer

[Jilly]

Speaking of pot pies....Peaked pies on the Whistler side. Australian meat pies, mashed peas, mashed potatoes and gravy on top. Add the salad and a great meal you can take back to the condo.

 

[Kika35]

A word of warning: Horstman House is ski-in but it's definitely not ski-out! Shouldn't be a problem since it has its own shuttle.

1. Rental tips: Renting from the mountain itself is expensive (but there is a 20% discount if you have an Epic pass) BUT very convenient - you can check it in for free overnight & I think you can have it sent to Whistler if you rented on Blackcomb etc. Best to call customer service and confirm though.
Black Tie will bring skis to your condo to fit, which is cushy.
Spicy is the best value & there is a shop at Blackcomb base.

All will let you pickup from ~3pm the after before your rental official starts.

2. The reservation system for mountain restaurants is no longer in effect this year. You should be okay since it's midweek but just for reference: Chic Pea or Pikas (downstairs part of Roundhouse) are the best options on Whistler side, Glacier Creek is better than Rendezvous over on Blackcomb.

2b: I am not sure the guided tours still exist: the consensus in the subreddit is that Vail cancelled the program (no-one has seen signs for it on the mountain, although I did ski past a group just after 11am last Weds outside the Roundhouse that *might* have been the hosted groups.)

3. Check the freezing level on the weather report: this will help prepare you for the snow conditions. https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/the-mountain/mountain-conditions/snow-and-weather-report.aspx.
e.g for Monday 20th, the freezing level is at 1200m. With overnight temps of -6C, that means that just below mid-station the snow may have melted during the previous day & refrozen overnight, so it will be icy in the morning (not a problem coming from Ontario!) granular mid-day and sticky or even slushy in the afternoon.

Most of the time the challenge isn't skiing in powder, it's skiing in the aftermath of several thousand people skiing through 10cm of heavy, wettish snow, so even groomed runs have many sections that are ~halfway to forming moguls.

3b. Apropos of weather: Do not freak out when you are riding the gondola up & you pass through clouds. Quite often it will be perfectly clear up top with a band of fog around the middle - on those days, the high alpine can be really enjoyable. Just keep an eye on the clouds moving in because it's unnerving to be in the Alpine when it's totally foggy. Be prepared to ski with poles dragging on the ground to help with your orientation if you get enveloped in fog in the alpine. Otherwise stick to runs with trees on either side for better vis/definition.

4. If you are really nervous about the difficulty of the mountain, start on Whistler instead of Blackcomb. Mid-week the Whistler gondola queue should be fine, otherwise take the Blackcomb gondola up & then Peak to Peak over. To add to Christy's excellent advice:
a) Warm up with laps of the Emerald Chair. Upper & Lower Whiskey Jack and/or Ego Bowl are the easiest. Marmot has one short steepish section that gets mogulled up very quickly. The progression is then to Green Acres, which has been relabelled as a blue this year (but I heard instructors referring to it as a turquoise/teal as it's mostly green in nature BUT has a short pitch that again, gets tons of moguls.)

I would then do Red chair - lots of nice blues on that one. Then I would progress to Harmony, *if* it's a clear day, Harmony Ridge being particularly lovely (but see my comments about fog in the high alpine). Note that Symphony & Harmony chairs close early at 2:30 because it's a bit of a trek to get back to the main area in Whistler. They also seem to have the worst lines - on Tues last week and I had zero lines at Emerald and 20min wait at Harmony

The Saddle was upgraded to black this year, which feels right as it was always steeper than Raven (a short groomed black off Garbanzo) - apparently the receding glacier has made it even steeper. There's a convex roll at the top which is pretty unnerving as you can't see over the edge.

On Blackcomb, the progression is: Easy Out (Catskinner chair) and then straight to blue runs, with Wishbone being the teaching zone blue that has more ski patrol slow zones. There *are* other green runs but they are cattracks & not much fun. Of course, what I call icy you might find totally okay, in which case there is a green run all the way from the top of 7th Heaven that might be fun in good weather.

My caveats on the progression that Cygnet listed above is that with the decline in quality of piste grooming under Vail, what are listed as lower intermediate runs off Excelerator are highly dependent on freezing level and/or the amount of snow that has fallen. Too often it's piles of mushy crud with skied off hardpack between. Note that the guide was written before the Blackcomb gondola opened, so Wizard = lower Blackcomb gondola (Grub Stake is a particularly mellow blue - I like to ski this one as the home run at the end of the day). The top of ZigZag is nice but the bottom half is meh.

Wishbone is the teaching zone blue - there's a weird pitch right in the middle before Cruiser splits off that is always cruddy with nascent moguls forming, but otherwise okay. Jersey Cream is probably the most reliable chair in terms of quality of snow & length of queue for the chair (it starts off as alpine & the entry is a little icy/mogully but quickly flattens out). The blues in Crystal are the nicest, even if they are listed as being the most difficult (some of the entrances have been resculpted to be easier than when the book was originally written.) Ridge Runner is always really well groomed, Rock'n'Roll to Backstage Pass is great when groomed, but that's only M/W/F, although the first pitch is pretty steep. The blues in 7th are definitely the most difficult - I always have a brief moment of freaking out at the start.

Hope this long ramble is helpful - feel free to PM me with any specific questions!

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you! Aside from all the tips on the runs, you saved us $150 on rentals. We had reserved at G1 through the EPIC site but your post sent me over to Spicy, which is closer to pick up from our hotel to boot!

 

[Kika35]

Speaking of pot pies....Peaked pies on the Whistler side. Australian meat pies, mashed peas, mashed potatoes and gravy on top. Add the salad and a great meal you can take back to the condo.

This one is on my list. Thanks

 

[Kika35]

Lots of good tips here, not much left for me!

Personally I much prefer Blackcomb, the whistler side is very « angly » and also crowded, Blackcomb is a bit more laid back and you can see where you are going. On that side the Jersey cream blue run is really nice, as are Ross’s gold and spring board for nice blues in the mid mountain area.

I normally do not ski down as the bottom can have poor conditions in comparison to the top and gets congested in the 3 pm download

If you have goggles for low light do bring them, the low light conditions are frequent.

in upper village my go to place for to go meal is portobellos, they have a really good chicken pot pie, and also if you want food in the fridge for a few days they have a whole chicken dinner meal.

I would recommend pre-reserving your rentals.

you no longer have to reserve on mountain for the main cafeterias. If it is crowded just look for empty chairs and join others as the tables are communal. The Thai food at Rendezvous is my favorite though Mexican is very popular. I hear there is a great salad bar option at Glacier creek for lunch (on mountain) as well (will be checking it out soon!)

If you get up to the waffle hut do splurge on the waffles with strawberries bacon and chocolate!

wishing you an awesome vacation!

Thank you. I am going to try and find some low light goggles. As I said initially, I am waiting for laser eye surgery to be rid of my multi focals and wear contacts for skiing but they are only for distance and an slightly older prescription. I found it a bit tricky this year to discern the terrain with contacts alone but hate sking with my glasses as they fog up constantly.

 

[kiki]

Thank you. I am going to try and find some low light goggles. As I said initially, I am waiting for laser eye surgery to be rid of my multi focals and wear contacts for skiing but they are only for distance and an slightly older prescription. I found it a bit tricky this year to discern the terrain with contacts alone but hate sking with my glasses as they fog up constantly.

It’s damp here, I’d stick with the contacts over the glasses if you can as fogging is a bigger issue than low light lol!

another trick to keep in mind if you are skiing on the whistler side—the main gondola can have long waits from base at the beginning of the day, but right next to it is the fitsimons chair and if you take that then you can connect to garbanzo chair. This brings you to a nice spot to warm up on green and light blue runs. There is usually minimal wait so you can save a half hour in the morning that way, if it is congested.

 

[FayGoneAstray]

Horstman Horse is great. Not ski in/out per se but the free bus to Blackcomb / Village is literally in front of the building and super easy. Def. grab some groceries from the supermarket and cook at the condo to save some cash. Sushi Village is great. I like Mexican Corner too (you can take out too if you get tired of cooking). Stop by Pure Bread for treats for sure! If you want a nice , special dinner out one of the nights Ill Caminetto in the village is great (book in advance) as is Rim Rock (further out by Whistler Creek - book in advance).
Eating lunch is really expensive now up on the mountain (and food is mediocre - thanks Vail). So you can also bring your food/lunch too and eat inside - this is allowed.

Most definitely do the (free) mountain host to show you around so you can get your bearings - on both mountains. Blackcomb has less green terrain (or I find it's narrow more cat track type runs) so start at the family Zone and do easy out to get your confidence if need be. Whistler side I think has more better green terrain around Emerald chair ...you can Gondola it up Blackcomb and take the Peak to Peak over to Whistler side. It's a must do anyway!

I don't know east coast snow but the powder is kinda heavy - not the true light dry stuff! Can get foggy at times making visibility bad - if it's rainy or slushy go higher up!

7th Heaven on Blackcomb is best done first thing in morn as it can get busy later. Great photo ops!!!
Cloud Nine (7th) is a nice run. Jersey Cream, Wish Bone (Jersey Cream chair), Ridgerunner, Rock and Roll (Crystal Chair), Twist and Shout are nice blues. I HATE White Light on Crystal as sometimes it has big moguls. Grab a waffle at Crystal Hut!
Buzz Cut, Zig Zag are nice blues mid moutain. Ross's Gold and Spring Board too - steeper but super wide! You can also ski a blue down Glacier Express - there's blue run that can be a bit steeper on the way down but I prefer to turn left off of the lift and do that wide , less steep run - it then eventually turns into a a long cat track down to the top of Crystal. So it's half nice wide blue into a long narrow green cat track. My partner prefers to turn right and go down the steeper blue that also turns into a cat track that brings you back to Glacier.

I don't know Whistler side as well but Harmony chair has amazing views (you can see Black Tusk as you get off the chair) and you can ski a nice blue, around Emerald lots of easy nice runs. Symphony has great wide blues but it's more a pain to get to and they often open it later. There's a bar called Umbrella bar at the Roundhouse that's on the deck outside - so it if sunny grab some drinks and enjoy the views!

Also it's tiring big mountain- no shame in downloading if you are too tired , it's too foggy or you want to avoid the crowds at the end of the day. I often ski down to mid mountain and download the rest of the way especially if the snow conditions bottom half aren't great.
Have fun!

 

[xxs_skier]

This thread has been super helpful, even as a beginner. I'll be going mid-March skiing there for the first time.

 

[Elena_Ski]

Man I miss skiing in Whistler! The Scandinave Spa ( https://www.scandinave.com/en/whistler) is their iconic open air spa and one the best ways to relax after a day on the slopes. They are not cheap but have some deals with massages and other promos as well. For food, highly recommend Creekbread in Creekside Village (https://creekbread.com/), they are locals' favorite for wood fired thin crust pizza with local and organic ingredients.

 

[ncychank]

I'm pretty sure there are still mountain tours going on. I saw the volunteers in their red vests standing in front of the Roundhouse where the CIBC sign is.

I did the womens camp last month and having the instructor take me to places I hadn't been before (even tho' I've been skiing there for 15+years) was pretty awesome. If it's within your budget, take a lesson and have the instructor show you all the hidden or hard to get to runs. Better yet, if you are coming during one of the womens camps, I can't recommend it enough.

Women's Camps | Whistler Blackcomb

Learn to ski or ride or fine-tune your skiing or snowboarding technique at Whistler Blackcomb.

www.whistlerblackcomb.com

 

[xxs_skier]

I did the womens camp last month and having the instructor take me to places I hadn't been before (even tho' I've been skiing there for 15+years) was pretty awesome. If it's within your budget, take a lesson and have the instructor show you all the hidden or hard to get to runs. Better yet, if you are coming during one of the womens camps, I can't recommend it enough.

Women's Camps | Whistler Blackcomb

Learn to ski or ride or fine-tune your skiing or snowboarding technique at Whistler Blackcomb.

www.whistlerblackcomb.com

I think I'm going to hit up the camp next season and see if I can roll it into a family vacay. I don't think I've heard any bad reviews.

 

[Jilly]

2013 report from the women's camp...aka Roxy Snow Camp.

Whistler-Blackcomb and Roxy

So, Lizzy and I made it to WB yesterday. Long day. Up at 5 am to drive to the airport in Toronto, fly, drive again, check in and eat. Bed by 7:30 west coast time. So, why we're up at 5:30am!! That's sleeping in for both of us on eastern time!! So we're off to tackle Whistler-Blackcomb...

www.theskidiva.com

 

[Cantabrigienne]

I'm pretty sure there are still mountain tours going on. I saw the volunteers in their red vests standing in front of the Roundhouse where the CIBC sign is.

Whew! Suspect the Whistler subreddit is not the most reliable source of info on things of interest to regular visitors but not to locals/regulars. My odds of going back in mid-March have improved, as my youngest nephew is refusing to come up for spring break because he wants to go to basketball campe.

 

[xxs_skier]

Would love to hear an update on your Whistler trip -- I'm heading there next week!