Whistler Pre-Olympics

Instead of the standard American staple of turkey for thanksgiving, May and I decided to pack our bags and head north for the long weekend in Whistler B.C. The border website that May mentioned in her last post was a lifesaver. We left at around 7am and completely avoided all the border back-up. Brilliant!

We missed all the good snow by a week...54 inches to be exact. By the time we arrived the weather had been relatively warm (40's) all week so much of the snow at the base had melted. We stayed at a hotel right in the heart of Whistler village, walking distance to everything. Instead of a fancy hotel using the Expedia travel agent rate we decided to book a room with a fireplace, living room and kitchenette. We really enjoyed it, much more room to spread out and it was super convenient to just make breakfast in the room instead of dining out for every meal. And with the 1:1 exchange rate, it made a big difference.

On Friday morning I went snowboarding while May researched spa treatment options. It was an unexpectedly beautiful day, crystal clear blue skys, not too cold. The skiing on the top of Whistler was perfect, no complaints, but the bottom of the hill was dreadfully icy. I had a blast but the last run of the day proved fateful, I sprained my wrist on a fall and walked down the last bit of the mountain... the bottom had very little snow, just ice patches here and there. After a quick visit to the doc I got a bandage and a clean bill of health.

May and I walked over to a nearby trail that circled Lost Lake and did a little snowshoeing on Thursday and Saturday. Not a ton of snow, but just enough that without the gear your feet would sink a ways into the snow. It's a blast, particularly the downhill sections. Talk about a super cheap sport. We were so excited to get our first snowfall on Saturday morning, but due to the warm weather it melted by the end of the day. I recommend visiting Whistler on Thanksgiving weekend, there really were not many folks in town...hopefully it stays that way for January too!

After scoping the border crossing website we decided to kill some time in Vancouver. What a great city, I keep forgetting how many shops there are there. In fact one might say it's a smaller version of Hong Kong... and colder too. The terrible exchange rate didn't get us excited to buy anything so we turned our attention back to our stomachs and visited a friendly looking steak and fish grill before hitting the road.

What's the next winter moutain trip? Mt. Baker? Crystal Mountain? Steven's Pass?