On the eve of the Sochi
games your truly set off to
experience North America’s foremost alpine resort, experience any leftover
Olympic fervor and to see if the Olympic facilities were still in a good
state.
I met Mike in Victoria. I got my required fill of double
doubles, navy nostalgia and A&W burgers. On Saturday we were up early to take the ferry over to
Vancouver. The ferry ride was
scenic and went by quickly; I don’t think there are many places that involve a
ferry ride to the slopes. Celebrating our arrival on the mainland
with some Pho, we quickly set to work searching for some former Olympic
venues. All were intact with
varying degrees of grandeur.
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| As it says on the can |
The Richmond Olympic Oval
was quite impressive. Instead of
keeping it as a long track speed skating venue which would only be used by a
handful of people, it is now a vibrant top-notch sport facility. When we were there a track meet, volleyball
match, basketball, ping-pong, pleasure skating and figure skating all taking
place at the same time.
Vancouver is a very
impressive city, it is vibrant, beautiful and its citizens seem to be very
active. Wilderness and mountains
are just on its outskirts; an added bonus is it has a seaplane base right in
downtown. Unlike most North American cities it is fairly compact and does not
have freeways dissecting it which certainly works in its favour. The venues are
still quite new and it feels like Vancouver would be more than up for hosting
the Olympics, both in terms of infrastructure and enthusiasm, if Sochi couldn’t
pull them off.
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I wanted to try an
authentic Chinese restaurant in Vancouver, so I took to Google and heeded the
Huffington Post’s recommendation to find such an establishment. It was a bogus
tip: we ended up paying $80 for a hip Western-Asian Fusion restaurant. We were served by an uber-hipster
who also makes and sells jewelry at Granville market but hasn’t had much time
for it because he is now doing an internship at a furniture manufacturer that
uses reclaimed wood.
The following day we were
also lucky enough to get a not so bogus Fairmont tip and found a bakery with
amazing croissants (on par with France) before picking up Special Guest Correspondent,
Chris at the airport and making our way to Whistler. We made a menu
on the fly while shopping for groceries at Park Royal strip mall.
Skiing at Whistler was not
a cheap affair, especially when Mike is in charge of trip coordination. The result was slope-side, ski in
ski out accommodation with an outdoor hot tub, well warm water tub, I think the
heater was struggling against the -20C weather. At the hot tub we had to witness and endure conversations
about hunting, AR-15s and clichéd comparisons about the differences between
Australia and Canada while the Kokanee and Coors Light was flowing. It was like a frat party for new
moneyed oil patch workers in their 40s.
The weather was cold but
sunny and I wanted to see how what many describe as North America’s foremost
ski resort stacks up against Europe on the piste.
Skiing: Gold
We arrived to “the worst
conditions in a decade” but to be honest if this is as bad as
it gets, then it must be amazing when conditions are good. For me, originally hailing
from the East Coast of North America, these were normal conditions: hard packed
and cold. It was too cold for the locals
so while the Australian were trying their best not to become human popsicles
and experiencing a proper Canadian winter, the slopes were more or less empty
with no queuing. The cold
got a little much on some days with the -26C weather and -42C wind-chill that
meant the over-priced coffee stops were extended until I could feel my feet
again.
Whistler-Blackcomb is most
impressive, great views, lift facilities a wide variety of runs and well
organized. The runs are generally
quite challenging, some blues felt like blacks. The Dave Murray Downhill was an easy black and a lot of fun.
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| "I see you ski on Nordicas" |
The peak 2 peak gondola is
an attraction in itself with the car at one point being over 1500’ over the valley
floor. However you do pay for the
privilege of skiing North America’s best resort with lift tickets just shy of
$100. Compared to $62 Blue
Mountain lift tickets you get a whole lot more skiing for your buck!
Apres Ski: Gold
Whistler does have a
manufactured purpose-built feel to the town. But, it is done well. There is a large pedestrian area
that has many bars and restaurants.
It was certainly fit for
purpose. It was better than some
of the older European villages where you often have to negotiate a mini
Silverstone before getting into the centre. An attractive legacy of the Olympics is the Whistler
Celebration Square where medal presentations took place. It is now a park, band stand and skating
rink.
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| Saberage time! |
There is a pretty good
Irish bar at the base and many “casual fine-dining” options. At Whistler Creekside I had some
fantastic ribs at Dusty’s. It was also great to have the option to prepare our meals at the resort which saved us a
lot of expensive lunches on the hill and suppers in town. And Whistler was expensive, it felt like
we were paying on hill prices in town.
$10 for a pint, $23 for a pitcher and a basic pizza meal for 3 was over
$100!
At the end of the week we
did the obligatory trip to the Ski Jumps at the Whistler Olympic Park. Ski Jumps are always impressive
but the Whistler jumps were quite modest compared to the jumps we have seen at
other former Olympic Villages. It
didn’t look like they got much use.
However there were many Nordic skiers and I think we all left the venue
whishing we set aside some time to give Nordic skiing a go and half-heartedly
planning some Nordic skiing before the season was out.
All in all there is plenty
to do off the piste at Whistler and the après ski is vibrant, the only problem
is the prices!
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| Celebration Plaza, Whistler |
Overall: Gold
Whistler is among the best
resort anywhere. A logical layout
with a variety of challenging skiing means you can easily spend a season there
and not get bored. The friendly
North American service style is refreshing, if a little forced. We weren’t treated to great conditions
but everyday was sunny and the skiing top-notch. There is a subtle difference in the European and North
American ski culture. In Europe it
is about being on the mountain, in North America it is about skiing down it. In Europe people take long breaks at
mountainside restaurants for full-on meals while in North America it is about
getting the runs in. I think I am in the North American camp on this view, you
can have long meals in the evening, you are on the mountain to ski and Whistler
fulfilled this requirement in spades, or should I say black diamonds!
Marc Says
“I think I am getting old, I didn’t put a jumping session on, but I showed
those moguls who’s boss.
Whistler was great but I am still in search of this elusive champagne
powder everyone speaks of. Low
points of the trip were: having to eat crow (see below), although I got to
sabreage, and getting woken up by a receipt spider.”
Mike Says
“Slope side accommodations
at North America's premier ski resort which is also located in beautiful
British Columbia, was there any doubt this trip wasn't going to score gold?
Highlight of the trip: Betting Marc a bottle of Veuve Clicquot that I could have
the champagne saber we should have
bought in Innsbruck in 2012 delivered to Whistler by the end of the day to open
it with, this after Marc and Chris were fist bumping and trash talking on the
lifts earlier in the day thinking they'd easily won the bet (I had it in my
luggage all along). You had to be
there..."
Chris, Guest Correspondent Says “It is 08:00 are you ready to go?”
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