My face is two inches off the ice as I launch down the Olympic bobsleigh run on a sled the size of a tea tray. The key is to relax, like a sack of potatoes, but that’s hard when you have seen the tracks of the sled at the top of the ice wall and are about to hit speeds up to 100 kph.
The skeleton experience was not part of my planned trip down memory lane. It didn’t exist when I first met my husband 20 years ago in the lobby of the Chateau Whistler.
Then it was just a small ski town where I remember playing pool, drinking Jack Daniels and skiing with Nancy Greene, Canada’s legendary gold and silver Olympic medallist, who was instrumental in Whistler’s transformation from a skiers mountain to the international resort it is today. Since then a real estate boom has transformed the village of Whistler beyond recognition, it’s hosted a Winter Olympics while sawdust and the humble burger have diversified to oysters and champagne or five course dinners with wine pairing.
On the mountain the biggest change is the engineering feat of the Peak 2 Peak gondola joining Blackcomb and Whistler. It spans three kilometres and takes 15 minutes.
This winter sees even more change, a massive $18 CDN million investment in Whistler’s first six man chairlift, the Harmony Six. The former four man chairlift has been relocated to Blackcomb opening a whole new area in the Crystal Zone. Both lifts will double skier capacity.
But the biggest changes are not to do with lifts, size or snow but in the choices of how to make the most of your ski day and the variety of activities that range from firing rounds at the biathlon target to a spa deep in the forest.
On our first day, we set off unsure of where to go and with endless possibilities. Whistler is the largest ski resort in North America with 8,171 acres of pistes, 12 alpine bowls, three glaciers, 200 runs and 37 lifts with the longest vertical over a mile — not to mention all the off piste terrain and back country itineraries outside the main ski area. Piste maps on the chairlift bar and sniffle stations were a nice touch as we tried to work out where the best snow was and how to get to it.
The next day we met Pete Smart from Extremely Canadian, specialists in off piste adventures and steep skiing clinics. We discovered a whole new Whistler. Even though conditions were sadly limiting with no great powder stashes, Pete managed to find every pocket of decent snow on the mountain, a feat that eluded us the day before. By mid-afternoon Ian’s legs were like jelly. “You should be on these,” said Pete referring to his Rossignol Soul 7, one of the most talked about skis this winter. We swung by one of Whistler’s on mountain demo stations and on new skis, Ian was a new man.
If you want to get an idea of where to go there is a daily free host orientation. Introduced last season are six Wonder Routes a network of tours, trails, and waypoints to help skiers navigate the mountain. The MAX programme limits lesson numbers to four people. Then there are “Discover Whistler days” which during low season can save 30 per cent off the cost of lessons and ski rental. Kids all get a GPS device to log their day. You can get lessons for park or freeride or adaptive skiing. Fresh Tracks is a chance to get a 7.15 am lift up and be the first skiers on the mountain.
Keen to shed some of the weight racked up by a five course menu at the Bearfoot Bistro, where the French Canadian owner Andre Saint Jacques opens champagne with a sabre, we signed up to another initiative, a day skiing with an Olympian. Our former Olympic team member was ski cross champion Julia Murray, daughter of Dave Murray one of the Crazy Canucks that dominated the world downhill circuit in the 70s and 80s. Being born and bred in Whistler and with two champion skiers as parents Julia knew every nook and cranny of the mountain. Each chairlift ride was a lesson in Whistler history and the trials and tribulations of life in the Canadian National ski team.
With Olympians having played a part in our Whistler life, it seemed fitting to try the skeleton on the Olympic bobsleigh run.
Afterwards with the adrenalin still pumping we celebrated our anniversary dinner at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. They pulled out all the stops and we feasted like kings. Wine flowed and chocolate calligraphy personalised our dessert. We definitely won’t wait another 20 years to return.