"Whis Life!”
Locals refer to the lifestyle as “Whis Life”, which essentially means non stop outdoor action during daylight hours.
Haza (AKA Action Man) picked us up from the airport and had the next four days of our time blocked out for non stop outdoor activities.
We woke up on the first morning with sore heads. A trip on the Whistler/Blackcomb “Peak to Peak” gondola kicked off day 1. The gondola is an impressive marvel in engineering and spans between the peaks of Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. Guinness world records and statistics include;
World's longest unsupported span for a lift of its kind at 3.024 km
World's highest lift of its kind at 436m above the valley floor
The journey takes 11min and covers a distance of 4.4km
The hike to the summit (2,181m) of Whistler Mountain is a 4 hour round trip from where the gondola drops you off. Its easy hiking on a well cut track that becomes a ski run in the winter.
There are endless hikes around Whistler and the surrounding towns. Along with Whistler Mountain we did Joffre Lakes and “The Chief”. Joffre Lakes takes you past three glacial lakes and to the foot of several glaciers, its a spectacular walk and takes 3.5 hours. “The Chief” is a relentless ascent up a step rock face for 1 hour that then looks over the town of Squamish and Howe Sound.
Haz took me for a day in the bike park. During the summer the ski runs are transformed into world class downhill mountain biking tracks and jumps. The lifts keep running during the summer and are modified to carry bikes so no need to peddle up hill! Nutters like Haz fly down the tracks at a crazy pace and keep the medical centre at the bottom busy! We also had the pleasure of bumping into the resident bike park Black Bear.
Cheers to Haz and Joey for the accommodation and good times!
Dom