A snowboarder and a skier in Whistler

In January my friend Jen visited me for a few days. The highlight of her visit was the 4 fabulous days we spent riding and skiing at Whistler.

While there was no fresh powder we got our fair share of good snow, blue skies and sunshine. Due to an inversion, the temperatures were warmer on the mountain than in the valley and the views from the top of Whistler mountain were just stunning while the valley lay under a blanket of fog.

We explored a variety of terrain from nicely groomed blue runs to the more challenging black runs off of Whistler Peak and Blackcomb Mountain. After a half hour hike up to Flute Bowl we were rewarded with more stunning views of the surrounding mountains although the bowl itself turned out to be rather disappointing without any fresh powder.

Flute Bowl also serves as backcountry access into Garibaldi Provincial Park for those who want to escape the crowds at Whistler and enjoy the solitude of the mountains.

On Blackcomb Mountain we joined a free mountain tour that took us down the Blackcomb Glacier. The guides were a lot of fun and gave us good tips about different runs and how to access them.

Eventually, we dared to hike up Spanky's ladder to access the bowls off of Blackcomb glacier. While the hike was really short, it was bloody steep and nerve-wracking, one wrong step would send you gliding downhill. However, Ruby Bowl was worth every effort. The glade runs on Blackcomb were also a lot of fun.

The treat on our last days was the 5.5km Peak-to-Creek run, which is the longest intermediate run in North America. It was freshly groomed and flying down the mountain on perfect corduroy was awesome!
While we explored the two mountains on skis and snowboard we also explored the culinary delights on the mountain. Whistler offers excellent food from Japanese Udon Noodle Bowls to BBQ's to fully loaded Belgian Waffles.

The culinary exploration didn't stop on the mountain, Whistler Village is home to many good restaurants offering a variety of different cuisines. Jen had to try the local oysters, the restaurant at our hotel had a happy-hour special of a dozen oysters for $10.

Whistler, we will be back on a powder day!