Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:06 pm
(NB - Total newbie, first ski trip outside of NC, so please be forgiving!)
The whole family decided to become skier/snowboarders this year. We've been going to Beech Mountain every weekend in December and January and learned a ton from the great instructors there. For winter break, we planned a trip to Whistler/Blackcomb. Here goes!
Whistler/Blackcomb 2012
Flight from Raleigh to Dallas, then onto Vancouver
Car transport from Vancouver to Whistler.
Headed out of Vancouver, that's Grouse Mountain in the background. What an amazing city, not only is it beautiful, but people who live here can ski at this mountain which is a 30 minute drive from the city, or drive two hours and be at the largest mountain in North America... Very cool place.
My wife at the Olympic park, I'm so proud of her, she went from complete beginner to level 3 skier in a little over two months!
Lunchtime our first day on the mountain -- there are 16 places to eat on the mountain, it's a little overwhelming. Great food, great people, but we still missed the friendliness of the Beach Tree Bar and Grill!
View from one of our balconies - we had a really nice 2 bedroom suite at the Pan Pacific village - perfect location, just steps from the village and the base of both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.
Dinner at Earl's -- the food in Whistler village is amazing!
Beers the size of our helmets!
OK, I know what you came here for -- enough of the city/room/food -- you want ski porn! Here's a view from Whistler I believe near the top of the Emerald chair. The views were amazing and the snow was incredible!
Here's a view of one section near the Roundhouse by the Whistler gondola. This day was a great day with tons of fresh powder -- base depth was over 100", I've never seen anything like it...
Me striking my best ninja pose after skiing down the bowl at one of the peaks - the tall one way back in the distance - I'm pretty sure this one was called "Glacier" at the top of Blackcomb. This is near the top of the mountain; we had a 7 mile run from where this picture was taken back to the next lift. I still can't get over the size of these mountains!
My little one, I can't believe she could ski parallel on all the blue runs and had no trouble with tree runs and moguls. I want to thank Sara-Jane at Whistler Kids (where she was in ski camp from 9 until 3 for 7 days straight), but the real credit needs to go to Sharon and Jeff at the Beech Mountain kid's ski school. Anna has been going to camp there every Saturday and Sunday for two months, and she skied as well as the kids her age from British Columbia that learned to ski at Whistler.
My son on the blue terrain park on Whistler.
That's my highlight reel.
We just flew back last night and we all miss Whistler, but we're hoping the weather cooperates and we can get back to Beech Mountain this weekend!
A few plugs --
1: The instructors at Beech Mountain are second to none. We were all beginners just three months ago, and we could all hold our own in level 3 (intermediate) to 5 (high advanced) ski camps anywhere. The Beech Mountain kid’s camp takes kids from ages 4 to 12 and as I said, they are great. Sharon, Jeff and everyone else that works there are terrific. For teens and adults, the private instructors are amazing -- Carol, David, Susan, and Marcus and all of the other Beech Mountain instructors are great! We're lucky to have so much talent in the South East.
2: Whistler/Blackcomb's "MAX 4" program -- new this year, you sign up for a day of skiing with some of the best instructors in the world in a group with a maximum of four participants. My wife and I did full day MAX 4 groups every day -- they place you with three other skiers at your ski level, they do a few practice runs with you and give you quick practical tips to advance, then they take you to parts of the mountain that you would be afraid to go to on your own. I spent most of the trip off-piste, doing everything from tree runs to the deep powder bowls at the top of Blackcomb and Whistler. If it weren't for the MAX 4 groups, there's no way I would have ventured off the groomed runs serviced by the main lifts.
The whole family decided to become skier/snowboarders this year. We've been going to Beech Mountain every weekend in December and January and learned a ton from the great instructors there. For winter break, we planned a trip to Whistler/Blackcomb. Here goes!
Whistler/Blackcomb 2012
Flight from Raleigh to Dallas, then onto Vancouver
Car transport from Vancouver to Whistler.
Headed out of Vancouver, that's Grouse Mountain in the background. What an amazing city, not only is it beautiful, but people who live here can ski at this mountain which is a 30 minute drive from the city, or drive two hours and be at the largest mountain in North America... Very cool place.
My wife at the Olympic park, I'm so proud of her, she went from complete beginner to level 3 skier in a little over two months!
Lunchtime our first day on the mountain -- there are 16 places to eat on the mountain, it's a little overwhelming. Great food, great people, but we still missed the friendliness of the Beach Tree Bar and Grill!
View from one of our balconies - we had a really nice 2 bedroom suite at the Pan Pacific village - perfect location, just steps from the village and the base of both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.
Dinner at Earl's -- the food in Whistler village is amazing!
Beers the size of our helmets!
OK, I know what you came here for -- enough of the city/room/food -- you want ski porn! Here's a view from Whistler I believe near the top of the Emerald chair. The views were amazing and the snow was incredible!
Here's a view of one section near the Roundhouse by the Whistler gondola. This day was a great day with tons of fresh powder -- base depth was over 100", I've never seen anything like it...
Me striking my best ninja pose after skiing down the bowl at one of the peaks - the tall one way back in the distance - I'm pretty sure this one was called "Glacier" at the top of Blackcomb. This is near the top of the mountain; we had a 7 mile run from where this picture was taken back to the next lift. I still can't get over the size of these mountains!
My little one, I can't believe she could ski parallel on all the blue runs and had no trouble with tree runs and moguls. I want to thank Sara-Jane at Whistler Kids (where she was in ski camp from 9 until 3 for 7 days straight), but the real credit needs to go to Sharon and Jeff at the Beech Mountain kid's ski school. Anna has been going to camp there every Saturday and Sunday for two months, and she skied as well as the kids her age from British Columbia that learned to ski at Whistler.
My son on the blue terrain park on Whistler.
That's my highlight reel.
We just flew back last night and we all miss Whistler, but we're hoping the weather cooperates and we can get back to Beech Mountain this weekend!
A few plugs --
1: The instructors at Beech Mountain are second to none. We were all beginners just three months ago, and we could all hold our own in level 3 (intermediate) to 5 (high advanced) ski camps anywhere. The Beech Mountain kid’s camp takes kids from ages 4 to 12 and as I said, they are great. Sharon, Jeff and everyone else that works there are terrific. For teens and adults, the private instructors are amazing -- Carol, David, Susan, and Marcus and all of the other Beech Mountain instructors are great! We're lucky to have so much talent in the South East.
2: Whistler/Blackcomb's "MAX 4" program -- new this year, you sign up for a day of skiing with some of the best instructors in the world in a group with a maximum of four participants. My wife and I did full day MAX 4 groups every day -- they place you with three other skiers at your ski level, they do a few practice runs with you and give you quick practical tips to advance, then they take you to parts of the mountain that you would be afraid to go to on your own. I spent most of the trip off-piste, doing everything from tree runs to the deep powder bowls at the top of Blackcomb and Whistler. If it weren't for the MAX 4 groups, there's no way I would have ventured off the groomed runs serviced by the main lifts.
Looks like I forgot to rotate two of them, I'll go back and fix those later tonight...