Whistler

We left Willow Springs and headed to Whistler where the Winter Olympics were held in 2010. We knew that we were in for a huge climb to get up into the mountains where the ski resort was. There were a lot of switchbacks, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. I had to keep pulling off the road to let the vehicles behind me pass as I was chugging along. At one point going uphill I couldn’t get our coach going over 15 mph as the climb was very steep. Once we hit the pass and started our descent into Whistler we had to go down multiple areas that were 13%. Even with the engine brake engage I had to pull over and let the tires and brakes cool. Our front tires were at 185 degrees and our rear brakes started smoking. Talk about scary! The 142 miles took us 4.5 hours which meant we averaged just over 31 mph. Slow going!

The ride was worth it as we got some breathtaking views.

High desert:

Rivers:

Lakes:

Bridges:

Absolutely beautiful!

We finally made it to our destination, Whistler RV Park and Campgrounds:

After we got settled we headed into town to see the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. It seems that since we have seen three other Fairmont’s on this trip that we should stop at this one as well. The exterior was not near as impressive as the one in Banff:

We had an appetizer and drinks in the Mallard Bar:

From there we decided to have dinner at The Keg known for steaks and seafood. We decided on a couple of steaks and salads. Very tasty! The Keg was located in the Whistler Village area. There are four distinct village areas around the base of the two ski mountains; Whistler and Blackcomb. We headed back home for the evening.

The following day started out with a hike right out of the campground called Digby’s where Bear could come with us.

He was in heaven! Cute hike!

After taking care of a few items around the coach we headed back into Whistler. What a wonderful day! Upon reaching the town, we got a picture of the 2010 Winter Olympics logo, Ilanaaq:

After parking the truck we had a short walk over to the village.

We decided to take the gondola up to the top of Blackcomb. Check out these pictures:

From there we took the Peak to Peak gondola from the top of Blackcomb over to Whistler. Highest lift of its kind in the world!

Very cool ride! Then we took a Whistler Peak Express chairlift up to the top to get these panaromic views:

Breathtaking!

Got to get a picture with another Ilanaaq:

They had a skybridge called Cloudraker over to another peak that we needed to take. A walking suspension bridge held by four cables which swayed a little when we transversed it. I was really proud of Katrina conquering her fears and getting across.

We took the chairlift back down and then went into the Roundhouse Lodge for a drink.

Beautiful scenery!

From there we had a very fun ride back down the mountain on the Whistler gondola ;). When we were near the bottom we espied a BMX hill that a lot of riders were trying. We found out that there was going to be a major event in the coming days. If you see it on TV – we were there when they were setting up and running practices!

As we were walking through the Village Stroll we smelled some smash burgers being grilled so we stopped and split one. It was good, but I think I’ve mastered them better than that. Afterwards we stopped at the Araxi Restaurant & Oyster Bar where we got a half dozen, a tuna tataki appetizer and a couple of drinks.

We then strolled down to the area where they gave out the Olympic medals.

So much fun!

We headed home to start packing up for another travel day. Looking forward to traversing down to the Strait of Georgia, another ferry ride and getting into Victoria.