Whistler/ Blackcomb
British Columbia, Canada
March 5-12, 2005
Our trip to Whistler Blackcomb got off to a shaky start at BWI - Northwest had computer problems and didn't have any record of most of us. Good thing we got to the airport more than 2 hours ahead because some folks needed every bit of that time to get through the long security line and make it on the plane before they slammed the door shut. Whew! Luckily, the flight was nearly empty, so we stretched out and slept, arriving at Minneapolis to pick up the Minnesota contingent of the Harford Ski Club (minus one - Bill decided he was too sick to go plus the snow forecast was poor at Whistler - we missed you Bill). Two of the Minnesotans, Dean and Linda, particularly enjoyed their leg of the trip, sitting in spacious First Class having a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs. The rest of us had to scrunch in our seats and buy $3 snack boxes with goldfish and slim jims. Funny - when Joyce, the other Minnesotan, asked Northwest where was her First Class seat, she was told that Dean and Linda (and coincidentally, Bill) had paid for First Class and that she hadn't. They wouldn't let her take Bill's vacant seat. In reality, nobody paid for First Class, but isn't Northwest generous sometimes?
We picked up three more folks in Vancouver - Jon & Carolyn from Connecticut, Justin from Kentucky - loaded the bus, and headed to Whistler. It was a beautiful spring day in Vancouver, the flowering trees were in full bloom, and we had a pleasant ride to the resort. We observed plenty of road construction, in preparation for Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was also spring at Whistler Blackcomb as barely any snow was visible in the village. Only a couple of trails had snow all the way down to the village, and they had slushy thin cover.
On Sunday, almost everyone showed up for the Ski Esprit tour. We split into groups of similar ability and headed out with instructors who showed us around Whistler and offered us some tips on our skiing and best places to find good snow. They also offered us a special 2-for-1 Ski Esprit deal for the next 3 days. Pam, Pat, Hans, and George took them up on it, and enjoyed it for the most part. The rest of us went out on our own to explore both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains for the next 6 days. Some folks braved a rainy foggy Tuesday, while other traded in their lift tickets for gift cards. A few folks used their included Fresh Tracks breakfast voucher - there sure wasn't much in the way of fresh tracks to be had, but the breakfast buffet was tasty and food was plentiful.
Despite the warm weather and deteriorating snow conditions, everyone stayed busy each day (and night). Bill and Wendy skied each morning and rented bikes each afternoon to explore the paved bike trails around the resort. A few adventurous folks (Margot, Ken, Doug, Pam, Rob A., Troy) went on the ZipTrek EcoTour, a series of zip lines through the trees. Bob Book, Joyce, and Kim took a free yoga class that a woman from Connecticut taught. George watched one of the free yoga classes. Bob Book, Heather, and Doug went to the movies on the rainy day. And of course, there was plenty of shopping to do. Because most of us were in the hotel, we went out to dinner every night - Italian, Japanese, Greek, German, fondue, burgers & fries, ice cream - it was all good. A fairly big group braved the night life at Tommy Africa's for 80's night (that's classic rock for the young folks, but most of us knew the words to every song).
Trip Leader Rick had scheduled a group dinner for Tuesday night at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but during the day, workmen accidentally cut an electrical power line to the building. Again, there was lots of building construction and renovation going on in preparation for the Olympics. Instead, we had our dinner on Wednesday night. Rick negotiated a free glass of wine for everyone to accommodate for being inconvenienced by the schedule change. Nice job, Rick!
On Saturday, most of the group headed home and 11 people spent the next 2 days in sunny Vancouver. What a fine couple of days we had exploring a beautiful city! Destinations included the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, Gastown, the St. Patrick's Day parade on Granville Street, Granville Island, and Chinatown. Whew! That's a lot of sightseeing in 1-1/2 days. After a week of skiing and a few more days of walking the city, we were ready for some rest. It was a good trip - thanks to Trip Leader Rick!
Here are a few stories that that folks wanted to share:
From Bob Bossoli - "On Wednesday, after skiing until early afternoon, Candy and I decided to take advantage of the warm sunny weather and hit the pool. We joined Rob A., Pam, and Troy who were drinking 'cider' that they carried in a gallon milk jug. I thought the cider looked a little clear, turns out it was 'champagne Wednesday' and that's what the 'cider' was. Hans joined us, and we worked on our suntans until it was time to get ready for the group dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Before we went over to the restaurant, we saw Rob P. and Ricky (our fearless trip leader) outside the bar on the patio and they convinced us (Bob J., Candy, and me) to have a drink before we left. After a great dinner, a group of us headed over to the Irish Pub for some Irish beer and Irish coffee. There was live music, mostly Irish songs but they did mix in some Pure Prairie League, Simon and Garfunkle and Neil Young which got Candy and me up for a slow dance. It was a good time, and it was hard (we overslept!) to get up early the next day to meet Bob J. and Ricky at 7:30 for the Fresh Tracks breakfast up on Whistler Mountain. A great trip Rick!"
From Rich Anthony - "Thanks for a great trip, our condo was super, and everything went well.
The first highlight was skiing Blackcomb glacier, what a high. I'm glad we did it early in the week. The second highlight was skiing Whistler Bowl on Sunday, really enjoyed the ride.
Quote of the week (by Rich): 'I must be getting old since I only blew out of my skies twice this week'. Best Recipe - Whistler French Toast with eggs, milk, rum, orange peel (Chin and Lana may have more information). Best BC Wine - Kettle Valley Pinot Noir Reserve. Best Restaurant - Araxi. Condo mates (Chin, Lana, Ken, Margot, and Dawn) were the best!!! Great hot tub fun and great cooking. Pictures forth coming over the weekend. Someone is going to be embarrassed."
From Bob Book - "Feel free to add that Rob P., Justin and I took the road less traveled on Friday, and turned down a trail that ran out of snow. While we were all for adventure and stumbling on the unexpected and memorable, it was basically a 45-minute, uneventful walk down an ugly, dirt/mud road. However, it's a shame that the video cam was attached to Justin and not behind him, since his 2-1/4 double twisting front flip in the pike position executed flawlessly as he skied from snow to dirt was spectacular - not to mention sticking the landing to the glee of the judges."
From Bob Jones - "Did anyone else hear Kim F. ask Bob J., one of our full-bodied members, if he knew what was written on the side of his Atomic mid-fat skis? It is 'extra wide body.' How insensitive! [Only kidding Kim].
From Kim Fleischmann - "On the rainy foggy Tuesday, Dean and I had an interesting experience on Whistler's T-bar. We were at least three-quarters of the way up when both of us heard a loud snap and suddenly found ourselves sliding backwards. It's kind of tough for two people standing side by side to snowplow backwards. Luckily, we didn't hit Rick H. and Linda who rode past, wondering what happened to us. The rope had broken and we were left holding the plastic T. We skied back to the base of the lift, handed the operator the T, were asked if we were OK (yes, we were), got back on, and rode up with no further problems. The next day, we all rode the very steep Horstman T-bar at Blackcomb. It was a white-knuckle trip. I doubt either of us will ever ride a T-bar without thinking of this experience."
From Rick (the trip leader): I hope everyone had a great time and thanks for coming. Thanks to Kim for putting together the trip report.
