A Day Trip to Wonderful Whistler, BC

Whether it’s a day trip from Vancouver, or you’re looking for a mountain getaway — at the end of the gorgeous Sea to Sky Highway, you will find the wonderful Whistler Village. (For more on the scenic drive from Vancouver, check out my recent post!)

We were only there for about six hours, but we certainly made the most of our day trip to Whistler! Pulling into town, we followed the signs for Whistler Village and parked in Day Lot #2 which (along with Day Lot #3) seemed to be most centrally located. You must pay for parking in the summer between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, but the fee was not exorbitant — $10/day for a standard-sized vehicle.

The Peak to Peak Adventure

Our main event for the day was riding the Peak to Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb mountain peaks. Tickets are not cheap: $69 for adults(19-64), $62 for seniors (65+) and youth (13-18), $35 for children (7-12), and free for six and under. You can purchase slightly discounted tickets up to three days in advance, but I had read that conditions vary greatly on the mountain, and often the lifts are closed due to limited visibility. So we decided to wait and purchase onsite. The good news is that the ticket includes much more than just the one gondola ride.

Rising Above the Clouds

After a little wandering, we found the ticket booth at Skier’s Plaza at the base of the Whistler Village Gondola. We purchased our tickets and had virtually no wait to board the gondola for the first part of our adventure in the sky. The initial ascent took 25 minutes in the fully enclosed gondola, rising almost 4000 feet to the base of the Peak Express Chairlift. The first thing you see after off-loading the gondola is the Olympic rings. Whistler was the site of the Nordic events for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and no day trip to Whistler would be complete without the obligatory pictures on the medal stands. We then stopped for a quick lunch at the Roundhouse cafeteria-styled restaurant. The food was unremarkable (sandwiches, wraps, salads, chili, etc.), but the view was spectacular.

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With a bit of sustenance, we were ready for the next part of the journey. To get up to the Whistler peak, we first had to hike down to the chairlift. It took about 15 minutes (although a little longer coming back up!) and the switchbacks wound through mountain tundra to a beautiful alpine lake. We even saw adorable marmots and heard their charming chirps!

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On Top of the World

The trip on the open-air Peak Express Chairlift was both beautiful and (for me) TERRIFYING! I definitely have a healthy fear of heights, and chairlifts always make me nervous. Although it was only about a 1000-foot rise in elevation, this one was up a sheer rock face and took nearly 15 frightful minutes.

Once I thankfully planted my feet back on solid ground, we headed towards the Cloudraker Skybridge & Raven’s Eye Cliff Walk. The 430-foot suspension bridge spans from Whistler Peak to the West Ridge over Whistler Bowl. The Raven’s Eye Cliff Walk is a viewing platform with 360-degree views from Whistler Peak. Well, you might guess that I did not participate in this part of the adventure. Unfortunately, I was still shaking from the harrowing chairlift ride, so I opted to take pics of my family while praying the bridge would stand firm. I had a great vantage point, so I took fantastic pictures and enjoyed the cool climate and unbelievable views.

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Upon their safe return, we took pictures and learned the history of the Whistler Mountain Inukshuk, created for Whistler as a symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. According to the signage and my research, an inukshuk is a stone landmark made of piled stones or boulders constructed by the Inuit people to communicate throughout the Arctic. Most likely it was used as a reference point and navigation marker for travel routes. The tall stone structure could be seen from far away to provide direction to people traveling long distances.

A Peak Experience

The descent was even more frightening for me, but I survived, and we hiked back up to the gondola. There was so much more to explore, but it was 4:00 pm, and our day was running short. Travelers must make a choice for the Peak to Peak trip. Each car holds about 16 people and takes 11 minutes to travel from the peak of Whistler Mountain (elev. 7160 ft.) to the Blackcomb Peak (elev. 7494 ft.) There are two very cool cars that have a glass bottom, giving riders an incredible vantage point to the forest below. However, the wait for the birds-eye-view was more than 30 minutes, so we opted for a regular car and hopped on after only 5 minutes. (I heard that the waits can be much longer, so I think late afternoon was the perfect time to go!)

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We kept our eyes peeled for wildlife below. Many of our fellow travelers reported earlier bear sightings, but we had no luck. We reached the top of Blackcomb and, since it was almost 5:00, it was time for some liquid refreshment at the mountain-top restaurant, Rendezvous. Vancouver and surroundings have completely embraced the Aperol Spritz craze, so that was my choice of beverage. Scott chose an outstanding local craft beer. Our darling waitress introduced my daughter to a Canadian Shirley Temple: in addition to Sprite and grenadine, our northern neighbors also add a splash of OJ.

What Goes Up…

Sadly our time in the sky was coming to a close. We did not have the energy or time to hike all the way back down, so it was time to catch a ride. Many people take the Peak to Peak back to Whistler and then the Whistler Village Gondola for the return trip. We decided to go a different route at this point. The Blackcomb Gondola takes about 20 minutes to reach the Upper Village, and then a short hike back to the main village.

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The Upper Village is the site of the Family Adventure Zone that is open from mid-June to early-September. We are past the age where the kids demand to stay and play, but there were all sorts of fun activities including mini-golf, a bungee trampoline, climbing walls, and an alpine slide. The Upper Village is also the site of the Whistler Farmers’ Market, held every Sunday and Wednesday during the summer. From there, we had about a 5- to 10-minute trek back to the parking area, following the Village Trail. On our walk, we crossed Fitzsimmons Creek where we learned its milky appearance was due to glacial (or rock) flour: fine-grained particles of rock that have been formed by glacial erosion.

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Village Walk in Wonderful Whistler

We wound our way back to the village for a bit of exploring and shopping. There were tons of cute shops and restaurants throughout town. My son particularly liked the Patagonia shop with several local T-shirt designs. In fact, most of the major hiking/outdoor stores are represented as well as many galleries featuring First Nations art. Although attractive, to me the village seemed very planned — more like Vail or Telluride Mountain Village. I tend to prefer the rustic mountain towns of Crested Butte, Telluride or Breckenridge, but this is certainly more of an observation than a complaint. When the weather back home is 90+ degrees, I am always happy to be anywhere in the mountains!

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We ended our day trip to Whistler at Pizzeria Antico. Our family is always on the lookout for fantastic pizza in mountain towns — Secret Stash in Crested Butte, Downstairs at Eric’s in Breckenridge, and Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride come to mind. The super thin-crusted Neapolitan pies at highly-rated Pizzeria Antico certainly joined the ranks! We started with an amazing composed salad with butter lettuce, radicchio, raw mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes, burrata and a delightfully light truffle lemon dressing. A great selection of craft beer and ciders matched perfectly with the individual pizzas we selected. After a short stroll back to our car, it was time to head back down from the sky and toward the sea for our trip back to Vancouver. What an amazing day in beautiful BC!

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