What do you define as extreme?
Did you see my White Whistler article? http://www.dcski.com/articles/1520
Spanky's Ladder, Couloir Extreme, trees in lower Harmony Bowl, parts of Blackcomb Glacier, Whistler Bowl. You need to connect with a local, it's a big and wild place. I know a real fine lady instructor there if you want a recommendation.
JohnL wrote:
What do you define as extreme?
There is stuff that can kill you there. I’d be careful and humble. Lots of cliffs.
JohnL wrote:
JohnL wrote:
What do you define as extreme?
There is stuff that can kill you there. I’d be careful and humble. Lots of cliffs.
John is right. Canada has a different attitude than the USA toward liability in ski accidents. Up there they may, or may not put a rope across something that can kill you. When I was there they had a program called ”˜ski esprit’. It was guided instruction, a mix of each. People were grouped by similar ability. You could move yourself up or down a group, likewise the guides could do so. It involved full days of hard skiing. I wouldn’t be able to handle that today. The price for this was quite modest. Hopefully the program, or something similar still exists. It was a great way to get a local’s tour of the mountains.
personally, I enjoy mountains that have something I wouldn’t dream of doing.
Who will you be there with? By yourself? Large group? Girlfriend? That might dictate the apres spot a bit.
Whistler has a large base area / town, and that's just the main one. My favorite restaurant was Crepe Montagne, but it's a tiny hole in the wall, and the wait is regularly 2+ hours for a table (they don't take reservations). There were lots of good places to eat and drink, though, given its size.
We skiied 5 days there last year and opted to take Fitzimmons' Express up in the morning to avoid the long waits for the two gondolas. I liked the blacks under Garbanzo Express and Big Red Express, although Big Red is really exposed to the wind (so was a freezing cold ride).
I found Whistler to be more weather-sensitive than most resorts, given it's far-north latitude, and relatively low elevation. We got lucky with huge amounts of snow (something like 60 inches over 5 days), but also had high winds, cold temperatures, and very poor visibility most days (flat light, lots of fog). In our case, you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you most days on the glacier, so we opted to ski a little farther down the mountain where we weren't socked in by fog.
All that said, the other posters are correct that Whistler is massive, so you will have tons of good options. A lot will just be what has the best snow / light.
I'll be out there with my family, my sister is as good of a skiier as a me. As for terrain level, I'm looking for something similar to Corbets Coulior in Jackson, Big Coulior in Big Sky, or Highland Bowl in Aspen Highlands. Something that you need to do while there that is a challenge.
I really appreciate all the help and advice.
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