Whistler, a resort town 125 km north of Vancouver, is one of the main touristic attractions in beautiful British Columbia. It gets about two million visitors annually from all over the world. Most go there for the same reason: to enjoy the outdoors. Here, you can always ride the slopes of the surrounding mountains: skiing and snowboarding, when there is snow; and mountain biking during the rest of the year.
At the peak of summer, the town is bursting with mountain bikers of all ages who come to have a go at the trails that are reserved for skiers and snowboarders in winter. The slopes are full of ramps for everyone to practice on. It’s quite something to watch the more experienced bikers jump high up in the air and do impossible twists and turns. The biggest event of the summer is the Kokanee Crankworx, a competition that attracts the world’s best riders.
For a more chilled adventure, you can take the gondola from the village and go up Whistler Mountain. Day passes go for about $45 CAD, plus tax in summer; so we were thrilled when a friend told us he had scored some free passes. The ride is smooth and long. From inside the cabin, you watch the village grow smaller and smaller.
Once you reach the top, it’s just a short walk to the chairlift station; where an army of smiling rubber duckies greet visitors.
After you settle in your chair, you are free to admire the view and forget about any vertigo sensation.
In the end you reach the summit, and get a full view of the sky and the snow-capped mountains all around.
Once there, you can choose from several hiking trails, depending on what you want.
The name Whistler comes from the whistling calls that the marmots living in the alpine areas of the mountain make. They are known as “whistlers”, of course.
By the time we where ready to head back down, the chairlift was already closed. We needed to get down quickly to catch the last gondola to the village. Otherwise, we’d had to walk all the way down in the dark. So to save us some time, we did a bit of “sky booting”.
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buenisimo bianca!!!!