For the uninitiated and even for someone who learned to ski on the behemoth that is California's Mammoth Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb is big. Really big.
The British Columbia resort, located a 75-mile (and show-stoppingly beautiful) drive from Vancouver, totals almost 8,200 skiable acres. So while Vail Resorts spends $50 million linking Utah's Park City and Canyons mountains in advance of the 2015-16 ski season, those two hills would still have to add a Stowe Mountain Resort and a Mount Snow to collectively equal the size of Whistler Blackcomb. It's that big.
Fortunately, the resort, whose two mountains officially merged in 1997, isn't staking its reputation on its sheer girth. Whistler Blackcomb has kicked in about $30 million worth of mountain upgrades since 2013.
The old Whistler Village Gondolas were swapped out for eight-passenger cars that speed skiers up the mountain while allowing for lake views and what's usually an international encounter with other visitors.
The writer’s son enjoys the treehouse area at Whistler Blackcomb. Photo Credit: Danny King
Further improvements include the requisite terrain parks, snowmaking equipment and radio frequency identification technology for lift passes. Early 2014 marked the opening of the Whistler Children's Centre, which includes a covered "magic carpet" skier-mover that ferries young beginners (my 9-year-old son, included, on our visit) up an easy slope.
More than 80% of the resort's 200-plus ski runs are either intermediate or advanced, and with a one-mile vertical drop from the resort's highest peak to Whistler Village, the results are thrilling. Some ski runs span seven miles, and even when a visit in the early or late season, in my case, browns the bottom of the ski mountains, the upper elevations provide plenty of both groomed and natural terrain for high-intermediate skiers to find their bliss.
Also thrilling (but surprisingly not terrifying for the acrophobia-afflicted) is the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which was built in 2008 to better connect the two mountains. The Peak 2 Peak holds the Guinness World Record for both "highest cable car above ground" (1,430 feet up, or about the height of Chicago's Willis Tower) and "longest unsupported span between two cable car towers" (1.9 miles). Just don't look down for too long.
The 550-room Fairmont Chateau in Whistler is a small town unto itself.
Additionally, Whistler Blackcomb joined the Mountain Collective prior to the 2013-14 season, meaning that those with the time and resources can purchase season passes that enable Whistler Blackcomb skiers to experience other North American resorts such as Utah's Alta and Wyoming's Jackson Hole as well as the aforementioned Mammoth.
As ski resorts go, Whistler Blackcomb is nothing if not self-contained, providing a true park-the-car-and-leave-it opportunity for visitors, especially with its free shuttle-bus service.
Whistler Village is a walking affair, offering a play-hard vibe (some locals refer to the town as "Whistralia" because of the ubiquity of Australians working on the mountain and in the village's shops and restaurants) as well as dozens of eating, drinking and shopping options. StonesEdge Gastropub and Cows offered excellent dinner and ice cream, respectively.
Whistler Olympic Plaza, built in advance of the 2010 Winter Games, offers outdoor ice skating and other family activities during ski season.
Within the wide range of nearby lodging, the 550-room Fairmont Chateau, which calls itself North America's largest slopeside hotel, is a small town unto itself. The property improved its pool area and other public facilities in late 2012 and offers upscale, family and grab-and-go restaurant options as well as a small retail mall and a ski shop that includes equipment rentals — not to mention a brief walk to the bottom of Blackcomb's base.