For this year’s trip to Whistler Pride, we wanted to keep costs down, plus do some site seeing along the way. We headed out at 4am in Calgary, taking the Trans-Canada through Lake Louise, Golden and Kamloops and although we did encounter poor conditions for the first part of our trip, after Golden the roads were clear. As we didn’t loop up from Vancouver but came direct, the trip only worked out to be 10-11 hours (more if you make frequent stops).

Highway 99 coming from the east (Kamloops) is still considered part of the "Sea to Sky Highway", but you can tell that it is not as well used as the highway coming from Vancouver. The view was spectacular and varied – beautiful BC mountain scenery, with some small towns and First Nations reservations scattered along our path.

Arriving from the north side of Whistler during the day made us more aware on how big the town of Whistler is. If you are always in the village, you don’t realize there is more to Whistler outside of just the village. While the village contains the majority of hotels, resorts, ski slopes and touristy stuff, the rest of Whistler holds the residential housing, the golf courses, schools, grocery stores, retail, Scandinave Spa, and so much more. The urban forest of Whistler hides a lot of the town during the day and especially at night; when we headed to the Meadow Park Sports Centre for Whistler Pride Pool Party later that evening, all we saw was a dark road. Whistler Village is like being in the downtown area of a town or city; however don’t expect there to be big box stores. If you have a car, bike, or take Whistler transit, you can check out other areas of Whistler outside of the village.

Once we checked in at Aava Hotel and got our passes for Whistler Pride, (check out the article on Aava Hotel at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5667.)  I had to cover the Fire & Ice Show on Whistler Mountain. The show displays some ski and snowboard jump tricks along with people fire dancing with flaming balls. From there, we headed over to the Splash Pool Party at Meadow Park Sports Centre.

The next day, my travel companions Rob and Justin took to the slopes while I checked out the new Audain Art Museum. (Check out the article on the Audain Art Museum at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5671 .) As a novice snowboarder, Justine opted for some lessons while Rob enjoyed the slopes. With Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain both accessible from Whistler Village, you have access to close to 8,200 acres of skiable terrain. There are also 37 lifts to get you to different areas on those two mountains.

Whistler Villages has lots of places to purchase or rent ski and snowboard gear, so you don’t need to worry about not having anything with you when you show up. The village is set up to be walkable, so you can walk from your hotel or rental shops with your gear right to the slopes. If you are bringing your own gear, most hotels have storage available, so you don’t need to worry about tracking wet skis or snowboards into your room.

During our visit, I popped into Scandinave Spa, which everyone had been telling me to check it out. (Read the article at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5669.) Rob and Justin did the Bobsled Experience at Whistler Sports Legacy - you get to go down the same track that was used in the Vancouver Olympics. (Check out the article at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5672.) As a great group outdoor experience, the three of us along with a guide did The Adventure Group snow shoe tour. (Check out the article at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5670.)

Even though that we decided to travel to Whistler through the north side, you can travel to Whistler from Vancouver in about 2 hours. As per the name of the road (Sea to Sky), the view is breathtaking; mountain coastline on one side, and the sea on the other.

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Locale British Columbia | Whistler |

Topic Ski and Snowboard | Travel | Whistler Pride |

Photo Gallery Travel |Whistler |