In February, Inna, Alex, and I flew on Alaska Airlines from San Jose to Seattle, Washington, then traveled by car to Whistler, Canada. We rented a Jeep Grand Cherokee using Alamo Car Rental (Costco.com to get a better rate) to ensure we had a 4-wheel drive available in case we needed it. However, it turned out that we never needed to use 4-wheel drive.
Since the drive from Seattle to Whistler is about 4 hours, we decided to fly into Seattle in the evening, stay overnight at Sleep Inn Sea-Tac Hotel, and then drive to Whistler in the morning.
Early in the morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the local IHOP, and drove to the Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel, located right at the Whistler/Blackcomb chair lift.
The drive to Whistler was quite scenic and not difficult at all. In comparison, a drive to Lake Tahoe can be more challenging (due to the elevation gain of around 7,000 ft). There is little, if any, elevation again on the drive to Whistler. Pan-Pacific Hotel is quite lovely and is ideally suited for skiing and snowboarding.
The hotel has ski/snowboard lockers, so the wet skiing gear does not need to be stored in a car or in one's room.
The lockers make it easy to change gear and lock it for safekeeping. The room was small but nicely furnished.
One day, we got to see the Fire & Ice show from the balcony of our Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel. Several ski and snowboard stunts were performed.
I rented a snowboard for the first few days while Alex took snowboarding lessons and Inna rented skis. Inna and I skied together on primarily green and a few blue-rated slopes.
Whistler Mountain has long, wide ski runs, and skiing there was fantastic. The snow was in excellent condition and not icy (at least not on Whistler). When I did try to snowboard on Blackcomb another day, the conditions there were much icier.
Snowboarding at Whistler was fun, and the whole Whistler Village setup adds much to the resort.
There are numerous restaurants and many pubs and places to drink. We found quite a few excellent restaurants, which added a lot of enjoyment to our stay there. Even the food at the Whistler lodges was delicious!
We especially enjoyed eating at Quattro Restaurant. The dishes there were incredibly delicious.
We also really liked the whole atmosphere of the resort and the exceptional food everywhere. The quality of food was significantly better than anything we have tried at Lake Tahoe's resorts (Sugarbowl, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Sierra-at-Tahoe, or Northstar).
After snowboarding for two days, I got reasonably tired and decided to try skiing. I exchanged my rented snowboard for skis. I found that skiing was much less tiring than snowboarding.
However, my skiing technique has declined over the years, and I found that I could not control my skis as well as I used to.
Alex really enjoyed his 3-day Snowboarding camp and improved significantly. On the last day, we skied/snowboarded together, and Alex showed how much he improved.
On Thursday, February 23, we drove back to Seattle, Washington, and then flew back to San Jose. The border crossing back to the USA took some time. Overall, this ski trip was very tiring but enjoyable.
Since the drive from Seattle to Whistler is about 4 hours, we decided to fly into Seattle in the evening, stay overnight at Sleep Inn Sea-Tac Hotel, and then drive to Whistler in the morning.
Early in the morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the local IHOP, and drove to the Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel, located right at the Whistler/Blackcomb chair lift.
The drive to Whistler was quite scenic and not difficult at all. In comparison, a drive to Lake Tahoe can be more challenging (due to the elevation gain of around 7,000 ft). There is little, if any, elevation again on the drive to Whistler. Pan-Pacific Hotel is quite lovely and is ideally suited for skiing and snowboarding.
The hotel has ski/snowboard lockers, so the wet skiing gear does not need to be stored in a car or in one's room.
The lockers make it easy to change gear and lock it for safekeeping. The room was small but nicely furnished.
One day, we got to see the Fire & Ice show from the balcony of our Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel. Several ski and snowboard stunts were performed.
I rented a snowboard for the first few days while Alex took snowboarding lessons and Inna rented skis. Inna and I skied together on primarily green and a few blue-rated slopes.
Whistler Mountain has long, wide ski runs, and skiing there was fantastic. The snow was in excellent condition and not icy (at least not on Whistler). When I did try to snowboard on Blackcomb another day, the conditions there were much icier.
Snowboarding at Whistler was fun, and the whole Whistler Village setup adds much to the resort.
There are numerous restaurants and many pubs and places to drink. We found quite a few excellent restaurants, which added a lot of enjoyment to our stay there. Even the food at the Whistler lodges was delicious!
We especially enjoyed eating at Quattro Restaurant. The dishes there were incredibly delicious.
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After snowboarding for two days, I got reasonably tired and decided to try skiing. I exchanged my rented snowboard for skis. I found that skiing was much less tiring than snowboarding.
However, my skiing technique has declined over the years, and I found that I could not control my skis as well as I used to.
Alex really enjoyed his 3-day Snowboarding camp and improved significantly. On the last day, we skied/snowboarded together, and Alex showed how much he improved.
