Thursday 29th August 2013, day 49 - Vancouver to Whistler

Moose Tour part 3 – Whistler

Day 14: Vancouver to Whistler

Whistler, located about two hours north of Vancouver in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, is one of Canada's most popular ski resorts, and played a major part in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Like Banff, it's a resort town with a permanent population of about ten thousand, has a large transient population of seasonal workers, and receives over two million visitors each year.

The road between Vancouver and Whistler begins at the US border and extends north for a total length of 409km. It's known as the Sea to Sky Highway and is one of the most scenic drives in the country. Unfortunately, we could barely see a thing. Our small group of seven (five of whom were English) left Vancouver around 9:15am with Dustin, my final guide of the trip. It was too cloudy to stop at the Cypress Mountain viewpoint, so we went straight to a supermarket in West Vancouver for lunch supplies.

Despite the low cloud and rain, we did make a few scenic stops on the way. First was Shannon Falls, a cascade-type waterfall which, at 385m, is the third tallest (of any type) in Canada. It might have been impressive if we could see more of it. Our lunch stop was at Alice Lake, which was quite nice. There's a little outdoor performance area there, with seats and a stage, and we sat around the sides of the small covered 'backstage' area, out of the rain. Next was Brandywine Falls, a seventy-metre plunge-type waterfall, which was cool (all of it was visible from the viewpoint overlooking it). Apparently, hidden in the cloud on the opposite side of the valley was a mountain with a huge piece of volcanic rock on the top of it, which had been carried along by a glacier after an eruption and deposited there. I would have liked to see that too, but oh well.

Dustin dropped us off in Whistler Village (the main centre) at 2:30pm and we had an hour to wander round. It wasn't created until the 1960's, so everything is relatively new, and was designed to look like a town you'd find in the Alps. Like Banff, it's pretty and I’d like to see it in the winter, but it’s very commercial. I had thought about applying for a winter job in one of the big hotels there, but decided against that. It would certainly be an experience, spending winter in a busy ski resort, but I don't have an interest in winter sports so there wouldn't be much to do when not working, unless I wanted to spend a lot of money in the wonderful little bakery-cafes they have. Also I'd have to spend four months there, meaning I wouldn't be able to go anywhere else until April.

The hostel was a very pleasant surprise. Located eight kilometres south of Whistler Village, in part of what had been the Athletes' Village in 2010, it's practically a hotel. It had been purpose-built for the Winter Olympics and opened as a hostel in July 2010, so everything is modern, clean, bright and spacious, and has been voted one of the nicest hostels in the world. After the included dinner in the cafe on the ground floor – I had spicy chorizo pasta – I just spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the dorm before going to bed at about ten.