Day trip to Whistler skiing – thank you Greyhound!

So I'm sure you’ve all read our skiing adventure to Mount Seymour. We now fancied ourselves as quite the skiers and wanted to go to Whistler before the season ends. As Whistler is pretty pricey we found we could get the Greyhound bus there and back in a day with a ticket that included our lift passes and rental –awesome!

There are no floodlights at Whistler so the slopes close earlier than those with lights. The last lifts are at 4pm. With that in mind we booked the early coach at 6.30 am to get us to Whistler before 9 am.

The road to Whistler from Vancouver is supposed to be one of the most scenic routes in the world. I have to say it really is. It’s just stunning. I tried to take some pics for you... 

But as you can a see our camera did not like the speed or the coach window – so you will all have to either believe me or go see it yourself. 

As we knew the view was going to be impressive, we made sure we sat on the left side of the coach (ocean side) to get the best views (well done Dave). Unfortunately for me I can’t keep my eyes open on a coach so feel asleep for a great deal of the journey, but woke up refreshed in Whistler!

As the Greyhound tickets included our lift passes and rental gear we were given a voucher from greyhound which you can exchange for you rentals when you book your tickets. You can get your rental at several of the rental places in the village.

When we arrived we queued up for our rentals and you could tell strait away that the staff were not Canadian (English actually) so the customer service was non-existent. They were all hung over and couldn’t organise anything. So after about 30 minutes of waiting around filling out forms etc. we finally  got our gear and lift passes and headed for the lift.

There are two mountains Whistler and Blackcomb that your pass gives you access to. 

Dave had conducted a bit of research and found out that Whistler Mountain was the best for green runs (the easy ones) and slow zones, so we packed into the Garibaldi lift to take us up the mountain.

The lift made a stop and I was about to get out and everyone in the car was like “you don’t want to get out there that’s for beginners”. Before I could say “I am a beginner” the door closed and we carried up the mountain. The view was amazing, but the lift went on and on and I was having a slight de-ja-vu of the last time I was in a lift for ages…

We got our at the top and it was packed of people, such a great vibe. As you can see it was such a beautiful day!

The view is just breathtaking. You can literally just see mountains for miles and miles. 

We clicked on our skis and headed to the start of the first green run.

Er de-ja-vu indeed. Oh my goodness. I really think I should have got out at the beginner. For anyone thinking of going to Whistler that hasn’t skied much, the green runs here are like blues ones on Mount Seymour!

There are lots of nice sections which have a nice gradual gradient where you can practice, then you get to a part (still a green run) and there’s a big sign which says “Easiest Way Down”.

Easiest way down my arse.

My poor arse indeed. It took quite a few tumbles. I did also manage to fall onto my front with my legs out again. Apart from there was no teacher present to help me.

Luckily two guys took pity on me, as Dave my loving BF was nowhere to be seen (he said it was because he can’t go as slow as me).

It took a good five minutes to get me up, with both men pulling me up.

Oh dear.

The views were breathtaking, but when you are skiing you feel like there’s a sheer drop to the side of you, so I felt more petrified of going over the edge than enjoying the views, which was a shame. 

We took a break at a cafe as I needed to get some sugar. Still some great views from here.

On the next section I was a bit more confident to take some pics along the way.

 Although Dave kept telling me off for being a safety hazard. No change there then!

We skied down to the beginners section which was empty. We literally had the whole run to ourselves. 

It was awesome and the smile quickly returned to my face.

As hard the experience was skiing right from the top, it actually made me better. I was able to build up lots of speed and confidence.

We had to get our rental gear back by 4 (the last lift is at 4pm as there are no floodlights) so we headed down the last few runs. The glorious weather was unfortunately melting the snow  on the lower sections and the runs were full of orange jacketed wardens waving everyone to slow down.

Slushy snow, is really hard to ski on and not go fast. So I did what I knew best... I fell over. Ha.

The thing you have to remember when you go skiing is, there are only two ways down. To ski or in a skidoo if you have broken you leg, neck etc. As much as the latter sometimes feels that it might even be the easiest option, I did the former. I feel proud.

The village was buzzing with life, with people spilling out all of the bars.

I did fancy a whisky, but after I had taken off all my gear I was quite ready to get on the Greyhound and crash. We managed to get on a earlier bus home. 


Happy days.

You can see all the pictures here:











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