Whistler skiing

[katiec68]

Hi all

me again!

Well we have a couple of holiday irons in the fire regarding holidays and the old ski trip has resurrected its head for Jan 2020.

Although its more than we'd like to pay we've found 11 nights in January with Inghams including 9 day lift pass for just of £4000 (Crystal who we usually go with still havent released their lift ticket prices - but even like for like they would be £200 more and Ski Safari were nearer £4500!)

Now considering we only paid £3000 for 2 weeks in Banff last year it really needs to be worth it!

So people - please tell me its worth it!

Or is that price about right for 2 people for 2 weeks?


xxx

[katiec68]

Anyone?

[GKnH]

Hi Katie

We went Christmas / New Year 2017 to Whistler and absolutely loved it! We're still very much novice skiers (green and blue runs only), but had a great time. It's a huge ski area with a variety of runs on both mountains. They've spent a lot of money upgrading the lift system over the past couple of years and have just opened a new gondola from Blackcomb base. We rarely had a problem with queuing even at a really busy time of year. The only long queues were for the Whistler base gondola if you hit it at the wrong time of the morning, but even then the lines moved quickly.

They seem to have reliable snow (they're enjoying a bumper season so far this year) and have widespread snowmaking. There are plenty of places to stop and eat both on mountain and at both bases but the 2 mountain top lodges get busy at lunch (as you'd expect).

It's one of the most beautiful places I've been skiing - the mountains go on and on for miles. The views are stunning.

Whistler village itself is a great base - it's all pedestrianized so has a lovely atmosphere, especially in the evening. There's a big variety of restaurants from quick snacks to high end, bars and a cinema. If you have the option to self cater there are 2 supermarkets.

What accommodation have you got in your package price? If you're staying in Whistler Village you can walk everywhere so wouldn't need a car, just get a transfer with Whistler Shuttle - we found them to be very good.

As you can see I'm a fan of Whistler and IMO it's worth paying the extra to go there, especially if you're more experienced skiers.

If I can answer any questions let me know.

[Disney_time]

I don't think that's too bad a price, since the lift price alone would be well over £400 for that no of nights, maybe even £500 in 2020.

What's your accommodation? Obviously some places are better than others. Very few places include breakfast, for example. I can only think of Pan Pacific village centre that includes it. Food can add quite a bit, and also we found last year that we really needed to make reservations for our favourite places, as it's so busy.

Having said that, before we needed to go during school hols, for our friends' kids, we had a few breaks in Whistler in Jan which might have been a tiny bit quieter.

It is worth it, though. We love it and there is so much to do for me, a non skier. We also enjoyed a side trip in Vancouver in 2017.

Lastly, we always do DIY. There are "super early booking prices" to be had prior to August of the year before in hotels and for lift passes. The prices then go up on 15th November. Also the BA sale gives good flight/hotel package prices. Before we went DIY, we used ski independence in Edinburgh, who are very good.

[katiec68]

Hi both

Thank you both soo much for your great replies.

The accommodation we have been looking at is the Crystal Lodge (although DH loves Blackcomb Springs )

The package includes flights, transfers, hotel and lift pass.

Trying to price it up DIY
I have looked tonight and the Crystal Lodge is £2000 for 11 nights if I book it now (thats a 40% discount )
Return shuttle £160
Flights - around £1000
Lift pass £1300 - 2 x 8 days.

We dont need breakfast included - we take a couple of plastic bowls and buy cereal and have it in our room as were getting ready!

A microwave is handy for those nights you dont fancy eating out but its not essential.

I always look at DIY for skiing but somehow I can never make it any cheaper. Im not averse to DIY and have done it for several other holidays but for some reason we also like the package security for skiing

We have tried Ski Independence, Ski world and Ski Safari.
Ski I and Ski W haven't returned our enquiries - after 5 days! and Ski Safari were over £5000 for the same quote

As I cant get DIY anywhere close, we have to decide whether to wait until Crystal finally get their act together and put up the lift prices on the website,
book with Inghams through our local Thomas Cook - who offered us a reasonable chunk off (for skiing anyway )
book 14 nights at Whistler and just suck up the cost
book 14 nights at Banff and get a luxury room for cheaper than Whistler!

The BA flights aren't out yet but we usually fly AC as they do free ski carriage.

First world decisions I know but I like to be sorted months ahead

[Disney_time]

That's annoying if Ski Independence haven't replied - you could give them a call.

Originally Posted by katiec68

Hi both

As I cant get DIY anywhere close, we have to decide whether to wait until Crystal finally get their act together and put up the lift prices on the website,

See more...

You could buy the ski passes later, separately either direct (before 15 Aug for best price) or from Ski Safari or Ski Independence who are sometimes cheaper.

There is a freephone number from UK to the Whistler reservation Centre 0800-587-1743. They are very helpful and you might need their help anyway as the new Epic passes are a bit complicated to understand what they cover vs what you actually need. I think a dibber had a seasonal job there a couple of years ago, but I can't remember their name

[GKnH]

Of the 2 hotels you mention I would go for Crystal Lodge - right in the heart of the village and a very short walk to the lifts. Blackcomb springs is ski in / out but is a long way from the village if you want a meal in the evening. I believe they run a shuttle bus but I'd still prefer to be in the village. I wanted to stay at Crystal Lodge on our trip but they didn't have the size of suite we needed available for our dates.

Regards your debate of Whistler v Banff it's really down to what is more important to you personally. I like to stay in nice hotels but on a ski holiday we're not spending that much time in the hotel so the ski terrain and overall facilities of the resort are more important. I've only ever visited Banff in summer so I don't know how their terrain compares to Whistler but I imagine you wouldn't have a bad holiday at either resort (unless the snow is poor - fingers crossed it's not).

[katiec68]

thank you all for all your advice...

however DH really didnt want to pay £5k plus so while we were trying to figure out if we could afford it I was still browsing the DIBB.

I saw a post about someone booking some flights to Florida over Xmas so I checked the prices and half an hour later we were booked! 14-28 Dec and home in time for DH birthday!

With hopefully still enough in the kitty for a cheeky last minute week skiing in Feb or March

So a happy ending of a different kind