Memories of Whistler

Well it’s been two weeks now since the iWoot in Whistler holiday ended, yet despite all that time I think a part of my brain still thinks it’s out there. I find myself drifting off occasionally and revisiting Whistler mountain in my mind – The gentle slopes of Pony Trail, The thrills of Lower Whiskey Jack, the majesty of Tokum!

Now I’ve had time to digest the whole experience (and to overcome the jet-lag!) I thought it would be appropriate to post my thoughts on.. well, everything really. So please find them all below, in a completely random bullet point stylee – fresh yo!

 

• Whistler is an incredible place to visit.
• I found it to be at its best in the early mornings, when the streets would be empty except for the crows.
• Nearly every single shop is a ski shop, which can feel a bit weird, but I guess it does mean that there’s a feeling of unity… man.
• The hotel was amazing: Large double bed, embarrassing amount of pillows, couch, huge TV, jacuzzi, balcony with a view and kitchen area. Most importantly it had tea making facilities, which was good because..
• Canadians reeeally don’t understand tea. At all. The first tea ordered came with a pot of hot water. The second came in a large glass with no milk, crazy.
• However the Canadians are ridiculously cheerful and friendly, so this is forgiven. From a miserable Brit point of view it was a bit of a culture shock.
• The bar staff were especially friendly. If you’re being cynical you could just say that they’re looking for a tip, but it was still nice.
• The exception was the girl in the ‘Amsterdam Bar’, who swore at me and told me that I look like an alien. Nice.
• Canadians watch waaay too much ice hockey than I’m sure can be good for them. (Though I have to confess that I started to take to it a bit after a few days.)
• Pancakes and maple syrup weren’t actually that bad.
• Neither were oysters..
• “Deer Hunting USA” is possibly the worst arcade game I’ve ever seen. With your trusty shotgun you have to eradicate deer after deer, who have the very cheek to graze peacefully on grass in front of you – the sick bastards.
• My biggest regret of the holiday is being too polite and passing up a curly wurly. (twirly wirly?)

 

• Snowboarding is now my new favourite sport. It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had strapped to a giant piece of wood.
• Descending on Whistler village from above is absolutely incredible. As you come down the slopes it suddenly opens before you, and it’s breathtaking.
• According to the action cam footage I spent nearly all my time either falling over, or actually on my arse. I’d like to think that the camera lies, but in this case I think it’s probably right.
• I would like to think of myself as the ‘master of the falling leaf’. It sounds so much better than ‘guy who can’t turn properly’.
• Shouting ‘cowabunga’ en masse at the top of the Tokum run was as good as it sounds.

 

• Driving on a proper snowmobile was both exhilarating and awe inspiring.
• I very nearly tipped the thing when we were encouraged to put our ‘thumbs’ down and go as fast as we dared.
• Julie was great for putting up with my driving.
• Our guide Luke was the most XXXXXTREEEEEME guy I think I’ve ever met.
• Though we didn’t get to see any bears, we did see a bear’s lair, and it was awesome.

 

 

 

• iWoot in Whistler was the best holiday ever.
• Everyone who went on the trip was most bodacious (and totally non heinous.)
• iWoot rock! Thanks to Paul and Julian for having us!
• Thanks to everyone else who helped to put this trip together, including Aktive8 for their generosity.
• I can only hope that I’m lucky enough to remain in the iWoot family for at least a while longer yet!

Until next time guys - “Stay excellent to each other”

- Jamie

Julie’s Photos From Whistler

After a day on her skis (well, and bum) in the snow, Julie decided to take more time exploring the Whistler/Blackcomb area usually utilising quite exotic forms of transport. She went on a dog sledge, did snowmobiling, and can even be seen pictured below next to a huge yellow snowcat that I hope, for the safety of others, she didn’t have a go at!

As a result Julie is the most travelled amonst us around the Whistler area and has taken photos and videos of some quite amazing sights. You can see frozen waterfalls, bear dens, and even Harvey having an oyster, which is quite an achievement. Enjoy!

You can read more about the trip from Julie herself on the Affiliate Window blog.

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Awesome - to the max!

Well, as you’ve heard many times already, we had a bit of an epic journey out here to Whistler. But you know what, I think it actually worked out rather well. It gave us an opportunity to get to know each other a bit more when we stayed in the gorgeous and luxurious Renaissance hotel in Heathrow, and Paul was even kind enough to let us raid the mini bar in his room. It also gave us the opportunity to visit Toronto (after a long hungover plane journey). There we were whisked up the fantastic CN tower just as the sun was setting. Nice. More importantly though, we learnt that you can fit 12 adult hippopotamus (or is that hippopotami?) on their glass viewing platform. And you know what? That’s the sort of information I’m going to keep with me for the rest of my life.

So anyway we’re finally here in Whistler and I’m loving it.. Harvey was absolutely right in saying that no-one has had time to write on this site, so trying to convey all my current experiences now is going to be a bit hard. Today for instance I drove a snowmobile through gorgeous mountain routes, way above whistler village amongst the clouds. There’s no way I can convey this stuff in a few sentences, so I’ll be back to update soon..

For now I must go and meet up with the others before heading out for dinner. We may even hit a club tonight, but I’ll probably need an early night to be honest because I’m meeting the Whistler Mayor in the morning - apparently some of my snowboarding skills were SO fresh that they want to name a road after me - buttery!

Dinner awaits - Until next time guys!

- Jamie

A chance to blog

Finally, a chance to blog has arisen. After leaving on Saturday morning, this is the first time I’ve sat down for more than a few minutes.

Joe’s already mentioned the flights - but basically thanks to a rumoured hungover captain from BA, we ended up taking a major detour via Toronto, giving us the oppurtunity for an inpromtu trip up the world’s tallest tower. And thanks to the confusion of several timezones, Julie had the longest birthday of her life.

At about 10am UK time (having had 4 hours sleep in 48 hours) we arrived in style. The car we arrived in wasn’t a limousine. And it wasn’t a hummer. It was an epically-large-stretch-limo-hummer-monster. Yeah.

2 days of skiing lessons and I’ve lost Julian and Ian halfway down the mountain (ended up taking the wrong trail and going down “blue” trails well out of my league), and I’m back in my room for a jacuzzi before another night out…

Whistler’s an incredible place - the skiing is “awesome“, “mental” and “buttery“(?) as described by our instructor, as are the nights out. An incredible holiday thus far.

Epic Journey

We all arrived at Heathrow on time which was a minor miracle so we proceeded to check-in only to find our flight CANCELLED because the pilot was ill - nice to know BA have no spare pilots!

The best deal we could get was a free night in a local hotel and a next day flight to Toronto then onward Air Canada flight and thankfully they ran to schedule and over 36hours after I left home we arrived at our hotel in Whistler.

We made the most of our 7 hour stopover in Toronto by taking taxis to downtown Toronto where we whooshed up the CN Tower, a most impressive structure - I’m about to head off for breakfast so I’ll let Julian post the pics later.

My first ever ski lesson was amazing - we took a ski lift way up into the mountain then Barnaby from Dorset coached us through the basics and now I can do snow ploughs or “pizzas” awesome - mental even - that’s ski-speak apparently

The hotel is really very comfortable so top marks to Julian for that - although rumour has it there wasn’t much choice for a party of 7 booked at the last minute

More later, gotta go catch some powder, erm…. poser alert!