Whistler Day One

Our first day dawned grey and snowy. We took the gondola up Whistler Mountain and warmed up on the runs served by the Big Red Express. The snow was good, but the weather was variable. We'd start under blue skies and pass into completely flat light, then into fog, then into snowfall. A few runs had us ready to find something more interesting, so we hopped on the peak chair and made our way over to the Symphony Amphitheatre.

The last time I was back in this bowl was 1988, on a ski trip with Ron, Joe, and Greg. Back then you could traverse into what was called Burnt Stew Basin, pick a line, and ski to the bottom. From there your only choice was a miserable little cat track to get back to civilization. Now there is a high-speed quad serving the area and the Flute and Piccolo Bowls are no longer out of bounds. In a nod to us old-timers, however, you still have to take a miserable little cat track to get out of there.

We skied around Symphony until early afternoon then made our way back to the Roundhouse for a lunch of baked potatoes covered with chili, cheese, and sour cream. Yum! We made a few more runs off of Big Red Express and then worked our way back to the village. The spring conditions were really setting in, and by the time we got to the bottom the snow was the consistency of a slurpee.

Note to self: Tomorrow we download off the mountain.

After a quick soak in the hot tub and swim in the pool, we wandered through the village in search of dinner, eventually deciding on the Whistler Brewhouse. It's a little on the pricey side, but the food is good and the beer is excellent.