Activity central

Whistler, Canada's world-famous ski resort, offers A to Z of adventure activities

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March 26, 2014

Activity central

To ziptrek or not to ziptrek? That was the question that plagued me for a month before I reached Whistler, Canada’s world-famous ski resort. Nestled in the Coast Mountains west of the Rockies, Whistler is many things to many people. For skiers, its slopes rival — and often beat — Vail, Aspen, Zermatt or Chamonix. For cinephiles, the Whistler Film Festival is steadily emerging as another winter mountain fest à la Sundance. And for adventure junkies, Whistler is the original home of one of the biggest highs of them all: ziplining.

Now, when it comes to high-adrenaline stuff, I’m chicken. I like to roost on holidays, not hang like a monkey among pines, or soar like an eagle across cedars. Which is pretty much what ziplining (or ziptrekking) is all about — you get trussed up and zip on a line between the treetops. Across rivers, valleys and chasms. With only a lightweight harness going around your waist, legs, shoulders and chest — the closest you can get to flying without sprouting wings.

Granted, you only fly in five 30- to 45-second spurts, and spend the rest of the two-plus hours walking from one launch pad to the next. Granted, you get incredible bird’s-eye views of old growth rainforests. (I would probably have had my eyes firmly shut in terror.) Granted, you can zoom up to 80kmph in the air, depending on your weight. Granted, even six-year-olds can do it. Whatever, I’m still chicken.

As soon as I mentally passed up the opportunity, I relaxed and started enjoying myself. I am one of more than 100 journalists in Whistler at the behest of the Canadian Tourism Commission. And we are all being treated like royalty, right from the moment a stretch limo swishes us out of Vancouver airport. Whistler is just a two-hour drive from the west coast city of Vancouver, but getting there is a journey in itself. The fast route is by floatplane, where you are guaranteed a window seat as you fly over massive glaciers, ancient volcanic formations and coastal wilderness for 35 minutes. The leisurely route is the three-hour rail journey, which hugs the oceanfront, winds through canyons and climbs the steep grades of the Coast Mountains. Both offer tremendous eye candy.

Our journey begins with a glass of champagne on the Whistler Mountaineer, which follows the railroad route built almost a century ago to connect the west coast with timber and mining in the hinterland. In those days, the line didn’t start at Vancouver or run through any major city and was lampooned for running ‘from nowhere to nowhere’. Today’s run is purposeful, passing through a kaleidoscope of terrains, all of which can be viewed superbly through the picture windows and glass dome.

We arc around the clear blues of Howe Sound, watch climbers trying to scale a glacier-polished granite monolith called the Stawamus Chief, curve around Porteau Cove where a sunken ship attracts divers, whoosh past the windsurfing village of Squamish, also known as ‘birthplace of the wind’, pass a preserve for 3,000 bald eagles, and finally climb 2,000ft to view rapids in the mountain streams running alongside. The Brandywine Falls is a big attraction, named after a surveyor party that bet on the height of the falls; one group bet brandy against the other group’s wine.

I reach Whistler wrapped in a boozy blur, thankful that I don’t have to dash off to ziptrek. But I do have to choose something from the smorgasbord of summer stuff on offer: mountain biking, horseback riding, Hummer tours, all-terrain vehicle drives, golf, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boating, bear viewing, heli sightseeing, whitewater rafting, bungee jumping, ice climbing, heli snowshoeing, rock climbing, flyfishing and what not. There’s so much stuff to do here that even though Whistler started out as a winter ski destination, it now gets as many people in summer.

It’s Activity Central. But I am more used to a walk in the hills. And just as well, since at first glance at least, Whistler is not spectacular. There is no panoramic vista of unbroken snowy peaks. Rather, it reveals itself slowly, through doing rather than seeing. I try my best to squirm into the most sedentary tour on offer—the Culinary Tour. I’m particularly keen to do this since it takes in the award-winning restaurant Araxi, which boasts a menu from ranches, fields and seas within 100 miles of the restaurant. Needless to say, it’s full (the other 99 journalists clearly know which side their bread is buttered). Instead, I enrol myself into the Mountain Biking tour.

Since I haven’t biked for over a decade and have never ridden a 10-speed bike, I’m initially nervous. But once we start coasting downhill on the Valley Trail, it’s pure exhilaration. The wind in your hair. The sun in your eyes. The surge of horsepower. We do about a third of the 35km community trail, cruising past lakes, cottages, spas and what not in about three hours. By the time it ends, I don’t want to stop.

The peaceful eco-friendly joys of cycling give way to what seems its exact opposite the next morning: an assault on ancient cedar forests in the military vehicle known as the Hummer. The Hummer was built for the American army, with the original based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee). It seems downright contrarian to cruise through treescapes in a vehicle that has been singled out as a symbol of ecological irresponsibility.

These are strange times. What’s even stranger is that the Hummer Tour turns out to be a good way to spend a morning. Like the Whistler Mountaineer, the Hummer has been adapted into an ideal mobile viewing platform—it has height, it is open-topped so the eight of us are part of the scenery, so to speak, and of course this off-road vehicle can go where more conventional leisure vehicles can’t. The highlight, somewhat cheesy, is when the Hummer backs up a 75-degree slope into the woods, suspending us at an almost perpendicular angle to the ground. But we are safely strapped in and we dutifully raise our hands above our heads and do the obligatory hands-free high five, as on a roller coaster.

The trip’s highest point, literally and conceptually, comes that evening as we ascend the cable car (called a gondola here) to take in the Peak2Peak Experience. Since I’m wary of marketing spin, I assume this will be a standard cable car ride. But no, it’s actually two cable car rides — one up Whistler Mountain where I see a black bear grazing on the slopes. Then we get off and get into a second cable car and swing across the mountains, from Whistler to Blackcomb Mountain. This is the real peak-to-peak experience. Built just a year back to allow skiers to cross from one mountain to the next without going all the way down and climbing up again, this 4.4km ride takes about 10 minutes and totally lives up to the spin.

At the end of two days, I feel like I’ve got a good sense of Whistler’s outdoor possibilities. But I’m still lusting after a local gourmet experience. I meet my culinary moment at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. Readied just in time for the February 2010 Winter Olympics, it showcases the distinct cultures of Whistler’s two First Nation (native tribal) communities—the Squamish and the Lil’wat. It is a stunning space, architecturally interpreting Squamish longhouses and Lil’wat’s lstkens (traditional earthen pit houses) in a contemporary way. The main entrance, with its red cedar doors, leads us into the sunlit Great Hall — a dramatic, double-height space with dugout canoes and massive, western red cedar spindle wheels suspended from the beams.

A buffet is elegantly laid out: Squamish salmon chowder, Lil’wat venison chili, bison salami, arctic muskox, wild boar prosciutto and the native flatbread called bannock. I taste everything and it all tastes good. But three months later, the taste that still lingers on my palate is the caramelised smoked salmon. Smoked salmon is itself a delicacy, particularly if it has enough fat content to give it that luxuriant richness. Caramelising the skin doesn’t detract from the smoky flavour, it enhances it. If I came into Whistler a little boozy, I go away fully sated.

The information

Getting there

Fly from Vancouver to Whistler on a float plane all year round except winter when the plane can’t land on the frozen lake (Whistler Air, 35min/CAD169 one-way, www.whistlerair.ca). Or railroad it in style. (Whistler Mountaineer, 3hrs/CAD129 one-way, www.whistlermountaineer.com). Coach and car rentals are also available.

If travelling from India, several airlines – including Jet, United, Continental and British Airways — connect Delhi and Mumbai with Vancouver. Fares begin from about Rs 60,000 (round-trip on economy class).

Where to stay

Stay options at Whistler are middling to expensive, and range from condos, chalets, townhouses, luxury homes and vacation rentals to full-service hotels. Hotels include the Fairmont Chateau Whistler (from approx. CAD 350; www.fairmont.com/whistler), the Four Seasons (from CAD 400; www.fourseasons.com/whistler), Westin Resorts (from CAD 399; www.westinwhistler.com). For a full list of stay options, see http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/accommodations

Where to eat

There are more than 90 cafes and eateries in Whistler offering cuisines ranging from Asian, French and Greek to Italian and nouvelle. See restaurants.blackcombwhistler.com for a listing. To book at the award-winning Araxi, visit www.araxi.com.

`1“The A to Z of What To Do in Whistler

All-terrain vehicle drives (www.canadiansnowmobile.com)

Bungee jumping (www.whistlerbungee.com)

Canoeing (www.adventureswhistler.com)

Dog sledding (www.whistlerdogsledding.com)

Eagle viewing (secure.whistler.com/eagle_viewing)

Flightseeing (www.blackcombaviation.com, www.glacierair.com)

Fly fishing (www.whistlerflyfishing.com)

Golf (www.bigskygolf.com)

Heli skiing (www.activitiescentral.com)

Hummer tours (www.adventureswhistler.com)

Ice climbing (www.whistlerguides.com)