IM GOING TO WHISTLER

[Tippster]

...And Tippster, some of us do other sports besides skiing. I never feel like swimming when I'm on a ski trip, but the consequences of getting back in the pool after being out for a few straight days encourage me to try to get in a workout or two after skiing.

Hey, I swim some laps after skiing but for the sake of stretching muscles and keeping soreness to a minimum, kinda like a cool-down after beating on my thighs all day. Of course if you're competing in a sport other than skiing (i.e. Masters Swimming) you should keep those muscles in shape, but that's not what I was getting at. It's the "I need to work out now" garbage I hear from my fellow vacationers after a day on the hill - and they promptly head to the treadmill or life cycle (read: leg workout.)

But ... whatever floats their boat, I guess. More stuff in the stashes that they likely won't or can't hit.

[sandytheskier]

I'll be hitting that around april and hopefully moving there next summer.
Have fun! It rocks.

[dubu]

I dont think that annyone said this.. The duty free shops going into canadia are only on the truck crossing.. Plus you can poach the truck lane to the booze shop, so on buisy days you save about 30 min by going to get booze..

and yea it is much cheaper.

some driving hints:

Unless you are driving at like 3am on a tueseday stay away from downtown Vancouver. however if you are traveing in the middle of the night (read hit vanc after 3 so all the drunkos can go home, go throught downtown much much faster.)


Avoid leaving seattle between 3:45-6 pm mon-fri you will hate it.. esp heading from sea tac.. go get some food and wait it out.

if you leave sea-tac at 3pm on a weekday you wont get to whilstler till 10ish.
amazingly you can leave at 6 and get there at the same time..

o and watch out for cops in bellingham and lynnwood everett area..

[Droopy]

oh fuck, your so right, I didnt even think about rush hour! Our plane lands at 2:00PM; chances are we wont get out of there till 3 at least. Is the traffic really that bad? I mean I live in the baltimore-washington corridor which is said to have the 3rd worst traffic in the country and if I can get away from the city by 4:30 or so then i miss the worst of it. You honestly think that we will really be stuck for that long if we leave at 3:00 - 3:15?? So buy alcohol on the American side? that doesn’t seem to make much sense, isnt it cheaper in BC??

[teledave]

I never understood that. If you feel like you didn't get a good enough workout in a day's skiing, you weren't charging hard enough, IMVHO.

"Gee, let's hit the elliptical trainer, Madge - my quads are in need of a workout!! "

Truly, nothing makes my legs feel better the next day after a hard day of skiing than 20 or so minutes of easy bike spinning. It makes the difference between loose and sore the next day. IMVHO.

[Droopy]

Truly, nothing makes my legs feel better the next day after a hard day of skiing than 20 or so minutes of easy bike spinning. It makes the difference between loose and sore the next day. IMVHO.

BURNED...


too short....

[Tippster]

I concede the point before some mollusk comes into this thread spewing creamy white stuff all over me...

[fiddler]

oh fuck, your so right, I didnt even think about rush hour! Our plane lands at 2:00PM; chances are we wont get out of there till 3 at least. Is the traffic really that bad? I mean I live in the baltimore-washington corridor which is said to have the 3rd worst traffic in the country and if I can get away from the city by 4:30 or so then i miss the worst of it. You honestly think that we will really be stuck for that long if we leave at 3:00 - 3:15?? So buy alcohol on the American side? that doesn’t seem to make much sense, isnt it cheaper in BC??

If you leave Seattle at 3 you'll be ok if there are no accidents, but don't leave much later. Drive to Bellingham, about 1 1/2 hrs. Stop, eat, be merry, maybe iven contact local magnions. But don't drink because you'll want to hit the road after the lower mainland rush hours. If you leave Bham at 6:30 or 7:00 you should be fine. Both the truck crossing in Blaine and Sumas were mentioned. Skip Sumas, it's way out of the way. From I5 take exit 256 onto the Guide Meridian, state hwy 539. It goes straight to the border, just under 15 miles. Cross and continue straight ahead til you get to Hwy 1, go west. That crossing, Lynden-Aldergrove is closed from midnight to 8am. If you're getting out to Bham after midnight then take the truck crossing, exit 275, go due north to Hwy 1. Anyway, from Bellingham to Whistler is about 3 1/2 hrs. The Shoestring is past the main entrance to the Village a little ways and on the right. You might see the sign for it as you drive past the turn off but you can turn around not too far up the road. If you don't have a passport I wouldn't worry, I've never had a prob using DL and birth certificate.
Regarding booze: It will be cheaper at the Duty Free, cigarettes too.

[The AD]

oh fuck, your so right, I didnt even think about rush hour! Our plane lands at 2:00PM; chances are we wont get out of there till 3 at least. Is the traffic really that bad?

Just don't waste any time. Things start really picking up after 3:00. Also you'll be able to use the express lanes and carpool lanes and that could help big time. The worst of the traffic is usually from just south of downtown Seattle to Everett.

At 6:00 your time check this website:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/PugetSoundTraffic/

That will give you an idea of what typical traffic is like at 3:00 here. They even have an archive section so you can see what traffic conditions have been like historically. You'll probably be fine unless you get delayed and don't leave the airport until 5:00. In that case your best bet is to stop and get something to eat. After 6:00 things will be much, much better in all likelyhood.

[778skier]

Take the Lynden-aldergrove crossing off of Guide Meridian that was mentioned above. If you cross between 4pm & 6pm might as well go get some food or something (if you want recommendations, just ask, thats where i live) because traffic will be bad and you wont get anywhere fast. If there was no major accident then it'll clear up by 6:30. The port mann bridge will be your biggest worry it's the worst bottle neck in the province(this will be remedied by 2006 hopefully) Once that's clear you get onto an HOV lane and it's usually clear sailing to North Vancouver. Watch for cops in North & west Van. Lastly, if you're travelling midweek make note of when the sea-to-sky (hwy 99) closes, http://www.gtmconsulting.com/info/pr...elling-sts.htm

Once you're in canada turn the radio to AM 1130 they have traffic updates every ten minutes on the "1s" (6:01, 6:11, 6:21 etc) and they're the best in the area. Listen for Port Mann bridge, Second Narrows bridge and anything on hwy 1 in the Burnaby or coquitlam area.

[Droopy]

thanks for all the traffic help, ill be sure to look up this thread just before i leave so i can work out a plan of attack. Maybe I'll see some of you up there, because i am famous for my snow, wherever i go, it snows, and snows lots. I'm hoping for an epic week

[slippy]

One of the things I like in Whistler, that I bet 90% of the visitors don't even know exists, is the Meadow Park Sports Centre.

Meadow Park Center is a great place for breakfast, btw.

[midget]

Not sure if they're still going on by the time yer there, but you might want to check the road construction schedules on 99.

[fiddler]

This afternoon at work and after I posted about taking Lynden/Aldergrove I was reminded of why NOT to take the truck crossing. I drive transit in Bellingham and Whatcom County. At 6pm while I was driving to Lynden I heard the Blaine bus on the radio. He was reporting that trucks were backed up a 1/2 mile onto the freeway at the truck crossing exit. The border is still a mile away so thats about 1 1/2 miles of trucks in the way. This is not an uncommon occurance. It clears up in the evening at some point.
778, speaking of the Port Mann, AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH Every time I go up for a day midweek I curse myself for not getting out of the house a half hour earlier when I get stuck in that cursed miles long jamup. When I finally get onto the bridge and traffic speeds back up I'm left wondering what happened? There never really seems to be a reason for the slowdown but it's always there.
I need to get a blowup doll for, well, for a number of reasons but mainly to use in my front seat so I can use the HOV lane when I go up alone.
And by the way Droopy, careful when you get to where 99 to Whistler and the lanes to the island ferry split up. Make sure you're in the right lane unless you want to take the ferry to Vancouver Island and go to Mt Washington.

[Droopy]

All i care about is ending up in whistler before first light on the 5th, I'll just make sure i dont get stuck driving. I'll crash out in the back seat, dreaming sweet dreams about skiing.

[Gregbo]

Most of the Olympics hiway work is on 99 (sea to sky)

GO North to the Sumas crossing!!! - you avoid all of the Downtown hassles
AND save about 40 minutes..

THe Duty Free is critical for savings on Booze -
Fill up the gas tank before crossing

THe workout place is great for a hot shower/hot tub etc.

Lines for the gondola in the morning can be long.... and the chair right next to it is empty.... hint hint....:-)