Whistler weekend warriors

[shirk]

Looking for some info from the Vancouver maggots about Whistler. Just how busy is it on weekends? Or how busy is a mid week pow day. Are the lift lines as long as the rumours? How quick does it get tracked out. I spent a week there three years ago and don't recall how busy the Saturday was.

I am debating between moving to Vancouver or the interior somewhere. Vancouver would provide career and weekend warrior at Whistler. Interior would be underemployment but less crowded pow. I am not really asking about Whistler vs the interior, just how crazy busy does WB get on a pow day.

[wicked_sick]

What line of work are you in?

[shirk]

OEM buyer for Honda at our plant here in Ontario. Looking at positions in purchasing in manufacturing.

[Snow Dog]

During a "normal" snow year Whistler is busy during the week and extra busy on weekends. When the Peak is on avy control hold (usually 'till 11am) a giant line forms. The line is smaller during the week because the touristas aren't going to stand around for 2 hours to get sort-of-fresh tracks.

I almost never ski on the weekends but I have a choice.

[PulverSchwein]

It gets bad busy on weekends during peak season, mainly when it's a pow day. Regular lines can hit 30+ mins mid dec to late March and chair openings get bigger. Last year was crazy because the snow was so uncommon everyone would come out at the first hint of pow (spring break was insane). Mid week during the big holiday weeks isn't much better but any other time of year the mid week pow days rock!

I live in Vancouver's burbs. I hit W/B maybe 8 days a year and the rest are out at Big White on my pass. The terrain doesn't rate close to WB but the pow quality is great and the number of untracked pow laps probably triples for me vs WB. Good luck mate you can't really lose.

[trouble]

You will also be about the same distance from Mt. Baker as whistler if you are in vancouver, so there is that to consider.

[powder11]

vancouver is hot for jobs right now. at whistler you can expect to wait a bit on powder weekends. there are some strategies, like all popular resorts, to ski opposite the herd. if you head out into the backcountry, there are endless opportunities for solitude. check out the kootenay region, seems like a great spot in the interior. low cost of living and many resorts to choose from with light fluffy pow. not sure how the job market there is.

[BakerBoy]

Move to Whistler, buy a sled. Period.

[Skier10322]

If you line in Van you can night ski tons, its not whistler but its fun to have the oppurtunity to ski 7 days a week.

[LeeLau]

Its very busy on powder weekends in W/B. Insanely long liftlines. See here -

Full story here - http://www.leelau.net/2004/WhistlerF...lerfeb2004.htm

This was a Friday. Avvy conditions were too spooky to go into the bc so I stuck inbounds. I skied stashes with friends all day in powder. Like pow111 says there are stashes but you will have to be shown them.

Compared to interior resorts, W/B is much much more crowded on powder days

[shirk]

The crowd in that picture scares me. Do people start to line up at 6am or what. No matter where I go the first thing I am doing is taking a backcountry course and getting some avie classes.

[LeeLau]

Its Creekside which is the only way to get up from the south end of the village. I think people are lining up there at 730am. Which is stupid as you can get 2 for 1 fresh tracks if you're season's pass holders and beat all their asses up the mountain for about 10 bucks. Or you could just explore inbounds and still be skiing powder far into the afternoon. Or if I could have really been bothered and not had plans to meet friends on the mountain i would;ve gone across the valley to Sproat and Rainbow and skied trees in the bc all bymyself all day.

Point is, yah there will be liftlines but like all places the sheep congregate in one place - just go where the sheep don't. baaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

[DerJaeger]

Lee's photo pretty much captures what it was like on the precious few days we got any snow last season. It was not pretty, to say the least.

But it's not normally that bad. I wouldn't sweat it too much - Mt Baker and the backcountry give you some options to get away from the crowd when you want to.

[wicked_sick]

The entire province of B.C is hot for jobs right now.

I'm pretty sure you could go anywhere.

[seatosky]

The crowd in that picture scares me. Do people start to line up at 6am or what. No matter where I go the first thing I am doing is taking a backcountry course and getting some avie classes.

I've had a W/B pass while living in Vancouver for the past 4 years, I average 20-25 days up there a year. I've NEVER seen a line like that, not even last year on the scarce March pow days. People don't start to line up at 6am, and even if they did, you could always just go to Base 2 at Blackcomb and give the crowds a miss.

Yes it gets nutty on pow days but no it's not impossible to ski fresh all day if you know the spots.

Vancouver's job market is shit hot right now, and as a city it rules, good luck.

[shirk]

seatosky thats basically what I wanted to hear. Figured that WB was more than big enough to find pow once knowing where to look, just don't want to stand in line for 2 hours per run. Good to hear more than one person say the Van job market is good. It's going to be damn hard for me to leave a top tier industry here where I know I am over paid for what I do and the cost of living so stupid low compared to Van.

So anyone in Vancouver hiring in purchasing or project management?