David N.
Yelp
When you first wander into the heart of Whistler Village it's natural to be struck by the majesty of the mountains and activity of the numerous chair lifts. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of our family vacation in August was the almost frenetic energy created by the mountain bikers who were in town for the annual Crankworx Whistler Freeride Mountain Bike Festival (http://www.whistler.com/events/crankworx/) . As the website states, "At Crankworx Whistler the best riders and biggest bike fans in the world come out for a week of gravity-fuelled racing, freeride competitions, partying hard and shredding the trails together."
And I'm here to tell you, that's a fact!
As a first time Whistler tourists, the mountains call to you to visit them--a task made easy through numerous ticket options including the one we settled on, the Peak 2 Peak Alpine Experience which includes a world record gondola ride from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain.
The tour begins with a gondola ride from the Whistler base aboard the Whistler Village Gondola, a high speed lift that comfortably fits eight. We shared our ride up with another family who, as it turns out, lives in our Seattle neighborhood. Small world. The ride aboard the Whistler Village Gondola is fast and dramatic, covering some 3800 vertical feet in 30 minutes.
The Whistler Village Gondola concludes at a spot where you can access great summertime hiking trails, transfer to the Peak 2 Peak and take pictures at numerous scenic points. You can also continue to the summit aboard the Whistler Peak chairlift which is a modest walk/hike away--and you really should.
After all, you've come this far. Why not summit the mountain?
This was the journey my family took. Village Gondola to Whistler Peak round trip and then aboard the Peak 2 Peak to Blackcomb Mountain.
When you line up for the Peak 2 Peak, you can choose between two lines. The first line is for traditional gondolas. The second line is for one of two glass bottom gondolas. We were told to not bother with the glass bottom gondola line. That the wait is too long and the view out the side of the gondola so spectacular that you didn't need the glass bottom gimmick. We didn't listen and instead endured a 50 or so minute wait (vs. no real wait for the traditional gondola.) At the time, it seemed like a reasonable decision. We were on vacation, had nowhere to be and this was possibly a once in a lifetime ride, so why not get the full experience?
But, when you are actually aboard the gondola, the glass bottom becomes almost a second thought. Seeing tree tops from aboard a gondola is really no different than seeing from an airplane. After a few moments, the novelty wears off and you really do find yourself gawking at the majestic splendor from the side windows.
And boy is it impressive.
The Peak 2 Peak gondola is an amazing achievement of engineering, particularly the world record free span between towers - nearly two miles long. It is truly stunning. For the price of your ticket you can ride aboard the Peak 2 Peak as many times as you want for that day. We limited our ride to just the one trip, but thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.
While we didn't spend much time on Blackcomb, we were struck by the different feel it held from Whistler. I'm not sure how to describe it- perhaps a bit more refined? Even the cool mountain air seems a bit tempered on Blackcomb.
To conclude our trip, we took the Solar Coaster Express to the Wizard Express back to the base. All in, our Peak 2 Peak adventure lasted about 2.5 hours and was a great, albeit expensive outing.
Here is what we paid for tickets:
Two adults $105.90
Two youth $91.90
Tax $9.90
Total $207.70
Worthwhile, but as I already said, probably only something we would do the one time.