Day Trip - Whistler

Winter at Whistler is, in a word, huge. Over 8,000 skiable acres encompass groomed schusses, snowboard pipes, brutally steep mogul fields and some of the world’s best bowl skiing. This last category got a boost in 2005 with the opening of Flute Bowl, formerly the sole turf of avalanche-taunting locals (but you still have to earn your fun with a serious trudge along Harmony Ridge). For those who prefer not to mix gravity and low-friction surfaces, there are other ways to spend your time besides shopping the village and drinking consecutive Irish coffees. An experienced musher and team of huskies will tour you via dogsled through the Soo Valley Wildlife Reserve, or you can work up a sweat on a guided snowshoe trek through forests of hemlock and old-growth cedar.

Whistler broke new ground and aroused the envy of resort operators worldwide in 2001 with its summer Mountain Bike Park. Open May to October, the terrain park gets bigger every season; everyone from green beginners to log-jumping experts can improve their trail-riding skills and put the vertical to good use. Wildlife tours, five golf courses and nearby flyfishing and river kayaking round out the warm-weather action. Be careful of the après-ski nightclub culture, though: it’s seductive in a whole other way.

Getting There:
Drive north on Highway 99, the scenic “Sea to Sky Highway,” or bus it with Perimeter’s Whistler Express, 877- 317-7788. Call Tourism Whistler, 877- 991-9988 for more info.

The Sight:
Fourteen year-olds hucking themselves off North Shore-style jumps at the bike park. Rather than getting a visual of their own blood, beginning mountain bikers can learn the ropes in the “non-intimidating” Magic Bike Park where the trails are wide, smooth and twisty. www.whistlerbike.com.

The Sound:
The hypnotic chk-a-chk-a-chk of the tracks as you ride the new Whistler Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Whistler (open from May to mid-October). Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, 604-606-8460.

The Souvenir:
A T-shirt from the infamous Dusty’s Bar in Creekside, stained with one of their barbecue sandwiches — but only if you had to ski, board, hike or bike to get there. Dusty’s Bar and BBQ, 604-905-2171.

Whistler-Blackcomb, 866-218-9690.
Dogsledding: Cougar Mountain Adventures, 888- 297-2222.
Guided snowshoe trek: Outdoor Adventures, 604-932-0647.
Horseback riding: Adventure Ranch, Pemberton, 604- 894-5200.