Whistler has been voted the number one ski resort in North America for more years in a row than Tiger Woods has won golf championships. With two huge mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb being accessible from the walk through village at the base – it is a ski bunnies paradise and a booze hounds oasis. It is a place where you can ride the mountains for two weeks straight and not even get close to riding all the marked runs.

What makes this place so special? – Maybe it is the multiculturalism of the resort with visitors and locals from all over the world or maybe it is the 30 foot of average snow fall between December and April each year. It could even be the fact that you can drop cliffs and ride powder in the morning, hike the superpipe at lunch time, and then hit a backcountry booter in the afternoon. All I know is that after 7 years of living here I am still super stoked to pull on my boots and hit the first lifts for 100 + days of the season.

The freeriding terrain of both Whistler and Blackcomb is a big reason why so many of the Canadian pro riders move from all across Canada to set up base and film in Whistler. Whistler Mountain has 7 huge bowls which fill with powder and have waterfalls and cliffs you can jump off. At the bottom of these alpine bowls you hit some of the best tree riding you will find anywhere in the world. It's great when you can hit a tree run and ride for half and hour without seeing another human other than your two mates who are howling and making bird noises just so you don’t lose each other. You then pop out in a huge logging cut and rip a cat track all the way to the base of the mountain to the gondola for another lap.

Blackcomb Mountain is quite different to Whistler – Whistler’s ski runs were built around the existing logging roads from the 60’s. Blackcomb was designed on a computer to get the best of the fall line which it had to offer. With that the ski runs of Blackcomb have a steeper fall line as a general rule and make for some super fun speed runs. Blackcomb also has its own fair share of steeps and alpine bowls. It even has a natural wind lip which is famous for all the people who build jumps and huck themselves into oblivion.

If it is parks and pipes you are into then Whistler is great for beginner to intermediate park and pipe riders with a small beginners park with some rails, hips and boxes to cut your teeth on. They also have a 10-12 foot halfpipe to get up your confidence. Blackcomb is the bomb if you are looking for a super pipe with 17 foot walls or a terrain park which has hits, rails, wall rides and jumps for intermediate riders through to the seasoned pro rider. If you want to ride the advanced park you need to sign your life away with a liability waiver and buy a $15 park pass for the season – you will also need a helmet as both are mandatory to go play in this park.

Accommodation: check the accomodation links at the bottom of this page.

Nightlife: With more that 100 places to get a drink (restaurants included) and 6 night clubs there are lots of fun places to go and hang out. Max Fish is a fun place for hiphop music, Garfinkles for more main stream music and if you want to pick up some cougars then Buffalo Bills is the place for you.

Travel: You will want to fly into Vancouver International Airport, BC, Canada. It is then a 1.5 hour bus or car ride North to Whistler. Shuttle busses run every 1.5 hours to Whistler and return, and you can organize this at the airport when you arrive.