Vancouver really has it all within reach:
city + sea + mountains. Merely a 90-minute drive from the downtown Vancouver is
Whistler Mountain Ski Resort, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. This means that lucky Vancouverites can work and play in the city during the week, and then conveniently choose to go up to the mountains for more weekend fun.
We left the city via
Lions Gate Bridge towards the North Shore. The bridge was originally built by the Guinness family who at that time purchased a piece of land across Vancouver near the
Burrard Inlet for $75,000. In hopes to increase the market price for the area where their newly purchased land was, the
Lions Gate Bridge was built to connect the area to
Vancouver. Today, the bridge is widely used everyday for traveling between downtown Vancouver and the municipalities across.
Soon enough we were on the
Sea-to-Sky Highway, the gateway towards
Whistler. The winding
Sea-to-Sky Highway has been repeatedly rated by travel magazines and websites as one of the most scenic highways in the world. With continuous views of the waters, bay, inlet, and whatever that remains of the snow-capped mountains depending on the time of the year, it is not difficult to see why this is a favorite route of many people. Natural rock formations along certain sections of the highway also make it a favorite among rock climbers which you will be able to see from the inside the vehicle as you drive along the highway.
Enroute to
Whistler along the
Sea-to-Sky Highway, we passed several towns and places including Bowen Island with a population of 3,400 residents where one can only find locally-owned shops and not a single chain store. What makes this place note worthy is that it is center place of
Vancouver rights activity. Incidentally,
Bowen Island is also a favorite place of Richard Branson, the owner of the Virgin business empire.
Shannon Falls is a place that is worth stopping for a quick view of the third highest waterfall in
British Columbia at 300ft. Vehicles can conveniently exit the Sea-to-Sky Highway, park at the lot, and take a very short hike to the viewing platform of
Shannon Falls.
Located halfway to
Whistler is the
Squamish town. While the
Squamish people, who are native inhabitants of British Columbia, believe that the land belongs to them, so do the
little white people (as the Squamish calls Whites). Ultimately, both groups came upon the decision to share the land and that is why at present day the
Sea-to-Sky Highway spots road signs that are both in English and Squamish. Today, the
Squamish is the fastest growing community in
Canada with a growth rate of 14.9% and many of them work at
Whistler which always provides many employment opportunities.
Prior to 1959,
Whistler Mountain was called London Mountain when it was first discovered by English surveyors who worked on the railroads. The area was always foggy, which reminded them much of London, and hence they proceeded to name it London Mountain. Fast forward to 1968, three Vancouver businessmen had goals to bring the Olympics to Vancouver. Not wanting people to get confused with the name London Mountain, they sought permission from the government to change it to
Whistler Mountain which was named after the whistling squirrels that live in the mountain. Gradually, roads leading to
Whistler improved.
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| Vehicles stopping by the highway to view the black bear |
Whistler is home to many black bears but it is a common sight for the black bears to have made their way miles outside of Whistler. Therefore, it is not unusual to spot a black bear or two, if you are lucky, before arriving at Whistler. As part of the preparation for the Winter Olympics in 2010, steps were taken to beautify the highway by planting clovers. Ironically, black bears like to eat clovers and after the Winter Olympics were over and when the bears came out of hibernation, many of them were spotted next to the highway. Later in the day at Whistler, we spotted more black bears with a closer view of them.
Almost arriving at
Whistler is the neighborhood of
Blueberry Hill with homes that boasts gorgeous views overlooking
Whistler and
Blackcomb Mountains. In winter, there is so much snow outside the homes that residents use ski sticks to mark the end of their driveway so they do not drive off the ledge off the driveway.
Given its world-class resort reputation,
Whistler is not surprisingly a very expensive place to live. It has become a place where millionaires and billionaires buy their vacation homes which resulted in pushing the middle class out. The middle class ends up buying their vacation homes in the town of
Squamish, which is halfway to
Whistler from
Vancouver. Seal reportedly owns a vacation home in
Whistler, which is also where he and Heidi Klum got engaged but of course we all know that they also got divorced somewhere else. He now spends most of his time in Australia, we were told.
Diversity at
Whistler begins with its employees. Only 40% of people working at
Whistler are Canadians. Selected Commonwealth countries have a 1-year exchange where their citizens are allowed to work in the partner countries, and this has resulted in many citizens of the participating Commonwealth countries to work at
Whistler.
Although Whistler is known today as a world-class ski resort, it
started as a summer spot where people went fishing and hiking. Because
many areas were left empty during the cold season, hence Whistler eventually became a winter vacation spot as well. People often talk and think about skiing when speaking about Whistler
but interestingly the resort has a wider range of activities to be
found in the summer which include bear-watching, golfing, glacier
skiing, biking, ziplining, etc. In the summer, ski chair lifts are converted to
hold and bring mountain bikes up so that riders can bike down the steep
and challenging slopes. In the summer, temperatures can rise up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
To explore
Whistler, we rented bikes and went along the valley trails which included a combination of paved bike lanes, gravel roads, uphill and downhill. Not regular bikers, our derrieres paid the price of biking almost 20km that day which included biking past the Alta and Lost Lakes.
Valley trail biking is a good option if you choose not to do mountain biking which is riding the bike down the same slopes as skiers would in winter. Though it looks like fun when watching the mountain bikers wearing full-face helmets and elbow pads, and doing jumps while descending the slopes, we figured that we could do without those action.
While we did not encounter any black bears while biking, we found fresh poop on our bike paths which was a sign that a black bear was nearby. Back in 2005, when my sister and I visited Whistler together, we encountered two black bears (each at separate times) right in front of us while biking. That memory will forever be etched in our minds. This time, while T and I were not lucky enough to spot a bear while biking, we spotted a total of 10 black bears on the side of the road while we were inside the vehicle. We went up to Whistler on a van with Landsea Tours (which by the way is a good option if you do not wish to rent a car for Whistler and still want to be able to do your own activities at the resort) and on the way out of Whistler at the end of the day, Greg our driver/guide was brilliant to share tips of bear-sighting with his friends in the area which really helped us in spotting all the black bears that we saw at different locations and times. I guess that makes us lucky, too.
In North America, there are 3 types of bears: black, brown, and polar. At
Whistler, only
black bears are to be found. These bears have a vegetation diet and meat will make them sick. They generally go into hibernation beginning November or December and only waking up around March when the weather gradually becomes more sunny often. Contrary to popular belief, the bears do not kill people but instead, people end up killing the bears. Often when cars spot a black bear, they make sudden stops along the side of the road with a lack of caution and thus resulting in accidentally hitting a bear. Unfortunately, we learned that it is more often the case that people kill bears and not the other way around.
People are also highly discouraged to feed the black bears as the bears will gradually learn to associate vehicles with food. As a result, the next time a vehicle pulls up, the bear will approach the vehicle thinking that it will be fed. When this happens, people will end up reporting the incident of the approaching bear thinking that the creature is aggressive. The authorities, by duty, will put down any aggressive bear.
If a bear is found to have made its way wandering around human areas or ski areas, the park rangers will shoot the bears with tranquilizer and then transport the bears safely back into the forest.
On the way out of
Whistler, we made a quick stop at
Alexander Falls which was a great decision. The sun was less strong in the evening and the amount of light shining on the waterfall amidst the trees made it more beautiful.
The sky was changing and getting overcast at the
Tantalus Lookout, about 40 minutes outside of
Whistler on our way back to Vancouver. It was nevertheless beautiful overlooking the snow-capped mountains and the town of Squamish. A fantastic moment to finish up the day before heading back to the city.
