Poker/Ski Camp Whistler 06/07?

[talentdeficit]

the 'regular' grocery store is pricier than you think.

also, you can certainly get by without a car, but unless you plan on staying in the village the entire four months, you will probably want one.

[ata]

I spent almost the entire 2006 winter in Whistler (Christmas - End of April). It truly is [censored] amazing.

For reference, I rented a condo near the hill and paid $500 a month. I lived with 4 Aussies, a Finn and another Canadian. We paid $3500 for the place each month - it had 4 bedrooms and a loft room. So yeah, 4 people shared the basement room (they were all cheap as [censored] ski bums) and the rest of us got our own rooms. Everyone except the Finn and myself worked full time for $8.67 an hour which I didn't and still don't understand. If you work for the mountain you get a free season pass. The pass is worth approx. $1700 cdn if you buy it mid-season. If you buy it before Oct. 9th it's currently $1299 cdn I think. I worked 1 day at a week at the restaurant at the very peak of the mountain... it was [censored] wicked. This gave me a free seasons pass and I met some cool people working there so it was totally worth it. Rode to and from work each day... money. We would get ride breaks in the middle of the day as well. Keep in mind I only worked 1 day a week so I had 6 days to go riding myself. If you're staff you also can get unlimited free lessons. I went on one lesson for fun and it was pretty good... we spent most of the day in the park where they just asked what tricks we wanted to learn and they'd show us how to do them. The staff pass also gives you 50% off all food at the mountain. This comes in quite handy. If you can handle working a day a week I'd recommend it as you'll meet tons of people and get a free pass. Although I guess if you're American you won't be able to work without a visa so whatever.

Whistler is actually two separate mountains - Whistler and Blackcomb. There are an insane amount of runs and places to ride, i spent the entire season there (69 days riding) and still haven't done it all. You can also hike out into the backcountry which is so wicked... fresh powder in the middle of no where.

As for the city - there is no need for a car whatsoever. The buses cover the entire city and run until 3am (bars close at 2am) so you can take the bus anywhere. They come every 15 minutes until late at night. A monthly pass is $50. There's a grocery store and liquor store right in the middle of the village so you never need to leave the place.

Now to the people... if you don't like Aussies then don't come here. The city is run almost entirely by Aussies. Everyone you meet and talk to is Aussie. This is good and bad. They are annoying as all hell sometimes, but almost all of them love to party so it's all good (sidenote: the [censored] that looks like and rhymes with snow is pretty easy to get and ran for $80/g last year... just ask any Aussie, they all are obsessed with it. They all do pills too ($10 per). Funny thing is most of them don't smoke weed, whereas almost all the Canadians are high all day. The weed here is the best in the world and can be found very easily.. it's practically legal here).

The only downside I'd have to say is the chick situation. This is a guy's mecca... so as you can imagine the place is loaded with guys. The ratio at the bars is pretty terrible. Don't come here expecting to get laid daily... not very likely. Aside from terrible ratio the bars are decent... there are quite a few and they are packed every night of the week. Most charge $10 cover and beers are approx $5-6. It's not cheap here as they prey on rich tourists.

All I can say is if you can afford to take a winter off and spend it here then do it. Riding every day is amazing. Vancouver is only 1.5 hours away if you need to hit up a big city.

One final piece of advice I can say is be prepared to have a tough time finding housing. I spent 2 weeks looking for this place I was at. And I'd recommend seeing the place before taking it, as there are a [censored] of dumps that sleazy landlords try to cram ski bums into (it is the norm to share a room and still pay $600/month out here).

Although I won't be living in Whistler this season I'm trying to get a job lined up in Vancouver which would allow me to go there throughout the season. It'd be dope to meet up at some point. Keep me updated on your plans.

Here's a pic of me last season to wet your appetites:

This is on Blackcomb mountain... you can see Whistler mountain in the background on the left. There are gondolas to each mountain that converge in the village.

[lozen]

Excellent take on Whistler by the way.

Just a thought have you guys considered Banff or Jasper as alternatives. Cheaper, Great snow no aussies and women

[Ren McCormack]

I lived in whistler for 3 years, the mountains are huge and theres lots of terrain but the runs are always packed unless the weather is [censored].The really only good months for powder are early december until early february after that its ass. A season's pass will run you about 1500$ for access to both mountains or u can get a single mountain pass for about 1000$. I would recommend u go to fernie or big white its 1/3 the price has better snow conditions and much less people. If u do choose whistler u better get a apt. asap before it gets busy or u wont find anything. This is the local paper check the classifieds http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php

[Boris]

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Donk - If I could be guaranteed 20 days a year like the snow in your photo I would give up everything return to my ski bum days.

[donkraft]

Ata>> Very cool post! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Lozen/Ren>> Well... It does not absolutely HAVE to be Whistler - not for me anyway. And one third the price is maybe exaggerated, but...

Never having even been to Canada, it is very hard to evaluate the different locations.

Im confused again...

[poker-penguin]

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Excellent take on Whistler by the way.

Just a thought have you guys considered Banff or Jasper as alternatives. Cheaper, Great snow no aussies and women

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Have you been to banff? It was packed with Aussies four years ago and like a cockroach infestation, it only gets worse with time.

[brick]

Great report. sometimes I hate being an us citizen.
Working on the mountain one day a week would be perfect.

I live in Seattle which is 4 hours away so I'll get up there a few times. It's amazing.

January last year was sick.

http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/wea...an06/index.htm

[brick]

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Donk - If I could be guaranteed 20 days a year like the snow in your photo I would give up everything return to my ski bum days.

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I believe you would be pretty much guaranteed 20+ nice powder days at the top of Whistler/Blackcomb. e.g. Peak Chair. (whislter has 1 mile of vert so conditions vary greatly top to bottom)

[ski]

I live in vancouver and am actually thinking of moving to whistler, or at least spending a lot of time there. I'm in. I'm 22 and play poker full time for the time being.