Whistler - Two Years Till D-Day

If anyone hasn't yet heard of Whistler, they certainly will in 2010 when it will be the site of the Winter Olympics . That's only 730 days from today. (February 12, 2008)

http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/olympics/index.htm

The Whistler Resort will be the site for the following Olympic events: Alpine Skiing, Bobsled, Luge and Skeleton, Nordic, Biathlon and Ski Jumping.

There are two main mountains for alpine events in Whistler - Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain.

I have passed through Whistler about four times since moving to the West Coast. Each time it was a visit of several hours and it was not in the winter.

Today's visit was therefore my first ever winter visit.

Since I was meeting Barbara in downtown Vancouver at Canada Place at 19:00, I just had an hour to take the posted photos.

One hour in Whistler can be compared to walking for one hour through a Walt Disney Theme Park . It's interesting and an overload for the senses.

Everything is in place and everything has its place. That's the advantage of creating a community that from day one is dedicated to being an all season resort in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, a two hour drive from Vancouver.

Having been in many European resort towns like Chamonix and Val d'Isère in France, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Sestrière in Italy, Interlaken, Gstaad and Zermatt in Switzerland, I can say that Whistler compares favourably.

When I compare Sestrière, the site of the alpine events for the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, with Whistler, there is no comparison.

Of all the resorts I have been to, Sestrière is the only one that rates low on the "charm and atmosphere scale". I left Sestrière with the impression that its urban planners or architects must have had a strong background in designing industrial parks . Overall the town is very utilitarian and piecemeal in its development. Some of the ski accommodations remind me of Soviet-era apartment blocks. Yes, I am exaggerating but you get the idea.

I was in Sestrière in 1992 while bicycle touring in the French Alps. I arrived there by cycling across the 1854 meter high Col de Montgenèvre which links France with Italy. I will remember that trip not only for the hard climb up the Col (pass) de Montgenèvre but also for an exhilarating and seemingly endless 20 kilometer down hill run which ended up in an Italian town from which I took a train back to France.
(I wasn't blogging so the details are vague)

My second visit to Sestrière was in the summer of 2006 with Barbara.

That was the year we picked up a brand new Peugeot 307 Diesel in Lille, France on a "buy and re-buy" program which is cheaper than renting.

We drove it 12,000 kilometers between Lille and Rome and back . That covers a lot of Europe since the direct driving distance between the two towns is 3,230 kilometers return. We traveled through 7 countries.

Since the Winter Olympics were taking place in Sestrière in only 6 months and I had to have another look at the Col de Montgenèvre, this time from the comfort of a car, Sestrière was a must stop on our tour.

Whistler was developed by a company called Intrawest which is legend in British Columbia.

It is a Vancouver based company, founded in 1976 by Joe Houssian. From its start at Whistler Blackcomb it has evolved into a string of 4 season resorts across North America.

While living in Ottawa over the last 30 years, I watched my favourite ski resort Mont Tremblant change from a sleepy, marginal underdeveloped ski hill into a world class facility. It is now rated as the top ski resort in eastern North America . This magical transformation was brought about by the same Intrawest corporation.

I still regret not buying a 1,500 square foot multi-level condo in Saint-Jovite (nearest village to the resort) for $150,000 in 2002.

Intrawest has recently shed its Canadian roots as its $1.6 billion assets have been acquired and privatized by a New York-based hedge fund and asset management company called Fortress Investment Group LLC for a cool $2.8 billion.

With the Olympics just two years away, is the village buzzing with anticipation? I would have to reply in the negative to that question as other than a few overpriced Olympic souvenirs, there is little in the village itself that would announce the arrival of the next winter Olympics.

Behind the scenes, tremendous preparation has taken place to ready the various venues for the coming events.

Huge sums of money are being spent on facilities, security and the weather .

Yes, the weather.

I read an article yesterday about the huge amount of money that is being spent in the Whistler area to install the latest in weather forecasting technology and training of personnel to create the facilities to deliver the most accurate weather forecasts possible every 15 minutes.

The weather in this area is extremely variable and can be different within the same valley. Therefore great efforts are being made to outfox the weather - the main unknown factor which could create huge problems.

With two years to go, the crescendo of activity at Whistler will only intensify. One must be in awe and amazement when considering the efforts that go into the staging of a Winter Olympics. Thanks to Mitt Romney, who took over management of the sinking Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, the for a successful Olympics has been established. Let's hope Whistler can replicate this to achieve the same results.

Tomorrow I am driving back to Prince George from Nanaimo via Whistler. That will mean another one hour visit to this wonderful place.