A Mountain of Information
TorontoSun.com Sunday March 19, 2006 By Lori Knowles
Ski & Snowboard Guide to Whistler Blackcomb: Intermediate Edition by Brian Finestone and Kevin Hodder
I once lived and skied British Columbia's Whistler and Blackcomb for two full winter seasons and have since logged many more days on their slopes. And yet, to this day, I find myself on pistes I've never skied before and I ask myself: How do riders with only a week's vacation figure out these mountains?
Authors Brian Finestone and Kevin Hodder must have asked themselves the same question before penning their new guide: Ski & Snowboard Guide To Whistler Blackcomb.
With its two mountains combined, this area has 4,450 skiable hectares, more than 20 alpine bowls and 33 lifts -- a number that increases yearly. Add to that owner Intrawest's lofty plan to build a $40-million-plus gondola linking the two mountains from peak to peak across Fitzsimmon Creek, and we're talking one big mountain.
Finestone, Whistler Blackcomb's public safety supervisor, and Hodder, a local mountain guide and international TV producer, figured it was time to create a guide that pops easily into a parka's pocket. They began with an advanced/expert edition two years ago and have followed up with this season's intermediate edition.
What a find. The guide's size and weight alone make it skier friendly -- it's easily toted to the slopes and slipped out for quick reference on chairlifts. But its illustration, easy-to-read text and insider advice are its true assets.
The book has a multitude of aerial photos in place of maps and illustrations -- Flute Bowl, Jersey Cream, Seventh Heaven, Peak to Creek -- depicting and explaining what you see from the chairlift, so you don't waste time thinking: "Hmm ... I wonder where that goes and how hard it is to ski?"
Finestone and Hodder have drawn arrows and notes that tell you how best to approach these areas and their runs. There are detailed yet simple descriptions of each piste. And cheeky icons give instant info. A turtle icon, for example, indicates a slow zone. A cactus-in-a-desert icon says to the skier: This piste is commonly deserted. A Harley-Davidson icon indicates a cruiser. And an icon of a skier's aching thighs warns you this run's a leg-burner.
Essential reading for the first-time Whistler skier are the Familiarization Tour sections of the guide. In the absence of a pricey private ski pro -- or a 19-year-old nephew who's ditched school and is slumming as a local -- these easily followed tours tell you where to go, and when. They make skiing Whistler as brainless as painting by numbers.
Finally, both the intermediate and the advanced/expert editions are chock full of insider information.
"Typically if the temperature in Vancouver is 7C or colder and it is raining," advise the authors, "we will see snow in Whistler Village." Good to know when you're in Vancouver on business and thinking of a playing hooky.
Family friendly zones are pointed out, secret powder stashes are revealed and crowd management tips are included. The advanced/expert edition exposes 120 runs that aren't on Whistler Blackcomb's official trail map. The books go as far as introducing us to Bun Wagons -- for me, a new one: "Snow cats with huge cargo boxes used to transport everything you eat, drink and blow your nose on while up on the mountain."
So, if you're headed to Whistler this spring -- you should, they're having an awesome snow year -- I recommend these guides highly.
If you manage to steal away for this year's Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival (April 14-23), these books will lift you up out of the crowds, and leave you feeling -- and skiing -- like a local.
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A must have Whistler guide book!, December 14, 2006 Reviewer: ck_361 "ck_361" (Atlanta)
