Wild Times at Whistler

So our last time at Whistler was the greenest Sea to Sky Highway drive we've ever had! but it was still just as beautiful none the less!

We introduced Mom and Mara to the delights of Tim Hortons and took them on a 'Timmy Run' for some hot chocolate and bagels and bacon biscuits!

As if that wasn't exciting enough...we also got to check out these awesome views,

and admire the still snow capped mountains!

and then as drove past Squamish Byron shouted 'bear'!!! and there it was just at the side of the road chowing down on some grass!! We made a quick u-turn thinking it would for sure be gone by the time we drove back past it but to our delight it was still there! and we were able to roll down our window and zoom in to get this awesome pic! It was our first bear we've seen here so there was lots of excitement all round! 

When we arrived at Whistler, we discovered we were so eager that the chair lifts weren't even open yet! (apparently the times change for spring skiing) so we went on a little stroll through the woods.

There were some pretty funny antics that proceeded this pic! and that followed...Mom ended up with a shoe full of water! 

We came across this sign in the woods and thought it was very apt considering the bear we'd come across that morning!

When the lifts finally opened, we made it straight to the top of Seventh Heaven to catch this awesome sight!

and Mara got her first taste of Whistler skiing!  

Here we are posing with one of the many 'Inukshuk' you see around these parts! They are sculptures built with stones to make it look like a human, and are made by the natives of these territories all around the Canadian Great North.  Apparently they are as synonymous to Canada as the maple leaf is!! (and I'm not afraid to admit I hadn't heard of them before landing on Canadian shores!)

I will never grow tired of that awesome awesome view! 

Mara was pretty excited to get out their on the slopes! She's only skiied once in Poland before and that was many years ago so she wasn't sure if she'd still remember how!

but she picked it up fast and was whizzing down runs with us in no time! 

It was so strange to pass patches of dry grass and such green trees! Some people are really into spring skiing, but I would much rather take a fresh pow day in the winter if I had my pick! It was cool to get to go one last time, but it was my least favourite of all our ski days due to melting snow.

Of course any ski day gets better with some good old poutine! 

and of course beavertails too, it's our Whistler tradition after all! and one that Mara enjoyed joining in on! 

Mom got involved too and even rode the gondola to the top, in her pumps and everything! She had the shoe full of snow afterwards to prove it! 

As we were going up for our final run of the day,

we passed Mom and Mara going down the other way so we snapped pics of each other! 

We took the obligatory tourist shot with the Olympic rings, Mom decided it would be fun to lie down inside the rings - apparently lie down means different things to Mom and Mara!! Haha, we laughed for ages the night we got home and viewed these photos and saw Mom's pose! 

...and no Whistler day is complete without a trip to Splitz for the best burger in B.C!

and I'd been promising my Mom the thickest shakes in the west for months before they arrived!

They were met with seals of approval all round! In fact I think Mom is struggling to even get hers through her straw in this pic...now that is a sign of a good shake!

and because they took a while to bring us all our shakes, they gave us a free banana split for dessert! and if you can believe it, we managed to devour that whole thing even after our burgers and double thick shakes! 

...and then the cherry on top to an already awesome day was spotting MORE bears on the way home! That poor little cub was scared of our engine as we pulled over, so he ran up the tree...so cute!

and this time we came across a mommy bear with her 3 cubs! 

This one was a bit of an exhibitionist and entertained us by playing with this branch for a while!

We literally watched these bears for about half an hour, and I took hundreds of pictures (I spared you by only adding in a couple!).  We kept looking around us and wondering why no one else was pulling over! I guess to a Canadian from around these parts bears on the highway are just a regular occurrence but we were fascinated!!

We stopped off at a viewpoint on the way back to Van, and took in those snow capped mountains for one last time.

Vancouver, Vancouver, how will we ever leave you! (Am I sounding like a broken down record yet?!) I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left in this majestical land!

and because I can never get enough of waterfalls, we stopped off at Shannon Falls to give Mom and Mara a quick tour.  It was close to 9pm by the time we arrived so we were losing light fast and really this picture was taken in the dark so luckily lightroom did some magic on it...be prepared for lots more waterfall pics to come! 

I'm aiming to do a post a day to get all our B.C adventures caught up before we head Stateside for our road trip, so be prepared to be bombarded! 

Five Wonderful Whistler Days!

Last week, we got to spend 5 days in my favourite place in Canada! I hope you're not sick of Whistler pictures yet because I'm certainly not sick of taking them! Byron's dad and brothers came to visit and so  they treated us to a fun little ski/snowboard break while they were here! 

As the only skier in the group, I took up the position of resident photographer since I had to do something to fill the time that they spent faffing with their bindings every day! 

The weather started off pretty overcast.  The first day we arrived it was raining in Whistler village, and the views up the mountain were non existent.  There wasn't much fresh snow falling either but that didn't stop us having fun...

I like to think they were talking tactics here! but in reality...Kevin was probably checking which chairlift we were headed to next because in our early days we had a few miscommunication problems and people ended up going different ways...and sometimes getting lost! Fortunately as the week went on we improved with this and were able to stick together better! 

After our first day on the slopes we headed to Dusty's.  A restaurant just behind our hotel, that specialised in BBQ - a Braithwaite fave!

I went with my must have - a pulled pork burger! 

and By and Ja got some brisket sandwiches which were equally as tasty!

Cam and Kevin went for ribs...what else! It was definitely a delish intro to the foodie side of things at Whistler!

On the second morning, once the boys had adjusted to Canadian time (sort of) we decided to make the most of an early start.  When we got to the top of the mountain the sun was peeking through the clouds behind the groomers that were parked up for the day.  It was a cool scene!

and we didn't pass another person on our first run of the day which was pretty sweet! 

I insisted on taking this touristy pic with the Canadian flags!

and by the end of the day they were getting pretty good at posing for my pics!

and then, finally, on our third day the clouds parted to reveal BLUE skies! and the sun came out! and it was amazing! 

We also found our best powder that day after taking the Harmony chair up to Symphony bowl. 

  

We found this cute tea hut at the top too!

We skied down through Symphony amphitheatre which is pretty cool because you can just make your own tracks wherever you please.  We then started to ski off piste towards the backcountry to find the best deepest snow...and we pretty much stayed there the rest of the day! With views like this wouldn't you...

At the start of the day no one else had discovered our secret place yet and so we pretty much had it to ourselves and were putting down fresh tracks.  Of course, it didn't last that way for long but we enjoyed it while it did! and then we moved onto some awesome gladed runs, skiing and boarding between the trees and over little jumps and twists and turns! I even surprised myself at just how far I've come...but had a fair few crashes too to remind myself I haven't been it at for that long! but after my first day of not falling over once I realised falling over wasn't a sign of bad skiing but a sign that you were taking risks! So from then I took more risks and had more falls, but definitely had more fun! which is what counts in my opinion!

Here is a little 30 second vid I made of the boys putting down their tracks off piste.  It's no go pro standard by any means but a fun way for you to see how out on our own we were!

Blue skies certainly bring the chill factor with them though.  It was -12 at the top and some of those high chairlifts were pretty chilly with the wind blowing in your face! Fortunately we were well prepared and our face masks kept us warm! 

I loved the reflections you could always see in Jarryd's goggles! 

This sunbeam came down to reveal glistening little droplets, it was so beautiful! My little point and shoot camera didn't capture it too well but you get the idea! I think it's when the moisture in the air freezes...whatever it is, I was loving it! 

Couldn't you just stare at that view all day long!

After a perfect day on the slopes, we hit up the tube park! We have wanted to do some tubing since we arrived! 

It's a pretty cool setup with tons of tracks, unfortunately we got there pretty late in the evening and they had closed all the lanes except one! So there were some pretty long queues for that one lane! 

They asked you at the top before they flung you down if you wanted a spin or not before being released...all of us young'uns opted for spins! and wow! the ride was definitely waaaay faster than I anticipated!

but sooooo much fun too! By nearly lost his hat on his tube down, so he had to take it off mid spin! I know this pics a bit blurry but I feel it captures the fun!

After we'd worked up an appetite we headed into the village to find some dinner.  Whistler has tons of gourmet restaurants to choose from...but sometimes you just can't beat burgers and shakes at Splitz grill! Although they wouldn't be considered 'gourmet', they are in my book!

I stuck to the legendary Splitz whilst the boys were far more adventurous with their salmon and bison burgers! and I introduced everyone to the best shakes in B.C (that we've come across so far!) Double thick Oreo...and Chocolate/Peanut Butter.  You know they're good when you've been tubing in the cold, and then wondering around the village in -2 trying to remember where Splitz is and you have to drink them with your coats on! and you still enjoy them! haha

For our final day on the slopes, we headed back to our fave spots of Symphony bowl and the gladed runs off Adagio.  

For our last lunch we grabbed a quick bite on the mountain, to ensure we didn't waste any precious skiing time and also because you can't come to Canada without trying two super Canadian dishes: beavertails and poutine! It's the classic tourist meal! and it's not a proper trip to Whistler unless you've indulged in both! I think the boys were suitably impressed with their peanut butter drenched beavertail especially since it was covered in reese's pieces - they are serious reese's fans! 

I snapped this shot on our last run of the trip.  You can see Whistler Creekside below and our hotel very far in the distance! This is the run we used to ski down at the end of each day which would land us right at the door of our hotel which was pretty sweet! 

On our last ski day we stayed on the mountain for as long as possible and so when we skied down it was just us a lot of the time! It was always nice to get back to our suite...turn on the fire and put our feet up with some hot chocolate and cake! and then we'd promptly head down to the hot tub and soak our aching bones! It was a daily routine I could certainly get used to that's for sure!

On our last night, we did indulge in some gourmet food at Rim Rock Cafe.  

It was a rather upmarket affair and so I didn't think it was appropriate to be snapping pics, needless to say my maple roasted pork chop was amazing and most of the boys got fancy seafood dishes which they enjoyed.  I managed to sneak the worst shot in the world, due to the poor lighting, of my root beer! but it had to be done because this is the best brand of root beer I have ever tried! Check out the head on that!

On our final morning before heading back to Vancouver, we had a blissful lie in which was pretty nice after all our early starts! I picked up the camera to take a few pics around the suite.  This was our view from our balcony of the run we used to ski down at the end of each day...plus we all know I love a bit of icicle action!

There were just enough sofas that we could all collapse and sprawl out after coming in the door each evening! They served us well! 

By whipped us up a special departing breakfast...

of a giant stack of pancakes, with bacon and maple syrup of course! and we sadly made our way back to Vancouver!

We stopped off to check out Shannon Falls along the way, which was a good thing because as soon as we reached the shores of Vancouver it rained non stop until they all went home! so we got to squeeze in a little bit of nature for them! 

The whole Sea to Sky Highway that runs between Whistler and Vancouver is just covered with provincial parks and waterfalls and areas of outstanding natural beauty - I know it's going to be so awesome when summer rolls around! 

Until then, as long as your bundled up good it's still nice to get out and about to see them!

and that was the end of our Whistler fun with the fam! Well done if you made it to the end of this post, it was a rather long one!