Whistler 2014!!

[rednightmare]

Can it be Whistler 2014 thread tiem?

Who else is planning on going and how long will you stay?



In the midst of planning a trip over there for 4 weeks in July this year and was hoping some of the Whistler veterans can help me work things out a bit.

Whistler bike park is a no-brainer of course, but considering the amount of time I'll be in Canada, would 2 weeks there be enough or too long even?

I'm also interested in North Shore and Squamish and was thinking 10 days would probably be enough to cover both. Any recommendations for accommodation and the best options for lift passes or shuttling at these places?

For what it's worth, I've already read about 30 pages from old Whistler threads so any help would be great.

 

[Stuartc]

Whatever you do don't stay with ticket 2 ride

 

[rednightmare]

Whatever you do don't stay with ticket 2 ride

Good to know. Have actually seen ads for them. Any particular reason?

 

[Stuartc]

Ah well they were 2 hours late picking us up from the bus stop, we were spoken to only according to what bike we rode, in the so called workshop half the tools were missing the other half was broken, the kitchen had no utensils to cook with, our sheets were stained and dirty, I had to fix the toilet when we got there, no locks on our doors and room had rubbish on the floors, the shower was filthy and had used razor blades on the floor, tv in our room didn't not work, no internet (even thought they told us there was) and when we confronted them about it nothing was offered to be done so we left and found other accommodation (which was much better) and now they have refused to refund is any money and have since stopped replying to emails. So yeah

 

[slowmick]

only had 3 days at whistler. had a ball. Stayed at the Aava Whistler Hotel. Great staff, nice rooms. bike valet and few tools. They seem to get good wraps on all the websites and i wasn't let down. would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[rednightmare]

Ah well they were 2 hours late picking us up from the bus stop, we were spoken to only according to what bike we rode, in the so called workshop half the tools were missing the other half was broken, the kitchen had no utensils to cook with, our sheets were stained and dirty, I had to fix the toilet when we got there, no locks on our doors and room had rubbish on the floors, the shower was filthy and had used razor blades on the floor, tv in our room didn't not work, no internet (even thought they told us there was) and when we confronted them about it nothing was offered to be done so we left and found other accommodation (which was much better) and now they have refused to refund is any money and have since stopped replying to emails. So yeah

Sounds dodgy. cheers for the heads up.

only had 3 days at whistler. had a ball. Stayed at the Aava Whistler Hotel. Great staff, nice rooms. bike valet and few tools. They seem to get good wraps on all the websites and i wasn't let down. would go back in a heartbeat.

Had a quick look on their website. Place looks good but probably out of my budget. Was thinking of trying to stay at staff accommodation in the village, but from what I've read on other threads, you can only book 3 weeks in advance so might be a bit dicey. The search continues...

Does anyone have any thoughts on North Shore vs. Squamish? Are they both on par with each other or one better than the other?

 

[jazza_wil]

Sounds dodgy. cheers for the heads up.



Had a quick look on their website. Place looks good but probably out of my budget. Was thinking of trying to stay at staff accommodation in the village, but from what I've read on other threads, you can only book 3 weeks in advance so might be a bit dicey. The search continues...

Does anyone have any thoughts on North Shore vs. Squamish? Are they both on par with each other or one better than the other?

Depends on how long your looking at staying and how many people your going with. Staff housing if good and basic if your going with one or so other people and dont mind possibly living with some random staff workers. if your just looking for a place to leave your stuff and sleep at night staff is for you, but make sure you stay in Brio housing as there is trail to your door step from the park. Glacier staff is a shit but short walk up a ski run.. Friends have stayed in deer/eagle lodge right in the village in the past, dont remember it being too bad with a few of them sharing. If your looking at a few months there's a lot of houses out there looking fill spare rooms that can end up being cheaper than staff housing. Pique magazine and craigslist is a good start, just beware of scammers!
Squamish is awesome! Lots of variety in terrain and shitloads of trails. The shore is fun and sometime downright scary fun but its impossible to find just natural dirt. Also dont forget about Pemberton either. Squamish is the natural dirt Pemberton is sandy rock and Whistler (outside the park) is a mix between the two. Pemby has a heap of trails and shuttling if you have a half decent truck to get up to the paragliding launch. Its mainly a early and late season spot for us as mid summer is hot and dry out there.
I highly recommend exploring outside the park if you have the time. Some the best trails are in the Whistler valley! lots of shops rent trail bikes so have one day off Aline you wont be disappointed

 

[rednightmare]

Depends on how long your looking at staying and how many people your going with. Staff housing if good and basic if your going with one or so other people and dont mind possibly living with some random staff workers. if your just looking for a place to leave your stuff and sleep at night staff is for you, but make sure you stay in Brio housing as there is trail to your door step from the park. Glacier staff is a shit but short walk up a ski run.. Friends have stayed in deer/eagle lodge right in the village in the past, dont remember it being too bad with a few of them sharing. If your looking at a few months there's a lot of houses out there looking fill spare rooms that can end up being cheaper than staff housing. Pique magazine and craigslist is a good start, just beware of scammers!
Squamish is awesome! Lots of variety in terrain and shitloads of trails. The shore is fun and sometime downright scary fun but its impossible to find just natural dirt. Also dont forget about Pemberton either. Squamish is the natural dirt Pemberton is sandy rock and Whistler (outside the park) is a mix between the two. Pemby has a heap of trails and shuttling if you have a half decent truck to get up to the paragliding launch. Its mainly a early and late season spot for us as mid summer is hot and dry out there.
I highly recommend exploring outside the park if you have the time. Some the best trails are in the Whistler valley! lots of shops rent trail bikes so have one day off Aline you wont be disappointed

Thanks for that, mate. Got about 4 weeks in Canada in July, ending with the MSA world cup before heading to the States for Windham. So, got a bit of time, but not heaps. Squamish sounds like a must-see, will definitely be checking it out then. And I think I have to check out the shore, iconic as it is, but not a huge fan of the wooden stuff so might spend a bit less time there. Grouse Mountain (Mt Fromme?) is another place that is on the radar, although I've heard it's pedal up or push-runs only... Probably won't have access to a vehicle so Pemberton might be out.

Good to know about the staff housing. Heading over with a mate, so Brio might be the go - as long as I can book it from here before I leave Australia. Not sure how secure it is, but I guess I'll take/buy a big lock for the bike.

Anyone else planning on making the trip?

 

[whiteman]

Good to know about the staff housing. Heading over with a mate, so Brio might be the go - as long as I can book it from here before I leave Australia. Not sure how secure it is, but I guess I'll take/buy a big lock for the bike.

I've stayed in Brio the two times I've made the trip. I would definitely recommend it for how little you pay! Since you're going with a mate you should be able to get a two person room in Brio. Make sure you email them now, just in case they'll let you reserve a room early. If not get on it as soon as it hits the three week mark!

Security there is good. There's plenty of space to leave your bikes in your room. Or you can hang the bikes over the balcony and lock them up that way.

 

[Mitch243]

I'll be heading over in a month or two for a year or two. Anyone chasing a room mate?

Else Brio is my backup plan.

 

[24alpha]

And I think I have to check out the shore, iconic as it is, but not a huge fan of the wooden stuff so might spend a bit less time there. ?

I was guided on the Shore by DCofty on here....we only road a little bit of skinnines and only because we wanted to from memory. That was on Mt Seymour. Hella good fun. And you can shuttle that with a car.

 

[JONO WADE]

I'm heading over mid july, hopefully going to stay 4-6 weeks. No accommodation plans as of yet, anybody else heading over at a similar time?

Just entered the crankworx enduro, so i'm pretty keen for that!

 

[HimynameisMike]

Anyone stayed at Hi-Whistler? I'm going to whistler for 3 weeks, hopefully looking to find some shuttle serviced days to pemberton/squamish/northshore.

Will be there from the last week of august till halfway thru september, so if you see a guy on a green Scott Gambler looking like he has no idea what his doing, come say hi. Always fun to grab a beer with people I dont know. :thumb:

 

[HimynameisMike]

anyone know when the 2014 lift pass prices are online?

 

[jazza_wil]

Anyone stayed at Hi-Whistler? I'm going to whistler for 3 weeks, hopefully looking to find some shuttle serviced days to pemberton/squamish/northshore.

Will be there from the last week of august till halfway thru september, so if you see a guy on a green Scott Gambler looking like he has no idea what his doing, come say hi. Always fun to grab a beer with people I dont know. :thumb:

i wouldnt bother with HI unless its a very last backup plan. Its nowhere near the village so your going to be on the bus a lot, and if miss it or not on one of the 2 bike rack spots you in for a long ride. just a heads up

 

[Mitch243]

I am going absolutely nuts here. I have no effing idea how to reliably get my bike to Canada.



Problem is I have had bikes damaged/lost in transit before so I want travel insurance to cover it. Apparently the world has gone mad and no one takes responsibility anymore. Airline won't accept responsibility for loss or damage nor will any travel insurer I've found yet. Having a third party organisation ship it is going to cost an arm and a leg.



This is utterly stupid. Has anyone had any luck?


Sent from my Lumia 920 using Tapatalk

 

[s.dogg]

Get your bike covered under home and contents insurance. Or if you are renting just your contents insurance. It will cover your bike everywhere not just at home and not just for theft.

 

[Holf]

iam planning to head over in july also for atleast 3 weeks, will take the DH and maybe the enduro to. not booked or looked at anything yet thou ..

 

[wertmewert]

If anyone finds some real cheap flights, potentially including two lots of 23kg feel free to let everyone know haha. Ill keep a lookout myself

 

[rednightmare]

If anyone finds some real cheap flights, potentially including two lots of 23kg feel free to let everyone know haha. Ill keep a lookout myself

Best I could find was $2.5k with Cathay Pacific through Flight Centre. Pretty standard it seems.