Whistler Blackcomb

It is a world-famous ski resort in the resort town of Whistler in the southern portion of the Coast mountain range in the British Columbia province. The resort receives around two million visitors a year, mainly because it is often included in the lists of top skiing destinations in the world since the 1990s. The resort also has excellent alpine skiing and snowboarding conditions on its mountains, Blackcomb Peak and Whistler Mountain. It also hosted many of the competitions during the Winter Olympic Games in 2010. The skiing season in the resort is open from the middle of November to the early part of June.

Whistler and Blackcomb were originally separate resorts that merged in 1997. Whistler opened in the 1960s while Blackcomb in 1980. The development of the Whistler Ski Resort began with the hopes of holding the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in the area. The resort was nowhere near being world-class then, although many members of the Canadian Olympics Association saw the potential excellent skiing conditions of Whistler Mountain (then called London Mountain).

Meanwhile in 1978, a private corporation started on the development of Blackcomb Ski Resort. Immediately after its opening, its strong competition with Whistler led to many benefits to the skiing public. For example, by the time the two resorts were merged, high-performance chair lifts were already used in both the resorts. The high-speed Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which began operation in 2008, added to the consolidated resort's ski lift capacity. This gondola lift transports skiers from the top of Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain, and is also used to carry sightseeing tourists during summer and other times throughout the year.

The resort covers a total skiing area of 8,171 acres or 3,307 hectares. Snowfall in the resort averages at 410 inches or10.4 meters a year. The highest accessible point in the resort is 1,530 meters (5,020 feet) in Whistler Mountain and 1,565 meters (5,133 feet) in Blackcomb. There are over 200 runs in the resort so guests will not have a problem looking for trails suitable for their skill level. However, you should know that over three-quarters of the terrain are categorized as difficult and are more appropriate for advanced skiers.

The resort is so vast that the variety of guests it receives is as wide as its skiable terrain. Majority of the skiers that go to the resort are intermediates and those with advanced skills. This comes as little surprise since a lot of the runs there are meant for experienced skiers. There are also runs meant for snowboarding and heli-skiing.

However, there are a lot of beginner skiers in the resort also, mainly due to the resort's popularity among families. It has a top-notch ski school, as well as numerous activities to appeal to people of all ages and interests. The resort is a very popular skiing destination so there are many visitors there who have been to ski resorts in other parts of Canada and in other countries. There are various opinions about its amenities, skiing equipment and skiable terrain.

Whistler Blackcomb is probably in the list of places you want to go to if you'll have a ski trip. It is a haven for people who want to do some serious skiing and those who just want to have a wonderful winter vacation. You should realize, however, that it can get very crowded in there even if the place is really vast. If you are into mingling with a wide variety of people, then Whistler Blackcomb is the place for you.