Im trying to throw together a ski trip for the end of February. Im trying to keep it west coast, and on the more affordable side. Who has been to whistler and can offer some suggestions as to places to stay that are convienent, but allow you to save. Im trying to keep the airfare/rental car/hotel stay as affordable as possible so I can get 6-8 people to go.

I love Tahoe, but its just too expensive and tedious. I loved the slopes, but I hated having to drive a long way to try out all the different resorts. Whistler is so big, theres no need to go anywhere else.

right now airfare to seattle is $250. I can rent a miniwan for $330 for the week (or cheaper if I dont need that), and the hotel stay should be around $800 with some quick checks, so that brings the base trip cost to about $500 a person (pre lift ticket) assuming 4 people. If there are any non psyco people that are interested in tagging along, shoot me a PM. (looking at 21 or 22 through 26-27)

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 2:54 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 2:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2009 2:51:46 PM

yeah, it's huge. have fun skiing Peak to Creek! I've only done Whistler as a day trip, though...I don't know where to stay up there.

also maybe check out some of the SLC area stuff. The Canyons is a place I like that isn't expensive (or wasn't last time I was there). Alta was also very reasonable last time I checked.

1/14/2009 2:56:19 PM

not stopping at mt. baker would be a mistake, especially if you are flying into seatac for a whistler trip

1/14/2009 3:04:10 PM

Dammit, I wanna go.

Having a wife who works 90+ hours a week and a 13 month old daughter kinda throws a wrench into any ski trips for me.

1/14/2009 3:09:22 PM

I've been to Baker at least a dozen times, and it's not that great. I'd rather spend my time out west at pretty much any other mountain I've been to (other than Stevens Pass, which is pretty much a tie w/ Baker). It isn't that I don't like Baker or that it isn't a good place to ski...it's that there are better places to go if you're flying out west from NC.

and I'd have to find one helluva cheap ticket into Sea-Tac to fly there for a Whistler trip. MUCH quicker and closer to fly into Vancouver, BC.

1/14/2009 3:11:13 PM

i went to whistler in december

i would not like to make the drive from vancouver to whistler in a rental car

there's a reason there are a ton of wrecks on that road, and it's people not used to driving in those conditions in rental cars from the city with no snow tires.

if you fly into vancouver it's ike $50/person for a bus trip for the ~3 hour ride... like baller charter bus not school bus

it's a beautiful ride, and it's nice to not have to worry about the drive

if you book from their website they have great deals on packages for hotel/lift/bus etc

i stayed at mountainside lodge and it was pretty sweet, not slopeside, but like across the street from the gondola entrances.

you dont need a rental car at the mountain, there are trolleys and if you stay in the village you'd have everything you need right in walking distance.


Regular season lift passes are kinda high, but it's canadian, so it's not that bad.

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 3:36 PM. Reason : plus hotels will charge like $15/day to park]

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 3:37 PM. Reason : e]

1/14/2009 3:35:08 PM

I havent priced tickets to that location. I understand its a 3 hour drive from seattle. I have heard from two people that the drive is beautiful and pleasant.

Bobby, leave the kid at the parents home, leave your wife to her work, and come ski

1/14/2009 3:35:52 PM

pilgram, thats an excellent idea. I didnt think they would have bus trips lined up. That would definitely be the preferable route to go. Just need them to have good shuttle times. I feel like the trip is condensed enough for a west coast trip, and dont want to only have 2 good ski days.

1/14/2009 3:41:26 PM

Going there in March.

Doing the bus thing from Vancouver.

Staying at the Westin (for free!)

1/14/2009 3:43:52 PM

yeah they're doing construction on that road to boot, one of the conditions of getting the olympics was that they had to make it 4 lane instead of 2

it's sweet though, the trail maps already have some of the olympic trails designated, so im looking forward to watching the mens downhill or something and pointing out places where i busted my ass

yeah in regards to the bus, i was the first flight in for people on my bus, i think there were maybe 12 of us total for the ride (with like 50 open seas ahah)

i had to wait a grand total of 25 minutes for others to arrive, etc.

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 3:54 PM. Reason : e]

1/14/2009 3:46:39 PM

Just called them. The girl I spoke with on the phone quoted extra fees for the 4 people in a room than the web site (about $300 extra bucks). She was nice, and I didnt say anything, but I'll be booking online. And if booking 6, she charged me a rate of $700 more than what I found on the site. UGH! Gotta check these people.

Lodging for 4 nights with 6 people would be $150 a person!!! Thats hard to beat. Vancouver is expensive to fly into. About $150 more a ticket. The bus/car is a toss-up. its going to cost about the same, regardless, but I probably wont be taking a bus from seattle.

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 4:26 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2009 4:16:50 PM

I live in Seattle.

In the summertime it is 6 hours door to door from SeaTac to the Whistler village, non-stop.

In the winter, its going to take you 7-9 hours to get there by car. pilgrimshoes is DEAD SPOT ON. If you do not have experience driving in mountain snow on chains, take a bus. Or buy chains and put them on whatever rental you get. It's about 5 hours from Vancouver in the winter. The roads are absolutely destroyed due to Olympics construction. After driving it in the fall, I wouldn't even attempt it in the winter time. There are so many crazy traffic pattern shifts and 90 degree shunts for road work, it can get really stressful on a clear, dry road; much less one covered and packed with snow.

So if you go, keep in mind you are going to lose two full days just driving up and back from Seattle. Mt. Baker is only 2 hours from Seattle, and it's hella cheap (lift ticket is 44 bucks) for pretty damn awesome skiing. It's right on the way, so you could pretty easily drive to Baker, skii all day, take a nap and drive into the night to get to Whistler for the next day's skiing.

Whistler is expensive, plain and simple. It is the BC equivalent of Aspen, CO. People go there to see and be seen, and it's extremely trendy and expensive as a result. The skiing is just so damn awesome that all the regular folks put up with it.

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 7:52 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2009 7:48:43 PM

My wife and I did this trip in March for my brother's wedding. It was awesome. We flew into SeaTac and drove up there, stopping in Vancouver to pick up my parents. The drive was fairly easy and quite nice. The Sea to Sky highway is very scenic. Beware though there is likely a lot of construction going on right now due to the upcoming olympics. Like others said, the village is very expensive, but it is worth it imho. When we went, they took us dollars on par with canadian money. I think the drive from Seattle was only about 4 hours, but we got lucky and only had a 20 minute wait at the border.

1/14/2009 9:04:13 PM

Man, I didn't realize how cheap the ski trips I do now are

1/14/2009 10:01:04 PM

i went to Whistler back in March or April of '98 and skied for a 1/2 day. One of the best days of my life -- the skiing was that good. Damn, 10 years have passed and I have yet to make it back.

1/15/2009 8:09:01 AM

I'm going to Lake Tahoe this March and from juggling numbers it came out cheaper than going to
Whistler (total trip cost around $1100). But someday I definitely want to go to Whistler next year or the one after that.

Skiing ain't cheap. Going to Snowshoe next month and probably dropping $400. Sure I could do it cheaper if I stayed at the base of the mountain but to hell with that crap.

Bottom line is good skiing isn't cheap unless you live within 2-3 hrs of the resort/mtn.o

[Edited on January 16, 2009 at 12:04 AM. Reason : Nothing in NC or winterplace is worth the time of day]

1/16/2009 12:02:54 AM

I'm paying $200 to go skiing in Nagano where the held the 1998 Olympics. But granted that's only two days of skiing and not a week or something.

1/16/2009 1:18:55 AM

^Skiing is cheap as balls up here. 11 resorts within 3 hours, 3 or 4 less than an hour from work. Daily lift tickets range from 10 bucks during the week to like 45 on weekends.

equipment is cheap and plentiful too.

1/16/2009 1:45:39 AM

Well, due to the logistical situation I am faced with this trip, I have switched the preferred destination to Lake Tahoe. Been there before and there is plenty available to do. Looked at Vail, but lodging is too expensive for this particular trip.

1/16/2009 9:39:02 AM

spent a week at squaw valley a few years ago and it was nice

of course we got dumped on that week so it enhanced the trip a bit

1/16/2009 10:22:13 AM

Go to park city or Salt lake. If you stay in salt lake you have 4 resorts less than a 30 minute drive, possibly shorter depending on which crappy motel you stay in.

Plus, you can drive around to park city which is about an 1.5 hours away and there are 3 more awesome resorts. Flights to SLC from NC are fairly expensive (i think between 4-600 on the low end) but depending on where you stay its worth it.

(you cant snowboard at Alta on the SLC side of the range or Deer Valley on the park city side though)

1/16/2009 10:42:40 AM

^I stayed in Frisco, CO last year in a house with a bunch of friends. It was $200 for 5 days/nights lodging and 30-45 minutes to Vail, Copper, Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Winterpark.

You can't beat that with a stick.

Also, my flight to Denver was $160 (nonstop) though I don't think I could find it that cheap this year if I looked.

1/16/2009 2:50:19 PM

Whistler/Blackcomb is some of the best skiing you'll ever do. You may, however, pay a premium until after the winter olympics. They are drawing a pretty killer crowd these days due to the hype of the Olympics.

1/16/2009 3:45:09 PM

^^

We flew to denver in december for $214 round trip (inc. taxes and fees) with southwest.

1/16/2009 4:08:16 PM

^^It will be even worse after the Olympics. If you want to go to Whistler, this year is the time to do it. With the construction and the Gondola breaking, a lot of people aren't making as many trips up there.

1/17/2009 4:01:26 AM

^^nice, but that's still a healthy $74 more My flight to Tahoe is $238, with one stop (no nonstop available from RDU)

1/17/2009 1:58:04 PM

I may be interested. Not sure about losing two days traveling, but I may be in Seattle on business, so I'll let you know.

1/17/2009 4:11:56 PM

when i went we flew in to Vancouver and took the bus up to whistler. i'm pretty sure this is standard.

the way i saved money though was by going in april. seriously...early april. it still snowed when i was there, even at the base of the mtns.

but if you can't go then and want to go in feb maybe try this site http://www.moguls.com/

i found a package on here and set everything up. even used frequent flier miles to bump my flight up to first class i don't know how good that site is now. i mean i went in 2003 i think. and i was 18 and booked the trip myself haha. but my dad went along with it (it was for us) and said i did a good job. but that is who i used. and i went in april, which helped A LOT. if you could go later i would say go later to save the most $$$. i think that going post season is the reason we got such a good rate.

1/17/2009 5:24:23 PM

50% off airfare to Seattle http://www.southwest.com/landing/seattle50off.html?src=MAILCNSTUES000000090120

1/20/2009 6:27:16 PM

^yea, roundtrip looks like ~200 bucks from RDU

1/20/2009 7:24:41 PM

^^ was about to post that

thinking about flying up to seattle for a Victoria, BC weekend trip

1/21/2009 12:25:15 AM

So I'm up at Whistler this weekend.

Here's the info I can provide:

Time from SeaTac airport to arrival at Whistler Village was 4:45. WAY faster than I thought it would be, but I was driving from 9:45pm through to 2:30am. The construction is pretty bad, it would have taken much longer if there had been ANY traffic.

Apparently the hotels up here are having a rough time, and there are some serious deals to be had.

Lift tickets are pretty damn cheap now too. ~66 a day, 230 a week, 460 season

3/7/2009 1:16:09 AM