Hit the slopes like an Olympian at Vancouver's Whistler Blackcomb Mountain
2010-02-05
With the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver this month, the slopes of
Whistler Blackcomb Mountain will be jam packed with the greatest skiers, lugers
and snowboarders in the world. If travelers managed to book their flights early
enough, they too could be hitting the slopes of one of the world's preeminent
ski lodges.
Despite hosting the world's most preeminent winter sports
event, Whistler Blackcomb will stay open and skiable to the public. National
Geographic (NG) is reporting that only 10 percent of the mountain will be closed
to recreational skiers, leaving some 7,500 acres of mountain for the visitors to
explore the fresh powder.
Newcomers to the sport can take lessons at the
adult ski and snowboarding school, while more experienced athletes can try their
hand at Heli-skiing or snowmobiling trails. Kids can lounge around at the
downhill tubing park, while their parents enjoy a romantic sleigh ride through
the forest.
NG warns late comers that hotels may be all booked during
this point of the year, but mentions that some accommodations are still
available.
"Most of the major chain hotels are already near capacity,"
says Breton Murphy of Tourism Whistler tells the magazine. "Look for condos and
town houses, or lesser known chalets. Everything in Whistler Village is within
walking distance of the lifts."