1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (139 page)

British Columbia

The giant twin peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb, just 75 miles north of Vancouver on the stunning Sea-to-Sky Highway, comprise North America’s largest ski and snowboard destinations, regularly rated No. 1
by countless polls and magazines. Its secured bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympic games is yet another measure of the high regard these slopes inspire. Talk about Whistler Blackcomb, and one speaks in superlatives.

In part, the numbers do the talking: Whistler Blackcomb has the greatest vertical drop (more than 5,000 feet) of any ski resort on the continent; 8,100 acres of skiable terrain (that’s 3,000 acres more than the largest U.S. resort); more than 200 marked trails, 12 massive alpine bowls, an unfathomable 30 feet of snowfall per year; and a ski season that runs from late November through May (with summer skiing on Blackcomb mid-June through August). Runs are both lengthy (the longest is 7 miles) and dramatically set, with renowned views from an impressively developed lift system, reason enough for skiiers to come from as far away as Moscow and Japan. The very size of Whistler Blackcomb allows the million-plus annual visitors to enjoy alone-with-nature runs on their personal favorite trails—it never really feels crowded.

Whistler Blackcomb’s 38 ski lifts can transport 61,407 skiers an hour.

Whistler Blackcomb has acquired a cult reputation with advanced and extreme skiers and snowboarders, but in truth the resort offers something—and lots of it—for everyone. Over half the trails are rated intermediate, and cross-country skiers can glide along 17.5 miles of groomed trails in Lost Lake Park. Other winter activities include dogsled-ding, snowshoeing, and ice skating. Thrill-hungry skiers can also take advantage of guided heli-skiing or snowcat skiing on more remote and challenging mountains near Whistler.

The runs on Whistler and Blackcomb peaks are linked at their base by the Tyrolean-style, pedestrian-only Whistler Village, with café-lined plazas, boutiques, over 90 restaurants and après-ski watering holes, and accommodations—some grand and palatial, others swank and intimate.

The Four Seasons Resort is among Whistler’s newest hotels, a très chic, très elegant monument to refinement in a town with its share of faux alpine homeyness. Its urbane good taste extends to the oversize guest rooms, decorated in wood and cool earth tones, all with fireplaces, balconies, and soaker tubs. With 15 treatment rooms, the Spa at Four Seasons Resort is Whistler’s largest and most
luxurious, with a heated outdoor pool and three whirlpool baths that fill half the hotel courtyard. Whistler Blackcomb’s best ski-in/ski-out property, however, is the grand, gabled Fairmont Chateau Whistler, a resort-within-a-resort at the base of Blackcomb Mountain. With 550 luxury-level rooms it’s not exactly intimate, but it’s the place to ski and be seen. Its famous Sunday buffet brunch is reason enough to check in, as are superlative Asian and Ayurvedic spa treatments that are nirvana for après-ski weariness. As the season turns, Fairmont Chateau Whistler effortlessly segues into a summertime playground, with rafting, hiking, horseback riding, and the 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Jr. course that is one of Canada’s most beautiful, with three other fine courses lying within striking distance.

W
HERE
: 75 miles/120 km north of Vancouver.
Visitor info:
Tel 866-218-9690 or 604-932-3434;
www.whistlerblackcomb.com
.
Cost:
3-day lift tickets from US$174/C$194.
When:
ski season Nov–May.
F
OUR
S
EASONS
: Tel 888-935-2460 or 604-934-3400;
www.fourseasons.com/whistler
.
Cost:
from US$219/C$245 (off-peak), from US$308/C$345 (peak).
F
AIRMONT
C
HATEAU
W
HISTLER
: Tel 800-441-1414 or 604-938-8000;
www.fairmont.com/whistler
.
Cost:
from US$178/C$199 (off-peak), from US$392/C$439 (peak); Sun brunch US$32/C$36; greens fees US$107/C$125 (off-peak), US$167/C$195 (peak).
B
EST TIMES
: Jan–Mar for skiing; mid-July for Whistler Music & Arts Festival; early Nov for Cornucopia, Whistler’s annual food and wine celebration.

A Place of Awe and Wonder

British Columbia

Yoho National Park’s name derives from a Cree expression of awe and wonder—an apt summation of the marvels found here on the steep western face of the Rockies. In fact, the park’s towering peaks, hidden
jewel-colored glacial lakes, and thundering waterfalls are relatively undisturbed compared to the tourism juggernauts of Banff and Jasper national parks just east in neighboring Alberta (see pp. 1025 and 1034). It’s quieter here, despite eye-riveting scenery, outstanding even in the gorgeous Canadian Rockies.

Much of Yoho’s 507 square miles lies in the drainage of Kicking Horse River, which gathers the glacial waters along the Continental Divide before plunging to meet the Columbia River at Golden, B.C. The river’s steep descent makes it popular with white-water rafters; with near-constant Class III and IV rapids, the Kicking Horse is one of the most exciting white-water destinations in Canada. Local outfitters provide guided day trips to both the river’s more gentle upper reaches, and the adrenaline-pumping chutes and drops that attract rafting enthusiasts from around the world. In just two hours you can splash through 14 sets of rapids ranging from Class II to IV with evocative names like “Shotgun,” “Table Saw,” “Roller Coaster,” and “The Last Waltz.”

The park’s visitor center at Field will introduce you to more than 250 miles of well-kept hiking trails, and backcountry destinations such as remote aquamarine Lake O’Hara and its historic wilderness lodge. The lake is well known among hikers and outdoor enthusiasts for its stunning setting and the network
of trails (some strenuous) radiating into the high alpine neverland with top-of-the-world views. A popular short hike leads to a viewpoint and picnic area overlooking Takakkaw Falls, Canada’s second highest (after 1,443-foot Della Falls on Vancouver Island), with a total drop of 1,250 feet. Their name comes from the Cree word meaning “wonderful,” which they certainly are. Like the park’s many cascades, the falls are most voluminous in early summer, when melting snow and ice provide ample runoff.

Seven miles northwest of Field is glacier-fed Emerald Lake, the largest in the park and named for the peculiar color that astonished those who first happened upon it in 1882. It is another of Yoho’s most popular destinations, a perfect place for hiking, canoeing (which is not allowed on Lake O’Hara), and horseback riding. From the Emerald Lake Lodge strike out on a gentle 90-minute trail around waters that reflect the jagged peaks surrounding the lake. Lakefront cottages with balconies overlooking the water are the park’s best accommodations, but even they can feel not removed enough during the busy summer months. Visit in the off months (the lodge stays open year-round), when the lake can be even more magical, if that’s possible.

The Takakkaw Falls are fed by the Daly glacier.

W
HERE
: 130 miles/209 km west of Calgary. Tel 250-343-6783;
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/yoho
.
H
OW
: for rafting on Kicking Horse River, Canadian Whitewater Adventures, tel 888-577-8118 or 250-344-6778;
www.canadianwhitewater.com
.
Cost:
half-day trips from US$53/C$60, full-day trips from US$85/C$95.
When:
mid-May–mid-Sept.
L
AKE
O’H
ARA
L
ODGE
: Tel 250-343-6418 or 403-678-4110 (off-season);
www.lakeohara.com
.
When:
mid-June–Sept and Feb–early Apr.
Cost:
from US$414/C$465.
E
MERALD
L
AKE
L
ODGE
: Tel 800-663-6336 or 403-410-7417;
www.crmr.com
.
Cost:
from US$143/C$160 (off-peak), from US$312/C$350 (peak).
B
EST TIMES
: Jan–Mar for cross-country skiing; mid-July–mid-Aug for hiking; Sept–Oct for foliage.

Kings of the Tundra in the Far North

Churchill, Manitoba

Polar bears are among the largest of all terrestrial predators, some weighing in at 1,500 pounds. While they are generally solitary creatures, many of the polar bears that live along Hudson Bay congregate in autumn at long-
established maternity denning sites just south and east of the grain exporting port of Churchill. This is the polar bear capital of the world, where expectant bears come to the edge of Hudson Bay while it’s still unfrozen, to fatten up on seals before taking to their dens and bearing young. If the chance to see roving polar bears in their native habitat isn’t enough, the late-fall night skies are frequently pulsing with the lights of the aurora borealis.

The Churchill denning area, one of the largest in the Arctic, was placed under the protection of Wapusk National Park in 1996, and travelers are permitted to visit these sites only by
joining authorized tour groups. That’s a good thing, as outfitters will ensure that you get up close and personal with the polar bears in the comfort (and safety) of a tundra buggy. Natural Habitat Adventures offers bear-viewing trips in October and November; you can watch young males play-fight, mother bears cautiously explore with their adolescent cubs at their sides, and solitary adults lumber across the tundra.

Although polar bear viewing is best in fall (also a good time for northern lights!), the arctic summer brings a brief but astonishing display of flora and wildlife to the tundra. Summer trips to Churchill, a town with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, allow you to journey onto Hudson Bay or along the coast—under nearly-24-hour daylight—in search of beluga whales, caribou, and seals, or to join a birding trip focused on the more than 200 species of rare arctic waterfowl and shorebirds.

You can’t reach Churchill by road; most travelers fly in from Winnipeg, but VIA Rail offers passenger rail service between Winnipeg and Churchill year-round (a 36-hour journey each way). It’s a great way to observe the changing landscapes of northern Canada’s countless lakes, forests, and vast tundra.

Nearly 1,000 polar bears call the Hudson Bay area home.

W
HERE
: 630 miles/1,014 km north of Winnipeg.
W
APUSK
N
ATIONAL
P
ARK
: Tel 888-748-2928 or 204-675-8863;
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/mb/wapusk
.
N
ATURAL
H
ABITAT
A
DVENTURES
: Tel 800-543-8917 or 303-449-3711;
www.nathab.com
.
Cost:
6- and 7-day fall polar-bear-viewing trips from US$3,295/C$3,710 per person, includes charter flights to/from Winnipeg and Churchill; 9-day summer excursions from US$3,010/$C3,395, includes round-trip transportation to/from Winnipeg.
When:
polar-bear-viewing trips, mid-Oct–mid-Nov; summer excursions mid-June–mid-Aug.
VIA R
AIL
: Tel 800-561-8630 or 416-366-8411;
www.viarail.ca
.
Cost:
round-trip coach (no sleeper) fare Winnipeg–Churchill from US$887/C$998 for two; round trip with double-occupancy sleeper, US$2,639/C$2,972.