All Season Highs

The September terrorist attacks have made travelers paranoid about holidaying in the U.S. But just across the border in Canada is a great alternative–Whistler in beautiful British Columbia.

Just two hours away from Vancouver via a scenic drive through the Sea to Sky highway is a quaint European-styled village mountain resort called Whistler. The Philippine Airlines-Baron Travel familiarization agents group opted for an overnight visit in this much talked about playground of the rich and famous where Prince Charles would bring his handsome princes for skiing. Whistler will be the site for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It’s still fall, but the absence of snow didn’t get us down. The cool weather, the scent of evergreens, the trees glittering with tivoli lights made me think of Christmas. At first look Whistler village is awesome, tucked as it is between snow-capped Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The first order of business though, being Pinoy tourists, was shopping for Whistler souvenirs. Then we checked out the bars, restaurants, groceries and sports equipment before settling down in The Pan Pacific Lodge, an all- suite hotel in this postcard-pretty locale. Each cozy room is complete with a living area, balcony, fireplace, dining area and kitchen, bedroom and a well-appointed bathroom.

Tourism Whistler crammed a fun-filled day for the agents that was adventurous and exciting. We got an early start: 7:30 a.m. for breakfast with our Pan Pacific Lodge host. At 8:30 a.m., the agents were divided into two groups for the atv (All Terrain Vehicle) Experience. In bright yellow rubber overalls and matching jacket, rubber boots, goggles, gloves and helmet, I didn’t quite know if we looked like astronauts or firefighters but definitely not the motorcycle Hell’s Angels we imagined ourselves to be. It was quite an ordeal to move around in this safety gear, but off we went on our four-wheel vehicles that looked like giant motorcycles with magwheels. After briefing us on how to ride and drive the atvs, our group went to the training ground for ten minutes until we were accustomed to riding on our expensive toys. It was two to a bike except for me, who decided to go solo. We drove up the mountain, went through mud pits, crossed a brook on dirt roads with sharp curves on rugged terrain. It was pretty scary at first, but we all got the hang of it later on. Towards the end, we were all enjoying the drive. Evil Knievel, eat your heart out! This activity is definitely great for the family. We found out later on that the rubber outfit was to protect us from the cold, mud and the dust from the dirt road. During the winter months, they have snowmobiles and snow-boarding activities instead of atvs.

Next, we take the gondola ride up the mountain. From the top, we see the day care center for kids (as the adults go skiing), four golf courses and the rest of the town. From the middle station, our attention was on the board that tallied sightings of black bears in the area. As we go further up to towers 18 and 23, we are told to look out for black bears, but not a-one made an appearance for us. We go straight to the top to get up close and personal with the snow-capped mountains, where the group went berserk taking more photos, our favorite past time. After all that, we returned to the village for some sumptuous pizza.

Why Whistler? The price is a great factor. Our guide tells us that Whistler has better terrain and quality of snow. Skiing started on November 24. Whistler has been voted the #1 Ski Resort in North America for the past eight years. We all decided that an overnight stay simply wasn’t enough, and made Marila Revilla, our PAL host (PAL flies to Vancouver three times a week), and Dean Nelson, our Pan Pacific host, promise to bring us back for some Whistler-quality skiing.