Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia
Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America with the 2nd largest vertical drop. Its size and vertical alone propel it into the top 5 of just about any list of ski resorts in North America. This review is based on 3 winter visits having good snow depth but some poor weather with ice and rain.
View of Whistler from Blackcomb
Stats and Rating
| Real Vertical ? | 5,234′, Rank: 2 |
| Size | 8,171 Acres, Rank: 2 |
| Annual Snowfall ? | 462″ claimed / 419″ actual, Rank: 12 |
| Ski Pods ? | 17, Rank: 8 |
| Distinct Trails ? | 200+, Rank: 4 |
| Review Date | December 2018 |
| Number of visits | 4 |
| Our Rating | ★★★★ |
| Resort website | https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/ |
Whistler Blackcomb trail map 21/22
Multiple visits
Whistler/Blackcomb is one of those places that we know is great given good conditions. For some reason, we have not been able to hit good conditions in 3 tries. We’ve actually been there 4 times, but the first time was in the summer when we skied the glacier only. So that doesn’t factor into this review.
The second time was in early March when it should have been the best time of the year to go. But after about 1-hour of skiing in heavy snow and powder, it turned to rain and stayed that way for 3 days.
The third time was in April and the weather was cooperative. However, it had iced up after getting cold after a warm spell, so the conditions varied between slush and hard pack most of the time. Still we got a pretty good feel for the place from that 3rd trip.
The fourth (and likely final) time was over the Christmas/New Year holiday in late December 2018. The first day, it was lightly snowing top to bottom with good conditions. Great! But that night it turned to rain all the way up to 5,200′ elevation. That is 3,000′ above the base, which left only the top 2,000 feet with good conditions in the days following that event. We got soaked on the first run and gave up because all the lifts above the rain were closed and it just wasn’t worth skiing in the rain.
First Tracks breakfast run at Whistler, December 2018
Off-Piste Skiing or lack thereof
Due to rain and ice, we never really got to ski off-piste much at Whistler/Blackcomb. They do groom a lot of terrain at about 1,300 acres a night. But if conditions are typical, the 10’s of thousands of skiers make for pretty crowded runs. Because of the variable conditions in the lower 3,000 feet of elevation, all of the off-piste is really in the upper 2,000 feet at Harmony, Symphony, Whistler Peak, 7th Heaven, Glacier, and if open, the Blackcomb T-bars. That means that this resort of over 8,000 acres really doesn’t ski as large as the stats suggest on most days.
Upper Blackcomb mountain glacier skiing
Our routine
When skiing Whistler/Blackcomb, the first decision you will need to make is which mountain to ski. Before the Peak to Peak lift, it was mostly impractical to change mountains mid-day. Now it is much easier and we enjoyed taking the Peak to Peak lift. However, we still preferred to mostly stick to one mountain on any particular day. We tend to ski mostly the top half of the mountain where the snow is better, then take a really long run from top to bottom. It is one of the unique experiences that these mountains offer, and is probably the most memorable thing we took home with us.
Peak to Creek run at Whistler on a good day, December 2018
Our favorite
Our favorite side is Blackcomb. Whistler would be an awesome mountain all on it’s own, but with Blackcomb right there it got less attention from us. Blackcomb has the glaciers at the top, 7th Heaven, and the most consistent groomers.
At Blackcomb, our favorite chair has to be the Crystal Ridge Express which has a great variety of twisty, steeper groomed runs.
The First Tracks experience
There are some unique experiences available at Whistler/Blackcomb that you should try if you get the chance. The First Tracks Breakfast is a cheap way to get a few uncrowded runs before the crowds make it up on the mountain. It’s a pretty decent breakfast for the number of people they serve (650 each day). When we tried it, we got in line at 6:45 AM when it was still dark. We got to see sunrise on our first run at 8AM and the whole thing felt pretty special.
Camp Robbers in the 7th Heaven lift line at Blackcomb, December 2018
Must do run
The Peak to Creek run from Whistler Peak down to the lowest point at the resort at Creekside is a long, windy, rolling upper intermediate run that will likely be one of the longest steeper runs you’ve ever skied with almost 5,000′ of vertical.
Last but not least
Lastly, the Blackcomb glacier is a hidden zone that most people skiing at the resort won’t ever see. It’s accessed with a short hike at the top of the Showcase T-bar. The terrain is pretty tame unless you access it via Spanky’s Ladder, which is a large double-black zone. Beware that it’s a LONG outrun out of there to get back to the lifts. But it’s well worth at least one run just for the scenery.
Zip line in the valley
The Village Vibe
One of the major attractions at the resort is the Whistler Village. This is definitely the premier ski resort village in North America, with endless shops, restaurants, and lodging. In the evenings you will see thousands of people just walking around peering in shops and maybe trying to find a place to eat that doesn’t have a 2-hour wait. There are actually 2 more villages at the resort: Creekside and Upper (Blackcomb) Village. These are much more typical resort villages with a few shops and restaurants and much less foot traffic. It’s Whistler Village that is the main draw and it’s a destination in itself that many non-skiing tourists drive up from Vancouver for.
Dining in the Village
The good
- With over 8,000 acres, there is so much variety it should keep anyone happy exploring for days.
- The lift system is super efficient and modern.
- The on-mountain lodges are plentiful and the restaurants were decent.
- The grooming was excellent.
- One of the biggest draws for Whistler/Blackcomb is the village, and we loved it. It is modeled after the ski villages you might find in Europe, with a large walking-only section with endless shops and restaurants. There is always a lot going on in the village and it’s a great place to hang out after skiing.
Village from lower Whistler mountain
The bad
- Coastal Pacific Northwest weather is in full-effect with rain often making the bottom 3,000 ft. icy.
- Due to the variable weather and necessity to reserve well in advance, it’s a risky bet for a ski vacation. Luck is needed.
- When it’s icy, the groomed runs and upper lifts are going to be very crowded
- Lodging in the Village is affected by the hordes of partiers in the village at night shouting and singing. If you’d rather sleep, bring earplugs.
30-minute lift line at 7th Heaven on a powder day, December 2018
Don’t Miss
The peak-to-peak lift is a super memorable experience that everyone skiing there should have. The lift is an engineering marvel that has to be experienced to be believed.
Lots of activity in the Village
The bottom line
For the vast majority of skiers this is a fantastic resort that shouldn’t be missed. It’s by far the best resort in the Pacific Northwest so if you live anywhere near Seattle or Vancouver this will be your best bet. It attracts huge numbers of foreign travelers from all over the world because it has everything that people looking for a ski destination: from huge vertical to lots of snow to a vibrant apres ski scene. If you are lucky and avoid the rain and ice you will likely agree with the skier surveys that place this as the #1 resort in North America. We haven’t had good luck and aren’t willing to try a 5th time, but don’t let that stop you!
7th Heaven at Blackcomb
Firstly, just let me say that you have done an incredible job on this site. I happened on it when visiting, believe-it-or-not, Silver Mountain Idaho in the summer. I was trying to find out more about this resort and your site was helpful.
I then came across your review of Castle Mountain and couldn’t believe how much I agreed with it. Most ski mags hardly mention it. Your coverage of Kicking Horse was amazingly accurate considering you barely spent a day.
But then I came to your review of my “home” mountain – Whistler – Blackcomb. While I cannot argue with the fact that you have had bad luck and it can rain high up this is usually balanced out by the fact that huge dumps almost always follow such events. I have skied the above plus Vail, Park City, lake Tahoe and Aspen and nothing beats WB on a good day of which there are many. To have treated it based on such bad luck is truly a disservice to those who follow you. I don’t know where you are from, but you owe it to yourselves to come back, spend some time and experience some of those areas you mentioned on even average days. And yes stay off the bottom of the mountsin(s)…. I agree, the terrain size is overrated, but there us so much up top it really doesn’t matter. Finally, you did not even mention PEAK Chair on Whistler down through Whistler Bowl or West Cirque – those are the long steep bowls that really make this mountain. Come visit anytime – and btw, March is good, but Jan is better.
Thanks for the comment Bob! I apologise for not giving your home mountain a favorable report. Our experiences over the years have started to favor smaller lesser known resorts over the mega-resorts like Whistler/Blackcomb. It’s definitely not just the rain but that didn’t help. The biggest downside that I still have in my mind are the soul-crushing lines. We have the same problem here in Tahoe and that’s why there are no 5-star ratings for our home mountains.
I know the vast majority of people love the place. My neighbors buy the Epic pass that includes WB every year just so they can take that one ski trip away from Tahoe. I agree that we should give it another chance!
Tahoe resorts have rain issues as well and if someone visited our home resort Heavenly during a warm atmospheric river event, they would never come back declaring it the worst skiing of their lives. But on a 2+ foot cold powder day it’s Heavenly and we’ve seen plenty of those which is closer to your experiences at WB.
The bottom 2/3rds of W/B are worse skiing than Blue Mountain ontario with constant rain, poor snowmaking, and grass and rocks peaking through the snow on numerous lower runs. The lift infrastructure is outdated and fails to every meet capacity requirements of the guests (because the resort invested 50 million dollars into P2P, instead of 8 new 6 pack chairlifts that could have been built for the same price, and the only reason WB will continue to be a passable destination resort is because of the lifts Vail gifted to W/B from Park City (a far better mountain in both size and snow quality) Whistler/Blackcomb has become one of the worst destination ski resorts in North America. Whistler/Blackcomb doesn’t rank in the top 20 of North American ski resorts nowadays with common hour long lines, constant rain, icy and inconsistent conditions, and the reality that only the top 30% of W/B terrain is better than your generic ski resort in Michigan or Ontario. I would avoid this mountain like the plague folks
Phil, thanks, but I had to edit your comment. I encourage informed negative comments about resorts (or us if you must!), but not personal attacks on other posters. This is a ski resort reviews website and I don’t want it to end up like a TGR forum 🙂
Bitter much? :). Seriously bottom 2/3 are worse than east coast “mountain resorts”? Yes bad days happen, but from bottom of Garbo to the top of the mountain on most days it’s nothing you see on the east coast.
I grew up in Vancouver and taught skiing – back in the day – when Blackcomb was the “new” moutnain (lol) and i can tell you – that after skiing in so many places – WB will ALWAYS be the one i want to come ‘home’ too (even though we live down south now). I am sorry you have had rotten luck – and rainy days or years – can be – more than disappointing. However, in big snow years – i cannot imagine there is anything to beat it – even europe doesnt’ groom or do avalanche control enough for my liking. You get spoiled growing up skiing every weekend at WB and you just get to expect an amazing mountain and think eveyrone has it outside their door. Our kiddo also grew up skiing there over holidays and will now go to Vail for the 1st time over spring break – she will notice the difference.
I will say that locals know not to stay in the village, the Chateau is your best bet – for everything. If you do plan to go over Christmas/New Years – which is when it sound like you did, yes – plan to make reservations WELL in advance – even if you try in November most places will be full. The easiest option is to – not go during that time – its just so crowded. The best time to go – is any other time. If its a great snow year – go when it opens – a so-so year – go during any week/weekend there isn’t an American Holiday, during those January February days. I can’t stand crowds in any way, shape or form – so i suggest playing hooky – and going during off peak times in a good year. Nothing beats what we used to call a ‘top to bottom’ run, its magnificent.
i am off to read your kicking horse review.
Now, have you been to the resort on Vancouver Island, the one that is all volunteer based? I think its only open once in a blue moon but its supposed to be just incredible – and like resorts used to be, when only Aspen was known as all chi-chi and whistler was relatively affordable when you bought a pass – or you worked and got one for free (and never went to high school again!)
Thanks for chiming in with some excellent Whistler/Blackcomb advice!
As for the resort on Vancouver Island, I think you are talking about Mount Cain. It’s a legend and we would love to visit, but talk about hard to get to! Maybe someday… https://www.mountcain.com/
Just got back from my second time here and all I can say is please give it another shot! I will admit that I have gotten more than lucky with the snow my two trips here, and that I have not gone to as nearly as many resorts as you, but this one edges out Steamboat as my favorite that I’ve been to
I have been a loyal customer of Whistler and Blackcomb Resort for many years, always choosing to support our local mountains. However, my experience this past season has been extremely disappointing. Due to some unexpected health issues, I had to undergo surgery and was forced to miss the entire season to focus on my recovery.
I reached out to the resort to explain my situation, hoping that they would understand and refund my season pass. Unfortunately, after a long and frustrating delay filled with an overwhelming chain of emails, my request was ultimately rejected. The lack of empathy and the bureaucratic approach I encountered was disheartening, especially from a place that prides itself on customer service.
It’s unfortunate to see that even in such exceptional circumstances, Whistler and Blackcomb Resort chose not to support a long-time customer. This experience has left me questioning my loyalty to the resort and whether they truly value their patrons. I hope they reconsider their policies and begin treating loyal customers with the respect and understanding they deserve.