Overall Rating

Whistler Blackcomb

Whistler Blackcomb4/546
Whistler Blackcomb4 out of 5 based on 46 reviews
  • Recommend
    76%
  • Would Revisit
    72%

Whistler Blackcomb - Reviews

Whistler Blackcomb - Reviews

Despite its downfalls, this place is special and keeps me coming back for more.

01/09/2023

Alex

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy

Alex

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    3

Despite its downfalls, this place is special and keeps me coming back for more.

01/09/2023
People love to whine and complain that Whistler is too busy, that it's expensive, that it's become too corporate, that the snow can be hit or miss. Yadda yadda. Plan your trip well, and you'll have the best mountain experiences of your life! Visit during off-peak dates, secure budget accommodation and skip the luxury après ski culture, visit for at least a week at a time for the best shot at pow and bluebird days, and wake up early to be one of the first ones at the top. The truth is, this resort has it all, and is nothing short of magical!
See our video here

Whistler Experience

connor
21/12/2021
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    December
  • Admin Rating
    2

Whistler Experience

connor
21/12/2021
Absolutely great experience, the bars, and the ski village were great. And the trails were remarkable if you in advance skiing have to try Spankys ladders nothing but nice power all the way. Visited in 2015
See our video here

Whistler sold their soul to Vail

03/11/2020

Jeff

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy

Jeff

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    December
  • Admin Rating
    3

Whistler sold their soul to Vail

03/11/2020
Being a Vancouver Local for the past 20 years, I've been to Whistler to ride.. hmm 300-500+ times. I've seen it all. That being said, when they sold to Vail a few years ago, that was the worst thing they could have ever done. Whistler was not hurting for crowds before the sale, and were basically printing money. After the sale, the price for a lift ticket kept going up. Completely alienating the casual skier/rider. I always get a edge card or season pass but that keeps going up in price. This mountain at its best is unlike anywhere else in North America. It has everything from steep terrain, glades, white knuckle high alpine terrain and generally lots of snow. This upcoming season is a year us Vancouverites and west coast Canadians have been waiting for , for a while. No yanks, euros.. borders closed.. and all the predictions are calling for lots of snow. Maybe next year we all boycott the mountain to get Vail out of whistler. Worst thing they ever did!
See our video here

The Destination for Non-Skiers

James Paterson
07/05/2020
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    4

The Destination for Non-Skiers

James Paterson
07/05/2020
Whistler Blackcomb is not a destination for true skiers. It has evolved into a place that is designed for non-skiers who spend money. That's really what this place is about now. In addition to the sheer crowds of people that jam up the lift/gondola lines, the snow quality in Whistler in the last 5 years has been atrocious. Every time I have been there in the last 5 years, it has rained. Freezing levels are super high altitude in comparison to other BC ski resorts, largely due to Whistler's coastal proximity. Because of this, true powder days are few-and-far-between at Whistler, despite the stuff you may see posted on social media (Whistler's social media is borderline false advertising, but that is another story). I think Whistler is very aware of their challenges as a ski resort (some that are not fixable, like the snow quality and rain), and are placing more emphasis on their summer tourism, which is a smart move by them frankly. If you are a person who really doesn't care about how much vertical you ski, the quality of the snow, and your priority is shopping/eating in the village, then Whistler is the place for you. If you are a serious skier who wants to ski a lot of vertical, in good quality snow, and would rather be skiing than shopping, then avoid Whistler and go to other places in BC like Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Red, Big White, Fernie or Whitewater.
See our video here

Arguably the best ski resort in the world

Yi Wang
08/02/2020
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    N/A
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    3

Arguably the best ski resort in the world

Yi Wang
08/02/2020
To me, this is the best ski resort in the world.
It's big but not too big to become inconvenient. You can easily reach any one of lifts on the two mountains within less than 1 hour from any one of the three village bases. Europe has some mage resorts that are 2 or 3 times bigger, noticeably some French resorts such as 3 valleys. But they are too big that you'd better stay in 2 different bases in one vacation in order to explore all the mountains. For example, if you stay at Courchevel 1650 of three valley, you can spent half a day just to get to and back from Val Thorens, the other side of the resort.
Another advantage of WB is its excellent slopes that include both wide open bowls and trails through forests. Trails in woods are hard to be found in Alps.
WB is not ideal for beginners. The entire Blackcomb mountain doesn't have real green runs except a short run at the bottom. It is also crowded . Sometimes it becomes dangerously crowed to beginners who have hard time maneuver among fast skiers.
See our video here

Not a good value during the holidays

Terry Schoenthal
31/12/2019
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Admin Rating
    3

Not a good value during the holidays

Terry Schoenthal
31/12/2019
I recently brought my family to Whistler Blackcomb for skiing during the Christmas holiday and I found it to be a very poor value. The area is huge, the Village is lovely, and the mountain was as well groomed as could be expected with limited snow cover. My problem with our trip is that both accommodation and lift tickets are exhorbitantly expensive and it was not a good value. Lift lines were long, slopes very crowded, and after-ski activities were so congested that it simply was not a very pleasant experience. It suffers from the same over-tourism that has become common in the worlds best places. I have no doubt that at other times it could be a wonderful experience, but I would discourage people who might be considering this destination for a holiday vacation.
See our video here

Lived up to its title

Toddy
22/10/2019
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    4

Lived up to its title

Toddy
22/10/2019
This shot was taken over in the diamond bowl area where it's nice and steep
I finally got to ski the famous Whistler Blackcomp February 2019 and it didn't let me down. After years of being told by my ski mates to get over there and how good the mountain was well I can honestly say I was blown away with the size, length and steepness of runs, variety of terrain and the lift infrastructure. I was lucky enough to have a good mate who has been there for over 30 years, show me around and have a plan B to go to if that lift line was busy. Saying that though the lines moved very quick which was due to their organizational skills in setting up the ropes, something Perisher could take on board. The snow quality was varied due to the length of runs and you have to expect the texture to change with different temps in heights. I could not fault this place as it ticked all the boxes for my level of skiing. We didn't get anything real deep but we got a taste of some fresh falls and I was more than happy. It would be amazing to get a real good dump here. I strongly suggest skiing with someone who knows the mountain to get the best out of your day if that's possible. Plenty of aprae on hand to keep all the ages happy although getting into some restaurants was at times a little difficult as they don't take bookings so you have to be flexible and find one that doesn't have a lineup. I was there for 7 days and it got me ski fit for my 5 day heli ski trip the following week. Would I go back? Don't ask me twice - it's amazing
See our video here

Over-hyped and Under-delivers

JP
21/10/2019
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    4

Over-hyped and Under-delivers

JP
21/10/2019
We've all seen the sick pow shots and massive snow reports from Whistler on Instagram and other social media. It's hard to look away, it seems so incredible. I have visited Whistler many times in the last 10 years, and each time came away disappointed.

My visit last season really took the cake. When I was there, it was raining quite regularly, the snow was like concrete, and most of the mountain was shut down (only about 40% of lifts open). On the Whistler Instagram page they were reporting huge powder dumps of 40cm, and posting a pic of somebody in waist deep snow. All of us that were there were looking at the Instagram post while we skied on wet concrete on the few runs that were open. It was such a joke to see how they market the mountain, and see them essentially blatantly lie.

Now that said, nightlife there is great, restaurants are really good, and hotel options are plentiful. But for skiing, it's probably the last place on my list going forward.
See our video here

Variety in Whistler

Rebecca
01/07/2019
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    3

Variety in Whistler

Rebecca
01/07/2019
We went to Whistler in February so more the tail end of the season. There was much powder when we went but the variety of trails were second to none! To find the powder you would often have to go through the trees, which was beautiful. The trails went on for a while before you had to cue back up to reach the top again. The lifts were well organised and fast but the crowds were vast also. The nightlife was the best, yet other activities were also available... which makes it great for all! Young and single, couples, families, everyone! Massive range of lessons as well, which suits beginners to even highly experienced boarders and skiers. If you like lots to do and lots of people and lots of variety this is the place for you!
See our video here

Big Mountains

Sean
01/07/2019
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Month Visited:
    December
  • Admin Rating
    3

Big Mountains

Sean
01/07/2019
Our favorite North America resort, logistics wise it’s so easy to get up to Whistler after a long flight. Long easy rides, moguls, trees and etc. Plenty of choices of beginners, intermediate runs. Top notch lifts, friendly people, 2 huge mountains to choose, great food and nightlife. The views are amazing a total big mountain experience. What’s not to like? Whistler will always be one of our favorites, pricy lift tickets but well worth it.
See our video here
[1] 2 3 4 5 >