Whistler experience unforgettable

Last week proved to be a little hectic so I skipped writing a Blog. Pat was flying to Calgary to adjudicate at a music festival and with the uncertain weather conditions I thought we might have to dash over to Vancouver to guarantee she made her flight. Flying in and out of the Nanaimo airport during the winter months can sometimes be problematic, although it’s improving with better high-tech navigational aids. Several flights had been cancelled the day before due to blowing snow. However the weather cleared in time for Pat’s scheduled flight from the island and she connected through to Calgary with little delay. 

While Pat was in Calgary my plans called for heading over to the mainland and chalking up some mileage on my new skis. I did delay leaving home due to the Academy Awards being on the tube Sunday evening. I wanted to see if my prediction that The King’s Speech would be the big winner this year would pan out. It did, although I was fit to be tied when some TV technician on the channel I was watching must have toggled the wrong switch and I found myself staring at a vulgar episode of Beavis and Butt-Head the exact moment the envelope for Best Motion Picture was being ripped open. By the time the Academy Awards came back on my cable service the show’s credits were already rolling. I had to check Facebook to see who’d won best picture.

Bright and early Monday morning I boarded a 6:30 ferry to Horseshoe Bay. By 10:30 I was standing in line at the Whistler Gondola Lift ready to hit the slopes. The mega-million dollar Sea-to-Sky highway built for last winter’s Olympic Games certainly has resulted in a quicker and less stressful drive to Whistler. With runs 10 times longer than those on Courtenay’s Mt. Washington I was a pretty tired (senior) dude at the end of the day.

Before leaving home I’d spent some time surfing the Internet looking for reasonably priced accommodation at Whistler. Not an easy task with the average rate for a hotel room in the area running between $200 and $300 a night and up. However, I eventually found a small Bed & Breakfast Lodge on Green Lake north of Whistler Village towards Pemberton with a surprisingly low rate in the $100 range. The young staff was very attentive and went out of their way to insure my stay was pleasant. 

When traveling I always read the local area’s newspapers. Scanning something called the Pique Newsmagazine, I learned that all the hype suggesting that the worldwide exposure given to Whistler during the Olympic Games would boost foreign ownership of real estate in the resort town has turned out to be something of an illusion. Research over the past year has shown an opposite trend, a movement away from foreign ownership. Assessments have also eased although that fact means little to a retired teacher like myself when I gasp at real estate ads showing price tags between 3-million and 5-million dollars. Before the Olympics there were 1,534 residential titles registered by foreign addresses. Today the foreign statistics confirm Americans own 883 Whistler homes, the British 158, Hong Kong residents 161, 16 by Mexican nationals, and 11 by Bermudians, dropping the total to 1,230. 

Before heading for the slopes on my second day at Whistler I was in contact with my brother Terry via Skyp on my Laptop computer.  He suggested I ride the Peak-2-Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. First a confession - I have an inbred fear of heights. Just looking at a photo taken from the observation tower of the Empire State Building to the streets below can make me feel nauseous. When I visited Britain with Terry a couple of years ago there was no way he was going to convince me to ride The London Eye, a gigantic Ferris wheel located on the banks of the Thames near Westminster Bridge.

Map showing the Peak-2-Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.

However, in spite of my height related phobia, just before lunch I decided to board the Peak-to-Peak Gondola from the Whistler side for the 4.4-kilometer ride across the valley to Blackcomb. Did I enjoy the experience? Quite frankly I found the ride absolutely terrifying and don’t plan to do it again, ever. Causing my knuckles to appear even whiter as I gripped a window ledge safety bar, was a jovial fellow skier who pointed out that the gondola was the highest lift of its kind in the world and we were dangling over 1400 feet above the valley floor. For a good look at the Peak-2-Peak Gondola check out the video on the Internet at: http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.com/p2pg/video/documentary.asp

Don’t get me wrong. I love skiing and as long as I’m speeding downhill on terra firma and decisively in control there’s nothing more exhilarating. It’s just getting to the mountaintop while sealed in a plexiglass pod or openly seated in a chair preciously suspended from a thread of steel cable above the treetops that I find unnerving. 

The big storm that cancelled the ferries last Wednesday brought a ton of snow to Whistler. After removing over a foot of snow burying my van, I punched my way out to the main highway from my lakeside B&B. It was a slow trip behind a snowplow down to Squamish. Beyond Squamish the winds were howling at gale force velocity but the highway was clear of snow all the way to Vancouver. I had a ticket that evening to see the Broadway musical Legally Blonde playing at the refurbished Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Based on the 10-year old movie that launched Reese Witherspoon’s film career, this live version of Legally Blonde had a fantastic cast of youngsters fresh out of American university musical theatre programs. If this is the level of talent coming from such programs the Broadway shows of the future are in good stead. Having a seat directly behind the musical director I had a clear view of the orchestra pit crammed with enough computerized hardware to launch the space shuttle, enabling eight musicians to sound like 25. My advice to music students – learn to play the piano because that’s where the professional show band work is these days. Good percussionists are also in great demand. 

PHOTO: Newcomer Nikki Bohme starred as Elle Woods in the musical Legally Blonde. There were moments when the whole show stood still when the dog she’s holding (the program credits pocket pups named Frankie and Chico) flawlessly performed a little trick running on stage to bark and then stop on cue.

I took a bit of a detour on my return to the island, taking the ferry to Victoria. Some panic ensued when my battery died in the parking lot before loading. However a BC Ferry employee jump-started my van and I managed to get aboard with only minutes to spare. 

Checking the Victoria paper for live entertainment and being a weekday, my choices were limited to some high school shows. However as a retired music teacher I’m forever supportive of young talent and decided to drop into Herman’s, a Capital City jazz haunt that’s been around for over three decades. On stage youngsters from the Esquimalt High School jazz program were performing their weekly Thursday 5pm jazz jam. I had a nice chat with the venerable Victoria pianist and vocalist Louise Rose who was at the club listening to some of the students she mentors. For those who don’t know Louise, she is a Victoria institution who in her younger years studied with the likes of Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein.

PHOTO: Veteran Victoria jazz pianist and vocalist Louise Rose continues to mentor young talent in the Capital City.

Leaving Herman’s, I walked a few blocks to the McPherson Playhouse to catch St Michael’s University School’s production of My Fair Lady. It’s been many years since I’ve heard the musical performed with full orchestra and the students played the score at a musical level well beyond their years. The entire production was absolutely first rate – lively and visually stunning.

PHOTO: Olivia Krusel played Eliza Doolittle in St Michael’s University School’s production of My Fair Lady.