I have been a Whistler Blackcomb season pass holder for 36 of the 42 years since I moved from Montreal to Vancouver. My daughters became strong big-mountain skiers through the club/Mountain Adventure/Freeride programs. I love Whistler—the mountain, the beauty, the municipality and the people (permanent residents, and part-time residents like me). I respect the nature, do my part to protect the environment and buy local whenever possible. I lived in Whistler with my dog for 10 weeks during COVID and felt like a true local. The job/organization in the village and on the mountain that winter (2020-21) was amazing. People on the mountain were aware of the dangers of the pandemic. Cooperation was at a high.
But in the past two years there have been two developments that I don’t understand the logic of at all.
The Fitzsimmons eight-pack makes no sense to me because it drops skiers/riders off at Garbo, which is a four-pack. The backup the mountain wanted to relieve in the village was moved to the bottom of Garbo. From a skier perspective it makes zero sense. In my opinion it would have been better to put the eight-pack at Harmony and move Harmony’s six-pack to the Peak.
Then there’s the new parking rules at Base II and in the village. I’ve been parking at Base II (mostly Lot 7, but Lot 8 when 7 is full) for many years. I appreciate the desire to encourage carpools, but not everybody who is on the mountain (spending money on passes, food, etc.) is part of a carpool. My daughters have moved on with their lives. My friends that I used to ski with have given up the sport. The result for me (and I am sure many others) is you hope you can get into Lot 8 at Base II or end up paying upwards of $20/day for day lot parking unless it is full and then you don’t get to be on the mountain at all that day. How fair is that?
You’re penalizing loyal Whistler skiers/riders because they are not part of a carpool. I realize this carpool rule is a trial this season and it applies only to weekends and statutory holidays, but that’s when most people ski. And that the carpool rule doesn’t apply after 11 a.m. is not helpful at all.
I’m not sure who came up with these two “improvements to the winter mountain experience” but you clearly did not think this through.
I would really like to hear responses to my opinions.
