Whistler ain't all its cracked up to be.

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I'm posting this as we finish our family holiday in Whistler. If your kids like skiing in 10 days of constant snow (up the mountain) or rain (at the lower levels) and you enjoy skiing in near zero visibility (either caused by blizzard conditions or, more likely by fog) then Whistler is for you. OK we had great snow, 60 to 80 cms must have fallen in the 10 days we have been here but what's the use of it when you can't see the terrain. We got about 4 hours of hazy sun in the whole ten days, visibility was often down to 15 to 20 feet which is no fun.

If you do choose Whistler (and I recommend you have a look elsewhere before you book) then make sure you bring goggles and a neoprene face mask - we never once used sun glasses.

Oh, maybe you should bring a helmet too. Not for the skiing, but for the trips in the local busses. It amazed us how the drivers could manage to be so surprised at each bus stop that they had to put in an emergency stop for each one. Also, make sure you keep hold of the kids as the speed the drivers take the corners defies belief.

Finally, what about the legendary lack of lift queues? Don't you believe it. The slopes were very busy and the lifts couldn't cope. Regular queues of 20 to 30 mins in freezing blizzard conditions were far too common.

Finally, when you did go to one of the mountain retaurants to thaw out, they were not able to cope with the number of people on the mountain so you ended up having to wonder round for ages until you spotted someone about to stand up, at which point there was a scrum to see who could get to the, about to be vacated, seats first.

What makes the whole thing more depressing is that they are still building more accommodation in Whistler and Blackcomb so the over population of the slopes will only get worse next year.

Is this an isolated event. Well, if you do come, pop into the retaurant at the bottom of Jersey Cream. The history of Whistler makes interesting reading, particularly the reference to international events cancelled due to fog or "inclement conditions"!

If I compare the conditions, service, lift queues and congestion to our only other North American skiiing trip (Vail two years running), Vail wins easily and I would happily recommend it to anyone visiting North America for skiing.

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