After nearly a week on Vancouver Island, we’ve returned to the mainland and traveled to the mountainous surrounds of Whistler, approximately 300 kilometres from our last port of call in Port Renfrew. Arriving yesterday, we’re staying at the Sundial Boutique Hotel in the former 2010 Winter Olympic Village, and with Whistler Mountain looming tall outside the view from our bedroom window is impressive, though it’s still-thawing peaks suggest that we might be just that little bit too early for the hiking season…

Despite conflicting weather reports, we’ve had some beautifully warm and sunny weather since arriving at Whistler, and with visibility good we spent our first full day taking it relatively easy, opting to take in the sights and avail ourselves of the Peak2Peak gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

At $50 per person it isn’t a exactly a cheap activity by any stretch of the imagination, but with two chairlift rides thrown into the bargain to get to the gondola station, it proved to be lots of fun and perfect viewpoint for seeing the odd bear roaming around in the melting snow below.

Catching the gondola from Blackcomb, the view across the valley between the two mountains was acrophobia-iducing and spectacular; running over 4.4km’s from start to finish and 1400ft at it’s highest point, it certainly got my heart pumping, sailing over the tallest trees down one side of the valley and up the other.

Unfortunately, our worst fears were confirmed when we arrived at the other side; we weren’t even at the peak, and Whistler mountain was still covered in snow. With the hiking routes still buried in up to 8ft of the stuff there was very little for us to do apart from enjoy the scenery for a while before making the return journey home.