Whistler - Peak to Peak Gondola

So we got to Whistler in time for a rather underwhelming Italian lunch recommended by our hotel.

So what to do in an afternoon in Whistler? I persuaded Thibault to go up Whistler Mountain on the so-called Peak to Peak Gondola. So up in a modern cable-car.

... and up and up, past a first cable-car station and on above the snowline. Very attractive but really too snowy for any hiking on the trails up there.

At the top they have a few kiosks and things, but not much to do beyond get a drink or wander around taking photos. Yup, I went for the latter.

But then you can take the next leg, a gondola over the huge expanse between Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain - hence Peak to Peak. This was fun and a little unnerving. The drop is HUGE. Half a kilometre. Down. The span is 4 kilometres.

 The views from Blackcomb are pretty spectacular too

 

But as we wandered round we came across a very tame Whistling Marmot. Well actually its a Hoary Marmot, but is known for making a whistling sound, which is how Whistler got its name in the first place. This is a very cute little critter.

  

So what do you do when you have seen that? Well you can use the gondola as often as you like, so we simply went back across to Whistler Mountain.

And then we went back again to Blackcomb.

 But to come back down to Whistler I suggested we don't bother with the cable-car but take the chair lifts instead. totally open now, not great if you don't like heights. But great views.

After all that we felt we had earned dinner.

Whistler is supposed to be great for food, but our first choice of sushi restaurant had a party and so couldn't accommodate us, and the second was rather an uninspiring affair. Although it looks better than it tasted.