Canada’s King OF THE MoutainN

We had left BC Rail’s North Vancouver station at 7 a.m., and now the Cariboo Prospector was snaking up the narrow canyon side and clattering over wooden trestles on its way to Whistler.

Maria was nervous, hardly touching her breakfast, but it wasn’t the dramatic scenery that quashed my partner’s appetite. It had been years since she’d skied at Whistler, where she had lived the life of a ski bum, working on the mountain cleaning tables at the old Roundhouse restaurant. She skied hard, broke a leg and had a blast. Then she went off to college, never looked back--and never skied again.

Until now.

“That’s a long time,” she said of her two-decade absence from the slopes.

“They say you never forget how to ski,” I replied.

But she was dubious: “That’s what they say.”

An early-season package deal and heavy snowfall lured us to this mega-resort in the first week of December last year. Twin-peaked Whistler-Blackcomb sits 75 miles north of Vancouver among the glaciated crags of British Columbia’s 100-mile-wide Coast Mountains range. Last year the resort recorded 2.18 million skier visits, 700,000 more than Breckenridge, Colo., the second most-visited resort. Whistler is the Big Kahuna, the king of the continent in the competitive world of ski resorts.

Some of its superlative stats:

* The side-by-side mountains (Whistler 7,160 feet, Blackcomb 8,000 feet) are the greatest vertical rise ski mountains in North America. (Blackcomb is one vertical mile, and Whistler is slightly shorter, at 5,020 feet. In the United States, Jackson Hole, Wyo., is No. 1 at 4,139 feet.)

* Two high-speed quad chairs on Whistler Mountain opened last season, boosting the resort’s total to 15 high-speed lifts, the most in North America. The 33 lifts can handle a total of 59,007 riders per hour.

* Total skiable terrain is 7,070 acres (Vail, Colo., voted the No. 1 ski resort in the U.S. this year by Ski magazine, has 4,112), including 12 huge alpine bowls and three glaciers with more than 200 marked trails. The terrain breaks down this way: Whistler has 25% expert, 55% intermediate, 20% beginner; Blackcomb has 30% expert, 55% intermediate, 15% beginner. Each mountain’s longest trail is seven miles. (Vail’s is three miles.)

* With high, north-facing slopes and a 30-foot average annual snowfall (as well as 550 acres of snow-making ability), the resort enjoys an especially long season (Nov. 17 to June 10). Blackcomb’s Horstman Glacier offers summer skiing and snowboarding from June 11 to Aug. 7.

I t was 9:45 when our train stopped at Whistler’s little clapboard station. A heavy fog hovered on the chalet rooftops obscuring the mountains. Because Whistler, a town of 9,000, is just 2,140 feet above sea level, early season often means rain and fog in the village. A free shuttle bus took us from the train into Whistler Village. We checked into the Coast Whistler Hotel, dropped our bags in the room (clean, bright and with a view) and went off to rent our skis.

Whistler Village is a pedestrian-only Euro-style community of winding cobbled lanes, covered walkways, gabled roofs and wrought-iron street lamps. Conveniently arrayed around its lanes and squares are more than 200 retail shops, 85 dining choices (formal, family, pubs and bistros), 115 hotels, condos, B&Bs; and chalets. By 11:30 we were on the 10-person, high-speed Whistler Village Gondola, rising through the mist.

Maria watched as the village dropped below us, then pointed toward the spires and fancy hotels. “The last time I skied this mountain, that was the town dump down there,” she said. “We called this the ‘Garbage Run.’ When you skied out here, you had to catch a bus back to the parking lot over in Creekside. That’s where the only lift was.”

That lift was built in 1966, the year Whistler mountain opened. There was no village then, just a train-access-only fishing resort and summer cabin community called Alta Lake. In 1980, construction of Whistler Village began, and neighboring Blackcomb Mountain opened but under separate ownership. Ownership and other changes have meant the marriage of the two mountains and the blossoming of the resort, which is consistently on “best” lists of the top ski magazines.

The Whistler Village gondola took us, in two stages, up to 6,100 feet. What was mist in the village was bright, swirling snow here. We glided over to the new Roundhouse Lodge (one of eight on-mountain restaurants) and consulted our trail map. With more than 100 runs to choose from on this mountain alone, we almost needed a Thomas Guide to chart our course.

As a warmup, we chose Whiskey Jack, a beginner’s run that would take us to the Emerald Express quad, where we could shoot back up. While I tightened my boots, Maria pointed her skis downhill and took off. Her effortless descent confirmed my reassurance to her: You never forget how to ski. Even I, as a low intermediate skier, found that to be true.

We saw lots of snowboarders. Whistler-Blackcomb (young, hip and West Coast trendy) is decidedly snowboard friendly. Around here, the glib caricatures of “brats on boards” and “grays on trays” (skiers) break down. Snowboarding was born in the surfing ‘60s, so the original snowboarders are aging. Then, too, more baby boomer parents are learning the sport to keep up with the kids, who love boarding. “It’s cool, for one thing,” said Ralph Forsyth, a Whistler instructor, one of 1,450 at the resort. “And snowboarding is a lot easier to get good at than skiing. I know. I teach both. A couple of lessons and you’re on your way. Two or three years and you can keep up with the best. Try that with skiing.”

The days are short in the early season. It was just 3:15 when the liftie said, “Last ride up! Make it a good one!” By then we had skied plenty for a first day. My legs had turned to rubber, and I was getting sloppier and definitely overextending myself trying to keep up with Maria. Back at the hotel, we soaked our aching muscles in the outdoor hot tub, sampled the sauna, then sank into the steaming hot tub once again. We hadn’t scratched the surface of Whistler, and there was another mountain to go.

We woke the next morning to nearly eight inches of new snow in the valley. We grabbed our skis and went off to the village to look for a breakfast spot. It was just 7 and still dark, but La Brasserie des Artistes, a colorful little bistro, was serving hearty cream cheese and vegetable omelets and rich, aromatic coffee. (We had an equally fine breakfast the next day at the Dubh Linn Gate Old Irish Pub, below the luxurious Pan Pacific Lodge, just steps from the gondola.)

The December sun rose directly between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains through a cleft of hemlock. It was 32 degrees in the village but 18 in the alpine area. The sky was blue. Could we be lucky enough to have a sunny day in Whistler? Yes!

We took the eight-passenger Excalibur gondola. Only yards away from the Whistler gondola, it angles over to Blackcomb, a mountain with an entirely different character, much of it in design. Blackcomb has 5% more expert runs than Whistler, making it a favorite among boarders and mountain personnel.

But you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy Blackcomb. There’s plenty of great acreage for beginners and duffers too. We stuck to the intermediate runs on the sunny side of the mountain and left Horstman and Blackcomb glaciers, on the far side, for another visit.

The only time we ran into unpleasant congestion on either mountain was lunchtime at Blackcomb’s Rendezvous Lodge. The ski racks were packed outside, and the tables were filled inside. We settled on some quick Mexican food at the cafeteria, but it was a mistake. The chili had a blender-like consistency, and even the nachos were boring.

The mountain, however, was never boring, and there was never more than a three-minute lift line. Once again the last lift found us reduced to jelly, and by 4:30 we were kicking back in cozy little Cittas Bistro, right on Village Square, with our boots popped open and a pint of microbrew in our hands.

Snow was starting to fall as we discussed our dinner options. We decided to go for something romantic and pleasantly posh. But that still left us with too many choices: Mediterranean, Italian, French, fusion, Japanese. Maria suggested West Coast cuisine, which narrowed the field to about half a dozen spots. We settled on Chateau Whistler’s Wildflower Restaurant, at the base of Blackcomb.

Maria’s appetite had definitely returned. She ordered roast sirloin of lamb and North Coast scallops. I chose the snapper. The sommelier suggested an Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir. (Dinner for two with dessert and wine was about $110.)

“Here’s to those 20 years,” I said, clinking glasses. Maria smiled and replied, “Seems like only yesterday.”

*

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GUIDEBOOK

Finding Your Way Around Whistler

Getting there: From LAX, nonstop flights to Vancouver are available on Air Canada, United and Alaska. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $163.40. Whistler is about a 75-mile drive from Vancouver. The road can be slow and slippery in winter. Many skiers take the Cariboo Prospector on BC Rail, telephone (800) 663-8238, Internet https://www.bcrail.com/bcrpass/bcrpsca.htm, or use Greyhound bus service, tel. (604) 482-8747, Internet https://www.whistlerbus.com.

Where to stay: Be sure to ask hotels about ski packages. We stayed at the Coast Whistler Hotel, 4005 Whistler Way, Whistler V0N 1B4; tel. (800) 663-5644 or (604) 932-2522, fax (604) 932-7332, Internet https://www.coastwhistlerhotel.com. It has 194 rooms, with doubles starting at $78. Amenities include hot tub, sauna and outdoor heated covered pool. Comfortable and an easy walk to the lifts.

An upscale choice is Pan Pacific Lodge Whistler, 4320 Sundial Crescent, Whistler V0N 1B4; tel. (888) 905- 9995 or (604) 905-2999, fax (604) 905-2995, Internet https://www.panpac.com. Its 121 suites have kitchens, gas fireplaces, mountain views. Rates begin about $189.

At the 558-room Chateau Whistler, doubles begin around $97 but can run as high as $389 in December. The mega-resort is at 4599 Chateau Blvd., Whistler V0N 1B4, tel. (800) 606-8244 or (604) 938-8000, fax (604) 938-2055, Internet https://www.fairmont.com.

Whistler Central Reservations, tel. (800) WHISTLER (944-7853), fax (604) 938-5758, Internet https://www.tourismwhistler.com, handles 37 hotels, 43 condos and seven B&Bs;, and can customize ski packages or refer you to other accommodations around Whistler. For a complete list of lodgings, call (888) 284-9999, Internet https://www.whistler-blackcomb.com/accommodation.

Where to eat: For fine regional cuisine, try Chateau Whistler’s Wildflower Restaurant, local tel. 938-2033, in the Upper Village at the base of Blackcomb. It has a country kitchen atmosphere and a mountain view. Entrees between $13 and $20.

The Keg at the Mountain, 4429 Sundial Place in the village, tel. 932-5151, serves tender steaks and fresh seafood in a casual, cozy setting.

For burgers and beer, check out the Longhorn Saloon and Grill at the base of the gondola, tel. 932-5999, a good place for a snack just before hitting the slopes.

Ski and snowboard school: Full-day ski and board workshops, tel. (800) 766-0449, Internet https://www.whistler-blackcomb.com, begin at about $65.

Equipment rental: Whistler-Blackcomb has 13 locations for pickup and drop-off. You can register online at least 48 hours before arrival and pick up your equipment at Carleton Lodge, Internet https://www.GoRentSkis.com. For more information: Travel.bc.ca, 4252 Commerce Circle, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8N 4R9; tel. (250) 953-2680, fax (250) 479-3781, Internet https://www.travel.bc.ca.