Activities
If you get cozy with anyone who’s lived for very long in Whistler and ask them, “What brought you here?”, chances are they’ll say the skiing. If you ask them, “What keeps you here?”, you’ll probably get an unexpected answer.
Summer.
Winter may be a feast of skiing and snowboarding and sledding and skating but summer is a smorgasbord of every activity under the sun. There aren’t enough hours in a day or days in a month to do everything there is to do here.
Where to start? Well, we’ve collected 99 things you might consider in this booklet. That is not an exhaustive list!
There are the usual suspects of summer — golf, tennis, swimming, boating, fishing and biking — but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story. Maybe the best and first thing to do is take a walk. Boy do we have walks. The paved, scenic Valley Trail spans the length of Whistler and offers easy walking and spectacular views. It’s also chock-a-block with bikes, dogs, in-line skaters and strollers, definitely the path more traveled.
But it’s the Interstate of hiking trails. The secondary roads meander up into the mountains and forests surrounding Whistler. If putting one foot in front of another is your idea of a good time, pick up a copy of Whistler Hiking Guide by Brian Finestone and Kevin Hodder. It’ll keep you on the path(s) less traveled and inspire you to explore.
It’s almost impossible to be here in the summer and not succumb to the siren song of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. Head up for a quick peek, a bird’s eye view on the Peak 2 Peak, a snowball fight with the kids or a glorious hike on one of the many trails on both mountains.
If two wheels are how you roll, you’ll be amazed at the diversity and depth of local riding. Whistler Mountain practically invented the concept of bike parks and continues to set the bar for everyone else. But away from the mountain there are days-long cross country trails, tricky single track, hammering road rides and easy pedals.
And don’t think it’s all about sweat and effort. We consider après a legitimate activity. Shopping too. Ditto gallery hopping, a spin through the past at the Whistler Museum and into the further past at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.
Of course, if it is all about sweat and effort for you, keep your cool, jump in a lake. There are five sprinkled the length of Whistler, all a short walk or bike ride away, all refreshingly swimmable.
Exhausted? We haven’t even begun to run out of things to do. There are still spas to explore, the Adventure Zone to play in, horses to ride, frisbee golf to play and… hey, you’re not tired yet, are you?
