8.14.2017

595. Rockies Roadtrip | Day 10 - Whistler

Leftbanked Whistler
After a wonderful week and a half in Vancouver (10 days total for me, 4 days for my friends) our roadtrip officially started with our first destination..Whistler! We rented a Jeep for the remainder of our trip and set off on the very scenic Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. It was a fairly short 1.5hr drive from Vancouver.

Westin Whistler
Here was our hotel, The Westin Resort and Spa. When we made the booking, all the hotels were fully booked except for this one and the Four Seasons. When we arrived we found out shortly after that we had arrived the weekend of the Ironman competition..which was likely the reason for the high occupancy rates. Also because of Ironman, we were informed that if we were leaving the next morning (which we were), we'd have to be on the road by 7am since they were closing the highway right afterwards for the competition..only to reopen in the evening.

Whistler
Here was the view from our room. Our hotel was very nice. Very rustic and cozy. I wish we could have stayed at least another night. I really love Whistler..maybe will go back in the winter someday!

Whistler Peak to Peak
After checking in and settling into our hotel, we went for lunch then did the Peak 2 Peak gondola. This was such a fun and amazing experience. The gondola goes back and forth from the peak of Whistler to Blackcomb. The views were beautiful along the way and on top of the peaks.

Peak to Peak Gondola Whistler
Top of Whistler view
Here is part of the view from the top of Whistler Mountain. I can't believe how blue the water is in that lake! It's completely natural..no editing/filter used on this pic.

Top of Whistler Mountain
Whistler Olympic rings
Whistler view
Rocky Mountains Whistler
Whistler Peak to Peak
Earls Salmon
For dinner we went to Earls. Besides Cactus Club, Earls was one of the restaurants we went the most on our trip. Their salmon dish is my favourite. I always got it with mashed potatoes and caesar salad. Here in Toronto we don't really having restaurants serving wild salmon (not that I know of anyway)...so on the west coast I took the opportunity to eat it as much as I possibly could!

Now that I am back home and thinking back on the trip...I think our day in Whistler was one of my favourites.

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN'
Share:

1.29.2017

559. Skiing at Blue Mountain

skiing leftbanked
Last week, my friend and I went for a day to Blue Mountain to go skiing for the first time! We had been wanting to go this winter and were so happy we finally did..it was a lot of fun. I love snow and winter-y places, so learning to ski was one of the things on my bucket list. I want to do it every year until I get really good and maybe eventually someday go heli-skiing hahah. But I have a long way to go..as I am really bad at it now. I fell so many times and took forever to get up again lol. Next winter I want to take a trip to a nice ski resort like Whistler in Canada or somewhere in the Alps..

blue mountain
So at Blue Mountain, we did the beginners program. There are 5 levels. At the first level they teach you how to put on and take off the skis. At the second level there was a small high maybe 2 metres high. We were taught how to sideways walk up the hill with our skis on. It was a lot harder than it seems but after awhile I got better at it. Then after we got to the top of that small hill, we'd go down on our skis. I fell the first two times. The second time I fell was very embarrassing (and funny) because I went off to the side so much that I fell into a ditch!! My leg got twisted so I wasn't able to get it to the right position to stand up (since part of the ski was stuck in the snow). The instructor finally came to rescue me..he helped me take the ski off my boot first to twist my leg back lol. Then it took me a long time to pull myself out of the ditch. After I was able to get down successfully without falling on level 2, we went to level 3.

blue mountain beginners
On level 3, we took a "magic carpet" ski lift (photo above) up to the top of a higher hill. It was higher but the incline was not very steep. There we had to learn/practice going down the hill slowly and making stops along the way. Again, I fell the first couple times but eventually was able to get down successfully. That one was my favourite level. After we've mastered it (somewhat), we went up to level 4....

blue mountain beginners
skiing
blue mountain
For some reason, there were no instructors at level 4 but we went to try it anyways. The hill was a bit higher again but it also had a few bumps (moguls?) so you go up and down. I very unsuccessfully rolled down on that one and took awhile to stand back up. What we should've done was gone back to level 3 but we decided to try level 5.

blue mountain beginners
Level 5 was the highest and steepest and we had to take these actual ski lifts up. As I was getting on, one of my poles fell! Off to a bad start lol. One of the workers brought one back up for me though.
At the top of that hill, I looked down and immediately decided I shouldn't do it. I had planned to take the lift back down. Part of me wanted to try going down though just so I could say at least I completed all the levels but I decided against it..as I didn't want to risk an injury.
My friend asked me to take a photo of her and as I was moving to get to a better spot, I kept sliding and crashed right into her. After a few minutes of getting back up, I finally did..only to slide back down again and fall on my butt. I was sitting on the back of the skis I guess..then ended up sliding ALLLLL the way down the entire hill in that position. It was so scary (and funny now)! I was sliding down so fast I wasn't able to stop, and I was in a crouched down position so I wasn't able to get back up or anything. Luckily there were no trees or people in the way for me to crash into. After what seemed like forever, I finally reached the bottom and was able to stop. Definitely not doing that hill again hahahah..but at least now I can say I completed all levels. After that, we went back to level 3.

blue mountain
apres ski fireplace
"Apres-ski" at a cozy Irish pub..warming up beside the fireplace.

skiing leftbanked
Soooo physically exhausted! My body and muscles needed almost a week to fully recover hahah. But can't wait to go again!

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN'
Share:
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
© LEFTBANKED. | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template by pipdig