Whistler, Canada

North America's largest ski resort by acreage, and in summer the world's most famous lift-served bike park.

snowskimountain-bikinghikingnightlife

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	1°	-3°	325 mm	prime
Feb	3°	-3°	195 mm	prime
Mar	5°	-1°	263 mm	prime
Apr	9°	1°	155 mm
May	14°	5°	116 mm
Jun	17°	9°	109 mm
Jul	23°	13°	72 mm	prime
Aug	24°	13°	77 mm	prime
Sep	19°	9°	125 mm
Oct	11°	4°	258 mm
Nov	4°	-1°	359 mm
Dec	1°	-4°	318 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Budget→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $260 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards for everything. Tipping is expected on restaurant and bar bills, and for instructors, guides and shuttle drivers. Prices on the shelf exclude tax, which is added at the till.
money · editorial
The village sits low, so it can be raining at the base while it snows on the glacier. Check the freezing level rather than the forecast. Bears are active around the valley from spring to autumn and the food storage rules are enforced, including on the bike trails.
know before · editorial
Late April to mid-June and October into November are the between-seasons, with the mountain shut, the bike park closed and a good deal of the village along with it. The valley gets rain while the top gets snow.
when not to go · editorial
Whistler Village is the centre, at the foot of both gondolas, and it is noisy. The Upper Village at the base of Blackcomb is quieter and a few minutes further. Creekside has its own lift, fewer people and a more local feel. Function Junction and Cheakamus are cheaper, further out and dependent on the bus.
where to stay · editorial
The village is pedestrian and a free shuttle links it to Creekside and the outlying neighbourhoods. A car is for getting here and for side trips to Squamish and Pemberton; it is no use once you have arrived.
getting around · editorial
Vancouver airport, then about two hours north on the Sea-to-Sky highway by shuttle, bus or hire car. The road hugs the coast and is worth doing in daylight.
getting there · editorial

Whistler Village
The car-free village, with the two mountains rising on either side.
Lost Lake
Fifteen minutes on foot from the village. Swimming in summer, cross-country skiing in winter.
Rainbow Park
The classic view across Alta Lake with both mountains behind it.
Green Lake
The milky green water on the north side, with the floatplane runway.
Brandywine Falls
A seventy-metre drop twenty minutes to the south, with a wooden viewing platform.

Eat poutine at the end of a ski day
Eat at the top of the mountain with your boots still buckled
A queue, a tray, and the best lunch view of the year.
Have a local beer at the end of a day on the snow
It is called après. It starts at three in the afternoon.

Ski the first gondola after a snowfall
Cross on the Peak 2 Peak with the ground much too far below
Four and a half kilometres between the two mountains, four hundred metres of clearance.
Catch a fresh snow day before the village wakes up
In the queue for the first gondola at half past seven.

Walk the High Note ridge trail in summer
Ten kilometres above the tree line, with leftover snow into January.