Checking out the Whistler Blackcomb Sightseeing Season Pass

by Keith and Heather Nicol

We are always on the lookout for ways to hike in the alpine or sub alpine without the long hike from sea level to reach these higher elevations. At Mount Washington in the Comox Valley to love to hike in Strathcona Provincial Park since we can drive to the sub alpine and hike many of the trails that radiate out there from Raven Lodge. But we recently joined our daughter Kristie and her partner Eric at Whistler – Blackcomb to check out their lift served access to the alpine. And one of the big surprises was how reasonable their sightseeing season pass was. Depending on when it is purchased it is just a few tens of dollars more than a 1 day ticket which in our view makes the season pass a great deal. The ticket gives you access to both mountains plus many kilometers of marked hiking trails. As well you can use the amazing 4.4 kilometer Peak to Peak gondola which connects the 2 mountains and use the Cloudraker Sky Bridge and Raven Eye lookout platform.

                                                                  Riding the Peak the Peak Chair

On our intro visit with decided to hike some short easy trails,  see both mountains and visit the Sky Bridge and Raven’s Eye.  After driving up from Vancouver we arrived at the base of Blackcomb around 10 am to get our season passes and take the Blackcomb Gondola to the top. Our first hike was the short 1.4 km Alpine Loop – even though it is short it still gains over 70 meters of elevation and provides great views of the surrounding mountains. From there we walked over to the nearby Peak to Peak Gondola which took us to Whistler Mountain. We had lunch at one of the picnic tables looking out to the Peak Chair and Glacier Bowl.  Next up was a 600 meter downhill walk to the Peak Chair which took us to the top of Whistler with its iconic views of Black Tusk and other snow capped mountains.

                 View from the top of the Peak to Peak Chair toward Black Tusk and surrounding mountains

 From here we took the 800 meter Cloudraker loop which links the Sky Bridge and the Raven’s Eye Lookout Platform and then loops back to feature lookouts and vantage points to take pictures of the impressive scenery. Then it was time to download back down the Peak Chair and be warned that the download capacity is 50 % of upload so we had a 15 minute wait to head back down. Our final hike of the day was to walk the 1.2 km Spearhead loop. 

                                 Raven's Eye lookout platform extends out for views to the valley below

This was another hike rated as easy and we even saw people with baby carriages doing this trail since the elevation change is much less than Alpine Loop we did earlier. By now it was getting to be late afternoon and we decided to head down via the Whistler Gondola. We had just sampled some of the many hiking trails accessed by the lifts at Whistler Blackcomb so on our next visit we want to try some of the longer hikes. If you are interested in getting summer lift access to the alpine and plan to visit the Whistler Blackcomb area a few times in the summer then take a close look at their Summer Season Passes which cuts the cost dramatically. See  https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/  for details. 

                                      Kristie and Eric walking the Spearhead Loop trail