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Not sure if I'm out of touch . Mate wants to go to Whistler this year , I've been a couple of times but agreed that as we are approaching our mid 60s it would be a great swan song . Started researching , Johnny at Bearback has stopped offering the catered accommodation package . So I got a rough quote from Canadian Affair for flights ,transfers and accommodation ( possibly including breakfast) of £1750 each . I thought that was quite good as flights are around £800 .
Then I started adding everything else up , bike hire £400 ( can't take my own ) insurance £300 ! , living expenses , airport parking , bike park passes etc etc . It became clear that our target figure of £3000 tops wasn't going to be enough and we could see it creeping up to £3 1/2 !and this is with me doing the guiding . I know Whistler is not the cheapest place and I haven't been for 9 years but am I that out of touch or am I missing a trick ?
Take your own bike. If flying from Gatwick, park by the Evans warehouse for free and walk to the terminal (15 mins). Eating lunch in whistler is cheap (lots of options for $10, Inc pizza, great burgers, burrito, sandwiches etc). No idea why insurance would be £300, I just got with a normalish policy that includes mountain biking, it's not like you're going to need mountain rescue. Bike passes are cheaper if you go start or end of season, but I've been for less than £1500 all in, 3k should be easy
Don't play in the park every day, so much riding outside of it
In 2016 we did a big Canada ski trip(banff,lake lousie,Kicking Horse,revelstoke), we found Air BandB for self catering to be the cheapest option. and it worked really well.
Not sure how this translates to Whistler, not been there in a number of years.
For the kind of money that your taking about id look at a road trip.
Fly to calgary and out of vancouver, ride Revelstoke etc on the way. There is Lots more to canada other than whistler, you could end your trip with a few days in whistler. We did this route in 2006 for a ski trip.
As I mentioned I don't have a suitable bike to take , insurance was quoted by Snowcard as some of the riding will be above 3,500 feet .Being under insured is not a sensible option , I already know the score re being taken off the mountain . We only intend going in the park for 2 days . Already looked at Air B n B before the Canadian Affair quote , as flights are around £800 that way wasn't much cheaper if at all . So thanks for the suggestions but quite how you can go all in for £1500 given the flight costs are over half that mystifies me ?
do you mean 3500m (top of the world is 2,440m)? Just about everything will be above 3500ft, I'd shop around on the insurance
I found cheapish accomodation even during crankworx week, just wasn't that classy but fairly functional - bed, shower & toilet was good enough for me and a shared kitchen, food was cheap, beer resonable price too
It cost me £3k or so back in 2011.
Flights are the biggest bill of course, I’ve seen them as low as 650 in summer, but 800 seems about the norm.
The rest is pretty optional, it’s still a ski resort in off-season so there’s stil cheap places to stay if you look hard enough. Anything cheap on air B&b?
Insurance is more than Europe, I’m ‘only’ 40 but Worlds Nomads offered me travel insurance with MTBing (no exclusions apart from racing) for less than £80.
There’s bound to be a super market there so it could be as cheap to live as if you were at home if you really must, I’ve got mates who go to the Alps, stay somewhere cheap self-catering and eat supermarket frozen pizzas every night to afford a longer stay, doesn’t sound like a holiday to me, but there’s always a cheap option if you look hard enough.
I meant metres sorry , will have a shop around .
Took another look at Snowcard , could drop down 2 levels and still have appropriate cover . Just over £100 before I answer the medical questions.
How long are you planning on going for £3k each? I didn't spend much more than that doing 4 months there in 2015.
Going back this year for 3 weeks, so far costs are £600 for flights with Air Canada (got them early in the sale). Transfers £100. Accommodation is £750 each for somewhere nice on Blackcombe through VRBO. Season pass is £400 on the early bird. Insurance is about £80.
We will eat out, and cook food too, there is a big supermarket down behind the Olympic village which isn't too expensive, even so i'd be amazed if between two of us we spent another £1200 each over 3 weeks. That would be some going.
You can eat on a budget, Fat Tony's pizza for lunch at $2 a slice, head down to Furniture Warehouse and hit the $4.95 menu. Not exactly a balanced diet but you could easily survive for $15 a day in food.
Most of the points have been covered:
Airtransat still has flights below £500 for some mid week dates (I think)
Airbnb/booking.com for self catered accommodation
Buy a bike and sell it when you get back? Got to be cheaper than hire...
If you can choose when you go, go early or late in the season and accommodation will be much cheaper
What about this place along the street from the chalet that bearbacks used?
https://beartrackswhistler.ca
As above, evening meals can be had for sensible money.
Doesn't the lift pass cover rescue from the mountain?
I used M&S extreme sport insurance for emergencys, cost about 100£ for the week
Bear Tracks are unfortunately no longer operating as a chalet.
Whilst Whistler Blackcombs patrol team wont charge you for their aspect of first response and the process of delivery to the bottom of the mountain. You're going to start paying once they get you to the next layer of care. If you need rescue.. I'd have to assume that you need hospitilization or other professional medical treatment.
El Furniture warehouse is $5.95 now up 20%, Fat Tonys $3.50 now up 75% 😉
VRBO is the best option for smaller accommodation. Bike storage is what will kill you and a muddy week or careless storage and you could end up getting tagged for a cleaning/repair fee.
homes with garages or even ground floor entry ways are hard to come by for small groups.
If you want to s(h)ave money on transfers, Canada Line train from airport to Vancouver then Epic Rides for transfer to Whistler.
Not sure I'd be bothered myself with a 9hr flight either side though...
Have a look at Squamish. It’s where I stay at the weekend when im working in Vancouver. Great riding trails some cheap accomo and a few nice brewery pubs with goood eats. Only 1hr drive from whistler by car or bus.
Yeah $46 a night Squamish Adventure Inn, stuff your face at Mags 99 and get a cab to Backcountry, A Frame and Northyards (micro breweries / cidery). Job done!
Or stay with Matt and Sarah at Ridehub and rent bikes there. Riding distance to the trails (I rode by their place this evening...).
Furniture warehouse is $5.95 now up 20%, Fat Tonys $3.50 now up 75%
And when we were there last summer the que for these 2 places was ridiculous they were taking names and telling you to come back in 1.5 hrs time.
Spend a couple of days in Vancouver and ride the North Shore 🙂 (assuming they got over the pesky access issues a few years ago. We spent 2 or 3 days in the park but the rest of the time we rode all the natural trails.