Skiing at Whistler Creekside and Climbing at Smoke Bluffs

Last year, based on Afshin’s recommendation, I registered Kavya for Whistler’s Epic SchoolKids, which offers five days of free skiing for kids (K-5). I got the 5-day Edge Card (with date restrictions), which was 20% off. Finally, last Friday, March 4, we had our first day of skiing at Whistler Creekside.

Kavya and I have been skiing at Grouse for the last few years and have a pretty good idea of the terrain and lifts. But when I first looked at Whistler-Blackcomb Trail Map, it was overwhelming. So I turned to Afshin again and pestered him with questions about where he parked, runs he would recommend, lifts, peak hours, snow conditions, etc. 

On March 4, Kasturi was flying out from Vancouver Airport and would be away for a couple of days. The forecast was for a clear day, and considering how busy it gets over the weekend, I decided to take Friday off to ski with Kavya.

So Kavya and I dropped Kasturi off at the airport and made our way to Whistler. The underground parking lot at Creekside parkade was packed by noon, but fortunately, we found a spot. 

Creekside Gondola – Big Red Express

After gearing up, we made our way to Guest Services, just before the Creekside Gondola. I had received my 5-day edge card in the mail but had to pick up Kavya’s card. The staff at the Guest Services was super friendly and provided some options for our first day on the mountain.

The Creekside Gondola is at 653 m and takes you to an elevation of 1300 m. It took us probably 8-10 minutes to get up to the top.

Here, we put on our skis and got in line for the Big Red Express chairlift. It seemed busy for a Friday, but maybe I haven’t seen what busy is in Whistler. The wait was not too long, and soon we were on the chairlift. 

It was almost 1 pm by the time we got to the top of Big Red Express at about 1862 m. From here, you can do a short ski to the Roundhouse Lodge, take the Peak 2 Peak Gondola and explore runs on the Blackcomb mountain. But the lifts close at 3:30 pm, so we decided to explore runs just on the Whistler Creekside, given the limited time. 

Green Runs – Pony Trail, Porcupine and Bear Hug

We started with some of the easy runs and took the Pony Trail. It hadn’t snowed recently in Whistler, but the snow was amazing relative to what we usually get on Grouse. 

We made a quick stop to check out the Tree Fort and then got back on the run. It was an easy and fun run about 3 km long to the Big Red Express chairlift. 

We went up the lift again, and for our next run, we did a combination of Pony Trail, Porcupine and Franz’s. 

Blue Runs – Fish Eye, Old Man, Franz’s and Lower Franz’s

After the first two runs, Kavya was comfortable on the mountain, so we decided to do some blue runs. So first, we went down Fish Eye and then on Franz’s to get to Big Red Express chairlift. 

Our day’s final run was from the top of Big Red Express down to Creekside via Little Red Run, Franz’s and Lower Franz’s. About 6 km total, with a 1200+ m drop. In total we skied about 16 km with close to 2900 m drop.

We wrapped up the day with a quick stop at Kavya’s favourite Peaked Pies. It was a good day!

Climbing at Squamish

We stayed at Rohan and Prajakta’s place in Squamish and the next day went to Parking Lot Wall at Smoke Bluffs for some climbing. We had a late start and reached Smoke Bluffs parking lot around 10:15 pm. It was still cold for climbing.

Prajakta led Grr a 5.6 crack, and I set up a top rope for Kavya to the right to do some easier climbs for warm-up. 

Her rock shoes from last year were too tight, so she switched to her sneakers. Later, Kavya climbed went up Grr. She got her shoes stuck in the crack a couple of times, and it took a while to get the shoe out and put it on again. But finally, she finished the climb.

While Rohan and Prajakta were doing other routes, I worked with Kavya on rappelling. First, it was just a couple of feet from the ground. Then, once Kavya got comfortable, we went higher up, and she did a few more rappels. She was enjoying it and wanted to do it more.

Later in the afternoon, Prajakta led another route, Definitely not the Dawn Wall (5.6). I also led it and secured myself at the top to help Kavya rappel down. Rohan belayed Kavya on this route.

Soon, Kavya was at the top and I secured her to the anchor. Then, I cleaned up the anchor and set up the rope for the rappel. Kavya went down first, while Prajakta gave fireman’s belay. It was fun to watch Kavya rappel down slowly but confidently. 

Kavya had a birthday party to attend, so we left Squamish around 2 pm and drove back to Vancouver. It was one of the best weekends this year as we both shared some new experiences, and Kavya got to learn some new skills. 

Territory Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge that this trip took place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the St’át’imc (Stat-lee-um), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Líl̓wat Nations. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.

Source: Native-Land Pronunciation Guide: First-Nations.info

Resources:

First Nations: Squamish | Líl̓wat | St’át’imc

Whistler-Blackcomb: Resort Website | Epic SchoolKids | Edge Cards

Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not affiliated links.

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