SCHOOL'S out Monday for British Columbia's first Family Day but at Whistler, kids will be playing in the school yard.
The School Yard skills area in Whistler Mountain's family zone is the mountain's newest kid-friendly feature. Opened Feb. 2, it features a mini slalom course and low tables, boxes and jumps for the mountain's littlest rippers to safely show their stuff.
The new skills area is part of a push this season to boost family programming on the mountain. There's a new Family Certified icon displayed on ski runs, in stores, at whistlerblackcomb.com and on menu boards to indicate kid-friendly areas, products and services. Colourful new signs have also been added to on-mountain areas to better mark kid-and beginner-friendly terrain.
How family-friendly is Ski Magazine's No. 1 ranked North American ski resort? My husband and I, and our two little shredders, ages seven and nine, found out on a recent visit.
Our adventure begins just after checking in to Legends lodge in Creekside, just a few clicks of the ski boots from the 2010 Games alpine skiing venue. The original heart of Whistler and the site of the first gondola, Creekside is quieter than the village. Legends is ski-in, ski-out with a laid-back vibe, full kitchens in all suites and complimentary day use of the pool, hot tubs and secured parking. (This is a bonus for us, as we'll be skiing after check-out) Our two-bedroom suite is an immediate hit with kids, with plenty of room to spread out. We drop our bags, grab our snow gear and load into the car for a planned visit to the tube park.
Located at Base 2 on Blackcomb Mountain, the Coca-Cola Tube Park features 300 metres of sliding fun with eight lanes from green to blue to black and a conveyor lift that whisks tubers to the top.
Visitors can pre-book tickets online at a discount or buy them at the tube park entrance. We hit a snag when I visit guest relations in Whistler Village and am told the tube park is closed due to ice. Or is it? As we learn from Creekside guest relations the next morning, the park occasionally closes in extreme conditions, but was open on this particular night. For our troubles, we receive apologies and beverage vouchers. No matter. The kids are happy to return to our room for Harry Potter and pizza and make it an early night.
The next morning, it's an easy three-minute walk from Legends to Creekside Whistler Kids where we drop the kids for a group lesson. The snow school at Whistler Blackcomb has more than 1,100 professional ski and snowboard instructors, more than any other snow school in Canada. With the kids in their lesson, my husband and I get in a few runs of our own before meeting up with Donna Kerr, general manager of Whistler Kids, for lunch at the Chic Pea cabin, at the bottom of beginner-friendly Upper Whisky Jack. She's brought our kids with her and with rosy cheeks they pass a few minutes hand-feeding crumbs to the whisky jacks while our burgers sizzle on the outdoor grill.
Kerr tours us down the easy green Lower Whiskey Jack and in through Enchanted Forest, a flowy run through the trees that is wider this season. Then it's over to The School Yard, where even I brave a trick or two, up the Garbanzo Express and down an easy blue, Orange Peel, to the popular Tree Fort. With its slides and climbing platforms, this newly spruced up attraction is a popular rest stop for snow school groups. "If parents look at Flaik, they'll see it flashing here for a while," says Kerr, referring to the GPS tracking tag that each child wears during their lesson. (The Flaik number is recorded on your skier's progress card so you can track their day on the mountain when they're done.)
There's a glitch with our Flaik numbers, which Whistler Blackcomb's operations manager for Flaik Jen Tiilikka-Birdsall quickly sorts out by phone after our day of skiing.
While we're chatting, Tiilikka-Birdsall, a former ski instructor, shares her tips for a family-friendly day on the mountain.
"Come early. Plan ahead. And eat a good breakfast," she advises. "If you're rushing around last minute, it can be a little bit upsetting for your little ones and that doesn't set them up for the best day." . . .
Heading to Whistler for Family Day? Whistler Blackcomb is offering half-price lift tickets to B.C. residents on Monday, Feb. 11. The Whistler Museum is offering entry by donation on Feb. 11 while the Meadows Park Sports Centre has family drop-in rates at half the regular price. Visit the Whistler Insider blog, whistler.com/blog, for more events and discounts.
Planning a late-season or spring ski trip to Whistler? Visit whistlerblackcomb.com for details about Discover Whistler Days. These are special value periods where the snow school offers discounts on select group lessons. From Feb. 25 to March 8 and April 8-21 you can save 30 per cent on lessons, including three-and five-day adventure camps and the two-day weekend program for kids as well as the five-and two-day Ride Tribe programs for teens.
