8/11/2008 - Canada: Day 4

And then there was Monday ... and blue sky appeared! Finally. I took advantage of the beautiful day by taking the gondola and quad lift to the very tip-top of Whistler Peak. The gondola ride is about 25 minutes, which takes you to a lodge and restaurant. Heck, I was able to get a pulled pork BBQ sandwich at the restaurant ... it wasn't the best BBQ, but it was pulled pork in Canada of all places. Not a bad view for lunch either. After lunch, I hiked over to the Peak Quad Chair lift, which brings you to the top of the mountain (el: 7087 ft). I spent 2-3 hours hiking around the top, even stopping to take in a brief nap along one of the rocky outcrops. It was chilly, but the wind wasn't too bad. With full sun, it felt just about perfect. Below are some pics from the trip.

View from gondola, about 1/3 of the way up the lift.

An "inukshuk", which is the official logo of the 2010 Olympics. To the immediate right, you can see a new lift tower ... this is one of the towers for the engineering feat known as the Peak-2-Peak Gondola. This gondola will link Whistler Mountain (the one I'm standing on here) to Blackcomb Mountain, which is off in the right background.

Another view of the inukshuk and Blackcomb Mountain and the Green River Valley.

Still lots of snow fields at the top ... illustrative of the tremendous snowfall they get due to their height and proximity to the Pacific. The resort area is in the valley.

Rock sculpture and Blackcomb Mountain.

Colorful lichens with a mountain backdrop.

People hiking the "saddle".

A hand-crafted inukshuk.

Part of the Whistler Valley. The athletes will be housed in a series of housing complexes being built in the center (look for the cleared ground). The lake to the right is where I took a few pics later Monday evening, which are featured below.

Snowfield, quad lift, and Blackcomb Mountain.

I made it back down the mountain in time to get my stuff together and head over to my conference session. After my presentation, I took off Alta Lake to enjoy the sunset with a few cold ones. Below are a few pics of the mountains from the lake.

Whistler Peak ... where I was just a few hours before.

Just a small piece of the Coast Mountains.

Ducks enjoying the view.