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Hiking on Whistler Mountain and zipping with Ziptrek Eco Tours

We left that morning (day 14) at 8.30 am from Nairn Provincial Park to Whistler (35km / 21mi) to go hiking on Whistler Mountain. Whistler is a cozy ski town located at 125 km north of Vancouver. In 2003 the ski area was chosen for the Winter Olympics in 2010. The name Whistler (flutes) comes from the sound that the marmots that occur on the mountain make. I myself saw one Marmot that day, but I did not hear him whistle. In Whistler we had to search for the RV parking. It is best to record the parking space in your GPS (address: 4350 Blackcomb Way Whistler).

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Whistler Mountain & Ziptrek Ecotours
Whistler Mountain

Apps that can help

I used the free app "WikiCamps Canada" To remove advertising from the app you think I pay an 2 euro. In advance I had stored all the addresses of our campsites and places of interest in the app. You click on the next destination in the app and it opens your GPS app via another free app that I use a lot during my travels, namely “Here WeGo" a lot during our trip. This GPS app works very well and can also be used offline. The maps can be downloaded at home, because in Western Canada you will not find many free WiFi hotspots, where you can download the large amount of MB. The first day all my cards were suddenly removed from the app, but I was able to re-download them the first day at a private campsite.

Hiking Whistler Mountain
Hiking Whistler Mountain
Hiking Whistler Mountain

RV-Parking in Whistler

I had forgotten to insert the P3 parking lot and it was therefore a search for the parking in Whistler. The price for a whole day of parking on P3 with the camper was 20 $ CAD. The machines say that you have to pay until 5 pm, but if you take a day ticket, you can park longer. We arrived at the Whistler parking lot to go 9u00 on Whistler Mountain, but lost a lot of time on the elevator. We had previously purchased combi-tickets at Ziptrek Ecotours and had printed the tickets at home. I went inside to ask if everything was in order for the zipline tour that we had booked.

Lost time at the gondola

They said that we were allowed to take the Gondola, but we had to return to ZipTrek at 1.55 pm. We joined the gondola que, but when it was up to us to get in the employee said that our internet vouchers were not sufficient and that we had to validate them with the customer service. There I again waited 20 min. There they told me that I first had to go back to the ZipTrek office to pick up the right tickets! Went again to ZipTrek and then they gave me the right tickets. The time we had planned to go up with the gondola was already limited and it was already 9.45 a.m. We had lost so much valuable time because of administrative things, which we actually tried to avoid by buying the tickets in advance. At 10u00 am we were finally in the gondola on our way to the Suspension Bridge and hopefully we could also take the Peak XNUMX Peak gondola to Blackcomb Mountain.

Hiking on Whistler Mountain

Once up, you can see the suspension bridge hanging in the distance. You need a different lift to get there, but that is included in the price of your ticket. If you like to use walking sticks, they can be taken free of charge and free from the plastic barrels that you can find at the start of the hiking trails. The lift to the Suspension Bridge is a short 10 minute walk on Whistler Mountain. It was not busy and we were able to go upstairs immediately. It was beautiful sunny weather and once had a good view of the surrounding mountains.

Suspension Bridge Whistler BC

Peak 2 Peak Gondola

After we were all over the bridge, we went to the Peak 2 Peak station by another gondola. Here too we had almost immediately a gondola. There were around 50 people waiting, but they all wanted a gray gondola with a glass floor. Therefore we did not have to wait and we could take a red gondola to Blackcomb Mountain for a short walk. Meanwhile it was 12.30 pm when we took the Peak2Peak gondola to Blackcomb Mountain.

Peak 2 Peak Whistler BC

The "crossing" is 4.4 km / 2.73 mi long and takes 11 minutes. The Peak 2 Peak gondola has some world records to its name, including the highest lift and the longest span in the world in its category.

Hiking on Blackcomb Mountain

On the other side of the valley you arrive at Blackcomb Mountain. That is a ski resort that was opened 1980 and from where various walks start. Since we didn't have much time, we made the little one Alpine Walk Loop walk from 1.4 km / 0.9mi. It gives you a good impression of the area. In the middle of our walk we ate our sandwiches. On the way to the elevator I have one Pika seen. That is a small cute rodent. They look like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit and are difficult to spot because of their good camouflage. The second time on the Peak 2 Peak no one was standing by and we were able to take a gray gondola with us. These gray cabins have a glass floor, but I didn't think it was a big addition and not worth the wait. We were down on time for the next activity.

Blackcomb Mountain BC Pika

Ziptrek Ecotours

At 2.10 pm Eli & I left again with the gondola to the middle station of Whistler Mountain, from where we entered the forest on foot with Ziptrek Ecotours. We had the Ziptrek Ecotours entered the forest on foot. We had the Eagle Tour with the 5 zipline descents booked. The first descent was the fastest and longest of the 5. The tone was immediately set. In the beginning, you are a bit nervous, because the only time we had zipped was on a playground 20 cm off the ground. Here you glide over a distance of more than 1km and at a very high speed between the trees over a river. The whole tour takes about 2.5 to 3 hours and it was worth doing.

Treetrek Tour - Whistler BC

You can rent a GOPro at ZipTrek EcoTours, but we did not do that. You can find enough on you tube or on the website of Ziptrek Ecotours if you want to watch such a video. We both liked it and it was safe. There were 2 employees on the zip tour, who helped you with every crossing to fix everything. They also checked the belts and hooks again so it was safe to zipline. Jessica and Tess had a walking tour through the trees at the same time (TreeTrek Tour) because Tess weighed too little to be allowed to zip along. The tour was only booked by us so Jessica & Tess actually had an English speaking private guide. Every now and then they saw us zipping overhead to the other side of the valley. Tess didn't like that.

Walking and zipping with Ziptrek Ecotours on Whistler Mountain

Whistler Pizza $$$

Down in Whistler we went shopping and we could make Tess "happy" again with a pair of earrings with the Canadian flag on. She sometimes manages to play it out 😉. When we walked through the village and the children saw the many food stalls they obviously wanted a pizza, but the prices were not normally priced. One slice of pizza cost as much as one normal pizza. We informed the at the reception to have a pizza delivered to the camper. It was not cheap, but a lot better then in Whistler Village. The cheapest is to order pizza over the internet, but for us it was a bit difficult (place camper) to find out. I just called the company, but the discount was not valid that way. The price for 2 medium pizzas was 30 $ CAD.

Riverside Resort - Whistler BC

Our campsite, Riverside Resort, was expensive and we did not really like it. The price for one night was 71 $ CAD tax included. There is an electricity pole going over the campsite, but not above the place we reserved. I had already looked at that before we left via google. We had E5. As a base to Whistler, it is ideally located, hence the high prices. In the area there are other campsites, but they are all quite far from the village. From this campsite you could even easily walk to Whistler Upper Village.

Riverside Resort Whistler BC
Whistler BC
Riverside Resort Whistler BC

Path to Whistler

There is a trail that starts from the campsite and goes to the village. After the pizzas the children have been on the playground for a while and in the evening we watched a movie. We had and full hook-up that night. The next day we left the mainland and went over to Vancouver Island.

With BC Ferries to Vancouver Island

Day 15: Drive and boat ride from "Whistler to the beautiful Picific Rim National Park" (300 km / 186mi) on the other side of Vancouver Island.

Read more

Hiking on Whistler Mountain & Surroundings: Map

  • Road Trip West Canada & Vancouver Island
  • Travel program overview

Wim & Jessica

We created the travel blog "Globetrotter Avenue" as a hobby, but also to share travel experiences with others. In the meantime we have visited more than 40 countries. We love nature, forests and mountains, but also sun, sea and beach. When we are not traveling, you will find us in the garden. Enjoy reading!

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