Whistler... one for you to enjoy, mikeman!

[aaron]

Whistler has been named the second best ski resort in North America by Ski Magazine's website. The tony B.C. ski hill was nudged out of the running for the top spot by Vail, Colorado.

"With the continued strength of the American dollar, Whistler is a hard deal to pass up," Michel Beaudry wrote. And, with the selection of Vancouver and Whistler as hosts of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Beaudry said the improvements coming to the 38-year-old resort will only make it better.

"The best bang for your buck in North America," Beaudry said one reader concluded.

Executive editor Greg Ditrinco told Vancouver radio station CKWX a great part of Whistler's attraction was its village. He called it "very cosmopolitan, very urbane."

Whistler mayor Hugh O'Reilly said a silver medal from Ski is fine by him.

"We've sort of floated in and out of the top two or three for the past few years," he said. "We usually duke it out with Vail," he added.

The west coast resort 90 kilometres north of Vancouver left some people cold, though. Between rain and fog, some skiers couldn't stomach Whistler, Beaudry reported.

The magazine's ratings took into account factors such as snow quality, terrain, lift service, weather, lodgings and on-mountain food.

Aaron
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[Red Tape]

"Continued strength of the American Dollar"

This guy hasn't been outside Canada and the US lately, has he?

[aaron]

Yeah, I thought that was a rather odd thing to say.

Aaron
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[mikeman]

Thank you for posting that one, Aaron.

These "rankings" of ski areas seem to be the most effective way to get newspapers and magazines to write articles. Easy for the reporters, I guess.

I am always amused by the shifting of positions during years when no substancial changes or developments have occured at any of the resorts. The resorts are compared within each of a variety of criteria from "child friendly" to "on mountain food". Some years they just change the weighting of the criteria to generate a new outcome, and some "news".

This time, Whistler's loss of position may be somewhat legitimate. The ski conditions last year were terrible for a couple of months. I am sure that this would influence the voters. I notice how much the ski conditions influence our own guests' perceptions of how soft the towels are, how long the walk to the lifts, or how friendly our staff.