# Whistler on a budget?



## Floridaski (Mar 17, 2008)

I know that is a silly question now that we are only a few days from our flight to Vancouver.  But, I tried to rent a pair of skis for my hubby and boots/skis for my son.  Does anyone have suggestions other then Intrawest Central Booking?  I think we need a loan before we leave, after lift tickets and lessons.  We are going to take our chances with 7-11 day passes. 

I am going to contact 7-11 to find out which stores in Vancouver sell tickets.  Apparently the 7-11 in Squamish sometimes sells out of tickets and then you are stuck with window prices - $81.00 per day!

Wow, we may be eating Mac N Cheese in the room.  Can we take our Mac N Cheese into Canada?

Any help or hints would  be great.  Whistler is going to cost mucho bucks, more then Vail.  I did not think we could spend more money then we did in Vail/Beaver Creek, but I think we are going to find out fast!


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## eal (Mar 17, 2008)

Summit offers a 20% discount for booking online
http://www.summitsport.com/main/


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## BevL (Mar 17, 2008)

It's spring break week here, so there may be quite a few locals up skiing.  I think it's a good idea if you can to get your ski passes and not rely on Squamish.

"Whistler" and "budget" are not words I think of in the same sentence, I'll agree with you there.


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## herindoors911 (Mar 17, 2008)

Whistler has a wide variety of restaurants, eateries, including lots of the regular chains.

If you need groceries, buy them enroute from the airport.   Look/ask for directions to a Superstore - they regularly undersell Safeway.   You can buy groceries in Squamish, but their prices are getting higher, as everything has to be shipped there as well.   Whistler prices are higher than Squamish.

You can import most groceries.  Just watch out for anything that has pips.  Only certain potatoes can be imported - they have to be packed in a certain way.   You can certainly bring in the MacCheese:hysterical:   Cheese is less expensive in the US as well.

Hard bar is much more expensive here, as is wine, so bring some with you if you want to have a drink.   If you smoke, cigs are cheaper in the US as well.

Sorry the lifts are so pricey.   

perl


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## BevL (Mar 18, 2008)

If you're bringing alcohol across, be aware of the limits or you'll have to pay duty on it.  Also, I think there might be restrictions still on beef and possibly eggs across the border, but I'm not sure.

Not sure what direction you're coming from but picking up groceries in Vancouver proper at Superstore is a good idea.  There's one not far off HIghway one, which is quite likely the highway you'll be travelling, just across the second narrows bridge into North Vancouver.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 18, 2008)

BevL said:


> If you're bringing alcohol across, be aware of the limits or you'll have to pay duty on it.  Also, I think there might be restrictions still on beef and possibly eggs across the border, but I'm not sure.
> 
> Not sure what direction you're coming from but picking up groceries in Vancouver proper at Superstore is a good idea.  There's one not far off HIghway one, which is quite likely the highway you'll be travelling, just across the second narrows bridge into North Vancouver.



If they're flying into Vancouver, would they be crossing the Second Narrows bridge?  Wouldn't they more likely cross Lions Gate?

Re ski rental. There are rental shops in Squamish that should be cheaper than the mountain.
'
With $1 CAN = $1.51 USD, Whistler certain isn't the bargain it used to be for US citizens.  When I started going to Whistler, $1 CAN = $0.70 US.  At those prices, lift tickets at Whistler were the same as our local Seattle area day resorts, and greatly cheaper than places such as Sun Valley and Big Sky.


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## tashamen (Mar 18, 2008)

perl said:


> You can import most groceries.  Just watch out for anything that has pips.



Okay I'll ask - what are pips in this context?  I've never heard that term...


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## BevL (Mar 18, 2008)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> If they're flying into Vancouver, would they be crossing the Second Narrows bridge?  Wouldn't they more likely cross Lions Gate?



Yes, you're right, Steve.  I was thinking of perhaps flying into Seattle, which is what I would probably do as I hate paying taxes in or out of Canada.  Then you'd be in Highway 1 and over the Second Narrows.

If you want some directions re groceries in Vancouver and are planning a "big shop" before you get to WHistler, PM me and I can take a look at what might be the easiest for you to fine.


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## Floridaski (Mar 18, 2008)

*fly into Vancouver*

We are flying into Vancouver and I have narrowed the ski rental to Summit or Spicy Sports.  Both are close in price and I am just waiting for Summit to reply to a storage question.

We are going to try to purchase lift tickets in Vancouver on the Saturday before we drive up to Whistler.  I will pack a couple of freezer bags to keep the cold stuff cold on our drive up to Whistler and we will purchase groceries in Vancouver.  The TSA airport guys are going to love the metallic freezer bags.  I think I will put a note on them to explain what I plan to use them for. I took one once somewhere else and they detained our luggage for inspection.  I guess they look very odd on the X-ray machine!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 18, 2008)

BevL said:


> T_R_Oglodyte said:
> 
> 
> > If they're flying into Vancouver, would they be crossing the Second Narrows bridge?  Wouldn't they more likely cross Lions Gate?
> ...


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## eal (Mar 18, 2008)

And Steve, the Canadian dollar is at par with the US dollar - $1 Cdn = $1 USD.  
You are going to give poor Floridaski a heart attack!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 18, 2008)

eal said:


> And Steve, the Canadian dollar is at par with the US dollar - $1 Cdn = $1 USD.
> You are going to give poor Floridaski a heart attack!



oops!!! My mistake.  I thought I saw a quote at $1.51 the other day, but I was clearly mistaken.  You're right - it's almost exactly at par.


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## Floridaski (Mar 18, 2008)

*We are overnighting in Vancouver*

We live in Sunny South Florida and getting to Whistler has been a challenge.  I will not even go into how many times Delta has changed our flights - but thankfully we did have enough miles to go ahead and get FF seats.  They are not cheap low mileage FF seats, but the ticket from Florida to Vancouver was $875 to $1100.  Now that I think of it, I should make sure we are still on those 50,000 mile seats!  My hubby would be a "little" upset if we had lost our seats...add to do list!

So, since we will be getting up at 3:30 AM to make that wonderful 6 AM flight I booked a Hampton Inn room months ago.  We are going to have a nice dinner in Vancouver, try to find lift tickets and go to an Easter Vigil.  Then get up Sunday (hopefully) refreshed and drive up to Whistler.  Perhaps, by then we will get used to the exchange rate:hysterical:  

Has anyone filed the form for the tax rebate once you have left your American Peso in Canada?  I hope I can get the form at the Whiski Jack office, not sure since I cannot get Whiski Jack to answer the phone.   I guess they are all out skiing in the fresh snow that is covering Whistler.

I just have to think snow, ski, snow, ski....forget how much this costing....

Back to groceries, we will be purchasing groceries after a nights sleep in Vancouver and we will enjoy the Easter Vigil.  This will help us reset our internal clocks.  Perhaps, we will be able to sleep past 4 AM in Vancouver. 

So, if anybody has suggestions on EASY grocery tips that would be great.  But, I suspect after looking for lift tickets we may have already become familiar with the Richmond area.  I have to remember snow, ski, snow, ski,  snow -this is fun...

I know we will have great time, but I think it might have been simpler to go to Switzerland to ski.


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## Bill4728 (Mar 18, 2008)

After you cross the lions gate bridge, you'll pass by a large shopping mall which has several grocery stores. You could try there if you perfer that to squamish.  Personally I'd wait till Squamish. 

As far a discount lift tickets, those of us who live here. (In BC & Washington) get to buy our tickets at a discount directly from Whistler. They are called edge tickets. You must pre buy a day but any other day after that, you pay the special edge discount price which generally is about $15 sometime more.


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## leemur (Mar 18, 2008)

*Whistler logistics*

Returned from Whistler a week ago after a first great trip.  A lot of research before and the usual trial and error during our week suggests the you might:

Yes, buy your tickets at 7-11 in Vancouver for $69/day/adult  Seven-11 website gives addresses, phone numbers plus a google map for all locations.  We used a N. Vancouver store off of Marine Dr. and this part was easy.

Allow plenty of extra time for travel between Vancouver and Whistler.  Right now, its 75 miles of road construction and pretty slow in places.

Groceries.  If you're driving, stock up in Vancouver.  Again, N. Vancouver was easy and on the way.  If this doesn't work for you, the IGA in Whistler at the "marketplace" is well stocked and the prices were not inflated for basic foostuffs as we had assumed.

Ski rental.  Hmmm.  There's limited choices.  Affinity Sports has a good website,  and at least 6 locations in Whistler.  If you book gear online before leaving, they offer around a 20% discount.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 18, 2008)

Bill4728 said:


> As far a discount lift tickets, those of us who live here. (In BC & Washington) get to buy our tickets at a discount directly from Whistler. They are called edge tickets. You must pre buy a day but any other day after that, you pay the special edge discount price which generally is about $15 sometime more.



Not applicable for floridaski (and others not in BC or WA), but Edge cards can be purchased for up to seven days of skiing.  The more days you buy via Edge card, the better the savings.  I either buy one or three days, depending on how much Whistler skiing I expect to do.

Note: at Whistler they do check ID before issuing the card, so if you can't produce WA or BC id, you probably won't get your pass.  Then you'll be stuck paying window prices.

***

*back to floridaski talk*

BTW - another advantage of buying tickets at 7-11 is that the passes are single tickets, usable by any skier and good for any time during the ski season.

In contrast, if you buy at the window, each person will get one ticket, good for x days out of the next y days (e.g., good for three days out of the next five).  At the end of the y day period, the ticket expires.

When each person has their own single multi-day ticket, if someone in the party decides not to ski a certain day, it's a lot more difficult to swap tickets for another person to use the ticket.  With the 7-11 tickets, each person who is skiing on a given day just grabs a ticket.

***

A couple of times I've come back with unused tickets.  If the tickets are from 7-11 you can sell them - TUGger Phil Abdouch bought some from me one time.  Even if you're not in the area, you can always sell them on eBay and probably get back about 75 cents on the dollar.

****

BTW - don't get offended if people in a store start talking about "loonies".  They're probably not referring to you.  "Loonie" is colloquial for a Canadian dollar. The Canadian dollar is a coin, not paper, and the coin has an image of a loon on it.


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## Floridaski (Mar 18, 2008)

*Summit for ski rental*

Earlier in the post, someone suggested Summit Ski Rental and was kind enough to put the link to their web site.  They are NOT owned by Intrawest and therefore have lower prices.  They are right in the village and 10 seconds from the main village express lift.  Very close to our son's ski school, plus they will store our skis for free and have heated boot storage for $5.00 a day.  At this point, what is 5 dollars?

I may skip the boot storage, but they seem like a decent outfit and cost half of what the other stores charge.  Intrawest actually owns most of the ski rental shops and they have many different names.  I thought it was really odd when all the rental prices were the same.  Summit and Spicy Sports were the only 2 independent shops that I could find.  Intrawest is going to get enough of our money!

Thanks for all the tips, I need about 3 more dinner reservations and we will be planned.  Plans can change - but at least I will have reservations and we will have fun.

Think snow - forget what it is costing...that is my mantra for the next 10 days!


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## vanclan (Mar 18, 2008)

*GST Rebate forms*

You asked where to obtain the tax rebate forms ..I'm assuming that you are referring to the GSt rebate forms which were offered to US residents who paid GST on purchases in Canada.  The key word in that sentence is "were" not "are"   So sorry to give you the bad news...the rebate is no longer available.  Think snow...not how much it is costing you.  Welcome to Canada!  Hope you have a wonderful time!


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## Floridaski (Mar 18, 2008)

*Are you sure?*

I got the tax rebate info from what I thought was a "Welcome to British Columbia" official web site.  I guess maybe they are not sure about the welcome part?   

But - Really everybody I have spoken to has been more then kind, are most folks in British Columbia really as nice as they seem?  Other then those elusive Whiski Jack folks, everybody is very nice.

Does anybody really work at the Whiski Jack office or do they just toss us keys as we walk-by the Pinnacle Hotel?   If I was renting, I would be really NERVOUS.  I have tried to call them 20 times, I have more then likely already spent 20 dollars trying to call them.  Wait, I forgot -  think snow, forget what it is costing....


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## eal (Mar 18, 2008)

Have you tried the toll-free # ?
1-800-944-7545

It shouldn't be costing you anything to call them.

PS - the weather forecast has lots of snow in it - Sunday Tuesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Have a great time!


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## Floridaski (Mar 18, 2008)

*All I had was 604 exchange*

Thanks for the toll free, I of course only had the RCI provided 604 exchange and it seems like nobody every answers.  Hopefully they are skiing and will return when we need to check-in.  

Who would have thought we would have this much snow on a late March ski trip, it looks like it will snow at least the first 4 of our 8 days.  What a treat - snow !!!!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 19, 2008)

Floridaski said:


> Thanks for the toll free, I of course only had the RCI provided 604 exchange and it seems like nobody every answers.  Hopefully they are skiing and will return when we need to check-in.
> 
> Who would have thought we would have this much snow on a late March ski trip, it looks like it will snow at least the first 4 of our 8 days.  What a treat - snow !!!!



That's good. You get all of the snow the week while you're up there, and when I arrive I get the good weather!!!

Several years back weather in the Northwest was absolutely awful for skiing - worst year every. In February they only had about two or three feet of snow on the tops of the mountains.  I had a reservation at Whiski Jack Ironwood for the third week of March, and I was wondering if the mountain was even going to be open.  Most of the other ski resorts in the area had shut down in early December and hadn't reopened.

Then two weeks before my exchange,  the weather turned and it started snowing almost non-stop for two weeks.  By the time we arrived there was almost ten feet of snow on the ground and you could ski out to the Village on decent snow - that's extremely rare in late March.

On the picture of the day thread I have a photo of Blackcomb Mountain from the living room of our Whiski Jack Ironwood unit - that photo was taken during that trip when it stopped snowing for one day.


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## Bill4728 (Mar 19, 2008)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> On the picture of the day thread I have a photo of Blackcomb Mountain from the living room of our Whiski Jack Ironwood unit - that photo was taken during that trip when it stopped snowing for one day.



Steven, 

Were is the Ironwood complex? 

It isn't on any of the maps that I can find.  North Village, upper village, main village or Creekside?


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## eal (Mar 19, 2008)

The Ironwood is on Blueberry Hill between the golf course and Alta Lake,  It is about a 1 mile walk to the main part of town.  3217 Blueberry Drive


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## Floridaski (Mar 19, 2008)

*Ironwood*

We are hoping that the Ironwood location will not be a problem.  I do not go vacation to hear noise, so we were not keen on a village location.  We always have a vehicle and it looks like we may be glad that it is a 4 wheel drive.  The forecast is for a strong cold front to bring a decent amount of fresh snow over Saturday/Sunday.  The Whistler web cams show that it is snowing as we speak.  I was going to pack our light spring gear, but it looks like we may need the liners for our jackets!  

I will write a good review of the Ironwood upon our return.  The reviews are kind of old, but hopefully it will be decent exchange.  We know that it is not a Hyatt type of exchange and RCI downgraded the Ironwood from Gold Crown to Silver Crown.  I am assuming it is because they really do not have resort type of actitives.  It is really more like a condo overlooking the mountains and the golf course.  I called and we have a top floor, mountain view - suppose to one of the nicer units in the building.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 19, 2008)

Floridaski said:


> We are hoping that the Ironwood location will not be a problem.  I do not go vacation to hear noise, so we were not keen on a village location.  …
> 
> I called and we have a top floor, mountain view - suppose to one of the nicer units in the building.



It will be fine.  Definitely quiet.  You are right - the building is mostly just condos.  There is a hot tub on site - IIRC it's pretty small.  There may be a game room, some barbecues, and a swimming pool.  But you're mostly there to ski, so the rest doesn't really matter.

The units are good sized - you won't be crowded.

The easiest way to get around is by bus.  Bus services is frequent and there is a bus stop very close to Ironwood.  Take the bus to the Whistler Transit Center, and you will be right next to the main upload area in the Village.  If you drive, you will wind up in the day lots, which are a lot farther from the upload area.  Blueberry Hill is outside the ride-free area, though.


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