Debi and I enjoyed many trips to Whistler before her health began to deteriorate.  We enjoyed powder skiing in the winter and in the summer we hiked in the alpine bowls accompanied by the sound of whistling Marmots. We were curious to see  what it offered to us now that she was in a wheelchair.  We were pleased to find out that there was plenty for us to do.

     We were able to find accessible rooms fairly easily and we headed up to Whistler in early August.  The drive up the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver was a spectacular  and we enjoyed the stunning views of the water and towering mountains.  We located our hotel and realized that it was the headquarters for the Crankworks mountain bike festival. The village was full of energy as riders, decked out in their colorful gear, prepared to take on the trails on the mountain.  We  found accessibility good as we explored the village.

     The next morning we decided to explore the trails at Lost Lake.  Parking at the lake was available for vehicles with disabled permits.  The mostly level crushed rock trail winds past tall Evergreen trees as it circles the lake. We enjoyed watching all the activity out on the water.  We were startled when we went around a corner a saw a small black bear foraging in a tree stump.  We stopped to watch it for a few minutes and then quickly strolled by while it was preoccupied with it's meal. It took just over an hour to complete the loop around the lake.  We finished the day by relaxing by the pool and then had a nice dinner.

     A trip up the mountain on the gondola was part of our itinerary and a deteriorating weather forecast  motivated us to do it the following day.  It was exciting to see the mountain bikers flying down the challenging trails as we passed overhead.  We had a nice lunch at the  Roundhouse at mid mountain.  Then we mustered up our courage and went on the dramatic Peak to Peak tram that travels 1500 feet above the valley floor over to Blackcomb Mountain.  It was a bit nerve wracking, but the trip went by quickly and we made it to the other side.  We  explored a couple of bumpy trails as far as we could and even got to hear  the whistle of a Marmot.  We downloaded on another gondola and explored the Olympic Plaza and shops of Blackcomb Village.

     The clouds moved in the next day so we explored part of the Valley Trail System, which has over 25 miles of trails which wind through the valley past a series of lakes  It is paved and mostly level and there are many access points so you can do as much of the trail  as you want.  We spent a few hours exploring the area around Alpha  and Nita Lakes in the lower valley.

     Whistler is the home of Whistler Adaptive Sports, which is an organization that offers recreation programs for people with disabilities.  They offer hiking tours with adaptive devices that allow people with disabilities the opportunity to experience trails from beginner to technical alpine.  They also offer boating programs on the nearby lakes.

     We were pleased with the accessibility of our summer activities and also found plenty to do in the winter.  The village was still pretty accessible  and we found out about the Snow Limousine, which is a comfortable chair on skiis that a guide steers down the mountain.  We made reservations for one and  took the gondola up the mountain on a crisp sunny morning, with fresh several inches of fresh snow.Debi was looking forward to experiencing the sensation of skiing again, but unfortunately there was an accident on the mountain that caused big delays on the lifts and we missed our connection.  We still thoroughly enjoyed our winter getaway and returned home in a good mood, ready to take on the remaining days of winter.