Whistler’s Olympic Bobsleigh Experience
If being shot out of a gun is a feeling you think you’d enjoy then this is the activity for you. Don’t be fooled by the gentle start, these bobsleighs hit up to 125km’s and 4 G forces. There’s ten twists and turns in total, with the last one, Thunderbird Corner, applying the G forces that push your tooshie right down into your seat.
Image courtesy of Whistler Sport Legacies
The Whistler Sliding Centre is where you can get a feel for what it’s like to be an Olympian with both the bobsleigh and skeleton experiences open to the general public. It’s not quite the same set up as the pros though. For the bobsleigh experience you get a trained pilot and start lower down on the track. They also don’t make you do a sprint start – we can only imagine the carnage that would ensue. All you have to do as a passenger is enjoy the ride – which lasts less than a minute.
For the skeleton, the key advice given is “act like a sack of potatoes”. Not to hard eh? You’re wrong. Human instinct is to look at where you’re going. If you do that on the sled the weight of your shoulders lifts the front, which means you then ricochet off the ice walls until you finally come to a stop. As long as you keep your elbows in this is totally survivable. Our tip – practice acting like a sack of potatoes in advance.
Image courtesy of Whistler Sport Legacies
If you do want to add in that Olympian element though, there’s always the option of bringing in some private catering to make sure you get a champagne-spraying podium finish. Let us know if you’re down for some G-force action.
Snowmobiling to Backcountry Cabins
It’s iconic Canada – a rustic log cabin in the snow filled wilds of the backcountry. The mode of transport to get to said cabin? A Bombardier Expedition Sport Snowmobile. Canadian Wilderness Adventures runs snowmobile tours for first timers to powder hounds, but the ones that head to the cabin on Sproatt Mountain are the 3-hour Wilderness Run and 4-hour Yukon Breakfast, along with the more advanced Backcountry X and Powderhound tours.
The Yukon Breakfast is our personal favourite and a great way to start the day. Starting at eight in the morning you get some fresh turns in as you make your way up Sproatt Mountain. This mountain gets 15-20% more snow than Whistler Blackcomb and is known for meadow, after meadow of fresh snow. When you arrive the chef already has the wood burning in the stove and the “Big Daddy” frying pan bubbling away. It’s a one-pot breakfast done on an old school Heartland stove – again, it doesn’t get more Canadian than this.
The Canadian Wilderness team started building their cabin five years ago, given its remote location they add to it each year, with a deck going on this past summer. In the warmer months they run ATV rides out to it for backcountry BBQ’s. It doesn’t have to be a completely rustic affair though. The Bearfoot Bistro has entertained some top executives at this cabin. They were flown in via helicopter for a wine-paired dinner served by Executive Chef Melissa Craig, and then they got the snowcat home. The Four Seasons has also run events in the cabin – for both occasions the backcountry water closets were given a mini-makeover.
If you fancy a few turns on a snowmobile let us know and we’ll talk you through the multiple options – from beginner, right up to those looking for advanced riding.
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