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Page 4 of 4
So what would happen, I wonder, if some of our upper-mountain lifts suddenly disappeared one day.
Say what? Shut down the alpine lifts? Sounds crazy doesn't it? And no, they haven't started my morphine drip yet. Just park your scepticism for a moment and listen. Imagine a Whistler experience without the Peak or Harmony Chairs. You want to go ski bumps in the alpine? No problem. You can hit 7th Heaven and Glacier Chair to your heart's content. Nothing has changed over there. It's business a usual.
But on Whistler Mountain, it's a whole other story. The chairlifts stop at timberline. If you want to go further, you have to climb. Which means that if you're willing to hike a mere 1,000 feet of vertical (less than 300 metres - doesn't even sound that far), you're pretty much assured of hitting fresh tracks on just about any incline you point your board towards. More importantly, you also get to experience the subtle pleasures of walking uphill in a stunningly beautiful alpine setting.
Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn't it? After all, most snowsport resorts are still desperately trying to stuff as many uphill transportation devices on their mountains as they can. But that's the point? Whistler has always distinguished itself by marching to the beat of its own drum. Whistlerites have never been afraid to set their own agenda.
And now is definitely the time to be different. Maybe WB can even start a new trend by being the first mountain resort to decommission lifts for "socio-ecological" reasons. Who knows? Stranger things have happened...
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