Sunny Whistler

I’m going to break the pattern here a bit and take advantage of the fact that I’ve recently re-visited Whistler to showcase how a location changes depending on many factors… First of all, I’ve visited almost exactly the same time of the year – the biggest change, I think, was the weather. Whereas last year it was mostly foggy and rainy, this year it was the opposite – almost all days were sunny, with only a bit of rain at the end of my visit.

As a result I was able to appreciate more the sights and the surrounding mountains. Not sure if that translated to better photos, but certainly I was able to appreciate the views in a different way and notice things I have noticed on my previous visit.

Such visibility, much wow!

Starting to see some fall colours.

Couldn’t miss another ride on the Peak 2 Peak gondola!

Supposedly this little fellow is called a whistler.

Posing for the photos – very canadian/polite.

Without the clouds around the valey, this shot is not as dramatic as last year 😉

Weee, trying some tracking.

Last year this peak (actual Whistler Mountain, IIRC) was completely shrouded in clouds.

Much needed in the season, I’m sure.

Going down… 😦

On the way up to zipline…

Thanks to the better weather I was able to explore the Whistler and Blackcomb villages too:

A bridge on the shortcut between Whistler and Blackcomb villeges.

I missed this statue last year – glad I found it, it proved to be a great photo subject.

Couldn’t help myself – the sun was shining through exactly on this fall-coloured bush…

Aaand the bridge during the night.

The color of the lights change, to boot.

Found this shot by accident, but I really like it.

More lucky coincidents – someone wondered around the statue when I was taking the (long) exposure, giving it some interesting lightning.

So I came back the next night with a lantern of my own 😀

Couldn’t help myself with some lightpainting myself.

This (and the next) photo is taken just outside the village on a “nature trail”.

How old those trunks must be for another tree to grow out of them already?

Last year I went ziplining for the first time – this year, I was back for more, this time the most extreme version: The Sasquatch. It’s the longest zipline in North America – it’s over 2 kilometres long! The peak speed is ~120 km/h (according to my GPS watch) – and, honestly, it’s too much. It’s hard to appreciate the scenery (and it is beautiful) when the air pressure from the speed is so overwhelming. I’m glad I did this one, but overall The Eagle Tour from last year is much more recommended.

If you check the full resolution and zoom in on you can see where the zipline ends…

And the view from the other side 😮 It’s mind-boggling how long this thing is.

Hope you enjoyed this different perspective – next time we’re back to going through my long backlog chronologically…