The whale’s blowhole spray hit me in the face. Within arms reach of our 92-foot sailing ship is a humpback whale that’s getting a little frisky. It’s with unbelievable grace that it maneuvers its gigantic body from one side of the boat to the other followed by a cacophony of camera clicks. Occasionally its tubercle-encrusted head breaks the surface, scoping us out with a quizzical eye.
Would you like some cheese with your wine? Yes, please! Cheese is delicious on its own, but fondue brings together three of the world’s greatest things—cheese, wine, and the camaraderie of a shared meal. Homer’s Iliad describes a mixture of wine, goat cheese and flour enjoyed in ancient Greece. In medieval times, vineyard workers in France are said to have dunked meat into boiling pots of oil. Nevertheless, most people credit the Swiss with refining the art of fondue. In the 1800s, fondue (originates from the French word fondre, which means to melt) was simply a way of using up hardened, stale cheese and bread in the depths of the Swiss winter.
The indigenous peoples of North America were the first to discover that the sap of a maple tree could be a source of energy and nutrition. During the winter, maple trees store starch in their trunks and roots, and convert it into sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. V-shaped incisions were cut into the tree trunks, and reeds or hollowed wood tubes inserted to channel the sap into containers. European settlers quickly adopted this method, and over the years made their own improvements to the process.
When the cold seems to have penetrated every layer of your clothing, and the ice has worked its way to your very core, there’s one sure fire way to warm up—from the inside out. Made traditionally of whiskey, brandy or rum, sipping on cold weather cocktails is a pleasurable way to raise your body temperature. As a resort that thrives on cold weather, Whistler has the perfect remedy to keep the chills away. Here is a selection of well-crafted winter warmers to try après ski while in Whistler, and recreate as a nightcap when you return home. Cheers!
The quest to find where the “locals” hang in the Village is a fool’s errand—you want to head five minutes south to Function Junction. Here’s why:
It’s a call of the wild, a summons to venture into the unknown and test yourself against Mother Nature — or rather what she’ll let you get away with.
Backcountry exploration is increasing in popularity. It seems that the more ski resorts groom and perfect their slopes, the more people try to escape them. As a first-time explorer I didn’t want to test Mother Nature’s patience and so decided to get some training before heading across the boundary line. I live in Whistler and after seven years of exploring Whistler Blackcomb’s 8,171 acres of inbounds terrain I too wanted a taste of what so many refer to as the “freedom” of the backcountry. Read more in The Vancouver Sun…
Whistler’s Cornucopia, now in its 16th year, has grown from a three-day event to a five-day extravaganza of food and drink with reports that next year it will be 10 days of swirling, sipping and savouring.
In between the summer months when bikers dominate the village in their body armour and before the onset of the winter neon one-sies, there is a time where high heels, a suit jacket and even a fancy hat or two are more the style. Once a filler festival for “downtime,” the Cornucopia festival has become an attraction in itself, pulling around 10,000 people during the fall. Read on here…
