The Third Test of Heights

The trip to Whistler was my test of my fear of heights.  Isn't going on the suspension bridge course and going zip lining enough?  I guess not, since Whistler has a tramway that runs between two peaks - the only one in the world to do that!

I have ridden the tramway in Albuquerque numerous times and it never bothered me, and I have ridden numerous ski lifts, which did not bother me until I was well into my adulthood.  And then . . .

We had to try the Peak2Peak experience, however, as it looked awesome.  The first chair lift was a gondola - enclosed, so that my desire to jump did not kick in.  After we looked around on Whistler Peak, we boarded the gondola for the Peak2Peak.  The other people in the car were from Ireland and we had a lovely chat as we glided over the canyon and river over 400 feet below us.  Again, because it was an enclosed car, I did not get too nervous.

Below us we were able to see the micro-hydro generating station that provides enough electricity to power Whistler. (Picture to come.)  Impressive and very ecological.  We looked for bears, but did not see any, which was all right.  The scenery was gorgeous and in 15 minutes, we were across to the other side.

On Blackcomb Peak we watched a helicopter land, ate our lunch, and then caught the Peak2Peak back to Whistler Peak.

We then hiked about 1/2 mile to the next chairlift that led all the way to the top of Whistler Mountain.  Now that chairlift even bothered Don.  It traversed straight up . . . I worried about cables breaking sending us careening down the hill, or wind blowing us around, or, or, or.  I don't know what worried Don, but because the chair was the traditional open air kind, I think just the steepness of it was enough to make one queasy.  We did see some cool things, however, including the explosive pulley they use to start avalanches.  Interesting!

At the top the spectacular view made up for my nervousness.  Straight down in many places, I held on to Don to make sure neither of us fell as we walked around.

Can you see the marmot in this picture?  He was a fat little guy!

Interestingly, coming down on the same chair lift was not nearly as scary to either of us.  Weird.

We then caught the Peak2Peak back to Blackcomb.  That gondola was completely full, and we met some lovely children.  We saw one deer, and I was able to recommend the Redwall books to the kiddos in the family.  The mom asked if I was a teacher . . . she said she could tell!

The final chair down Blackcomb Mountain was uneventful, but beautiful.  The trip is made in two different chairlifts, both open-air.  Not at all scary, just gorgeous.

And our last event in Whistler was over.  On Tuesday we would head home from a wonderful time in Whistler, Canada.