Canadian Rockies – Page 06

At Whistler Village

We arrived at the Crystal Lodge in downtown Whistler around 6PM and had snacks and wine in our room for dinner.

Here is an interesting picture of the location of our hotel.   As you can see, there are no cars in sight.  All motor traffic is on the other side of the hotels, stores, cafes, and restuarants.  The walkway you can see is called “The Stroll” and it’s strictly for pedestrians (and an occasional mountain bike).   You can also see ski/bike trails in the distance.

The area in light tan on this map is the “Stroll”.  It winds through the entire  “Village” area (including 2 parts of the Village not shown).  Neat concept!

We started Day 13 after a nice breakfast at the hotel, several of us decided to walk to the nearby  Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center 

We had a  tour and saw a canoe made from a Cedar log.   The paddles are pointed so they can be used as  weapons.  The Western Red Cedar is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family native to western North America. The provincial tree of British Columbia, it has extensive applications for Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. 

Our docent is on the left.6050 Whistler Aboriginal Museum

The coastal tribes dressed in leather and wood fiber clothes.6060 Whistler Aboriginal MuseumThe inland tribes had some wool clothing. The wool was collected from mountain sheep that shed their winter coats in the spring.6055 Whistler Aboriginal Museum

The “Red Dress Project (or REDress) was started in 2014. At That time there were an estimated 225 missing or murdered aboriginal women in Canada, according the RCMP statistics.

Jamie Black, an aboriginal artist from Winnipeg, wanted to showcase the issue in an artistic way, so she created the REDress project.

Each dress is “symbolic of the violence faced by indigenous women but is also a symbol of the power of a community coming together to fight this violence,” said Black.

6070 Whistler Museum Red Dress

6075 Whistler Museum Red Dress

After visiting the museum, Mary Ann and I “strolled” to the The Fairmont Chateau Whistler. It  is a four season, four star resort and opened its doors in 1989. 6080 Whistler Fairmont Hotel

Here is the lobby.   That’s as far as we got… It was pretty swanky!6085 Whistler Fairmont Lobby

We got out of there and went back to the Stroll to check out the down hill bikers with their fancy bikes and special biking gear. Biking shoes cost $150.00. I can’t imagine what the rest of the equipment and clothes cost. Fun can be expensive!7000 Whistler Stroll BikersWe also watched the tourists. We noticed that there were lots of Asians all over the Rockies.  Apparently, the summer was a busy time for Asian tourists in the US and Canada.7000 Whistler Stroll Tourists - Copy

There was also a couple of spectators you might recognize.7005 Whistler Stroll Neil & Suzanne - Copy

We wandered over to the downhill biking area.  There were hundreds of bikers lining up for a lift to the summit.

A two day pass on the lift cost $130.00

This is how the bikes and the bikers get to the top.

The way down:

A few curves in the woods:

The final sprint to the end:

Back at base, lining up and ready to go again:  A two day lift pass costs about$130.00.

Washing your bike at the end of the day:

After a busy day as a spectator, we had a bi slice of pizza for dinner and went back to he hotel to pack for our last long bus ride to Vancouver.

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