This past week, my daughter Lauren and I went out to Whistler to experience all that the mountain and nature has to offer. It is one of our favourite places on the planet.
All summer we said we were going to go out for a “training week” however I wasn’t quite sure that this was going to actually happen.
As most of you know from following my blog, typically I train for triathlon which involves running, cycling and swimming. I am competing in the World Triathlon Championships in one months time so thought it would be good to do some cross training while in Whistler.
We definitely had a great training week as we mountain biked, ran and hiked the mountains to the fullest. In total we did over 30 hours and 100 km of hard exercise during the week.
Typically I try to fit my workouts in to my day either before or after work or weekends. Lauren and I noted that the difference this week was that our entire day was based on our activity or workout. So in essence, instead of fitting our workout in, our entire day was spent enjoying and doing our cross training activity.
Summary Of The Weeks Activities
Here is a summary of the week in Whistler and time refers only to the time recorded actually working out or hiking and excludes breaks, lunches , etc.
Monday – Both did a morning run plus a 21 Km hike in the Whistler Alpine-8 hours
Tuesday – Mountain Biked 26 km on Alta and Lost Lake trails – 3 hours
Wednesday – Hiked one of the steepest hikes in Whistler – Wedge Mountain – 12 km – 6 hours
Thursday – Ran the Blackcomb Alpine – 15 k run – 3 hours
Friday – Hiked Rohr Lake – 11 k – 6 hours
Saturday – Toughest Day of the week – Ran up Whistler Mountain to top – 26 k – 4 hours
Total exercise time – 30 Hours/105 kms
Here is a day by day summary of the Week
Monday – Hike Whistler Alpine and Singing Pass
Monday was our first day in Whistler. Lauren wanted to get up and go for a run with a local running group. She ran 10 km up Singing pass in Whistler then back down. I was tired from the flight so went for an easy Z2 run around Lost Lake. I always find that the best way to get the cobwebs out from travel is to do some easy exercise and we both felt great after our morning runs.
We then decided to go for a hike up in the Whistler Alpine. We went longer than expected and ended up going up to the Peak and took the High note trail. Since it was so beautiful, we decided to keep hiking to Musical bumps, Flute, Oboe and down Singing Pass trail into the village.
Totals – 26km/8 hours
Tuesday – Mountain bike – Alta Lake and Lost Lake Trails
Both of us were tired from travel and our very aggressive first day of running and hiking so decided to have an easier day. We biked around Alta Lake and then over to Lost Lake trails. We did a number of our favourite trails at Lost Lake and finished with our ride up Molly Hogan to the Green Lake lookout which was beautiful. We finished our day of activity by going for a great refreshing swim in Lost Lake to top it off.
Dirt Diaries – To top the day off, we went to Dirt Diaries which is a show of the top Video productions of Crankworx and it was an amazing show. Congrats to all that participated!
Wednesday-“Wedgy Day”
“I smelt something burning on the way up and realized it was my legs”
One of the most renowned hikes in Whistler area and known for its extreme difficulty is Wedge Mountain. I compare it to hopping on a Stairmaster at level 20 for 3 hours.
This hike was essentially 3 hours of constant uphill with no flats whatsoever. At some points it was so steep that we had to use both arms and legs to climb over boulders, trees and the trail. In fact they have ropes in a few places to assist in the climb up as it was so steep.
The Reward – Swim in Wedge Glacier Lake
The reward was well worth it. At the top of the mountain was Wedge Glacier which was surrounded by mountains and Glaciers. We overlooked the lake and ate lunch which was well deserved. Following lunch, we went for a very quick swim in the Glacier Lake which was just above freezing. It was like swimming in an ice bath but was super invigorating. The food and the swim gave us the energy to climb another 3 hours down the mountain to the trailhead. I must say, the way down was as tough as the way up as it was so steep you constantly had to be on guard for proper footing so you would not slide out on the rock or dirt. All in all was an amazing day but the description of the hike was bang on – My legs were burning!
Thursday – Run Upper Alpine at Blackcomb – Our “easy” day!
Based on our previous days’ extremely tough hike at Wedge Mountain, both of us were exhausted so thought we would have an easy “day off” in the Alpine of Whistler. We took the Gondola up Whistler Mountain and then took the Peak to Peak over to Blackcomb. We started out hiking the alpine on a similar hiking trail that we did in a race a few years back called The 5 Peaks. After a short time hiking, Lauren thought she would start running the trail. Soon after, I thought I would join her even though all I was wearing was my hiking gear(ie not running gear) and backpack.
We ended up running the entire upper Alpine and ran high into the beautiful Mountains. At one point we were overlooking Decker and Overload and saw a Marmot which we thought wasn’t real as it didnt move at first. This was one of Laurens favourite runs as we basically ran across, up and down the alpine many times and the views were amazing. We ended up running for 3 hours and were up against the clock as the last Peak to Peak was leaving Blackcomb at 5:30. We ended up sprinting down to get the last ride of the day and just made it. All and all it was an amazing, gorgeous and beautiful day.
Friday – Rohr Lake Hike
Friday, we decided to do a Lake north of Pemberton – Rohr Lake hike. It was a very remote hike and one of the steepest, most technical hikes I have ever done.
To start off we drove up a very remote, dirt, rocky road where we dropped off the car. I knew it was remote as there was not another car to be seen at the trailhead. We hiked into the woods and I noticed some bear poop on the trail so knew that there were some bears in the area. I also noticed that we didn’t have any cell service at all so knew we were in the wilderness. Lauren and I hiked for about an hour up the mountain until we came to an open area with two major rock faces. We followed what we thought were tracks and the trail up a very steep boulder/avalanche chute and over waterfalls until the trail seemed to end. We were almost at the very top of the Boulder/Avalanche chute when there was nowhere to go so we reluctantly decided to climb back down. In the meantime, I caught my leg on a broken off branch while hiking so was bleeding. 
When we got to the bottom I made the decision that we should hike back out as we had already been hiking for 2 hours and did not know where to climb next. This combined with zero cell service, the frequency of Bear tracks and Bear poop as well as my leg bleeding lead me to believe this was the right thing to do.
Lauren was very upset but reluctantly joined me hiking back out. A few minutes into our hike back out, we were yelling and calling out in order to warn Bears we were in the area. When calling out, we heard someone calling back and quickly noticed there where 2 girls hiking in. One of them had hiked this route once before so we asked if we could join them.
We spent the next hour hiking up the other very steep boulder/avalanche chute and soon arrived at the top. It wasn’t long before we found the amazingly gorgeous Rohr Glacier Lake which was our reward for all our perseverance and hard work. It was so peaceful, still and the colours were amazing. We ate our lunch and went for a very refreshing swim in the Glacier Lake and then hiked out.
Once again this was another 6 hour hike day and one of the toughest hikes I have done. A special shout out to Christy and Brittany that helped us find our way and discover the beauty of Rohr Lake not to mention their great company.
Saturday – The Final Stage – 26k Run Up Whistler
All week Lauren kept mentioning that she wanted to run up Whistler. She had done research and felt the best way to run up Whistler was up the route we had hiked down on our first day in Whistler – Monday. This was called the Singing pass trail. We started out in the morning with a pack and our running gear and ended up running up Singing Pass trail for about 3 hours into the alpine. We then came out into the upper Alpine and continued running and climbing over Oboe, Flute Summit, Symphony and Harmony Mountains and finally arrived at the Roundhouse after 4 hours of continuous running. We were proud of our last days effort and at the same time glad the run was over. We celebrated by getting our picture taken on the podium of the Olympic rings as well as having an Americano!
We concluded the day by going to Crankworx to watch the finals and it was amazing.
So all in all we had an amazing week of activity, hikes, biking and running combined with Mountain air and the beautiful Mountain sights and amazing views. I believe the best therapy in the world is doing things close to nature and this is as close as one can get. A special thanks to Lauren for pushing me to go and also for spending an amazing week together that I will always remember. XO
Kev on gondola ride down after 26 k run up Whistler!
Wishing you a Healthy and “close to nature ” day, Kev
1 comment
Hi Kev,
Glad you had a great trip with Lauren. It sounds like you saw almost everything. Glad you made it home safely. I know you and laurenwill treasure your time together.
Marge