Hi, <BR> We will be in Vancouver in January for 4-5 days and have a craving for a quick skiing session. <BR> How accessible are the skiing areas around Vancouver? <BR> Is it possible to organise a daytrip to Whistler. (Excuse my ignorance - I am not sure how far away it is).

Yes certainly people do it all the time. <BR>That being said it's a very long day being that it's a 2 hour drive each way. <BR>Bus lines do travel the route www.whistler.com may give you the details. <BR>Be VERY careful on the way home you'll be tired it's not a particularly good road,twisty,winding and rather narrow in places-I travel it 4 times week at this time of year. <BR>Local hills (Vancouver)will be open but pale in comparison and may/may not have snow.

There's B.C. Rail Service between Vancouver and Whistler. Leaves Vancouver at 7am, gets to Whistler at 9:10am. Departs Whister at 6:10pm, gets back to Vancouver at 8:45pm. <BR> <BR>Call 800-339-8752 for info. <BR> <BR>Bobo

I agree with Mike. <BR> <BR>It takes about 2 hours to drive to Whistler from Vancouver, so if you plan to make it a daytrip, leave very early in the morning. You might want to check out Whistler's website to get an idea: <BR>www.whistler-blackcomb.com <BR> <BR>In case you don't have time to go to Whistler for some reason, Vancouver, as Mike mentioned, has three local mountains: <BR> <BR>Cypress Bowl - www.cypressbowl.com <BR>Mount Seymour - www.mountseymour.com <BR>and Grouse Mountains - www.grousemountain.com <BR> <BR>The nice thing about the local hills is that they're only a 20 minute drive from downtown Vancouver and they're cheap. Locals tend to ski/snowboard those slopes after work, but they're nothing compared to Whistler.

Check out http://www.travelforkids.com which has lots of ideas about things to do in greater Vancouver -- whether you have kids or not.