UPPER CALLAGHAN VALLEY, British Columbia — Snow was falling lightly on the old-growth cedars surrounding Callaghan Backcountry Lodge as we awakened, 14 miles from the nearest road and the bustle of downtown Whistler.
The snow dusted the miles of empty wilderness, the rugged peaks of the Southern Coast mountain range, the Brandywine and Metal Dome peaks. It fell on the Rainbow and Powder Mountain glaciers, where some in our group would later hike with guides for backcountry skiing. And it obscured our snowshoe tracks as we tramped in silence and peace around frozen Conflict Lake.
The day before, a few miles below the lodge, we skied cross-country for several hours on a gently rolling course past the roaring Alexander Falls and through a stunning evergreen forest and into an open natural amphitheater, which will be the site of the Nordic and ski-jumping venues of the 2010 Vancouver “Sea to Sky” Winter Olympics.
“You can see why they picked this place,” said Brad Sills, a Whistler home builder whose projects include Callaghan Backcountry Lodge, as he swept his arms to take in the vista and seemingly touch the sky. “It is as if nature had planned this area for cross-country skiing and ski jumping.”
It was hard to argue. The Whistler Olympic ski jump will fit right into the contour of the towering rock face of Rainbow Mountain. The high, rolling Madeley Creek plateau at the base of the mountain, makes a nearly perfect table for world-class competitive, as well as recreational, cross-country skiing.
At nearly 3,000 feet, it snows here when it is raining in Whistler and Vancouver.
In 2010,thousands of people will trek here to cheer and watch cross-country ski racing, ski jumping and Nordic combined events, but on this day, all that could be heard was the distant rush of the mountain stream and a few jabbering jays irritated by our presence.
After snowmobiling the rest of the way to the lodge (the only way in, at this time, unless you take a helicopter from Whistler), hot showers, hot chocolate and British Columbia’s surprising Okanagan Valley wines beckoned.
David Foran, proprietor and sommelier with the David Mitchell Wine Group, specializes in creating gourmet meals and pairing them with British Columbia wines. He flies clients from Whistler to the Okanagan Valley for wine tours and tastings. He can arrange a private dinner for a couple in a lodge in Whistler or, in this case, haul the ingredients over hill and dale for the Callaghan lodge’s chef Michael Downey to prepare.
Before dinner, a couple played pool in front of the stone fireplace. A guitar leaning against the wall in the corner threatened folk music. I slumped into a deep couch and nibbled alder-smoked salmon and sipped a glass of Sumac Ridge Steller’s Jay, a British Columbia sparkling wine with notes of toast and citrus, fine enough to have come from Epernay, France.
“Even people who know wine don’t realize the quality and variety of wine we have in this region,” Mr. Foran said as he poured a “spicey cherry” Inniskillin pinot noir from Oliver to go with the almond chicken with wild (local) mushroom sauce. “I enjoy introducing visitors to our wines. They are always surprised.”
Each course was paired with a different B.C. wine, first the Kettle Valley Sauvignon Blanc and later the Black Hills Sequentia, each a compliment to the meal and the evening.
The next day, we drove down the Sea to Sky Highway, a winding mountain-fjord road with astonishing sea-mountain-sky views. The road is being widened to three lanes, in part to accommodate traffic for the Olympics.
While the bobsled, luge, skeleton, Nordic and downhill skiing events will be held at Whistler, which is consistently ranked the top ski resort in the world, the 2010 plans call for figure skating, hockey, speed skating, curling, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, and the opening and closing ceremonies to be held in Vancouver.
It is hard to imagine a more welcoming city or better venue.
Vancouver’s super-cool Yaletown, a recently derelict waterfront neighborhood that has been restored and revived with tony shops and restaurants, is patronized by very wealthy, very thin, very athletic and very beautiful people, each, it seems, with a little yapping dog. With the blend of East and West, Yaletown may be home to the most fashionable streets this side of the Seine but without the messy sidewalks so common in Paris.
The minimalist but ultra-stylish Opus Bar and Hotel — steps from the area’s film and high-tech companies — has become one of the city’s trendiest hangouts, guaranteed to make the average Washington fashionista look a bit Mid-Atlantic dowdy.
The Yaletown bike path meanders for miles along the water, past parks and modern green-glass condominiums. It is always crowded with bikers, joggers and walkers, misty rain or shine. To give an idea of the weather, spring’s first flowers, plum blossoms and crocuses, are out in mid-February.
With the 2010 Olympic figure-skating and hockey events taking place in Vancouver, visitors will have access to the city’s astonishing array of Canada’s western cuisine. If you just want good skiing and fine dining, Grouse Mountain is only a gondola ride away. The dining room overlooks Vancouver, and it is a favorite romantic spot for lovers. It is common for one or two hopeful young men to pop the question each night.
Vancouver is the definition of international, and that is reflected in its eating habits, where street noshing to gourmet East-West dining is something of an Olympic pastime.
Stephen Wong, cookbook author and Vancouver TV raconteur, recommends the high-end pub food at the Sandbar on Granville Island. I can recommend the Korean-style barbecue ribs or the “wok squid” with chilies, garlic, cilantro and ginger. The Sandbar’s outer deck, right up in the girders under the Granville Bridge, is a one-of-a-kind place to watch the boats go by below and sample the full array of Vancouver’s fresh seafood.
Another choice is the Wild Rice restaurant, billed as “modern Chinese cuisine,” a blend of yin and yang, East and West, traditional and modern. Menu items include British Columbian halibut congee soup, wild salmon steamer and Dungeness crab hot pot.
In the heart of Chinatown, the Floata Seafood Restaurant is more traditional in style, but on a grand scale. The 1,000-seat establishment is the largest Chinese restaurant in Canada. The menu offers seafood delicacies and Cantonese cuisine, such as Floata supreme Peking duck barbecued on premises and lobster and crab in ginger and garlic sauce.
Mr. Wong’s real favorite is strolling through Vancouver’s Chinatown, one of the largest in North America, and buying duck from one store and roast pork from another as he collects fresh vegetables, strange herbs and other ingredients for the evening’s meal, which he prepares for a local television cooking show.
John Lee, a Vancouver-based British expat who is considered Vancouver’s pub expert, recommends the Fox and the Fiddle for fried halibut and “chips” and a traditional pub atmosphere. For those looking for something more upscale, Mr. Lee takes his friends to the SkyBar for cumin-crusted yam frites or sesame-crusted Hawaiian tuna. It has the look of an “upscale Miami nightclub, but without the attitude,” he said.
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For rates and more information, contact:
Callaghan Backcountry Lodge: www.callaghancountry.com
David Mitchel Wine Group: www.winesandtours.com
Opus Hotel: www.opushotel.com
Sandbar Restaurant: www.mysandbar.com/home.html
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