ok, let me rephrase the whistler question

if these are the factors:

cost - five months skiing and lodging at whistler, $3800.

proximity - condo ski in/ski out, no commute of any kind to mountain.

village - whistler village is surely full of life and ammenities, from
what i've read it is completely self sustaining so you never have to leave.

terrain - whistler has more lift serviced terrain than any other resort
in north america. it also appears to be the ultimate big mountain resort
with more alpine terrain than anything else on this side of the atlantic.
i've never heard a single person criticize the quality of whistlers terrain
so im assuming it isn't a matter of quantity over quality.

snow quantity - whistler averages 360 inches a year


so far so good.


snow quality: so far all anyone has said is that it rains a lot at the
base, and that the snow is wetter than snow in the interior. my question,
for the tenth time, is the snow above the tree line so wet and heavy that
it is unenjoyable for a skier, or is it still nice snow just not AS nice
as certain other parts of the country?

weather: whistler doesn't appear to be the sunshine capital of the world,
but then again, snow doesn't fall from the sun and it doesn't seem to
get bone chillingly cold very often either. i know weather is an issue
for people going for a week or two but is it really an issue for someone
living there the entire winter? is this a non issue?

crowds: whistler gets a lot of skiers but it also has a lot of terrain
to spread everyone out and it seems that its not very hard to get away
from the crowds once you get to know the place. non issue?

lift lines: how bad are the lift lines during the week? are they only
bad on weekends or at the base in the morning before everyone spreads
out to the different areas?


there is only one potential whistler killer for me and thats the snow
quality, i don't need the driest fluff in the world, but i don't want
to ski in heavy wet sludge thats not enjoyable.. it doesn't have to be
perfect, it just has to be good. there's no one resort that gives that
excels at all the factors i listed above, the idea is to go to the one
that excels the most overall without failing at any of the important
ones. for example staying in banff for the winter would require a
30 to 45 minute commute everday, that fact alone takes banff out of
the running for me. the snow at tremblant is nice and dry but that
doesn't mean its a better place to spend the winter than whistler.
it wouldn't cost any more, you can live right next to the gondola,
there aren't any crowds during the week.. BUT you'd need to commute
into town anytime you needed something, it has very little interesting
terrain, it rarely snows (avg 150"), its usually freezing cold, windy
and icey (not a little ice, 90% ice). see how that works? you have to
look at every factor, not just one or two. so if you have any suggestions,
please feel free..