Whistler.

Even on an average day, the 120km trek from Vancouver to Whistler via the Sea to Sky Highway is not for the faint of heart. The highway has a reputation for being picturesque but also for its precariously situated switchbacks and narrow corners. Thankfully, over the next two years, the provincial and federal governments will have put up over $600 million to make this highway a little safer for the estimated 21,400 vehicles that travel the Vancouver-to-Whistler stretch daily.

Only two hours from Vancouver lies a skier's dream nestled in the Coast Mountain Range. Sure, the trek to Whistler Village is a little chancy, especially if it's in the winter and a snow storm is coming at you full throttle, but once you get there, it's obvious why the 2010 Olympics are coming to town.

Whistler is renowned for its intense vertical, amazing powder, an amazing 8171 acres of ski-able terrain, and views which remain second to none. It's a snow-lovers dream. In fact, Whistler generates over $1billion per year in revenues, strictly from tourism—impressive for a town with less than 10,000 permanent residents.

Certainly, the stretch SUV limos practically lining the Sea to Sky Highway (rented out at $485 each way), and massive mountain homes clearly not built for the average person, didn't help the perceived image of Whistler being a surreal destination. It only made it more obvious Whistler isn't exactly a right for the budget travelers.

Whistler has made it very easy for city-people to remain city people. This isn't a place to escape for the weekend; the creature comforts are still right at your door. With Starbucks and expensive parking, the hustle and bustle of a city is right there in the village that swells to 40,000 on a busy weekend. The village isn't exactly for the average person, (i.e. me), who can't exactly justify regular trips to Whistler for a weekend of snowboarding.

For me, a novice snowboarder with less than half a dozen attempts under my belt, taking on Whistler Blackcomb was a little frightening. Not only did the road to the ski hill scare me, the price of the lift ticket and rental gear ($85 lift+$50 rentals = yikes) scared me even more. Gone was the idea of doing Whistler cheaply.

The whole experience left me wondering, how do people do it? Do people my age really have that much money that they can afford the $1750 annual lift pass? The $459/night hotel price tag? The $9 daiquiris at the day lodge? When the majority of the people I saw were kids, no older than I am, it made me wonder how they could afford being decked out in the pro-gear head to toe, and the ski-bum lifestyle.

When avid-skiers come from all over the world to live it up in Whistler and make the slopes their home, and when buying new boots and skis is more important than regular contributions to your RRSP's, Whistler, whether it likes it or not, acquires a pompous feel to it. It's unfortunate, especially with the Olympics right around the corner.

The 2010 Olympics in Whistler will be a bittersweet event. On one hand, major improvements to the infrastructure will take place, affordable housing will be built in the village and a major cleanup of the area will take place. Yet money will be diverted from other social programs that would benefit the city of Vancouver… and all in the name of a 17-day event.

Whistler is downright gorgeous, boasting breath-taking views every where you look, and the employs the kindest lifties who you'll ever have a four second encounter with. If the goal is to ensure a fantastic, albeit expensive time, they've exceeded it. However, with the ridiculously priced accommodations, whether just renting or actually purchasing, I fear the average person will not be able to take part in the 2010 games; it will be too expensive. Is that something that the Olympics really wants to be part of?

By all accounts, Banff and Calgary remained somewhat normal during the 1988 Olympics. Although it changed Calgary's identity from cow-town to an actual city, boasting its commercial sector, it put Calgary on the map. Whistler is already on the map; people know what it's all about. What they don't know is the price they'll pay for a couple days of skiing.

Will the rest of the world travel there and get something they didn't bargain for? Or was the ritzy factor only something that I didn't expect?