Whistler!!!

I'm not kidding when I say that Whistler, BC is my favorite place in the world. This is in no small part due to the phenomenal Whistler Bike Park that offers trails for every kind of mountain biker. Just outside the Whistler village are world-class cross-country trails, but the big fun is to be had on the lift runs. The difficulty level ranges all the way up to pro-only, and you can descend all 3,400 feet of the mountain on jumps, wooden stunts, drops, wallrides, roots, rocks, berms, skinnies...

I took a few runs down the heavy stuff, but I have to admit I was having a lot more fun on the intermediate runs like Crank It Up. Now, A-Line is often the most talked-about trail on the mountain, and it is indeed a blast with all of its fast berms and table-top jumps. It's got so many jumps you spend about half your time in the air. Crank It Up was where I really found myself laughing because the jumps are a little smaller and less technical. Rather than brake-checking and sometimes coming up short like on A-Line, I was floating over every jump and rarely touching the brakes. It's good to push yourself sometimes, but the most fun is when you're relaxed and flowing smoothly.

A short bike ride outside the village is Lost Lake, which has some good swimming and a designated dog beach. The floating dive platform even has a doggy ramp.