Has anyone been to Manning Park for snowboarding?
 

HI RS,

I ran into someone today who told me that they prefer to go to Manning Park over Whistler. Mainly because Manning Park is cheaper, less busy, and not that much further than Whistler.

Can anyone comment on Manning Park and if it is in fact better than Whistler?

Obviously, it won't have as long runs as whistler, but is it bigger than cypress/grouse? And is it good?

Whistler is so damn expensive now, it's hard to go up there. If I can save a couple hundred bucks, i'd rather go somewhere else.

It's a different mountain, less busy, cheaper and a very nice mountain if you don't care about the shopping and restaurant's that the village has.

and you probably don't need snow tires to get there
edit: i lied, #3 requires it

"Better than whistler"

a park no one even mentions in the same breathe as Big White or Sun Peaks isnt even close to one of, if not the greatest ski resorts in the world lol no offense.

I've only been once and from what i remember it's fairly small

If your a beginner and don’t care about the village any mountain is great. But ^^^ he’s right.

Since going to Sun Peaks for the first time 4 years ago. This is my go to mountain every year. 4 years ago when I went to Whistler, the runs were all skied out by noon. Not to mention the amount of people on the slopes and around town. I enjoy the smaller village Sun Peaks has to offer and their runs are really fun.

They also have a decent priced hostel up there with a chair lift right across the road. Makes ski in and out super easy.

Sun Peaks was my local favourite, but I still enjoyed going to Harper Mountain which was half the cost, half the distance from Kamloops, and had a much friendlier/less snobbish atmosphere. I've never been to Manning but I would consider it if it has drier snow to that wet heavy shit I've found on the coast at Cypress/Whistler/Mt. Washington. Long drive though.

Hmm, thanks for the replies everyone.

It seems Manning park isn't as amazing as the person made it sound.

I've never been to sun peaks, but It's a little far for me. I will have to make a trip out of sun peaks one day though, sounds amazing.

I also heard revelstoke is really good too.

That could not be farther from the truth. The s2s is wonderful in the winter. The crows nest is usually shittier and often closes before manning park. Much narrower and sketchier

Manning Park sucks, if you're looking for small and less busy, do Hemlock instead.

Revelstoke is much better than whistler. Cheaper, less crowded, better snow, and nearly as much terrain. Its 7 hours away instead of 2 though (although whistler might as well be 7 hours away with how crowded the highway is on weekends.)
Whistler has great terrain, but everything else about it is ridiculous.

I agree, you can't beat the interior in terms of prices, and snow quality.

Sometimes I wonder if people like going to Whistler just a status symbol.

I've never been blown away by my experiences at Whistler, snow is heavier and wetter, way more ice, and the damn mountain closes at 3:30.

the difference between revelstoke & whistler's travel time in the winter?

the drive is already a bit of a snooze-fest in the summer...at least if i'm crawling on the S2S there's probably decent view

Since the new S2S i've never taken more than 2.5 hours door to door

in the summer can do it in under 2 some days. A big difference between revelstoke lol

I fucking love Whistler, summer or winter

Never had bad experiences up at whistler either. I usually plan my arrival to the parking lot for like 8am for 830am upload. And the mountain is fairly big that the line ups arent terribly long, just gotta know which areas are not as busy.

Opening weekend it was faster to take the duffey to whistler than the S2S sunday night. 7+ hour trip times. Obviously not the norm, but lift to door often takes me 2.5-3 hours in the winter. I live in north Van, so it should be closer to 1.5. For me its just the cost+time-fresh snow that makes it frustrating. They can pump so many people through there, that all the snow is thrashed by noon if all the lifts are open. That makes the travel and $132 lift ticket seem pretty poor value. Baker is $6x USD, and you can ride pow in bounds 2 days after a storm. Their food is better, they have craft beer for $4 at the chalet, and people are nicer. Whistler has just become an extension of what sucks about vancouver.

Agree COMPLETELY. Just wished Baker had better light exposure, the mountain gets tons of flat light which can make it a little annoying on some days.

Food and beer blows Whistler out of the water though, and bang for your buck.