“I’m skiing in the middle of the freaking summer!” I actually yelled it out loud, top of my lungs, a bunch of times. I just couldn’t contain my excitement during a recent July day on Horstman Glacier in Whistler Blackcomb, BC*. When I was a kid, I used to dream of going to South America for summer skiing. It’s great to discover I can get my fix a hell of a lot closer to home.

There were a couple hundred of us skiing and boarding in Whistler’s summer sunshine. Kids, mostly. And a few die-hard middle-agers, who, like me, couldn’t resist the idea that we could buckle up our ski boots on the green grass in Whistler Village, ride three chairlifts above wildflowers and fully-leafed aspens, then actually snap into our ski bindings and hit the groomed slopes on natural snow (ok, and some slush, and some blue-wet ice, but still…).

Just like winter, the snowboard crowd (rider dudes and chicks) shredded plenty of the summertime glacier. But I was totally surprised to see kids—most looked to be eight or nine—bouncing through well-sculpted lanes and practicing flips and twists on a jump, their dude-coach shouting advice and encouragement from behind hipster Oakley sunglasses. Canada’s future freestyle-ski competitors taking advantage of a summertime advantage.

Now what to do about the sunburn on my nose…

www.whistlerblackcomb.com/todo/summer/glacier/index.htm www.tourismwhistler.com www.tourismbc.com

*Glacier skiing at Whistler Blackcomb is open during the first half of summer. Generally, it’s only for advanced+ skiers and snowboarders. But anybody can ride the lift up for a look.