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“Just don’t look down, Mom,” yelled Megan, 13, as she sped off, dangling from a steel zipline. “See you on the other side,” screamed Matthew, 10, as he followed his sister down a cable the length of the Eiffel Tower. Greg, our guide, checked my harness, tightened my helmet, opened a gate, and then I was hurtling 15-storeys above a whitewater river to a treehouse wrapped above the top of a Douglas fir.

There were 10 in our tour—between the ages of seven and 50—ziptrekking at Whistler. Whistler and Vancouver will, of course, host the 2010 Winter Games in February and it’s an exciting time for visitors. For one, getting there has never been easier. The Sea-to-Sky Highway has been straightened, widened and refurbished, putting Whistler less than two-hours away by car from Vancouver.

The shuttle bus to the ziplines at Blackcomb Mountain took us past a black bear by the side of the road, and after an up-close look at the local wildlife, we drove right by the Whistler Sliding Centre built for the luge, skeleton and Bobsledding events. The track is only one of four in North America, and as our guide told us, the eventual goal is to offer rides to the public.

Paul Shore, manager of marketing and business development for the Whistler 2010 Sport Legacies has personally tested the four-man bobsled. “It’s pretty crazy,” he says. “It’s not designed as an amusement park ride, but for an adrenalin rush, it’s on a whole new level.”

Shore said this ride will be like taking a spin in a fighter plane where speeds hit 130 km an hour and 5 gs. “Most people have no context to compare that sensation with and that’s part of what makes it so different and so intense.”

Shore will also oversee the Whistler Olympic Park located 15 kms south of Whistler in the Callaghan Valley. This is where you’ll catch the cross-country, ski jumping and biathlon events. The park opens to public cross-country and snowshoeing after the Olympics—more than 50 kms of trails—and, by the fall of 2010 visitors can tour the two ski jumps and learn how to shoot a bolt-action biathlon rifle.

To get the full effect of Whistler Village, the lakes, ancient peaks and glaciers, we took a 20-minute ride in the Whistler Village Gondola. “Wow, these are really postcard views,” remarked my daughter as we disembarked at over 1,800 metres above sea level. Megan and Matthew raced straight over to the huge stone Inukshuk that they instantly recognized from the dozens of ads touting the Games, and that decorate T-shirts, pens and cupholders. The Peak 2 Peak, the resort’s newest gondola, leaves from this point and now crosses the 4.4 km span from Whistler to Blackcomb Mountain in a speedy 11 minutes. At the highest point, the gondola dangles 435 metres higher than the observation deck at Toronto’s CN Tower.

Before heading back to Vancouver we dropped into the new Squamish Lil’wat Culture Centre. A cross between a Squamish Longhouse and a Lil’wat Istken (earthen dwelling with a fire pit), the centre gives kids an immersion into First Nations culture through traditional drumming, weaving or just chowing down on Lil’wat venison chili and salmon chowder at the café.

If you have an hour or two to spare on the drive back to Vancouver, stop in at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish or visit the B.C. Museum of Mining at Britannia Beach. When you pass through West Vancouver on your way downtown, you’ll see Cypress Mountain where all the free style skiing and snowboarding events will take place. The road to Cypress Mountain is also where we take our visitors for a billion dollar view of the downtown, Stanley Park and Vancouver Island.

Once you pass through Vancouver’s city centre, by the airport is the Richmond Olympic Oval, built for speed skating events and big enough to house four jumbo jets. Visit before December and the kids can skate on the same ice as the Olympians.

There were no skaters practicing during our scheduled tour, but we did manage to see an impressive indoor rowing tank, the sprawling fitness centre and we caught the end of a session where athletes rode along with the Tour de France, broadcast via plasma screen, in the spinning and rowing room.

Aran Kay, communications coordinator, says that after the Olympics, modified ice will return for public skating as well as a running track, artificial turf field, and various ball sports. “This is the iconic building for Vancouver’s Games, just like the Water Cube was for Beijing,” said Kay. “There is a certain cache to just coming inside and taking a look.”

ROAD OR RAIL?

You really don’t need a car to get around in Whistler and now you don’t have to. The Whistler Mountaineer winds through the backyards of West Vancouver mansions, by the top of a 60-metre waterfall, to Brackendale where 3,000 bald eagles congregate every winter, over trestle bridges and through the Cheakamus Canyon where even teens will stop texting long enough to take in the stomach churning drop to the river below. Kids will love hanging out of the open-air 1914 Heritage Observation Car and mine got a kick seeing the golf course where Bob Barker beat up Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore. My advice? Upgrade to the better views, food and service in the Glacier Dome.

EATING

A favourite restaurant for Janet Pashleigh of whistler4kids.com and son Jack, 6, is the Caramba Restaurante. “It has great pizzas and pastas and the prices are fairly reasonable," she says adding that kids will find mac and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs on the menu. We ate calamari and designer pizza while watching a small train travelling around the Whistler Brewhouse, took out paninis from Garbanzo Bike and Bean and chili dogs from Zog’s Dogs. Dessert was a stop at Cow’s for ice cream, and it was almost impossible to drag my kids away from the Great Glass Elevator Candy Shop. Anyone looking for something more adult could drop kids aged six and up at the Core Kids Zone for dinner and climbing.