Whistler Gay Ski Week 2012 - Whistler WinterPride 2012

It's a happy fact that western Canada's coolest, swankiest, and gay-friendliest ski town, Whistler, is also one of North America's best gay winter hideaways, a modern and stylish community rife with gay-friendly hotels, boutiques, and restaurants, all just steps from one of the world's biggest - and most exciting - ski resorts, Whistler Blackcomb. In fact, there's as much to do here for non-skiers as for fans of boarding and skiing - during WinterPride, there's everything from cooking classes and blow-out parties to Ziptrek ecotours and dog-sledding. The event was especially impressive in last year, as it took place immediately following the Whistler and Vancouver Olympics (this also meant that the dates were later this year than is typical). The dates this year for WinterPride and Whistler Gay Ski Week are February 5 through February 12, 2012.

Book rooms and compare rates on hotels in Whistler during Gay WinterPride.

Events kick off in Whistler on Sunday, February 5, where guests pick up information and can buy tickets at WinterPride's hospitality center and Pride House inside the new and hip Aava Whistler Hotel. Then throughout the week there's skiing, apres ski hobnobbing, dances and parties, a comedy night with Jason Stuart, and a number of events appealing to nonskiers: snowmobile tours, dog-sledding, dine-arounds, a fondue snowcat tour, tubing, a ZipTrek eagle tour, wine tastings, cookies classes, and plenty more - check out the full list of events. There are also plenty of women's events than ever apres-ski fetes to mountain-climbing parties.

You buy tickets to various events, activities, and parties held throughout the week online at Alpenglow Productions reservations page.

Whistler Blackcomb Central Reservations is your one-stop for booking WinterPride lift-ticket and accommodation packages, and there are some terrific deals. In fact, Whistler Blackcomb Central Reservations always has a ton of great packages and deals throughout the season, everything from lift tickets and dining to accommodations.

Be sure to check out WinterPride's page on booking accommodations. This year's official WinterPride host hotel is the attractive, centrally located Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa, which is host several apres-ski events. There are several other properties participating in WinterPride as official "Preferred Hotels" - these include Aava Whistler Hotel (home to WinterPride's registration and information center), Coast Blackcomb Suites, Pan Pacific Whistler, Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre, Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Crystal Lodge, Delta Whistler Village Suites, Blackcomb Lodge, and Nita Lake Lodge.

For more information on the gay scene in Whistler, check out the Gay Whistler Guide and my Whistler Gay Guide and Gallery. Also take a look at the excellent GLBT page produced by the city's official tourism organization, Tourism Whistler.