Whistler Blackcomb comprises a village with several large hotels, eateries and bars, condominiums, and vacation homes. The village is 675 m (2,214 ft) above sea level, and is located approximately 126 km (78 miles) from Vancouver, and Vancouver International Airport and can be reached by car within about 2 hours, depending on road and traffic conditions. Simply follow Highway 99 to get to Whistler Blackcomb.
There are two mountains developed for skiing, Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. The highest lift elevation, on Blackcomb, is 2,240 m (7,347 ft). The vertical drop of 1,562 m (5,123 ft, but often exaggerated to 5,280 ft or one mile for marketing purposes) at Blackcomb is the most of any ski resort in North America. Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski area in North America, has a skiable area of 8,171 acres (33 km²), over 50% larger than that of Vail, the runner-up, with 5,289 acres (21 km²). By some reports, Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in the world, but because of the practice of many European ski resorts (the largest are in France, Austria, and Switzerland) of measuring total trail length rather than total area, a definitive answer isn't currently available. Blackcomb has a glacier that allows for summer skiing from June until August. Whistler Blackcomb will host events for the 2010 Winter Olympics, including the men's and women's slalom and GS, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events.