It’s early Sunday morning at the base of Whistler Mountain and you just want to sleep in. The entree last night at dinner was a Vancouver specialty, sablefish, washed down with a heady British Columbian syrah. The room is so warm and the pillow so fluffy. Just one more hour of rest, maybe two. . . . No way! This is Whistler, my friend, where the wise get up early and board the Whistler Village Gondola at 7:30 a.m. for Fresh Tracks.

For $19.95 (children ages 7-12 $13.75), you get the green light to head up the mountain an hour before it officially opens, grab breakfast at the Roundhouse Lodge, and get two to three good runs in before the masses arrive. Before 8 a.m., you’re already at 6,069 feet, dining on a buffet breakfast of waffles and eggs, waiting to hear those magical words, “Runs are open!”