Backpacker Buzz

Land-based activities are seriously overrated. Ask any seabird: the real fun happens when you're either airborne or afloat. Going beyond just opening a new hostel there, HI is continuing in the spirit of absolutely blowing up in Whistler with even more new discounts that celebrate those who fly and those who float.

10% off all activities at Whistler Wake

Even though you technically can snowboard well into the summer on Whistler/Blackcomb's glaciers, why bother getting altitude involved when you can strap a board to your feet and attempt to swallow an entire lake.

HI members get 10% off all activities at Whistler Wake, including lessons for beginners, which kindly offer up the first rule of successful wakeboarding: Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.

The action goes down on Green Lake, five minutes north of Whistler Village. You can also get the discount on their Women on Water sessions or, if you're better than a first-timer, stock up on 30-minute sets that include the boat, your driver and coach, and all your gear.

10% off any Ziptrek Ecotour

If summoning the power of flight is more your style, take advantage of 10% off Ziptrek Ecotours through the mountainy rainforest around Whistler. You may have gotten a glimpse of Ziptrek in action over downtown Vancouver during the Winter Olympics. This is just like that, only much bigger and you'll swap the throngs of flag-waving fans below for raging rivers, pants-wetting drops of up to 200 feet and head-shaking wildlife.

Start small with the Bear Tour, which includes five lines over Fitzsimmons Creek, the waterway running between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. Or step it all the way up to the new Mammoth Tour and get double the lines and a meal to recharge half-way through.

A twilight tour is also on offer since everything in whistler looks different after dark, or you can wax arboreally with a guided interpretive canopy walk in the trees.

Check out all of the HI-Canada member discounts and stay tuned to Backpacker Buzz for new discounts that are always in the works.