We made a trip to Whistler with 10 friends from the US 4 years ago when the US dollar was very strong; it was an epic week; best snow in 15 years according to the locals.
We stayed at a friends condo on a lake a few miles north of the resort; there were great ski in, ski out accommodations at the base of the main lift.
Both the Whistler and Blackcomb sides of the resort funneled down in to the same area. There was an option called “fresh tracks” to catch the early gondola up 45 minutes before everything else started running. You have breakfast at the top; as soon as the ski patrol is finished with the dynamite the horn sounds and we were able to get 3 to 6 powders runs in before there were lift lines.