Though thrilling, mountain golf can take its toll. After 18 holes at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club—playing our way up the slope of a mountain and through a challenging terrain of chasms, granite outcroppings, rushing creeks, and towering Douglas firs—I have to admit that my game was a little bruised and my body even worse for wear.
The cure? Taking the waters at Scandinave Spa.
Scandinave Spa in Whistler was designed to blend with the mountain landscape. (Image: Scandinave Spa)
A five-minute drive outside of Whistler Village, on the edge of Lost Lake Park, this outdoor spa is built over three acres, with facilities staged on levels climbing down a gentle slope. Opened in 2010, the spa was designed to look like it emerged organically out of the natural landscape, an impression reinforced by the grass and meadow flowers serving as green roofs on the cedar buildings.
The recommended hydrotherapy “cure” is a simple cycle of hot, cold, relax and repeat. With a groan, I slipped into one of two hot pools (40C) and started to work out the shoulder kinks. (Other options for the hot cycle include a Eucalyptus steam bath and an authentic wood-burning Finnish sauna.) It took some courage in the next stage to plunge under the Nordic waterfall—no dipping a toe in, just forge ahead!—but after the initial shock I felt reinvigorated by the bracing (22C) water. Finally, the relaxation stage beckoned, with my choice of a quiet solarium, terrace lounge chair or hammock.
Up in Hammock Haven, swaying under the trees and looking out over the mountain vistas, I drifted off into a blissful nap.
Scandinave Spa is open year-round, rain or shine, and offers their Scandinavian Bath Access for $58. Other packages offer hydrotherapy with Swedish, deep tissue, sports, hot stone and Thai Yoga massage.
