Ease is key when you’re traveling as a group, and ski-in/ski-out Legends Whistler in family-friendly Creekside is about as easy as it gets. There’s an express gondola right outside your door, so you can get from lobby to peak in less than 20 minutes. Quick, take some photos before everyone splits off on different runs, and make plans to regroup for a mid-morning hot cocoa break. Look for the runs where pro photographers in yellow jackets snap posed group or individual action shots, then check them out later at Carleton Lodge across from the main gondolas in Whistler Village. Après ski there in the village, or head back to Creekside and hit Dusty’s Bar & BBQ, winner of the 2016 Best Après award, and the heart of Creekside from way, way back to its humble beginnings 50 years ago. During the warmer summer months, join fellow guests on the patio around the pool, and continue your outdoors-a-thon with burgers on the grill. Or leave dinner to the pros in town, where you’ll find 15 restaurants, several bars and a grocery store for last-minute popcorn and ice cream stock-ups.

Comfortable, inviting one- to three-bedroom vacation suites give you from 590 to 1,290 square feet of living space, and sleep up to eight, depending on which residence you choose. Ski and bike storage keeps all that gear out of your way. And each suite has a cozy gas fireplace for thawing out numb fingers and toes, plus a DVD player to keep the little ones entertained while you fold clean laundry (in-unit washer/dryer!) or get dinner going in the full kitchen. There’s a separate community game room just for kids, well stocked with toys, board games and Wii U stations – so you can pack light on all that stuff. There’s also a theater room and downstairs lounge area where you can gather around the wood-burning fireplace or shoot pool.

Like the resort name implies, the Creekside area is full of legends, like Molly and McGee, the unlikely grizzly cub and piglet buddies who used to hang out by nearby Green Lake back in the 1930’s. Ask locals about any other fun stories, or make up a few of your own. The Valley Trail connects Whistler’s neighborhoods from Function Junction to Emerald, and is buzzing with bikers, rollerbladers and dog walkers in the summer, and cross-country skiers and fat-tire bikers in the winter. Check the calendar for events and festivals like the summer concert series, Whistler Children’s Festival and the CrankWorx Mountain Bike Festival.