Vallea Lumina: Interactive night walk in Whistler
Vallea Lumina is a multimedia night walk created by the Adventure Group in Whistler. We decided to go check it out last December with 2 other friends as a fun night-time activity.
Tickets
We purchased adult tickets for $30 with a timed entry of 8pm. We paid a little bit cheaper because we chose to drive ourselves to the base camp, but for a few extra dollars they can include a shuttle from Whistler village to the base camp.
In terms of timed entry, the walk would take around 20 minutes and their earliest wintertime entry is 6:30pm. Just make sure you choose a time that includes travel time since the base camp is not in Whistler village (maybe a 10 minute drive) and that it is dark by the time you arrive. Since this is a multimedia walk with lights, it makes for a better experience if it is dark and the weather is clear (not raining or snowing) as you will be outdoors.
Vallea Lumina experience
We start off in the base camp and there’s a large story telling aspect of this experience. There is a set trail you are supposed to follow and the story begins as we are following pioneers/previous hikers on this trail and we are experiencing what they got to experience.
The trail is lit up with different lights and there are tents and base camps set up to start telling the story. They use a lot of audio stimulus for the storytelling so when you arrive in certain spots, you will hear music or thunder or someone talking to you. It was really cool for us because I think our timing was right, so when we arrived at the first location, we were just in time to listen to the beginning of the story that told us who we are and what we are doing on this trail.
My favourite area of the trail was this starry sky spot and bridge. They use a lot of projection lights in this area so it doesn’t damage any of the nature. It’s really pretty and it feels like we are floating in a galaxy!
Other areas of the trail are not as impressive, but there were some cool things like the projection of faces on trees so it looks like they are talking to you.
There are also projected shows and songs, kind of like a pixelated hallucination. Mostly these performances are of a man and a child singing in front of a bonfire and the fire would create these different images for us to see. It was very cute and cool!
Final thoughts
The 4 of us really enjoyed our walk through Vallea Lumina. Generally, we all thought it was a cool experience and it was worth our $30. I would note that it’s more of a one-time purchase as I don’t see myself purchasing another ticket to do this again.
The beginning of the trail was definitely more exciting than the end, especially that salmon river was kind of disappointing. We had fun being in the snow and enjoying the lights. At the base camp, you can purchase warm beverages and there are some campfires for you to sit and enjoy, but we didn’t stay that long after we completed the walk as there wasn’t anything else to do at the base camp.
Sincerely, Loewe