05-02-2025
The Canadian holiday giants preparing to host Prince Harry and the Invictus Games
Flying close to the snowy peaks of British Columbia's North Shore mountains, the pilot of our de Havilland float plane was enjoying reliving his bush pilot days. It was December and somewhere below us, bears slept beyond the forest firebreaks that protect the swimming-pooled homes of affluent Northern Vancouver.
Yet we were only four minutes flight time from Vancouver's 'City of Glass' downtown high-rise district, a skyline that couldn't be more at odds with the icy summits now sliding past my Perspex window.
Extensively explored in 1792 by British explorer George Vancouver, this once rough-hewn sawmilling settlement was incorporated as a city in 1886. With its dramatic setting between boundless forested mountains and the abundant natural and trading resources of the northern Pacific, Vancouver fast became Canada's richest city.
Between February 8 to 16, Vancouver, and Whistler Blackcomb ski resort (a two-hour drive north), are hosting the Invictus Games, the adaptive sports competition for wounded service members and veterans, founded by Prince Harry in 2014. It's the first time the Games have included adaptive winter sports and both venues were anxious to show off why they're the perfect hosts for the mix of events.
Which is how I found myself in a wheelchair, using a long pole to shove a curling stone across the ice at Vancouver's Hillcrest Centre. It may have been the perfect low-risk adaptive sport for a first-timer, but I estimated at least 1,000 practice shoves are needed to halt the friction-free stone within the concentric circles known as the 'house'.
Later that evening – the white heat of competition having cooled – wearing my Vancouver Canucks bobble hat and clutching a huge pretzel, I watched my new favourite ice-hockey team play the Florida Panthers at the city's Rogers Arena. To me, the odds seemed stacked against the Sunshine State, but as the puck was slapped around – so fast that from my position high in the 18,000-seater stadium only player body language told me what was where, when – the scoreboard confirmed we'd won.
The fine dining food scene in Vancouver is, I'm told, 'not bouji'. There may be 10 Michelin-starred restaurants but people don't dress up. Four of those restaurants are Asian – there's a huge Asian community here – and I sampled excellent sushi at Minami, in buzzy Yaletown, 15 minutes from the city centre. I skipped the fad for bacon and maple ice cream at 10pm, but the next day, at Granville Island food market – second only to Niagara Falls as top Canadian attraction – I bought some of Agnes's molecular gastronomy bubble bombs.
Vancouver's blend of wealth and wilderness belies a challenging relationship with First Nation indigenous peoples, four of which were integral to Vancouver and Whistler's bid to host Invictus. Across Canada, a process of 'Truth and Reconciliation' is underway, seeking to solve complex legacy issues. Over another exceptional dinner at the Salmon n' Bannock Bistro in South Granville, with Sxwixwtn Wilson Williams, a spokesman for the Squamish people, I asked how the First Nations connected with the Invictus Games. 'It's about healing,' said Wilson, supping a homemade sweetgrass and cherry soda, explaining how there's a healing connection between injured soldiers and injured First Nation peoples.
Northern Vancouver has some limited local skiing, but Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in North America and just 76 miles north, past the gunmetal waters of Howe Sound.
The resort hosted the Olympics in 2010, meaning facilities for Invictus are superb. The 20km-squared resort area needs transport to get around, but in mid-December the overriding vibe was electric: 7,000+ Christmas lights' worth of electricity, festooning every tree.
At the Four Seasons hotel, the décor is high-end cosy, in 200 rooms of wood panelling and chunky stone. My suite had the five-star touchstones of multiple giant televisions and a gas-powered log fire. Outside, the spa and pool complex steamed under mood lighting as guests downed S'mores and cocktails. It's not easy to rough it in Whistler.
But skiing is a great leveller and as our guide expected clients to over-estimate their abilities, she swooped down Whistler's fast, wide runs to expose our level of self-delusion. The off-piste terrain was sketchy due to warming temperatures, so we tagged along with the adaptive skier group to see how Invictus would benefit from Whistler's expertise.
It turned out I knew nothing of the range of adaptive skiing available, with the well-trained and genial crew of the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program (WAS), a charitable society teaching people of all ages with disabilities or neurodiversity for more than 20 years.
Talking with former Canadian military competitor Patrick it was clear that some will be trying sit-skiing, or biathlon (cross-country skiing and shooting), for example, for the first time when they arrive in Whistler for the Games. Patrick says that some of the 25 teams are 'stacked' with experienced athletes, while others are there just to take part – which underlines the 'healing' nature of the games.
Out at Whistler Olympic Park, a few miles from the main ski area, I tried my hand at biathlon. It's very popular in Canada, and Chris, a veteran national team member, sees the combination of skiing hard, then hitting a target the size of a golf ball at 50m as the ultimate test of fitness and self-control.
I lay on the firing point and picked up my rifle, as gleeful spectators looked on. When the last target fell, my smugness shattered as Chris revealed he'd set the targets to the larger size used for the standing shoot.
Back in Whistler village, after après ski at the famous GLC bar, I dressed up, just a little, for dinner at the Wild Blue restaurant. At CAD$300 (£170) a head, the food is as good as you'd expect, from towers of shellfish to the finest Wagyu; it's a treat to savour.
Whistler remains as impressive as ever and, combined with the culture of Vancouver, is hard to beat. There's no better hosts for the Invictus Games 2025 than this storied corner of British Columbia.
Will was a guest of Destination Canada, Whistler Tourism and Destination Vancouver.
The Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 run from February 8 to 16, with adaptive sports events in Whistler Blackcomb and Vancouver.
The Games were launched in 2014 by Prince Harry as an international sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick service members and veterans.
The 2025 games are the seventh Invictus Games and are the second time Canada has hosted the event, following the 2017 games in Toronto.
The Games' name and logo, together with the brands' signature black, yellow, white and gray palette were co-created with artists from each of the Four Host First Nations. Each Invictus competitor may bring two family members or friends in recognition of the importance of recovery being a shared journey.
Up to 550 competitors from 25 nations will compete in 11 sports, including six winter sports, for the first time in Invictus Games history.
The Winter adaptive sports are: alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, cross-country skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling.
Other sports are: Indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
The Invictus Games 2025 are being held on traditional territories of the Four Host First Nations of Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh. This Games partnership will ensure that the Nations achieve sustainable benefits for their communities, and that their languages, traditions, protocols, and cultures are meaningfully acknowledged, respected, and represented in the planning, staging, and hosting of the Games.
The eight venues for the games are: Vancouver Convention Centre (main event hub), Hillcrest Centre, UBC Aquatics Centre, BC Place, Rogers Arena, Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler Olympic Centre and the Whistler Sliding Centre.
The Invictus Games 2025 can be viewed online through Canadian broadcaster TSN and UK forces digital broadcaster BFBS.
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