Set on the very edge of a great wilderness, southwestern British Columbia offers visitation rights to places and experiences you'll find nowhere else on earth. North and east of Vancouver/Victoria, the skiing and mountain-biking in Whistler are truly world class, and the place has become a year-round mecca for recreation that goes from X-treme to sublime. Alternatively, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in Tofino, is an ocean resort town of phenomenal beauty, with crashing surf and the old-growth giants that make Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada an ecotourist's dream come true.