One perspective that I don't think really has been brought up in this thread has been that of the spectator.
And I'm not talking the "I'll sit on the patio of this cafe sipping my latte whilst watching those poor bastards suffer" sort of disengaged, casual spectator.
I'm talking the "Dutch Corner" calibre of spectator who is motivated and maybe rabid, and wants to see the suffering en masse.
The kinds of spectators who came in the hundreds to the Yellow Lake climb in the 90's and early 2000's and parked their cars and blasted their tunes and gave us their energy, an experience as close as most of us would/will ever come to Solar Hill.
What a showcase for the sport, what a spectacle, and an inspiration.
Having done the Whistler course, even on the Callahan & Pemberton climbs, nary a soul to be seen or heard. How sad.
If having an "easy & convenient" Ironman spectating experience is what you value(d) - I'd say yeah, what a shame that Whistler is gone. Well, the full distance anyway.
But if you spectate like you race, and you really want to experience the magnitude, and at times, the solitude, of the Ironman experience, the South Okanagan is the real deal.
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