is there any where cheap to stay near whistler

Squamish, pemberton, although hotels are less likely there. You may find a lodge.
Is it for a vacation or longer term

check craigslist in squamish. there's been lots of new development up there and allegedly there are lots of people with places to rent.

Alice lake campground

if it's while the olympics are on then you might want to redefine what you think is cheap.

Surry.

I'm thinking T r o l l

I thought that on the surry post - but willing to give the benefit of the doubt

there's 3 posts - the other seems more sensible . . .

you make one spelling mistake and you get the piss taken out of you, when all im doing is trying to get info for when i land!

You make 2 and the pedants want to string you up !! C'est la Vie on here!

Come on peeps, that's no way to greet a new member.

Try Here

Beat IainK to it.

There are 3 hostels in Whistler:
Southside Diner
HI-Whistler
UBC Lodge

In addition, during the "shoulder seasons" - i.e. autumn or early spring, there tends to be heavily reduced deals on hotels (getting close to hostel rates)

I was hoping someone might know of a place that was a bit of a local secret, the sort of thing that might not always show up on google, iv done google, hotwire est. but im still trying to cut my costs down.

<abusive rant removed>