Early April powder at Whistler

The forecast was a bit ominous for this weekend. Precip and freezing levels of 1800m aren’t always the best recipe for a Whistler weekend.

Luckily the freezing levels were barely above gondola mid-stations, and the weather came and went periodically, one minute dumpage, the next blue skies. This meant we could even get in the Alpine with visibility if you timed things well.

Saturday afternoon got a bit wild. It made for a fine Sunday though, with 23cm of freshies up high. Overall, a very fine visit indeed. Some pics here as proof 🙂

10700, 9900, 7800m vert

44 days, 350,400m vert, 12 powder days

Getting Value-for-Money from Edge Cards @ Whistler

It’s been an odd start to the ski season in the Pacific Northwest. Odd, but sufficiently snowy, which is a lot better than the Rockies!

A huge pre-Thanksgiving dump set up our annual Whistler trip beautifully. Then, express pineapples from Hawaii arrived, ensuring we arrived at a somewhat sodden village for Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily the rain stayed away until Sunday, and the groomer skiing was pretty darn fine and extensive. Even in the rain on Sunday, the skiing was excellent. Just soggy. We bailed early.

Returning two weeks later, another storm cycle had considerably improved conditions. Outer Limits was boney but very skiable, and on Saturday we had lots of fun off the newly opened Peak chair. There were still surprises though, like the mandatory skis off creek crossing on Jersey Cream on the exit from Overbite. We followed a patroller’s example. 🙂

Finally, we sneaked another two days just before the Xmas madness started. This time it felt like winter. The conditions were excellent top to bottom. It was cold and crisp. Virtually the whole mountain was open and it was deserted.

Pics here show how the conditions changed over the month. And thanks to the Edge card deal we have, seven of these nine days were free. Thanks Vail! We’ll be back to use our remaining 3 days of the 5 day Edge card in February.

As we rolled out on the Friday afternoon after a fabulous day, the stream of vehicles heading up the mountain foretold the madness of the arriving Xmas hordes. It was going to be a crazy busy one.

ThxGiving 8100m, 8800m, 8800m, 4200m

December 8-10th 9500m, 10,300m, 9100m

Stevens Pass 4800m

December 21-22 9900m, 10,900m

Season Totals: 12 days 98,400m vert

MLK Weekend at Whistler

It’s weird, as we don’t usually ride Whistler in mid winter. When the whole mountain is actually open. The crowds were even very respectable for a US holiday weekend. And with rather calm, benign weather, it was kind of a luxury to be honest.

With so much terrain, epic and varied terrain in fact, it’s impossible to beat Whistler in North America. There is simply so much superb skiing. Simple delights like a top-to-bottom, deserted,  Peak-to-Creek runs are not possible to replicate on this continent. There’s trees, killer steeps, epic groomers. And in mid season, if you can see it, you can ski it.

Friday we luxuriated in the emptiness, spending a lot of time on the Symphony chair. We played on the numerous lines into Rhapsody Bowl and ducked in and out of Glissando Glades. Low angle tree fun at it best.

Looking out towards Flute Bowl

A warm up on Harmony 🙂

Symphomy Gowl

Saturday was a Blackcomb day. We got caught in one 10-minute line at 7th Heaven at 10.15am, but apart from that, waiting was no big deal. This was a full mountain exploration day. I really enjoyed Raptor Ride and Where’s Joe, two tree runs on the way to 7th Heaven. It’s a bit of a trek back to Solar Coaster, but this particular Saturday it was well worth it.

Back to Whistler for Sunday. Lots of long groomers (‘coz they were epic) down to Creekside and off the Garbanzo chair. Seppo’s under the lift line was very worthy too, if a bit sketchy down low. Crowds – well, there weren’t any.

The krew ripping 7th Heaven

Boarder Gurl having a Bark Sandwich

Raptor Ride

Raptor Ride – Jess doing it Instructor Style

Local wildlife

And Monday we just ripped Blackcomb groomers, mostly off the Crystal Chair. There were a few excursions into glades like Outer Limits and Log Jam, and the rocky steeps under the chair (no idea what they are called), but basically we just flew on fantastic corduroy with few slow moving obstacles on the runs to avoid. I clicked out of my bindings back at our Wood Run condo at 12.59pm , with over 10Km vert on the GPS. Bummer we had to drive home really.

10,800m, 10, 900m, 11,700m, 10, 100m vert

Season totals 25 days,  205,800m vert, 8 powder days

More Early December Whistler Pow

Not a great deal of snow had fallen at Whistler in the 12 days since we left on ThxGiving weekend. It had been cold though. Real cold. Perfect for filling in the mid and lower trails with gun pow. The whole place looked a lot whiter.

A skiff of snow fell Thursday night, freshening up generally firm runs and adding a little give to the off-piste. High cloud invited us to take laps on Harmony, where some of the bowls skied pretty well. Just before lunch we headed up the Peak Chair and as we did, in moved the weather. It was ski-by-braille on the top of the Peak-to-Creek. We bailed at the Big Red Chair, and stayed on mid-mountain ripping groomers for the rest of the day.

A solid 4 inches+ fell Friday night. Early runs on Blackcomb were fantastic. Warming up on the terrain park, smoking pow between jumps, was great fun. Then laps on Seventh Heaven where the trees near the chair were a bumpy soft delight. There was still time before lunch to duck over the top, grab a shot down Pakalolo and head back up to hike to the Blackcomb Glacier. It was a little rugged in places, but there were really nice fluffy turns to be had.

Whistler Village

7th Heaven

7th Heaven

Heading to Pakalolo

Jess in Bark Sandwich

‘Garbo’ chair

Jan

Jan

Peak to Creek

Sunday was a mild storm day. Snow overnight was topped up constanly by steady falls. The upper mountain was socked in all day, so we played mid-mountain on Whistler. Garbanzo was the go-to lift, with no line (it wasn’t busy anyway) and some excellent on and off groomed runs to be had. It was a very fine, fast day.

Friday 9500m, Saturday 8000m vert, Sunday 8500m vert

Season totals 8 days,  58,800m vert, 6 powder days

Footnote: This was our first trip with the S’no Joke ski club, which we joined recently. 80+ members headed to Whistler and stayed in the Listel and Aava hotels – fantastic locations and great pre-Xmas prices. Everyone carpooled up and we shared with another new member (from the UK!) who turned out to be a really nice guy. The downside of this was that we collectively knew no one in the club, and as we arrived 8pm-ish Thursday and missed the arrival drinks, we pretty much hung out together that night and skied together Friday.

Friday night was a fun social with tasty food. We got to know a few folks, but I especially was hampered by an evil cough, so wasn’t exactly on best socializing form. There was a pre-ski meeting Friday morning where we at least got to ride up the lifts with a few members and chat. The group quickly disintegrated when we got to the top but I did manage a few runs with a strong group of skiers. Promising.

Large, established groups are always hard to get to know, so it’ll take time, but hopefully we’ll meet a few good ski buddies downstream. If any turn out as good as out friends from the Desert Ski Club, we’ll be very hoppy indeed 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very warm early May at Blackcomb

Summary of post for busy readers:

• fabulous Spring skiing for 4 days on Blackcomb
• It’s ridiculously warm and the snow is melting fast

This was 4 days of some of the best Springy goodness you can ever have on skis. Soft groomers early, dollops of corn by lunchtime especially around 7th Heaven, and epic lines to pick off in the afternoon off the Glacier chair.

The only downside is the temperatures are making the snow disappear very rapidly. The amount of melt in 3 weeks since Whistler closing weekend is quite staggering. This is a stupidly warm Spring. The runouts to the lower chairs were brown mush by the afternoon, and on Sunday rocks appeared on high traffic areas on 7th Heaven. The heat from the previous day did some serious damage.

Run of the trip was an 11am descent of the Blackcomb glacier. A short hike led to innumerable lines of heavenly corn snow down the full length and breadth of the broad glacier. You just picked your line and like Donald Trump on illegal immigration, let it rip without a care in the world. Below the glacier, the run out was slow, and in several places. bare. Walking required. It was worth it.

Blackcomb in Spring

Blackcomb – heading to the glacier

Blackcomb in Spring

Blackcomb in Spring

Blackcomb in Spring – Lakeside Bowl

Blackcomb in Spring

Blackcomb in Spring

Blackcomb in Spring – watch out for cougars!!

Blackcomb Glacier

Blackcomb Glacier

Blackcomb Glacier

Blackcomb Glacier stroll to lifts

On 7th Heaven, a lunch time push out skier’s left revealed high quality lines in Lakeside Bowl. Huge radius high speed turns were the order of the day while watching the pond skimmers try their luck on the melting blue edge of the glacial lake. It was all slightly surreal.

Pakalolo at Blackcomb

Pakalolo at Blackcomb

Overbite at Blackcomb

Hanging with the Blackcomb bears

Hanging with the Blackcomb bears

Blackcomb pond skimmers

As 7th Heaven closed, runs like Cougar Chutes, Pakalolo and Heavenly Basin delivered steep and soft turns. It was actually remarkable how well all the runs held up in the afternoon heat. Our standard last run of the day from the top of Jersey Cream down Zigzag was fantastic at 3.30pm-ish every day. High speed slush riding is epic fun. Just let those rockers ride the snow and hang on.

I hope we get some more in before this crazy hot Spring melts all the snow.

9,300m, 9500m, 8200m, 6900m vert

Season Totals: 66 days, 535, 700m vert, 23 powder days

 

Our 2010 Ski video

Finally up at here at youtube – covers February to May, including Lake Tahoe, Ischgl, Galtuer, Mt Bachelor, Mt Hood meadows, Crystal and Whistler. It was an especially fine spring 😉

We’re off again – Ski Season 2010-11 is up and running

With the reliability of crazy quotes from Sarah Palin, the new ski season kicked off with good conditions the weekend before Thanksgiving. Timberline, Hood Meadows and Crystal were all open, with the draw of all the lower Timberline lifts being open winning our business.We were rewarded with light crowds, silky soft groomers and obstacles that were mostly easy to miss. Except perhaps for the odd out of control snowboarder. A surprising number of people ended their seasons unexpectedly early with rides in blood wagons. Ah well, there’s always next season, folks …

Normal service was also resumed for Thanksgiving with 4 days at Whistler. Conditions were decent upon arrival up mid-mountain, but with no more than a birthday cake-like frosting of snow in the village. 2 days of storms, bringing at least 18 inches to the village and much more up high, transformed the mountain by the time we left on Sunday. Run outs to both bases were open, and there was much hero-like packed powder to be found in between a few seriously slick trails. The only disappointment was that no alpine lifts were opened, and I suspect snow quality wasn’t the reason. Still, we had a pair of excellent powder days and lots of fun, as these photos of the crew hopefully show.

If La Nina keeps delivering like this, even Sarah Palin’s craziness won’t be able to keep up with the storm frequency 😉

Timberline, 2 days, 5200m, 5300m vertical

Whistler, 4 days, 7300m, 8100m, 8100m, 6900m vertical

Season totals: 6 days, 2 powder days, 40, 900m vertical

Blackcomb, beer, bears and a few double-black diamonds

It was Blackcomb’s turn to open for Spring skiing in 2010. Well, maybe ‘Spring’ wasn’t quite the right description for the weather on the mountain. Variable cloud and intermittent snow showers kept the skiing on the top third of Blackcomb most winter like. Only lower down did it soften, becoming slushy but not gluey by the afternoon.

We basically skied everywhere. Spanky’s offered great turns all the way down Ruby Bowl. Pakalolo was mid-winter chalky, grippy awesomeness. The groomers off 7th Heaven, especially early, were fast lightly populated highways with a speed limit of as fast as you dare.

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Fortunately it was warm and sunny in the village. Ideal for drinking après beers in the sun and watching a bear wander out of the woods just above the GLC. All in all, yet another spectacular May weekend of skiing at Whistler.

3 days: 9400m, 10700m, 7200m vert

69 days: 551,900m vert

21 powder days

 

Powlicious closing weekend at Whistler

For some reason the world seems to think there’s no snow at Whistler this year. It’s like imagining there’s no oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, somewhat crazy and deluded. In fact it’s a near-record snowfall year. Snow as deep as the height of your average NBL player means it’s going to be a darn good spring.

This last weekend in April was Whistler’s swan song for the season. But even the last weekend of the Telus Festival and 4-6 inches of new snow failed to bring the crowds out on Saturday. All morning we skied Harmony, laying fresh lines in the amazingly light new layer of fresh that transformed the underlying frozen surface from solid glacier to a firm but comfortable mattress. Bob Dylan has made more albums than the number of people we saw that morning.

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Fog and wind moved in by lunchtime, forcing us over to Blackcomb to shred the the tree-lined runs all afternoon. But by Sunday, the sky had cleared, a couple more inches of snow had fallen, and there was even less people on the hill. We lapped Harmony, on and off groomers, Sun Bowl, Little Whistler – it was all superb, mid-winter snow. Next was laps off the Peak, hitting the epic lines down West Bowl and the autobahn-like Upper Peak-to-Creek. A 3pm Peak-to-Garibaldi Lift Company topped off our Whistler skiing for the season, and an awesome day on this great mountain.

Saturday 9800m vert, Sunday 10,300m vert, Monday 6300m vert

Season totals:

65 days: 517,700m vert

21 powder days