dec 10, 2010 - double powder

24hr snow = 14
base depth = 150
cumulative = 345
freezing level = valley
days riding = 8

five day forecast

day1 0 day2 se 10-15 day3 30-40 day4 5-7 day5 5-10

big snow week. whistler alpine terrain was closed two days in a row (wed, thu) and finally opened today to the joy of the restless locals. undeniably awesome conditions with greatly improving coverage above 1800m. i hit up my favourite spots off the peak before hiking out to flute. thankfully some other sucker had boot packed out there before me. must have been a tag team effort because the snow was thigh thigh deep. but man was it worth the effort. me and my buddies were the first three lines into flute bowl and we had all that snow to ourselves. as close as you'll get to heli-skiing without the heli.
i hate to tell you, but by the end of the day, the mountain was as tracked out as i've ever seen. if you're up for the weekend, i'd probably suggest blackomb because only GE was running today (first time this season) and if you're willing to work for it, i'm sure there's still a lot of fresh snow up there. i'm wondering if they might be running 7th this weekend??

dec 2, 2010 - is it really only december 2?

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 137
cumulative = 275
freezing level = valley
days riding = 4

five day forecast

day1 s 2-4 day2 0 day3 0 day4 0 day5 5-8

another 100cm has fallen since my first post a week ago. amazingly, most of this snow has made it to the valley. my deck has a good 50cm on it right now, which reminds me i should probably think about shoveling...
so for today's adventure i decided to skin up to the peak and check out the alpine conditions. the worst kept secret in town is that the peak chair will be opening friday with harmony to open on saturday. i wanted to get a few turns in before whistler bowl becomes a mogul minefield for the next 6 months.
it was fantastic! great coverage in general. have to keep your eyes open for unusually large lumps in the snow, but otherwise, great conditions. i rode mainly untracked powder down whistler bowl, then traversed over to west bowl, more untracked powder, then down peak to creek which again was as fluffy as it gets. coverage was great all the way to kadenwood. they could groom and open peak to creek now, but they won't. still, i've ridden it in WAY worse conditions mid season.
should be mayhem this weekend. have fun!

nov 25, 2010 - and we're baaaack

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 81
cumulative = 170
freezing level = valley
days riding = 1

five day forecast

day1 sw 15-20 day2 sw 15 day3 2 day4 0 day5 0

as fate would have it, i am back in whistler. let's see, not much has changed since i've been gone. except, oh ya, we kicked the world's ass in the olympics. (ok, technically our friends to the south won more medals...congrats guys, you were really good at finishing 2nd and 3rd). and there's another new gondola for the special people who live in the big houses above bayshores. but otherwise, i'm seeing two mountains and snow.
so speaking of snow, we're off to a much slower start this season (didn't see flakes in the valley until nov. 17 - i win the bet!) but there was still enough for whistler to open early, as in last friday, nov 19. i went up for a couple of runs, but unless you had the time to hike for freshies, it was pretty nasty. out of pride i did two runs and called it until the next dump.
then it got really cold. we're talking -25C in the alpine and -15C in the valley, and 70km winds. crazy stuff. and now it's finally snowing again so tomorrow should be pretty good.
but that early season extreme cold snap is going to make for a pretty rotten alpine base layer as the season progresses. not much can bond to that.
well, i'll try to make a habit of posting more frequently than once a year. try to get my readership back up to peak levels of 10+.

oh yeah, and i built this house while i was gone!

nov 18, 2009 - qualifying epic

24hr snow = 19
base depth = 189
cumulative = 367
freezing level = valley
days riding = 2

five day forecast

day1 se 40-55 day2 se 35-45 day3 30-40 day4 5-10 day5 5-10

ok, i tend to feel that the "E" word is overused, especially in describing snow riding. but i will cautiously describe my first day of lift riding this year as epic. given that the alpine terrain is closed, blackomb is closed, you would never have been able to convince me that i would be shredding powder run after run on nov. 18. and yet that is what is happening up here right now.
since my last post we actually received back to back days of 71cm! we have a deeper base now than in february last season. and yes, it was true powder up there today, and tons of it.
you don't have to go far to find snow. laps of franz', laps of seppo's, hell - even the main runs weren't tracked out by 11am.
now take a look at that 5 day forecast. epic.


snow coverage: B-
snow quality: A-
run selection: A+
crowds: A
visibility: A
overall: A

Nov 16, 2009 - believe the hype

Holy shit!!!! Had to post today just to report on the 71cm(!!!!!) that fell in the last 24hr. I wasn't planning to burn any edge card days this early in the season, but how can I miss out on this. But the thing is that it's not going to stop, it's never going to stop! They're forecasting another 50-70cm for today, and close to another metre for the rest of the week!
The base depth this morning was recorded at 156cm - we didn't hit that level until the end of February last year. Truly insane start to the season.

Nov 11, 2009

Happy winter! WB just announced that they will be opening early, this weekend. Nov 14 will be opening day for Whistler, the earliest season opening since I've been living out here ('04).
But alas, I no longer reside in Whistler. I moved to Squamish last May, and I didn't get a season pass this year. Instead, I got a splitboard and plan to do mainly backcountry in the sea to sky area. I may post occasionally, but since I can no longer look out my window to assess snow conditions, I don't expect there will be many entries.
Enjoy the early season snow!

mar 25, 2009 - pleasant surprise

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 240
cumulative = 772
freezing level = valley
days riding = 18

five day forecast

day1 ne 0 day2 sw 2 day3 0-2 day4 10-15 day5 0

what an awesome surprise powder day. the mountain only reported 1cm but there was a good 10+ in the alpine along with wind loaded and flattened areas. the sun came out and made for great laps on peak with zero crowds. whistler bowl was about as good as it ever gets.

snow coverage: B+
snow quality: B+
run selection: B+
crowds: A
visibility: A
overall: B+