dec 31 - signs of improvement

24hr snow = 28
base depth = 125
cumulative = 311
freezing level = valley
days riding = 5

five day forecast

day1 sw-s 10-15 day2 s 10-20 day3 0 day4 3-5 day5 5-10

alright - today was a legit powder day. definitely the best day of the season so far, but closures are still limiting rideable terrain. i am still avoiding areas that i would automatically hit on a day like today. i had to pull a kid out of a tree well just below roundhouse - i was sunk in above my waist trying to get to him. props to the kid for not freaking out.
the snow depths that i post here on my blog are taken from the official whistler website. in previous years i have felt that they are pretty accurate, but this year they are padding those stats. the blackomb patrol phone reported only 19cm in 24hr and this seems a lot more realistic. the hype machine also had harmony listed on standby, but as of 11am they didn't even have the chairs on the line. the terrain under peak chair is still suicidal.
i have heard the snowpack described as rotten. i think the technical definition is that due to the extreme cold temperatures, hoar frost, and thin snow pack, the base has lost any ability to bond with the ground below or any new snow above. avalanche risk will be high and likely remain uncharacteristically dangerous throughout the entire season. even with warnings posted everywhere, as i was leaving the hill today i saw a couple heading up with their split boards, backpacks and poles, and they were complaining that harmony was still on standby. what can you do....

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

dec 29 - it was thiiiiiiis big

24hr snow = 19
base depth = 100
cumulative = 264
freezing level = valley
days riding = 4

five day forecast

day1 s-sw 12-14 day2 sw-s 15-20 day3 5-10 day4 2-4 day5 10-20

back in ontario i used to do a lot of fishing and a buddy had this fake tape measure that showed 1" for every real 1/2" - it was great for trip pics and new personal bests. anyway...i'm pretty sure that the snow reporter on whistler got one of these tape measures for christmas.
i went up early this morning, pretty skeptical since i only measured about 10cm of new in my parking lot. i would normally only count 20cm in 24hr as a true powder day, but this year 19 will have to do. it was relatively quiet when i hit creekside at 8:30, and by the time i got to the top of red, franz' meadow was still untracked. i sucked it up and decided to check out the potential mine field. it was definitely a high alert status run, but i did manage to hit some nice powder and not hit any rocks. upper franz was decent groomer, and i took lower franz past the boundary signs and hit some more powder on the way to the base. by the time i got down the lineup at creekside was at least 20 minutes and that was too long for me. might head back up a little later when it thins out.

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













this is what i measured this morning on a car that hasn't moved in 2 days.
the scale is in mm (americans 25mm = 1")









our snowy parking lot - doesn't quite look like 19cm to me

dec 28 - waiting

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 84
cumulative = 245
freezing level = valley
days riding = 3

five day forecast

day1 sw 15-25 day2 s-sw 10-15 day3 15-20 day4 10-15 day5 0-2

this upcoming storm cycle might finally give us enough snow to access good terrain. i noticed that 7th heaven was running today, but didn't bother making the trek out. i'm highly skeptical...
found some pretty heavy bottlenecks again on whistler, but was pleasantly surprised to get in a few powder turns on the bayshores ski-out. amazingly, the coverage out there is as good as anywhere else on the mountain (which isn't saying much).
light snow in the valley as i type.

snow coverage: D
snow quality: C+
run selection: C-
crowds: D
visibility: C
overall: C-

dec 27 - the problem

24hr snow = 15
base depth = 85
cumulative = 244
freezing level = valley
days riding = 2

five day forecast

day1 sw 10 day2 sw 10-15 day3 5 day4 5-10 day5 10-15

15cm yesterday and everything looks beautiful. doubt i will go up today though because my experience has taught me that the weekend after xmas are the busiest days of the year.
if you haven't noticed by now, i love snow and hate crowds. why do i live in whistler? don't ask. but i digress...
the forecast is looking good, but the biggest problem we are currently facing is that we never got that heavy wet 40+cm dump to start the season. the one that works its way into all the crevasses and buries the nastiest rocks and creates a nice level base for all the rest of the lovely snow that we will receive. the snow we've been getting the past few days would have been top notch powder if we had a base, but it just blows away and does not fill in all the danger spots. i never thought i'd be hoping for a heavy wet dump, but that is what we really need right now.
hey - another metre of powder and i'm sure we'll all have forgotten about the bad start, but nothing fills up faster than the wet dump!

dec 26, 2008

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 85
cumulative = 229
freezing level = valley
days riding = 2

five day forecast

day1 sw 10-15 day2 sw 5-10 day3 10-15 day4 5-10 day5 5-10

light snow again today. seems like everywhere else in the province (country?) has snowfall warnings except for whistler. we should start to see some significant accumulation by next week, but the next few days will serve as just enough to cover those lurking rock sharks ready to chew up the bottom of your board or worse. there will no doubt be some brave idiots out there who will keep the ski patrol busy...

dec 25 - the truth?

24hr snow = 9
base depth = 84
cumulative = 229
freezing level = valley
days riding = 2

five day forecast

day1 0-2 day2 sw 5-10 day3 15-25 day4 5 day5 10-20

i wish i could add a positive spin to things...it's impossible. it's really bad out here. terrible. i can't remember a worse day in the past two seasons, and probably longer, but i can't remember anything beyond that.
we seriously have no base. nothing is open, and what is open is half ice and jam packed with tourists. things are pretty dismal at the moment. even with the snow in the forecast there is not near enough to be able to ride good terrain.
i know a week can change a lot and that is all we can hope for. we need a huge heavy dense dump to start filling in the massive craters everywhere. seriously - don't come here. sorry - that's just the truth. merry christmas.

snow coverage: F
snow quality: F
run selection: F (there's nothing to choose from!)
crowds: C-
visibility: A
overall: F

dec 24 - xmas wish

24hr snow = 4
base depth = 72
cumulative = 218
freezing level = valley
days riding = 1

five day forecast

day1 sw-s 10-15 day2 2 day3 5-10 day4 10-20 day5 15-25

looks like we'll finally get some decent snow this week. we'll have a white xmas for sure as it is currently coming down pretty good. think i'll be aiming to head up early tomorrow. who knows how much we'll have by the end of the weekend, but it looks pretty certain that we will get hit hard by something. off-piste will still be sketchy, but things are looking better.

dec 22 - day 1

24hr snow = 5
base depth = 75
cumulative = 214
freezing level = valley
days riding = 1

five day forecast

day1 0 day2 0 day3 5 day4 5 day5 5-10

i finally found the time to start the season today. the conditions were about what i expected, and probably best referred to as "eastern". the base is primarily man-made snow, with a few soft turns to be found. but there are also very icy spots, ice chunky spots, and the always enjoyable experience of getting fake snow blasted into your face.
i called it a short day since i know there are no secret stashes up there. i would probably recommend blackomb due to the fact that they have much more alpine terrain open.

we are still desperately in need of a huge storm cycle. the 5cm here and there is not helping, and it seems like the forecasters have hit the xmas sauce early this year as the 5 day forecast is changing faster than a baby with the runs. at least the deep chill seems to be gone.

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

dec 21 - getting closer

24hr snow = 14
base depth = 74
cumulative = 209
freezing level = valley
days riding = 0

five day forecast

day1 7-9 day2 0 day3 0-2 day4 2 day5 0

another 14cm last night and at least it's starting to look like winter out here. still, only groomers are open and it's still frikkin freezing. it's been our luck so far, there was a blizzard in vancouver and squamish today, but only a few flakes made it as far as whistler.
we're still waiting for a big dump to kick things off - if you can believe it the 14cm last night was our biggest 24hr snowfall of the season. to put it in perspective, the last two seasons we opened with a deeper base than we have currently.
i figure i'll actually do my first day later this week. guess you gotta start somewhere...

dec 16 - at least it wasn't the peak to peak

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 59
cumulative = 186
freezing level = valley
days riding = 0

five day forecast

day1 0-2 day2 4-6 day3 0 day4 0 day5 0

OK - i'm sure by now everyone out there has heard about the excalibur gondola collapse. the best info i've found is here:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/157146.asp

seems like everyone got lucky and no serious damage was done. but i gotta laugh at some people's reactions, like TW37. yeah - i'm sure whistler is "unsafe". i'm sure we manufacture all our own gondolas on site to much lower standards than the rest of the world. whatever dude - just stay home.

having said that, maybe they should have done a quick inspection while they had all those world-class engineers here building the peak to peak.

well, a gondola collapse isn't going to keep me off the mountain, but -20C and no snow will. so i'm still waiting for a good reason to go up, and there's still nothing in sight.

dec 12 - a little somepin

24hr snow = 8
base depth = 56
cumulative = 181
freezing level = valley
days riding = 0

five day forecast

day1 0-2 day2 0 day3 0 day4 0 day5 0

wow - there is actually some white stuff out there. if i had to wager a guess, i'd say saturday morning will probably be the best day so far, but that's not saying much. there is hardly any terrain open, and none of the good stuff. my buddy put it best when he said that opening day was a 2 out of 10, and last time he was up was about a 4 out of 10. 200% better than opening day, but still pretty crap.
now we've got a cold dry spell coming up - and we're talking freakin cold. -10 to -15 in the valley.

oh - and i just realized once and for all that the environment canada alpine forecast must actually be commissioned by the resort operators. last night they forecasted "ideal temperatures for snowmaking at all elevations". since when do weather forecasters care about snowmaking?!?

i'm holding out for another 40cm. maybe by xmas....

dec 5 - any snow this year?

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 41
cumulative = 150
freezing level = 2700m
days riding = 0

five day forecast

day1 rain day2 0-2 day3 0-3 day4 0 day5 5

things are not looking any better for the next 5 days. i still haven't bothered to go up, and the word on the street is ice pack. it's always nice to get some early season snow before the crowds show up, but it's not looking promising this year...