feb 26, 2009 - the day we've been waiting for

24hr snow = 22
base depth = 188
cumulative = 557
freezing level = valley
days riding = 15

five day forecast

day1 0 day2 0 day3 5-8 day4 15-25 day5 5-10

dudes - it doesn't get much better than today. 75cm in the past 3 days, and clear blue skies today. the temp this morning was -18C, and that only served to preserve the perfect snow. by 10am the sun had warmed up the air and conditions were perfect.
it was one of the busier days i've seen this year, especially in the alpine, but it makes sense that everyone has been jonesing for a day like today. still, plenty of fresh snow to be found, almost anywhere, and i finally hit some of my favourite spots that weren't worth it up till now. no question it was the best day of the season so far.
friday looks like more of the same, minus the untracked snow. but it's still great soft stuff. then something else blows in this weekend. setting up for a big march?


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

feb 24, 2009

24hr snow = 14
base depth = 166
cumulative = 519
freezing level = 1000m
days riding = 14

five day forecast

day1 sw 15-23 day2 e 10-20 day3 0-2 day4 0 day5 0

terrible visibility conspired to ruin some pretty decent alpine conditions. and the visibility truly was bad - the kind of day where you let gravity have its way with you and just hope there are no obstacles. but aside from that, there was quite a lot of deep untracked snow, not exactly champagne powder, but it sure felt better than ice. surprisingly there were zero people on the mountain. i rode right onto the chair every run. not typical for whistler after 44cm in 48hrs.

i expect the upper mountain conditions will probably remain good for the next few days, but the lower mountain is a mess. heavy slush has been falling for the past two days and underneath that is a hard layer of ice. stay high (as i like to say).

things are taking a turn for the better the next few days. freezing levels look to be staying low, and there is a significant system moving through over the next 48 hrs. have we perhaps started a new chapter on this season?

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

feb 23, 2009

24hr snow = 30
base depth = 160
cumulative = 505
freezing level = valley
days riding = 13

five day forecast

day1 se 6-10 day2 sw 4-8 day3 10-15 day4 0-2 day5 0-2

wow. the report this morning is 30cm in 24hr. unfortunately i won't be able to make it up today to check it out first hand. i would also have to temper my normal enthusiasm for this kind of a dump since freezing levels appear to be very high. we only received about 5cm of slush in the valley, but if you can stay high enough it'll probably be one of the few good snow days so far this season.

feb 22, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 130
cumulative = 475
freezing level = valley
days riding = 13

five day forecast

day1 sw 6-10 day2 se 2 day3 5-8 day4 10-15 day5 2

my buddy was up on blackomb yesterday and his synopsis is that it was the worst mid-season conditions he's ever ridden out here. groomers were ice pack everywhere. i've been up twice this month which should say it all.
we do finally have some snow in the forecast so hopefully that will amount to something decent. but anything less than 20cm will just be dust on crust. it is looking pretty bleak.
to put this season in perspective, our cumulative snowfall for the season is 475cm. we received 469cm in the month of january '06. OK, that's too much fucking perspective.
on a positive note, we've already had 31 warm sunny days in 2009!

feb 17, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 133
cumulative = 475
freezing level = valley
days riding = 13

five day forecast

day1 sw 0 day2 sw 0 day3 0 day4 0 day5 0

dudes - we got nothin...hasn't snowed in a week, and it isn't going to anytime soon. at least i've had a full-time distraction this winter in building my house. then maybe when it's done it'll start snowing in april...

feb 13, 2009

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 137
cumulative = 475
freezing level = valley
days riding = 13

five day forecast

day1 ne 0 day2 ne 0 day3 0 day4 0 day5 0

i decided to give up on new snow and just explore a bit today. it was my first time going through whistler bowl this season and i can honestly say that it's the boniest i've ever ridden it, regardless of the time of year. still, i managed to find what would almost qualify as powder in some of the lesser trafficked areas.
well, the snow isn't great, but at least it's sunny and the groomers are in decent shape. hard to believe, but we've had 24 sunny days since the start of january. for my own selfish reasons, i can't complain.

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

feb 10, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 140
cumulative = 473
freezing level = valley
days riding = 12

five day forecast

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

i forgot to mention the other day that the lower peak to creek run opened on saturday - meaning the mountain is officially 100% open. better late than never i suppose.
we got a nice 10cm dusting on sunday night, and while this doesn't add up to much in bounds, the slow accumulation and relatively cold alpine temps have been improving back country conditions out here. the snow pack seems to have stabilized so for those who are willing to work for them, there are good turns to be found out of bounds. just stay above treeline!

feb 8 - slacking

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 132
cumulative = 462
freezing level = valley
days riding = 12

five day forecast

day1 se-sw 4-8 day2 sw 2 day3 2-4 day4 0 day5 0

i haven't posted in a long time and unfortunately it's not because i've been too busy playing in the snow. we've hit another dry spell (i'd actually consider it's been one long dry spell since Jan 12) and i'm just not interested in any more groomers. i know guys who have been checking out kybers, etc, but as far as i'm concerned, there is not enough base to safely move through areas like these.
compared to the past 3 seasons we are more than 100cm below our base level for this time of year. our january snowfall (117cm) was our 2nd lowest since '85 (in '05 we had the massive pineapple and only measured 42cm for the month), and this is normally the month where we load our base for the rest of the season.
the next five days isn't looking much better. trace amounts of snow for the start of the week, then another ridge of high pressure sets in.

mid season review: (numbers posted are this year / last year)

40+cm days = 0 / 2
30+cm days = 1 / 3
20+cm days = 4 / 9
10+cm days = 12 / 26
days with freezing levels 2400m or higher = 12 / 0

feb 2 - hoping for 6 more weeks like today

24hr snow = 22
base depth = 142
cumulative = 460
freezing level = 1500m
days riding = 11

five day forecast

day1 sw 2-4 day2 0 day3 5-10 day4 0 day5 0

today was a day of pleasant surprises. first of all, 22cm when they had forecasted 2. that hasn't happened in a loooong time. secondly, perhaps the lightest crowds i've seen since november. and thirdly, the light boards listed the alpine as being closed, but i happened to cruise past harmony right as they fired up the chair, so a couple of laps of untracked powder.
the only downside to the day is that the freezing level continued to rise and the snow became very sticky and heavy by the afternoon. even the alpine was turning to cement on my last run. but still, definitely my best day of the season so far, and hopefully the first of many more still to come.

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

feb 1, 2009

24hr snow = 1
base depth = 124
cumulative = 438
freezing level = valley
days riding = 10

five day forecast

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

went up yesterday with a friend who's in town for a few days. the weather once again let me down. the snow forecasted on friday never came; instead we got some rain right before the temperature plumetted, creating a slick layer of ice in the valley. the sub-alpine conditions were extremely hardpack with a slight layer of sugar snow on top. upper mountain was very cold and blustery.
today it snowed lightly most of the day - 8cm by 4pm. i think tomorrow will actually be pretty decent, at least in the morning.

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