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+

mar 22, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 250
cumulative = 769
freezing level = valley
days riding = 18

five day forecast

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

yep - we got pounded this past week. 126cm in 7 days and things are finally filling in up top. i avoided the crowds yesterday and heard that it was mayhem up there. i believe it cause when i went up today in search of left-overs there was nothing to be found. hard to believe 8000 acres of 50cms can be completely shredded in 24hrs.
my main goal was to do a few laps of flute, but if was closed today, i can only presume for avalanche danger. and even that was looking pretty tracked out.
i'm hoping we get some re-freshies this week cause the mountain's good and deep now.

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

mar 17, 2009

24hr snow = 18
base depth = 230
cumulative = 688
freezing level = valley
days riding = 16

five day forecast

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

winter has finally arrived. we are in to day 5 of continuous snowfall with no end in sight. rip it.

mar 15, 2009

24hr snow = 16
base depth = 200
cumulative = 643
freezing level = valley
days riding = 16

five day forecast

day1 se-sw 10-16 day2 s 5-10 day3 5-10 day4 10-15 day5 15-20

back to back days of 16 cm puts today right up there amongst the best of the year. got a couple of excellent lines on flute and million dollar and the snow is excellent everywhere right now.
being a sunday, it looked pretty busy but it was easy enough to lose the crowds. i'm guessing that the coming week will be the best of the season.
oh ya - we finally hit 200cm in base depth. usually we'd be talking about 300cm at this time of year, but i'm not complaining now.

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

mar 14, 2009

24hr snow = 16
base depth = 189
cumulative = 627
freezing level = valley
days riding = 15

five day forecast

day1 s 10-20 day2 5-10 day3 5-10 day4 10-15 day5 5-10

alright! the first wave hit us and there is plenty more to come. the freezing levels are forecast to stay low and we've got plenty of white in the valley this morning.
one thing i've learned here over the years is that sooner or later the snow always comes. we had to wait until april in '05 but it came. looks like we'll finally hit the 200cm base this week.

mar 11, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 183
cumulative = 611
freezing level = valley
days riding = 15

five day forecast

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

looks like we are square in the sights of a major storm coming this weekend. i have a good feeling about this one. more to follow...

march 9, 2009

24hr snow = 2
base depth = 184
cumulative = 611
freezing level = valley
days riding = 15

five day forecast

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

dudes....nothin doin. more sun and cold. i'm beginning to realize that i won't be getting my money's worth on the season's pass this year. 'nuff said.

mar 4, 2009

24hr snow = 0
base depth = 185
cumulative = 598
freezing level = rising to 1200m
days riding = 15

five day forecast

day1 n 5-7 day2 n 0 day3 0 day4 5 day5 0

so that last system that blew through didn't really do what it was supposed to. the freezing levels stayed around 1700m while most of the precip came down as rain. we only got 10cm on the day they were forecasting up to 40, and once the freezing levels dropped we only got another 8cm. the high alpine is probably decent but as you come down the mountain it becomes more and more icy.

we're back to this year's trend which is sunny and no snow.

last year WB printed an ad in european magazines saying that whistler was global warming proof. guess that shit comes back to bite you on the ass, eh?

mar 1, 2009

24hr snow = 19
base depth = 188
cumulative = 580
freezing level = valley rising to 1700m
days riding = 15

five day forecast

day1 s-se 25-40 day2 s 10-15 day3 2-5 day4 10-15 day5 3-5

hey it's snowing! we got another 19cm to the valley last night and it looks great. too bad the freezing levels have already started to climb (+1 mid-mountain this morning). we are due for another massive system to pass through today, but it'll be rain to the treeline. still, this is the kind of thing we need and usually get in early december to fill everything in and create a solid base. so far march is looking pretty snowy.