claurel
New member
I made the 4.5 hour drive from Seattle to Whistler this weekend. The forecasts had been calling for dumps of 20cm on Saturday and 20-30cm on Sunday, so I was anticipating an epic trip. Didn't quite work out light that, though . . .
We hit Whistler Mountain in Saturday, and headed straight up to Harmony ridge and down the Saddle. The groomed surface was hard and fast; off to the sides of the run were a few inches of loose, chopped up snow--decent riding, but nothing to get excited about. We hit a few more cruisers near Emerald Chair (where we found the only notable lift lines of the entire trip) then went and checked out West Bowl off of Peak Chair. This area had the best snow we'd found so far. Even though Whistler hadn't seen significant snow in a few days, there were still stashes of untouched or lightly tracked snow to be found. The crud underneath the few inches of soft snow kept me off the steeper stuff. After a few runs up Peak, flurries were picking up and the visibility in the alpine began to seriously deteriorate--I think we could see about 20ft. We started down the mountain around 2pm and rode all the way to the base--impressive for this early in the season.
I wasn't optimistic Sunday morning, since the snow report said that there had only been 2cm of new snow and a gray fog engulfed the valley. But our decision to head up the Whistler regardless ended up being the right one. Continuing moderate snowfall and fill-in from the winds made the bowls off Harmony Ridge a lot of fun. Even with the light crowds, the snow there was getting cut up quickly, so we revisited the West Bowl area again and made run after run until our legs were done. Conditions there had improved more than I had expected with only a few centimeters of new. Visibility was on and off throughout the day--generally bad for the top 500 feet, and decent otherwise. We finished off the day with a 5000' top-to-bottom run. It was drizzling down near the village, but that's not enough to make a group of seasoned Pacific Northwest snowboarders download.
Coverage was excellent, and there's a huge amount of terrain open. The Seventh Heaven area was opened on Saturday, bringing Whistler close to 100% open--I think the only exception is new Symphony lift in the Flute Bowl area, which will operate for the first time next week. With one exception at Emerald Chair, lift-lines were non-existent, probably because the typically lighter early season crowds were distributed over two fully operating mountains. Get it while you can; the holiday season crowds will arrive soon.
A warning to be careful on Hwy 99 between Vancouver and Whistler. On the drive back, the vehicle in front of us was hit head-on by a car that drifted from the other lane as in rounded a curve. The accident shut down the highway for hours. It was terrifying. If we'd been tailgating or if my friend driving hadn't been extremely alert, we'd have ended up in the mess as well.
--Chris
We hit Whistler Mountain in Saturday, and headed straight up to Harmony ridge and down the Saddle. The groomed surface was hard and fast; off to the sides of the run were a few inches of loose, chopped up snow--decent riding, but nothing to get excited about. We hit a few more cruisers near Emerald Chair (where we found the only notable lift lines of the entire trip) then went and checked out West Bowl off of Peak Chair. This area had the best snow we'd found so far. Even though Whistler hadn't seen significant snow in a few days, there were still stashes of untouched or lightly tracked snow to be found. The crud underneath the few inches of soft snow kept me off the steeper stuff. After a few runs up Peak, flurries were picking up and the visibility in the alpine began to seriously deteriorate--I think we could see about 20ft. We started down the mountain around 2pm and rode all the way to the base--impressive for this early in the season.
I wasn't optimistic Sunday morning, since the snow report said that there had only been 2cm of new snow and a gray fog engulfed the valley. But our decision to head up the Whistler regardless ended up being the right one. Continuing moderate snowfall and fill-in from the winds made the bowls off Harmony Ridge a lot of fun. Even with the light crowds, the snow there was getting cut up quickly, so we revisited the West Bowl area again and made run after run until our legs were done. Conditions there had improved more than I had expected with only a few centimeters of new. Visibility was on and off throughout the day--generally bad for the top 500 feet, and decent otherwise. We finished off the day with a 5000' top-to-bottom run. It was drizzling down near the village, but that's not enough to make a group of seasoned Pacific Northwest snowboarders download.
Coverage was excellent, and there's a huge amount of terrain open. The Seventh Heaven area was opened on Saturday, bringing Whistler close to 100% open--I think the only exception is new Symphony lift in the Flute Bowl area, which will operate for the first time next week. With one exception at Emerald Chair, lift-lines were non-existent, probably because the typically lighter early season crowds were distributed over two fully operating mountains. Get it while you can; the holiday season crowds will arrive soon.
A warning to be careful on Hwy 99 between Vancouver and Whistler. On the drive back, the vehicle in front of us was hit head-on by a car that drifted from the other lane as in rounded a curve. The accident shut down the highway for hours. It was terrifying. If we'd been tailgating or if my friend driving hadn't been extremely alert, we'd have ended up in the mess as well.
--Chris
