Whistler
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No new snow since Mark's report Feb. 17: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... .php?t=686
This independent report is updated nearly every day:
http://www.dualmountain.com/report/index.html
Nothing expected until early next week. I will share your pain 9 days later, though I will shorten mine from 4 days to 2 if it's that bad. You should have a car to preserve the option of going somewhere else for part of the week. The Okanagan is supposed to be in reasonable shape.
This independent report is updated nearly every day:
http://www.dualmountain.com/report/index.html
Nothing expected until early next week. I will share your pain 9 days later, though I will shorten mine from 4 days to 2 if it's that bad. You should have a car to preserve the option of going somewhere else for part of the week. The Okanagan is supposed to be in reasonable shape.
I've made reference to this subject in the SLC trip thread. If you go on a ski trip and want to have some flexibility to avoid crappy conditions, RENT A CAR. Your airfare and lift tickets aren't free. If I'm taking as week of vacation time and flying somewhere, I've already spent considerable $ and I'm not going to sit still for marginal skiing if there's an alternative.
This January we did 10 extra hours of driving to get in a couple of days skiing at Lake Louise and Kicking Horse on snow that had not been rained upon.
In late March 1986 we had a package deal to Jackson Hole (no car included) and on the first day skied on a 110-inch base of sun-baked SE-facing crud at 65 degrees. We rented a car, drove to SLC and stayed in a cheap motel to get 4 days of decent skiing at Alta/Snowbird. This despite having a one-year-old along for whom we had to find daycare every day.
This January we did 10 extra hours of driving to get in a couple of days skiing at Lake Louise and Kicking Horse on snow that had not been rained upon.
In late March 1986 we had a package deal to Jackson Hole (no car included) and on the first day skied on a 110-inch base of sun-baked SE-facing crud at 65 degrees. We rented a car, drove to SLC and stayed in a cheap motel to get 4 days of decent skiing at Alta/Snowbird. This despite having a one-year-old along for whom we had to find daycare every day.
i don't have much to add, i'm afraid. i went up the mountain on tuesday, expecting that the unseasonably warm temps might make for some soft turns, but it was quite the opposite. the groomies have been scraped down to some real icy patches, and the only thing close to decent was the ungroomed areas off the peak. where i stopped to eat lunch, i watched one person after another go to turn, lose an edge, and slide down a steep icy section. at least that was entertaining.
the forecast is calling for precip starting on monday. we can only hope this time it comes in the form of snow. haven't been too many good days up here this year. although we did just break the all-time record for sun hours in february. and it hit +10C in the alpine the other day. crazy.
the forecast is calling for precip starting on monday. we can only hope this time it comes in the form of snow. haven't been too many good days up here this year. although we did just break the all-time record for sun hours in february. and it hit +10C in the alpine the other day. crazy.
normofthenorth
New member
We spent a week in Whistler Jan 28 - Feb 4. The night before we drove/flew home (to Toronto) was the night of the 30-cm (= 12") dump -- d'Ohhh!!!
Based on everything we'd read and heard, including some of the dire words here, we were expecting to have no fun at all. Well, the snow base and acreage open was by far the worst we (or anybody else) had ever seen, but I think I had my best week on the snow ever! We got around a foot of snow while we were there (a bit below our average -- and not counting the "goodbye dump" of course!), much of it during the ski days, so the visibility was often "variable". But we're old hands at Whistler now, so we stayed out of trouble.
Despite our being there fairly soon after the entire mountains got heavy rain then colder, the off-piste snow was generally wonderful! Harmony Bowl was all terrific! Whistler Bowl was almost too easy to ski -- though (1) we avoided it until the last day because it usually looked like it might be socked in and (2) the exit to the Peak Chair (Shale Slope) was quite slick (and steeper than Wh. Bowl). There were a few other ungroomed spots that were a little wind-packed, or had cornice debris (that wasn't always clearly visible when the light was flat), but the ungroomed was generally great, and the thin crowds meant we could usually catch more "fresh" than we expected. Even 7th Heaven, which I thought needed lots of base, was great off-piste both sides of the lift-line. I'm sure Zhiggy's Meadow would be worth your ski bottoms, but where I went was fun.
On the last day, I finally found the first Whistler double-diamond I've ever dared to ski (3 times!) -- Harmony Horseshoes #6. Once you sneak into the cornice at the top, it's an easier ride than Whistler Bowl. A lot like Camel Humps, which it's just beside.
I also discovered the "side door" into Whistler bowl, around to the left (a bit out of bounds), avoiding the usually gnarly and sometimes downright vicious "standard" entrance. (Why don't they make that IN bounds?!?) And one of my runs down Jersey Cream Wall on Blackcomb was the best run I've ever skied anywhere, ever! No video, darn it, though I had a Level 3 Instructor (a friend) behind me as a witness -- and I got cheers from the JC Chair overhead!! Not my usual style, I just went for it, straight down the fall-line, linking identical turns at steady speed, as if I knew what I was doing!
Our skis do have a few new little grooves, mostly from lower-altitude "ski-outs" that were crowded and slushy with occasional rocks. One was the @#$%^&* run you have to ski if you want to download from Blackcomb to Whistler Village. Even when the weather is warm and the snow is scanty, they won't let you download on the chair above the little village Gondola, so the only choices are either to download to Blackcomb Base and take a bus to the Village, or ski all the way down to the top of the little village Gondola. We chose the latter, which was pretty miserable. The other awful spot was where everybody was funneled together to the bottom of the Red Chair, after skiing what should have been upper Dave Murray -- except that ALL of Dave Murray was closed the whole week we were there! Slushy, crowded, some rocks, and foggy, otherwise great!
The remarkable (bad) part was the great terrain that was totally closed, some of which was even totally green and brown! Dave Murray, Bear Paw, Tokum, Seppo's (as Mark already mentioned), Goat's Gully, Raven & Ptarmigan, &c, &c., all off-limits. The bottoms of Bear Paw & Tokum, leading down to Olympic station, were all totally devoid of snow the whole week. Even on the "snowy" days, they were below the freezing line. One day (Feb. 2?) we actually got drizzled on most of the day. And a few days we were skiing in heavy fresh snow that sometimes turned to GLUE or to that funny "suction" consistency that won't let go of your skis(!). But onlyparts of a few runs all week had those problems.
The theme of the week, heard from most of the smiling faces on the mountains, was "A bad day at Whistler is better than a good day . . . (fill in the blank)".
We're heading back on March 27 for another week. This time my expectations will be higher, so there's more chance I'll be disappointed
We'll see. More snow, and snow lower down, would be a Good Thing. 
Based on everything we'd read and heard, including some of the dire words here, we were expecting to have no fun at all. Well, the snow base and acreage open was by far the worst we (or anybody else) had ever seen, but I think I had my best week on the snow ever! We got around a foot of snow while we were there (a bit below our average -- and not counting the "goodbye dump" of course!), much of it during the ski days, so the visibility was often "variable". But we're old hands at Whistler now, so we stayed out of trouble.
Despite our being there fairly soon after the entire mountains got heavy rain then colder, the off-piste snow was generally wonderful! Harmony Bowl was all terrific! Whistler Bowl was almost too easy to ski -- though (1) we avoided it until the last day because it usually looked like it might be socked in and (2) the exit to the Peak Chair (Shale Slope) was quite slick (and steeper than Wh. Bowl). There were a few other ungroomed spots that were a little wind-packed, or had cornice debris (that wasn't always clearly visible when the light was flat), but the ungroomed was generally great, and the thin crowds meant we could usually catch more "fresh" than we expected. Even 7th Heaven, which I thought needed lots of base, was great off-piste both sides of the lift-line. I'm sure Zhiggy's Meadow would be worth your ski bottoms, but where I went was fun.
On the last day, I finally found the first Whistler double-diamond I've ever dared to ski (3 times!) -- Harmony Horseshoes #6. Once you sneak into the cornice at the top, it's an easier ride than Whistler Bowl. A lot like Camel Humps, which it's just beside.
I also discovered the "side door" into Whistler bowl, around to the left (a bit out of bounds), avoiding the usually gnarly and sometimes downright vicious "standard" entrance. (Why don't they make that IN bounds?!?) And one of my runs down Jersey Cream Wall on Blackcomb was the best run I've ever skied anywhere, ever! No video, darn it, though I had a Level 3 Instructor (a friend) behind me as a witness -- and I got cheers from the JC Chair overhead!! Not my usual style, I just went for it, straight down the fall-line, linking identical turns at steady speed, as if I knew what I was doing!
Our skis do have a few new little grooves, mostly from lower-altitude "ski-outs" that were crowded and slushy with occasional rocks. One was the @#$%^&* run you have to ski if you want to download from Blackcomb to Whistler Village. Even when the weather is warm and the snow is scanty, they won't let you download on the chair above the little village Gondola, so the only choices are either to download to Blackcomb Base and take a bus to the Village, or ski all the way down to the top of the little village Gondola. We chose the latter, which was pretty miserable. The other awful spot was where everybody was funneled together to the bottom of the Red Chair, after skiing what should have been upper Dave Murray -- except that ALL of Dave Murray was closed the whole week we were there! Slushy, crowded, some rocks, and foggy, otherwise great!
The remarkable (bad) part was the great terrain that was totally closed, some of which was even totally green and brown! Dave Murray, Bear Paw, Tokum, Seppo's (as Mark already mentioned), Goat's Gully, Raven & Ptarmigan, &c, &c., all off-limits. The bottoms of Bear Paw & Tokum, leading down to Olympic station, were all totally devoid of snow the whole week. Even on the "snowy" days, they were below the freezing line. One day (Feb. 2?) we actually got drizzled on most of the day. And a few days we were skiing in heavy fresh snow that sometimes turned to GLUE or to that funny "suction" consistency that won't let go of your skis(!). But onlyparts of a few runs all week had those problems.
The theme of the week, heard from most of the smiling faces on the mountains, was "A bad day at Whistler is better than a good day . . . (fill in the blank)".
We're heading back on March 27 for another week. This time my expectations will be higher, so there's more chance I'll be disappointed
We'll see. More snow, and snow lower down, would be a Good Thing. hmmm, i was wondering if perhaps i was getting spoiled since living here for that past year. it is true, a bad day on the mountain is still better than just about anything else. i also know my attitude towards riding was a lot different during a two week vacation than it is now. so maybe my descriptions can be a bit harsh sometimes. still, according to all the locals, we haven't seen conditions this bad in 30 years. glad you had a good time, norm. hopefully it will be a lot better when you get back out here.
normofthenorth
New member
I've heard 40 years, Mark! It is a sad sight to see all that brown and green near Olympic station, that's for sure. And so far, it doesn't look as if late March is shaping up to be better. And if this really is "the first year of the rest of the Earth's climate" (if you know what I mean), then YIKES! But I still had a blast in the Alpine and found a remarkable amount of nice snow, so I thought I'd toss that in.
"See you" in late March!
"See you" in late March!