First and Last

 Skiied Blue Monday evening ,  will be my last night there for a bit they are closing as of Dec 26 due to Covid ....fingers crossed I will be back late Jan but that may be it for awhile. 

What a season opener - Whistler December 8, 9 and 10 2020

 Where to start ...WOW ,  I have arrived.   I have been skiing for 45 years .....started way back in the 70's with a school outing at "Ski Hi" outside of Thorndale I believe.  Through the late 70's into the 80s it was the "London Ski Club" in Byron  graduating to "Blue" during the college years.  First big mountain came in 84 when I was staying in Ottawa for the month of January ...."Tremblant".   Since then I have made an appearance at "Stowe" in the mid 90s  but it wasn't until 2002 that I bought a night membership at Blue.  It wasn't long before I was buying 5X7s yearly and making an annual pilgrimage to Tremblamt.  And then there is "Whistler" ...I have arrived!   I really understand why folks just uproot  and head that way!  

I had a March trip planned but it was canceled as a result of Covid closing the resort.   This trip was somewhat tentative ...the lifts were turning but it really wasn't the best time to be travelling but I had a plan.   I arranged to work from home upon my return,  had a Covid test 2 days after returning and self isolated until the results were posted.  The entire trip was done according to health guidelines.   Wore a mask almost continuously from the time I arrive at the Toronto Airport until the time I left the Vancouver Airport....at least 8 hours.   I wasn't all that bad as time went on I forgot I had it on.   The dangerous Covid parts of the trip were going through security at Pearson ...it was busy.    Both flights with folks within a meter of me  and the Roundhouse Lodge at Whistler...crowded bathrooms and allot of folks inside swapping the same air.   The greatest danger were all the young folks that make the place go.   Typically they were living in cramped quarters sharing with many others.  I am not sure how all this is going to play out its quite possible this will be my only destination ski trip in 2020.    our January trip to Tremblant has been canceled!  Fingers crossed our beloved Blue remains open.  

Tuesday December 8 - Day 1 " Groomers "

The mountains are basically divided into three sections ,   lower,  middle and alpine.    Parts of the lower section had no or very little snow.   Mid mountain was allot like skiing at Tremblant ,   similar groomers,  similar slope and similar length of runs.    The alpine areas were closed and the day was punctuated by the sound of bombs going off clearing avalanche danger.    I was hopeful that they would finish up and start turning Symphony and Peak chairs but it didn't happen.  So I skied the groomers happily in my old groomer skis my 153 cm K2 Impact " all mountain skis.   These little guys are incredibly maneuverable with a short turning radius.   The little guys wouldn't have much of a float if we got into any deep powder so prior to the trip I picked up the 170 cm  K2 Mind Bender 90 Carbon.     I must admit that after a day of the mid mountain looking up at the Peak Chair I was perfectly happy with where I was and was OK if we didn't get to the high alpine and bowls.   

Wednesday December 9 - Day 2 "Bowls "  

Peak and Symphony were turning and it was off to the high alpine areas and I didn't look back.  Chris and Patrick started me off easy with a ride up Harmony Express  Chair ....Peak Chair intimidates the hardiest of souls.   First up was learning how to "Drop In"   ....this is a term you don't hear much at Blue what its really means is your about to jump off a mountain.     Standing on top of the Snow Cornice overlooking the Glacier Bowl was somewhat intimidating  but I received some pretty good instructions and off I went....first drop wasn't all the successful ending up on my back sliding 30 metres before coming to rest.    It was no big deal because it was all at a slow speed and the landing was soft snow.   Did the same drop a couple of more times so after skiing this area for the morning we headed back to thew roundhouse for lunch.   I had graduated and next up was a ride up the peak chair with some memorable drop ins to the Whistler Bowl,    under the Cloudraker Skybridge ,  the Saddle and one other spot ( other spot has a good video ...to be posted ).    Highlight of the day was dropping in under the Skybridge then a traverse to The Cirque.   Basically clinging to the side of a cliff on an 18" snow ledge ,  failure to negotiate this could end in death so yeah it was a little outside of the comfort zone!   Last run of the day was following the Peak to Creek groomer ,  longest Blue run in the world.  

Thursday December 10 - Day 3 " Bowls ,  Bowls and more Bowls"

Patrick ,  Calgary Chris were join by Vancouver Doug and Vancouver Chris.  All of these guys were seasoned veterans of this mountain.   With this crew we ventured well off the usual skied terrain there is just so much to explore at Whistler Backcomb you really could spend every day here and never be bored.   Two highlights of this day was adventuring around the Symphony Bowls and Chris's big drop in off a rather intimidating Cornice.  Next up was a return to the Whistler Bowl and a repeat of the hair-raising trek followed by a really fun Peak to Creek with a detour enroute to the Bagel Bowl.

There are tons of pictures and some fantastic video that I am working on.  Below is the traverse in the Whistler Bowl ....

Spring Skiing - March 12

Had a fantastic ski day spring Skiing at its best!

Thursday March 5th

Skied from 6 pm until the 9 pm close Thursday Eve.  They had Smart Alec closed at the top but you could get in part way down and it was fantastic and fast sugar snow.    The heavily traveled parts like Tranquility and Cruiser were pretty chewed up with groomed sugar snow ...good workout on the legs.  Skied with Patrick for the last hour of the evening. 

POW @ Blue

Well it happened a once every year or two day where I am not working during a week day and the hill gets pounded by snow.  Arrived as the lifts started turning parking at the top of the Southern Chair.   Winds were suppose to pick up in the afternoon and the 20+ cm of new snow was going to get blown around so the plan was to go hard through the morning then call it a day after lunch and that is exactly what I did.  Cruiser got track out pretty quick but no one was doing Waterfall.  I was planning on making a B line for the Orchard but  Waterfall was just so nice I did a bunch of " groomers " before heading to the Glades @ Orchard.   It was like I was skiing on a pillow ,  silently floating through the fresh powder a true joy.  Part of my motivation to get this day in was an upcoming trip to Whistler where I have been told there will be deep POW.     So after a couple of hours of making track on the "groomers" I headed to the trees at Orchard and what a pleasure it was.  Got a tip of an out of the way bike trail to the left of Orchard about half way down the flats.  Took it following a set of tracks laid by the fellow that told me about it and it was fantastic.    Best moment came at the end of the flats dropping into the Terrain Park area dropping in to a 3' drift and then carving it up down the steeps....someone on the lift commented " Look at this guy",  you know your doing something cool when you hear a comment like that!   Wrapped it up around 1 pm after a short beak and it was a good thing because it got really tentative driving with the high winds and blowing and falling snow.

Blue Morning

Few runs this morning at Blue.  Was out with Patrick, Daryl,  Ian and Rhonda.  Hooked up with Skimmer and kids for a run. 

Not so cold...

Dressed better and hit the slopes Wedensday January 22 in the afternoon. 

  

Cold Blue

 Hit Blue last night.  I was dressed for -5C ,  seemed reasonable but the wind was crazy on the lifts so I froze.   Only did 7 runs then called it a day...really tried to find a chair that wasn't too bad but it was a no go so I headed home. 

Mont Tremblant 2020

Logged three almost full days at Mont Tremblant last week.  Took tons of Go Pro videos and many pictures to follow!   

Wednesday January 15
Lucked out with some super comfortable weather ,  -5C ish but overcast.  Top 1/3 of the mountain was in the clouds so visibility was not good.  The snow was fantastic and as is usual the groomers were top notch.  Spent most of the day on the groomers only hitting the glades at the very end of the day  enroute to the refuge.

Thursday January 16
The weather was very similar to the day before....made first tracks for teh second day in a row.  Morning was spent with Kim Burrows doing her first ever big mountain day.  After the 11am lunch break it was off to the Edge for some glade skiing.  More or less stayed there until the Refuge at 2 pm.  Called it a day a little early at 3 pm was feeling a little out of it. 

Friday January 17
Brrr cold,  classic Tremblant at -24C start 07:45 am.    Was in line waiting for the Gondola ride at 07:30 and made the last Gondola ride up at 3:30 pm.   The start was so cold I did half dozen runs the had to come in and warm up.  I was a little tired starting the day but after lunch I found my legs again and closed out the day strong ripping up the glades all afternoon.