Whistler

[Stacey]

I can't believe that it is not even October and it has already snowed in Whistler and Tahoe! Whistler plans on opening on Nov. 22nd. Here in Tahoe, I can see a little bit of snow still on Mt. Rose. Maybe we will be skiing in Tahoe by Halloween! Think snow!

[Chris]

early season camps at Whistler, rock. you have the whole mountain to yourself. I remember Early courses when we skied everything, blk glacier, 7th heaven, spankys ladder, col extream, don't miss out!

[OldGuyinAk]

November 12, 2007
80cm (31.5") of snow hits Whistler Blackcomb as intense storm pounds Coast Mountains

Base Currently At 108cm/43" - Early Opening Considered for Powder Hungry Skiers and Snowboarders.

Mother Nature has dumped over 80 centimetres of snow on Whistler Blackcomb in the last 48 hours bringing the mountain's snow base to 108 centimetres/43 inches. The Environment Canada Alpine Forecast is calling for a small reprieve from the intense weather tomorrow and Wednesday before storms pummel the mountains again on Thursday and Friday with 20-40 centimetres forecasted.

Operations crews and all front line staff are going full steam ahead to prepare the mountains for the upcoming winter season. Official opening day is November 22 but with outstanding snowfall this week an early opening is being considered. A decision will be made Wednesday, November 14 in the afternoon.

"Giddy anticipation is definitely the overwhelming feeling in Whistler right now," says Doug MacFarlane, Whistler Blackcomb's Mountain Manager. "It's dumping snow on the mountains right now. This weather system has been a huge boost for our early season conditions and will build an excellent base for the rest of the season. Our on-mountain webcams can give people an excellent idea of what is going on up on the mountain."

[Chris]

Check out the Blackcomb web cam action http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/cams/blackcomb/index.htm I love this place for early training. We have the Dream team of Dave Achey and Kemp Dowdy heading up this years Whistle/Blackcomb session both are past and present regional demo team members. These guys are not only great skiers, but two of the finest teachers in the country. Staying slope side will make this camp very memorable
Photo- Kemp arcs one at Sugar Bowl!

[Chris]

Kemp and Dave

[ckuck]

Photo? What photo? Just an icon... Oh, Rustyyyyyy...

[Chris]

Photos and videos need to be this size before we can upload. My bad! I will play with photo sop to get these to an acceptable size. Don't blame Rusty, it is the server who limits our upload capacity

avi 9.54 MB - -
bmp 97.7 KB size 620 X 280
doc 19.5 KB - -
gif 97.7 KB 620 X 280
jpe 19.5 KB 620 X 280
jpeg 97.7 KB 620 X 280
jpg 97.7 KB - -
mov 9.54 MB -

[ckuck]

Let's try a jpeg! (I wasn't blaming Rusty, that was more of a "helllllp!" cry.) Here's a shot from the Squaw Cam this morning. Uh-oh, looks kind of brown!!! And a hair over three weeks before Jumpstart... :eek:

[Chris]

I plan on being up there and I will try to get a photo! :D

[Kimberly]

<http://email.intrawest.com/servlet/cc5?pOQSWDUDQTVJojpkxkspgHklJQJhuVaVAVJhglHJlXpKVS RADBWS

Here's a link to a video Whistler just sent out, it shows some pretty sweet early season conditions!! That's where I want to be right now!!

[OldGuyinAk]

Here's an update from Whistler.

Tuesday was a powder day. Meet this guy in the lift line. I knew I couldn't keep up, wish I could. Check it out at http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103175

Be prepared to ski alot - hardly anyone is here. There are no lift lines except for the Whistler Gondola first thing in the morning. On Blackcomb today there were times when I was the only one on the run.

The snow is excellent though the coverage is a little thin. I skied my powder skis on Tue. and hope to use them again tomorrow. It's hard to avoid the rocks, but then again I'm not to careful. So far nothing a trip to the shop can't fix.

It's hard to say if the alpine on Blackcomb will open while we are here. The Harmony chair is running on Whistler which effectively opens all the alpine on Whistler. Downloading on the trams at the end of the day but still lot's of terrain to ski.

Gotta go find some ibuprofen and the hot tub. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday.


Jim
P.S. ski in / ski out is a bit sketchy but the bus is free to the base.

[ckuck]

Here's an update from Whistler.

Well, that update is now four days old - isn't anybody going to update again with how great it is just to rub the rest of our collective noses in it that you are there, and we're not? :p

Still hoping for more snow at SV...

[OldGuyinAk]

Great crew. Kemp and Dave trying to impart wisdom. Some of us are slow learners, most are making major progress. Two awesome days. 15cm new on Sunday then 30+ cm overnight last night. In the lift lines early today only to find the majority of the resort on hold. Only two lifts opened today and we skied in the rain for awhile. Resting sore bodies this afternoon and watching ski porn.

Everyone's learning what a "Pineapple Express" is. To quote from the Whistler Avy Report.

" The avalanche danger is EXTREME at all elevations. The heavy precipitation and warming have created upside down conditions, and the surface slab is failing easily on the underlying softer layers. We are seeing widespread natural avalanching, remote triggering, and settlement whoomfing. Low angle slopes are failing as well. There is also potential for deeper releases in the alpine terrain above about 2000m. The storm should begin abating by Tuesday and temperatures are expected to cool. The avalanche danger will remain at extreme until the storm abates and the freezing level drops. Heavy rainfall at below treeline elevations may seriously deplete the snowpack and eventually lower the avalanche danger."

Hopefully Wed., Thur. and Friday will shape up nice.

[OldGuyinAk]

Today (tue.) was a hard day to get motivated as the rain continued to fall in the village but several folks went out for a few hours of good turns in "coastal" conditions. Epic NASTC tale from Monday night .....

Here's a report from Whistler on Monday.

Whistler Pineapple

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To all of those wondering what it was like on the mountain today, here's a little recap. It was a very "coastal" kind of day. For those of you who tried and failed to get up today, don't worry. No good skiing was missed. Ski penetration on the Goat Path was almost waist deep (on my 190 AK Maidens) foot penetration was armpit deep. Unfortunately it was unskiable coastal shmoo with 10 cm deep rain runnels.

Winds above 100 km at Roundhouse level, gusting over 150 on the Peak. Gusts to 95 at top of Garbo, gusts over 80 at top of Creekside. All day.

Snowed at least 45cm overnight midmountain, then switched to absolute torrential pissing rain in the AM, with FL going to the Peak and staying there in the afternoon. By lunch time it was isothermal shit everywhere. Precip totals for the day probably around 55 cms of snow and 30 or 40 mils of rain.

Avalanche hazard was (and still is) Extreme. Many naturals, remotes and sympathetic slabs up to 40 cms (1's and 2's) on all aspects and all elevations, on slopes as low angle as 25 degrees.

Explosive testing produced wet slabs up to Size 2 below treeline. Notable slides include North Face High (under Don't Miss) sliding all the way to the Saddle (natural) and a 1 kg explosive charge releasing a slab from the skiers left of the Diehard AC line (below Pika's Traverse uphill of the Bomb Shack) all the way across the Harmony Waterfall over to underneath the Harmony Chair (thats around 100 metres wide)! We didn't even go near the Peak or Harmony today, but safe to say that an extensive and large natural avalanche cycle is underway. With 2's popping off natural below treeline, who know's what's going on in the high alpine, but it isn't anything to mess with.

On the plus side, the base was 100cms yesterday and is 140 today (we'll see what it is after tonight's rain). It's a safe bet that the buried surface hoar and/or facets are gone, ski out is on to the Creek and Village, and we should come out of this with more snow than we went in with.

FL forecasted to be between Chic Pea and Roundhouse tonight, with another 40 to 50 of rain/snow before it all blows through tomorrow. A northwest flow could be coming next. Could be epic when it clears, or it could be glazed ice top to bottom.

All in all one of the wettest days I've seen on the mountain in my 10 years, and probably the highest hazard I've ever seen. A day for single malt and bong hits, not skiing.
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Creekside Militia