Saturday 26th November 2005

After arriving in Whistler on the 24th we headed up the mountain today for the first time. This picture is from Blackcomb lodge and as you can see there was a little snow falling. For such an early point in the season the snow cover is really good, about an 80cm base, and the pisted runs are some of the best we have ridden anywhere.

Thursday 1st December 2005

Vix's sister Antonia arrived yesterday for a weeks snowboarding. We are still waiting for a little more snow, but the groomed runs are really nice. The forecast is looking quite good though so hopefully we'll have some fresh snow during her stay.

Wednesday 7th December 2005

We went and watched the FIS Snowboard Halfpipe contest today on Blackcomb mountain. 

It was a beautiful day up there, though as you can see in this photo there was cloud in the valley up to 1000ft or so.

Sunday, 11th December 2005

On the 12th December the FIS Snowboard contest was held here in Whistler. These are a few of the photos Vix took on the day.

Wednesday, 14th December 2005

Many of our friends had told us what a wonderful place Whistler was, but it has really blown us away how friendly the people are here, and how well set up the resort is. This picture shows the main street of Whistler Village where we stayed for the first week of our time here

Friday, 23rd December 2005

Had a great day up the mountain today. It snowed for the last two nights and the higher slopes were opened again after being closed yesterday due to high winds. We rode some of the black runs off the Harmony Ridge seen here. Definitely some of the best powder I have ridden though Vix tells me it can get far better.

This picture (not taken by me) shows the view from the top of the Harmony chair lift, where we started some of the best runs. The size of terrain that can be accessed from each lift is amazing, and so much is 'inbounds' compared to Europe. Unfortunately for our hopes of a White Christmas, rain is forecast again for the next day or two.

Monday, 26th December 2005

We had a lovely Christmas day here in Whistler. The snow was not amazing when we headed up the mountain for a quick Christmas snowboard session but we had fun anyway.

After opening presents in front of a roaring fire we went out for a turkey dinner at one of the resturants in the village. The forecast is for a little snow over the next few days so we are hoping for the best.

Thursday, 29th December 2005

Today we hiked out to the Flute Bowl of Whistler. The entrance gate to this area (seen below and right) leads onto some of the best boarding we have seen anywhere. Wide open bowls that are virtually untracked even a day or two after heavy snowfall due to the hike in and out.

This is Flute Bowl (above) and the other pictures are from the hike out. From the bottom of the bowl to the nearest piste is about half a mile. With recent snowfall the trees were beautiful and the view made the hike pass much more quickly.

   

Saturday, 31st December 2005

We spent the last day of 2005, up on the mountain. The view from the top was spectacular and we had a few fun runs in the fresh powder. 

After the Peak we headed back to our new favorite, the Flute Bowl for some more great powder runs. The snow was so light and deep it was amazing.

   

Tuesday 3rd January 2006

Happy New Year.

I hope everyone had a good New Years Eve and we wish you all the best for the coming year.

Yesterday we had our best day yet. 30cm of fresh snow, and we took advantage of Whistlers Fresh Tracks programme where you can go up the mountain an hour before the lifts normally open; so we got to ride virtually untracked powder all day long. Sorry there are not any more photos but we were too busy riding to stop and take any.

Wednesday 4th January 2006

Today we treated ourselves to a day of catboarding.

Catboarding or catskiing is where a specially designed snow cat, like the one seen here, takes you to the top of a private mountain area and you get to ride untracked powder snow all day long. The cat is at the bottom of each run to take you back up.

The visibility was not amazing for most of the day, but the snow was incredibly good powder; waist deep in places.

Towards the end of the day the skies cleared a little and for the last few runs we were treated to beautiful views of the valley below.

Wednesday 11th January 2006

Over the last few days we have had a lot of snow; around 58cm / 23 inches in the last 48 hours.

We've been getting up early for the 'Fresh Tracks' programme and have had some great powder runs. This picture was taken on Monday, it was still dumping with snow at 0630 when we were at the bus stop, and below Vix sits on top of the snow cleared from in front of our house.

Sunday 15th January 2006

The sun came out today and we were treated to a rare blue-sky afternoon (Whistler is almost always overcast).

We spent the day hiking up Flute Bowl and enjoying some long runs through the powder.

The walk to the top of Flute Peak takes around 25 minutes, the little specks you can see in the photo to the right are people hiking up to the top. It is a hard climb, but well worth it for the untracked runs down. 

The tracks are a little hard to make out in this picture below but in any case riding down waist deep powder in the sun is pretty hard to beat for your Sunday afternoon exercise.

At the top of the Harmony Chair Lift is a small building which houses the Ski Patrol and the Harmony Tea Hut.

It has been quite windy on the peak recently and the hut has been turned into a sculpture in ice. The temperatures are meant to drop over the next few days and more snow is supposedly on the way.

Saturday 14th January 2006

In the last 48 hours we have had 89cm / 35 inches of snow. As you can imagine we have been pretty happy. 

Yesterday we went on a guided backcountry trip, using split boards to access some areas that you would not normally be able to reach on a snowboard. A splitboard is designed to split apart into skis for backcountry ascents, then hook back together to form a snowboard for the ride back down.Unfortunately the snow was a bit too deep at around 150cm / 60 inches so we spent a fair bit of time swimming in powder in between some fun runs.

Today we went up the mountain for the Fresh Tracks breakfast and to ride the 30cm of fresh snow since last night.

The Peak Chair, which takes you to the top of the mountain, opened at 1130am after being closed yesterday for avalanche control. There was about 80cm of powder on the Shale Slope which is one of Whistlers classic runs, a big, steep, even slope which offers some mind blowing turns for the lucky first few down it. We queued for 45 minutes to get the 4th chair up and the run down was worth every second. The picture below is the best one I can find on-line of the Shale Slope, most people are too busy riding it to take photos.

Thursday 26th January 2006

Vix's brother Ollie (a.k.a. Prune) is spending a week with us at the moment. See him "in action" on the left.

Ollie and Graham taking a moment to rest at the end of another good run.

The snow was falling for most of today and there is lots more on the way.

Sunday 29th January 2006

The snow conditions have been really good for Ollie's visit over the last week, 78cm / 31 inches of new snow in the last 7 days. 

We have had everything from clear blue sky days to heavy snow and the powder has been fantastic, as you can see from this sign in Dusty's Bar.

Ollie took to boarding really quickly and by the end of the week was comfortably riding intermediate / advanced runs and enjoying the great snow.

As well as boarding we had a few fun nights out and visited the tube park where you slide down the hill on a rubber ring.

The forecast is looking good, calling for lots more snow.