Day 44 - chasing skiers

I wasn't going to ride today but my friend Michelle called and said she was heading up for 10am and I should tag along.  The wind was howling outside and high temp on the peak today was 18°F.  Not to mention, 1cm of new snow overnight (not even worth mentioning).  What the hell I thought?  I had already cleaned my apartment and only had laundry left on my to-do list.  Besides, I'm not even half way through my quest and it's almost February.  I need to get riding!!

We headed up Fitzsimmons Chair and as we were standing in line at Garbanzo, we merged in with four other ski instructors from Whistler Kids. Skiers are notoriously faster on the snow than snowboarders. I, for one, am a very slow snowboarder so everyone was waiting for me as I showed up slowly but surely at the intersections. No matter. Michelle and I didn't last long as we ducked out after two runs to head to the CLC for a free lunch.

The temps up top were so cold, the wind was whipping and the conditions were crap. After a tasty grill cheese, I hit the nearest run back to the village, into the locker room, and onto my couch for a much needed nap.

Day 43 - seriously: I want snow!

Anyone who is familiar with Whistler knows that we desperately need snow this season. In January 2008, we had a snowbase of 244cm (96inches or 8ft).  Today we have a snowbase of 124cm (a mere 4ft)!!!  This picture above was taken behind the Chic Pea.  It's sad really.  I was hoping to bust out my powder board every weekend this year, instead I'm spending my weekends dodging the rocks that are peppered on most of the runs.  Maybe February will bring better conditions .... I'm going to start my snow dance tonight!

Anyhow, enough complaining!  I'm still on the snow every day even if the conditions aren't ideal.  I snaked up the Level 3s again today since I've had them for the past few days.  I was planning on getting a lot of riding done but after lunch it was super windy (gusts up to 100Kph)  at the Roundhouse and it was icing.  Ice combined with wind whipping in your face = painful.  The kids hated it and asked to build a jump at the CLC.  So that's what we did.  

Day 42 - bummer!

Not really complaining, the title goes with the picture. Got two of my same kids back from yesterday plus one girl. Today they were Level 3's though. Freezing level went up to the CLC and the runs were wet. Up top, most of the runs were icy. We decided to take the Peak to Peak after lunch and we rode from the top of Blackcomb all the way back to the village. That's a good time killer. Anyway, two of them are coming back tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get their class and get some guaranteed work.

Day 41 - smooch you!

smoooochies!!!!

A bit of snow has fallen the last couple of days. Nothing to get excited about but any little dusting helps the icy conditions.  I taught a low level two class today and we were all perfectly happy to spend most of the day on the lower half of the mountain.  Conditions there was soft packed powder -- combined with the shining sun, it made for a great day.  Took one lap from the Roundhouse down to the CLC.  Temps up there were noticeably cooler and runs were noticeably icier.  My kids were keen on spending most of their time going off a jump at the CLC.  It gave me the opportunity to work on my 180s and switch 180s.  Before I knew it my day was over.  Gotta love it.  More in store for tomorrow. 

Day 40 - Aussie Day

Today is Australia Day and since people joke that Whistler is the second capitol of Australia, you can imagine the hoopla that happened on the mountain today.  Many of them dress up in crazy costumes which usually encompass the Australian flag.  Some wear next to nothing and ski/ride in shorts and/or bathing suits.  And every Aussie has their face painted.  Today I saw a few of them skiing around with blow-up kangaroos.  But mostly, Australia Day involves drinking.  I'm guessing it's probably their equivalent to the Irishes St. Patrick's Day.  

Temperatures today were in the single digits.  It might have hit 10°F in the sun but I doubt it.  Two of my WESP kids were no-shows so I took my six boys up the gondola right away.  By the time we got to the CLC, my toes were so cold they felt like they were going to fall off.  The good thing about having a low level class is that they take so long to get down the runs, your day is over before you know it.  That's what happened today.  One run before lunch, one run after lunch, and that's it.      

morning sun

Day 39 - tasty breakfast

Working on the goggle tan.

The day started off with a healthy breakfast at Wildwood with my friends Michelle and Nina.  Once again, the sun was shining and no new snow.  Blackcomb opened Spanky's Ladder yesterday and most of my fellow ski instructors who had the day off were heading over there.  For some reason, Michelle and Nina wanted to stay on Whistler.  We didn't find anything but ice on Whistler.  Green Acres was okay but icy towards the bottom.  Orange Peel was super icy, as was Dave Murray and Tokum.  By the end of the second run, I was pretty discouraged with the conditions and wanted to go home.  We made one more run and decided to call it quits.  I'm betting Spanky's and the Blackcomb Glacier were really good but I don't have any confidence to go in there solo and my partners for today were skiers, not riders, so they wouldn't be much use in helping me get down.  I also heard from the grapevine that Harmony was pretty good but we never thought to head out there either.  I'm kind of regretting it now.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Day 38 - please God, make it snow

CLC kitchen staff

On the teaching side, nothing exciting to report. I basically had the same class as yesterday. I tried to hit as many green/blue runs as possible but the days drag on when the runs are limited. I miss Marmot Trees (which are still closed) - even if they weren't closed, they would be a sheet of ice.

Please God, make it snow. Another sunny blue day. Runs are icier than yesterday. With no snow in the forecast, I'm expecting conditions to get worse. YUCK!! I guess that's why I'm learning how to ride the park .... nothing else to do.

Tasty Grill Cheese

Day 37 - relaxing day

Talk about a relaxing day!

We must be setting a record number of days in a row with clear blue skies and sun.  On the one hand, the warm weather feels good but on the other hand .... never having new snow sucks!!!  Runs are starting to get a bit icy, not to mention the boredom factor with the limited terrain.

My class today was four Level 3 kids.  It was nice to have some kids who needed some teaching and had a hard time turning down steep green runs vs having kids who are just as fast as me and who are riding my tail all day.  It gave me a day of nice slow relaxed riding.  

Day 36 - Womens Park and Pipe Session

One of the full day sessions available to us is: Womens Park and Pipe.  It's a women only session that takes you through the Terrain Garden and Blackcomb Terrain Park/Pipe.  The instructor is a great chic by the name of Star.  (Check out Star's huge air in the pic below.)  I've been told to take this session as Star is a great instructor, the class is low key, there no pressure to hit any features you don't feel comfortable with and best of all, no stinky boys!!! 

Park riding is new for me this season.  I haven't been much of a freerider in the past.  I've been mostly a groomer/powder rider.  But since I've passed my Level 2, I've been given higher level kids at work and most of them want to hit the park during their lesson.  It's hard to teach a kid how to go off a jump if you don't know how to go off one yourself.  So I've been slowly but surely getting my board off the ground.  Today I worked up the courage to take the park session.

Everyone was right about Star, she is amazing.  She's great at explaining how to go off features and most importantly, she understands the fear that goes along with going off those features.  I stacked super hard on my ass four times today.  You would have thought after the second time I would have gone a little easy but nope.  I wiped out hard two more times.  My tailbone is killing me right now.  I've been chowing down ibuprofen hoping I can walk in the morning.  I think I'll take it easy for the next few days......

Star going big for the Fire and Ice Show.

Day 35 - this is probably a bad idea but....

It's another Monday so I spent my day at Creekside with my WESP kids. I picked up a couple more kids scattered from one other class so I officially have 8 kids for the next four weeks.  No one wanted to spend another day zig-zagging down the Magic Carpet so we spent the morning practicing straight line half turns and I made sure they could all stay in control enough to venture up the entire hill.  

The problem with Creekside is that there is no terrain for rookie snowboarders to practice on.  There is no Super Carpet and no Olympic Chair.  It's Magic Carpet straight to a cat-track.  NOT GOOD!  For those of you who snowboard, you understand what a pain in the butt a cat-track is. For those who don't snowboard, a cat-track is basically a straight road (no slope) so it's hard to keep going without ski poles to help push you along.  

I had one kid who wasn't quite ready to go up the hill but I didn't want to single him out and leave him behind so I decided to take him with the rest of the group.  Knowing my time constraints, I was a little worried about making it back to Creekside in two hours, but like I said, no one wanted to spend another day on the Magic Carpet...... most of all me!

To my surprise, the kids did remarkably well and we made it back in time for parent pickup.  They were so stoked to be up on the mountain with the rest of the public.  I swear they are going to be talking about it for the next week!

Day 34 - Peak and Park

Since the skies were still blue and the temperatures were an amazing 50°F in the Alpine today, I decided to break out my digital SLR and take a few action shots in the Blackcomb parks.  Today also gave me the opportunity to try my new Burton Feelgood snowboard and give the bindings a few tweaks if need be.  I headed up the Whistler Gondola and bee-lined it straight for the Peak to Peak.  

Once on Blackcomb, I took Easy Out to the Terrain Garden.  My bindings definitely needed some tweaking so I took Solar Coaster back up, made the necessarily binding adjustments then hit the Blackcomb Terrain Park.  Here are a few shots: 

Back over to Whistler via Peak to Peak and with my new snowboard adjusted perfectly, I had a sweet ride down to the village.

Day 33 - TGIF

I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining but I'm getting kind of bored with the riding lately.  Don't get me wrong, the warm temperatures and sunny skies are beautiful but the terrain is limited, the snow is average, and taking the same runs day after day (with no new snow) is well ...... boring.  

Today was my last day with my Level Fours.  Most of them are leaving this weekend.  The riding, the conditions, and the temperatures were another ditto from the last two days.  Sorry there is nothing exciting to write.

Day 32 - ditto

I'll make this short and sweet: everything I said about the riding, the conditions, and what my class did yesterday..... Big ditto for today! except we added two more kids for a total of five.

Day 31 - Bart's Heart

I found out yesterday I was voted the Bart's Heart recipient for my pod this year.  The award recognizes a member of the Whistler Kids staff for their hard work and dedication to creating life long memories for the children in WB programs.  The chosen individual brings adventure, excitement, and a love for the mountains and snow sports.  Sounds like me!  ha ha.  Seriously, I was surprised, honored, and thankful for whoever voted for me.

Now on to the riding update for today.  Another Wednesday means another fun photo day!!  Instead of rain and wet this week, it was sunny and warm!!  The next few days call for an inversion in temperatures (temps up top are warmer than temps on the bottom).  The sun was shining like crazy and it was almost 40 degrees in the Alpine.  The groomed runs were amazing.  It reminded me of a beautiful day in Vermont!  

My boys and I ran up and down the mountain all day including a ride on the Peak to Peak (with the glass floor).  We even lapped Blackcomb a few times.  It was fun.  

Day 30 - a bit under the weather

I'm still fighting a cold but trudged to work because my Level fours are back for this week.  We got an early start with everyone organized by 9am (not the usual 9:30am).  It was misting in the village but the top of the mountain was beautiful and sunny.  Low laying cloud cover I guess.  The snow was pretty good on Ego Bowl ..... soft packed.    But once you skiied past Emerald Chair, the snow was heavy and wet.  Freezing levels are rising past the Peak for the next 5 days!!!!  No rain forecasted so that's good.  It will be April conditions in January.    

Day 29 - W.E.S.P.

Today was the first day for the 2009 Whistler Elementary Schools Program.  Instead of spending Monday's in the classroom, these kids sign up to go snowboarding once a week for six weeks.  Not too shabby.  I wish I had a program like that when I was in school.

I'm a rookie instructor for WESP so naturally I was assigned a Level One class.  In fact, there were 32 level one kids so three other instructors got the same level.  The morning was a little hectic trying to get all these kids organized but once we got up and going the day went by pretty quick.  I took my one run down the Magic Carpet on Creekside.  My kids were sideslipping and a few were turning by the end of the day so next week I hope to get them up the gondola.  Back to Destination tomorrow and my high level class.  I can't wait as forecast is calling for a blue bird day with warm temps .....  

Day 28 - TGIF

I started my day by oversleeping.  When I woke, I felt like I was catching a cold and I could hear the wind howling outside my windows.  How I wanted to call in sick.  I knew the temperatures were going to be well below freezing but I felt an obligation to finish the week with my group of kids.  Little did I know I was going to get hit with eight kids in my class!!!  That's a lot of kids to keep track of when you're not feeling on top of your game.

When we reached the Roundhouse, the wind was whipping and it was freezing.  My plan was to ride to Creekside but by the time we got to Bear Cub, we were all freezing and wanting some hot chocolate.  So much for plans:  we headed back to the CLC to warm up.  

The big event of the day was taking the new Peak to Peak gondola over to Blackcomb.  It was my first time on the lift and I have to say....it's a really cool ride.  My kids wanted to hit the Nintendo Terrain Garden so that's where we went.  Kids are funny - all they talked about all week was wanting to go to the terrain park.  Once we got there, they realize it's not all it's cracked up to be.  It's quite intimidating for one - and second, the jumps and boxes aren't as easy as they thought they'd be.  Today was no different.  Once we got through the park, none of them were interested in going through again.  After all, the whole mountain is a park.  Who the heck needs a box to make things fun????

Lastly, the conditions today were slightly above horrible.  Blackcomb was a sheet of ice!  Whistler wasn't too bad up top but the warm temperatures from a few days ago mixed with the freezing temps of today leave the runs hard packed and icy in many spots.  The good news is the snow showed up in the afternoon and it's suppose to snow through Saturday night.

 

Day 27 - still a bit wet

The warm temperatures are still here and there was a bit of rain in the village first thing this morning.  12cm dropped over overnight.  The conditions up top weren't too bad as much of the snow was soft packed but as soon as you hit Emerald Chair, the snow got a bit wet and as you descended, the snow got heavier and heavier. 

I was told I was requested to have my level 4 brother and sister team for the next two weeks Their parents want a bit of consistency when it comes to their instructor.  Normally the kids are not guaranteed the same instructor for their entire lesson stay.  I'm certainly not complaining as they are good kids, good snowboarders, fun to have around, I'm guaranteed work and guaranteed a high level class.  Not too shabby!  

Day 26 - rain - wet - rain

I fell asleep to beautiful large snowflakes falling to the ground.  I awoke to pouring rain.  Word of the day: wet!  My uniform was wet.  My goggles were wet.  My gloves were wet.  My feet were wet.  

I took the Level 4 class/five kids.  Naturally, the snow conditions were crap.  I knew the lower part of the mountain would be really wet but unfortunately the snow at the Roundhouse was wet and heavy too.  All the beautiful powder that we were slowly but surely accumulating to our base was being washed away.  It wasn't a particularly exciting day as my kids just wanted to ride from mid-station to the village...... hitting every single jump along the way.  But it was fun photo day and we all "hammed it up".   Check it out!

Does this kid look like Haley Joel Osment to you? (Sixth Sense movie actor)

Sarah was a duck today!

Day 25 - more snow and more fun

2cm of snow fell overnight. I had another Level 4/5 class and we took our warm up run from the CLC down to the village. The soft fluffy powder from the previous day was now a little hard and a little wet. Not bad but it was not the fantastic snow we had the day before.  Luckily, it snowed all day and by late morning, all the soft packed powder was back.

The kids I had today were pretty fast and they were looking for terrain that would push their abilities.  We found ourselves on the Dave Murray black diamond Olympic run and to my surprise, those kids were turning down that super steep run.  That lead us all the way down to Creekside.  Back up the gondola then in for lunch.

After lunch we headed back up to the Roundhouse and ventured down Ego Bowl.  I made the boys practice their switch riding (going backwards) since we were in the easy Family Zone.  After that we were on the hunt for jumps, including the "secret jump" -- a table top built for the bike park.

I'm hoping for the same class tomorrow as most of the kids will be returning.  They're a ton of fun and boy can they shred the pow!

Day 24 - AM Session and tons of POW

Lined up waiting for avalanche clearance.

With 33cm(13.3inches) overnight, I signed myself up for AM session just in case I taught a low level class and didn't have the chance to enjoy the fresh powder that fell all day yesterday.  AM session is early morning training that gives instructors the opportunity to get some paid training and on days like today, get some fresh tracks in knee deep pow.

After session, I was gifted with a Level 5 class.  SWEET!!  Our first run was from the CLC to the village with the level 3 and 4 classes to even out any splits (differences in levels) and to make sure all the kids were put in the correct class.  Charlie, Morgan, Tim and I took 10 kids for a rip and we shredded it up!  It was so much fun.  Of course, almost everyone got stuck in the powder, including all the instructors.  (I took video for most of the run and need to put together a short movie clip)

Charlie ended up with four kids in the Level 4 class and I had two kids in my Level 5 class.  We decided to team teach the kids for the entire day.  Naturally we spent the day looking for fresh powder, we hit a ton of drops and jumps, we took a lap through the terrain park, and ended up going from top to bottom about 4 times.  The snow was amazing today!  The best day so far this season.  Light and fluffy, soft packed on all runs, and tons of fresh to be found on most of the runs.  More snow tonight and I can't wait for tomorrow!

Early morning light ....

Day 23 - another no-show

Can you see the Peak to Peak Gondola?? (enlarge for better view)

The great thing about working Adventure Camp is you're guaranteed work for five days because the kids prepay for a 5-day lesson.  Needless to say I was pretty surprised when my kid didn't show up for the second day in a row.  I could see not showing up the day after New Year's Eve but I have no idea why he wouldn't have come today.

Nevertheless, I hung around the village for awhile helping my Supervisor put together AC packets.  We headed up to the CLC around lunch time and I had a tasty soup and salad.  By noon I took my one run down to the village.

Blue bird conditions today:  not a cloud in the sky.  Sun was shining bright but the temps were cold (as they usually are when the skies are clear).  No new snow overnight so the soft packed powder has turned to hard packed powder.  Forecast is for non-stop snow Sunday morning into Monday.  Can't wait!

Day 22 - Happy New Year 2009

My Adventure Camp kid must have partied a little too hard last night because he was a no-show for lessons today.  I wasn't too upset about it since I was pretty exhausted myself.  I went up to the CLC to see if Destination needed me, crossing my fingers that they were overstaffed and I could go home.  By 10am I was given the sign it was okay for me to leave so I took a run down the village to meet up with Alli and Kerry.  

Conditions were great again today.  3cm overnight, fresh packed powder on groomed runs, and plenty of powder to be found here and there.  We took three runs from top to bottom then a half run from Crabapple to the village.  We finished around 2:30, our legs exhausted.