Day 24 | I can see my hotel from here

This was it!  I was finally assigned level three's and I put myself in prime position to sign up the first class of level threes that showed up.  After talking with the first three kids who said they moved up to level three yesterday, I quickly realized that my three class was actually going to be a two class because the Instructor they had yesterday moved them up when they haven't even left the Magic Carpet yet.  Needless to day I wasn't too thrilled with that, but also I didn't want the kids to spend another day at the CLC so I took a class of four level twos and we hit the Olympic Chair immediately.

It was really cold today with no new snow overnight.  Conditions under the Olympic Chair weren't too bad.  Hard packed snow but not icy.  The kids did their best turning but clearly needed a couple runs on the Super Carpet to figure out which way to turn.  We snuck in two laps on the Carpet then I decided to take them down to the village.

We had a late lunch today which was nice.  We managed to squeeze in a lot of snowboarding in the AM. I lost one girl to Patrol who hurt her wrist and spent most of the day with only three kids.  By the time the day finished, the two kids who had been here all week finally got their turning confident and they ended as true level threes by the end of the day.

I am definitely not in snowboarding shape at all.  My feet, knees and legs were hurting by the end of the day.  I hope I'm able to keep getting classes who can ride.  One kid from today is coming back tomorrow and Mom is suppose to request me so hopefully I'll be able to go into the Alpine tomorrow.

Day 23 | You're fired because .....

I was assigned level fours today and I was super excited at the thought of getting to strap on my snowboard today.  There were another 75 kids signed up for lessons (7 Lil Rippers).  Devon took the first class of level fours that showed up and Kat had a level four AC class.  By 9:10am, it was looking like I wasn't going to get a class so I offered to help Morgan with six Lil Rippers.  We rocked over to the gondola around 9:15am.  Winds were whipping in the Alpine and the village gondi was running slow and stopping constantly.  The line up was insane!  (We got on the gondola at 10:10am!!!!)  About 15 minutes after Morgan and I got in line, Dave showed up behind us with a level four kid and he ended up teaching the two level fours that I should have taught if I hadn't volunteered to teach Lil Rippers.  Argh!  Such is my life.

I'm not complaining as working with Morgan equals working an easier day.  He's great with the younger kids as he keeps them highly entertained and he is always motivated.  By the time we reached the CLC in the morning, it was almost 10:30am so there wasn't much time for snowboarding before lunch.  All six kids were very well behaved and a few of them were pretty good riders.  We spent most of the afternoon outside playing and riding in the snow.  The day went by pretty fast.  The weather in the Alpine was super windy with white outs and a full on blizzard at one point ... so I guess I didn't fair too bad teaching the Lil Rippers today. 



base - 178cm / 70"

Day 22 | jet-lagged & red-eyed

I returned to Vancouver yesterday evening and immediately got back to the grind of snowboard instructing.  We had 76 riders today including 6 Lil Rippers.  I was assigned level ones and ended up with a nice class of six kids.  They were all very polite, calm, and well behaved.  They also all progressed at about the same level.

The day went by pretty fast even though we were on the Magic Carpet.  The Carpet was crowded as there were two other level one classes, a couple Rippers classes, and a couple of level two classes all in the same area.  Most of my kids managed to make their way to level two.  I'm hoping I can get a higher level class and actually put my snowboard on.  It's been snowing a lot around here lately and I'd really like to get some shredding in.

Day 21 | All a board

It finally snowed .... 13 centimeters!!  Not much but every little bit helps.  I was hoping to finally get a class that could go up to the Alpine but I quickly found out I had a shadow and the bosses want you teaching lower level (CLC) classes when you have a shadow.  Do Darren (from Scotland) and I grabbed three kids in level one.

It was an easy day as splitting three kids between two people isn't too difficult.  We started the kids on their toe edge and worked on that until lunch.  In the afternoon, we turned them around and got them on their heels.  The Mini's were kind of taking over the Magic Carpet so we decided to hike to the Super Carpet.  That went over well as the kids improved quite a bit over there.  After working with Privates, I realize a level one class can learn just as well on the adult Carpet as they can on the kids' carpet.  In fact, it's better because the Super Carpet is so much longer.

The day went by faster than I expected.  Darren was a great shadow and he'll do just fine as an Instructor. The kids had a great time with him as he was very hands on.  Today was my last day of work for awhile. I'm heading home to celebrate the holidays with my family back in the States.  I'm going to miss out on 14 days of shredding.  Hopefully I will still make it to 100 ..... Merry Christmas and I'll be back soon.

Day 20 | Private Kids

My schedule was changed to work Privates today.  I hate working Privates because I never get work.  When I checked my schedule at 8:45am, I was still unassigned ... meaning I wasn't booked for a lesson.  A regular Privates Instructor was booked for three kids, never-evers.  He apparently couldn't be bothered taking the class as he offered it up to me and I was more than happy to take the kids for the full day lesson.  It was easier than having a full class of six in Kids.

The three kids were from Hawaii.  Two nine year old boys and one seven year old girl, a friend and a brother and sister.  We started off learning how to skate and crab walk under the Super Carpet.  One kid strapped on his board and could basically turn right away.  He was amazing.  The other two (the brother and sister) were also pretty good.  They all had good balance.

We spent the morning on the Super Carpet where it snowed all day.  We haven't had snow in over two weeks so it was a welcomed and much needed surprise.  Moms and Dads showed up on the Carpet just before lunch - lucky for me since none of the kids had money for lunch and I had to ask the parents for money for them.  I took the kids to the Roundhouse around noon and we had something to eat.

By the time we finished lunch and downloaded back to mid-station, there was only about an hour left to the lesson.  Of course I was hoping for a nice tip ($$) since these kids were in a Private lesson, but nothing!  Very disappointing ... but I had a good day, the kids were well behaved,  and I was able to work so it was all fine.  

Day 19 | redder than blood

Today was my day off but I was asked to work Ride Tribe.  Since I didn't get a class yesterday, I said yes.  I was assigned level 2's and ended up with one kid from Singapore.  He was tired and sore from his lesson yesterday as a never-ever.  I was told he fell quite a bit from catching an edge.  Once we were on the gondola, he told me he didn't want to come to lessons today because he was so sore but his dad made him go.

We started at the Super Carpet to help get his feet back under him.  He was able to turn on the Carpet so we hit the Olympic Chair.  This area proved to be a bit more difficult but he gave it a go for a few runs before he needed a break.  He was tired and we were early for lunch so we decided to take a round trip on the Peak 2 Peak as a time killer. 

Afterwards, we worked on some edging and gave the Olympic Chair another go.  He managed to do the Olympic run twice and finally I told him we were going to go to the CLC for a hot chocolate break.  Once we were inside, he said he couldn't continue.  By now it was close to 2pm.  Instead of leaving early, we hung out with the crazy kids at the CLC until our lesson time was up.  

  

Day 18 | me and my big mouth

Another slow day in Snowboard School with a total of 11 kids, including one Lil Ripper.  I volunteered to go home if there wasn't enough classes for all the Instructors.  I'm not sure why because I did want to work.  I was assigned level two's, but before I could grab the class and get started, I was called over to do Ride Tribe.  I was half way up the gondola when my scheduler called.  I rode down from mid-station and by the time I reached the GLC, Jose took off with the class that may have a possible split.  I ran up the Blackcomb gondola and took the green line down to Base II.  I knew when I didn't see the class on the run, there wasn't going to be a split.  Once I reached Jose, my assumption was confirmed.  I grabbed my board and rode down from Base II to the village.  I regretted opening my big mouth so early in the day.  I would have liked to spend the day working.  Live and learn.

Day 17 | Jesus isn't Asian

I was excited after the morning meeting when I was assigned levels 4, 5, & 6.  I was quickly dejected when I realized there was no class higher than a level three.  We had a total of fourteen kids in Snowboard School (including two Lil Rippers) and two Instructors were sent home.  Luckily for me the level one class was more than six kids so that class ended up being two classes and I was able to work.

Melissa and I split eight level ones.  It was a typical Magic Carpet day, nothing exciting!  During the course of the day, we lost one kid to Patrol (dislocated shoulder) and one kid to Level 2 (he was turning right away).  By 2pm that left us with six kids ... and no need for two Instructors so I rode down to the village from mid-station and went home an hour early.  Not complaining.  I was tired from being on my feet all day.  I hope I start getting classes with kids who can snowboard soon.

Day 16 | Walker & Texas Ranger

 Six kids were in Snowboard School today which equalled three classes and I took two Lil Rippers, who were brothers, and both were ginger.  They reminded us of the kids in Talledega Nights named Walker and Texas Ranger.  They were from Canada and they were both super polite (not like the kids in the movie) and both were a delight to teach.

The sun was shining once again with a super immersion .... temps in the Alpine reached +6 while temps in the valley were -6!!  Our snow base is diminishing day by day (131cm).  No mentionable snow accumulations in the forecast.  

It was a long day on the carpet with the two Rippers as there were no other level one classes at the CLC to hang with.  The boys did well.  One was 6 years and he was able to heel edge on his own by the end of the day.  The 4 year old never quite grasped the edging thing but he enjoyed riding his snowboard down the bunny hill like a toboggan.  The seemed really excited about their day when mom came to pick them up so that made me feel good.  I think I've had Lil Rippers every day I've worked so far this season.  Weird.

Day 15 | Ride Tribe

I was asked to work Ride Tribe (teenagers).  Whistler Kids has been so slow that I didn't mind having a change of pace.  I was betting we wouldn't have many kids in Ride Tribe but it turned out we had more teenagers (six) than we had kids-kids (four).  

My class was a girl from Singapore and she was a never-ever.  She didn't talk much but she could snowboard.  In the morning, we worked on the basics: stance and balance, skating, and zig zagging.  She was side slipping on both sides by the time lunch rolled around.

One of the perks in working Ride Tribe is being able to eat a lunch at one of the restaurants on top of the mountain.  We took the gondola up to the Round House for food.  It's also a great time killer.  After lunch, we worked on turning.  Before 2pm she was able to turn all the way down the Super Carpet so we took one run down from Olympic Chair.  That didn't go as well but overall she progressed very quickly for a kid who had never snowboarded before.  

   

Day 14 | training for a level one

Emma, a coworker from Ziptrek, is taking her Level One Instructor course tomorrow and she wanted me to help her with her riding so she could be ready for the class.  We met up around 11am and headed up the village gondola.  The sun was shining once again and still no new snow to report - (We've almost had more sunny in December than we've had all summer) - ??

Anyway, we ran some warmup laps on Whistler before meeting up with Georgie.  In addition to making sure Emma's riding was up to par, I gave her some information on what to expect during the course and gave her some examples of how lessons would be taught.  Her riding was definitely on the same standard for what is expected for level one riding.  I found it a bit difficult to show examples of level one riding as I now ride at a higher level consistently.

After a few runs on Whistler, we took the Peak 2 Peak over to Blackcomb since that is where she will be riding for the next three days.  As usual, some of the runs on Blackcomb were icy... particularly the run at the top of Solar Coaster.

We finished up around 2:30pm and Emma was kind enough to buy me a hot chocolate as a thank you.  I feel confident she will pass the Level testing with no problem.

Day 13 | abracadabra

"Help with my binding!" - four year old Ripper
"Excuse me?  What's the magic word?" - Me
"Abracadabra!" - four year old Ripper

Not much to report.  Thirteen kids in Snowboard School including two repeat Lil Rippers.  Sun was shining and still no snow.  Another inversion, cold in the village - warm in the Alpine.  I took the Rippers.

Day 12 | Hip Hop Pose

Back to the grind after not working for a week because we are so slow (about one to two snowboarders a day).  I volunteered to take the three Lil Rippers since we haven't had any new snow for awhile.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to be outside, though with the inversion, it was warmer up top than it was in the village.

As far as Rippers go, the kids were amazingly easy to handle and easy deal with.  There were two six year olds and one four year old.  They could all put their bindings on and take their bindings off.  They all grasped the concept of edging on their heels and toes.  Morgan and Kat both had level ones so there were quite a few kids in the Magic Carpet area.  We had about 14 kids all together in Snowboard School.  

Naturally we built a jump at the end of the day.  A few of my Rippers showed off their hip hop pose for my camera.  Pics attached of course.

Day 11 | Ziptrek'ers

I was scheduled to do an RST with Whistler Kids at 10am but when I arrived at the CLC (15 min late), I was told it was cancelled.  Not cool.  I wasn't too upset as my plans were to meet up with Anna and Georgie from Ziptrek at the Super Carpet for noon.

I hung around the CLC for about a half hour then decided to head up top for one run before grabbing my free lunch back at work.  It was cloudy for most of the afternoon.  No new snow overnight.  The runs are starting to get hard packed.  Having no snow will eventually do that.  I ran down Whiskey Jack to Olympic and then back to the CLC for some salad.

Georgie and Anna met me around noon.  Georgie is an avid boarder while Anna has never been on snow in her life (silly Australian).  She picked up a cheap used board, bought some new boots and bindings and was excited to give the sport a try.  We spent two hours on the Super Carpet and Anna was amazing.  She could zig zag on both her edges by the time we finished.  I gave her some tips and skills to practice for the next time she heads up.  We finished up with a drink at the Dubhlin Gate where we ran into Petr and Mark from Ziptrek.

Day 10 | iLike Sunny Days

Mondays and Tuesdays are my days off from work and this week I took them off from riding as well.  I was suppose to work today but because we only had one snowboarder signed up for lessons, I was told to stay home.

About 17cm of fresh snow fell overnight and the sun had decided to pay us a visit.  It was a beautiful blue bird day with a bit of an inversion ... meaning suitable temperatures up top.  I met up with Pippa and Nathan at the light board around 11am.  The snow was decent, packed powder, on the groomers.  With the recent warm temps in the Alpine, there was some crust underneath some fresh snow here and there but nothing too bad.  Pippa wasn't feeling too well so she bailed after two runs.  Nate and I rode til about 1pm then decided to call it a day in order to walk the dogs.

More sun scheduled for the next five days.  Also there are no kids booked in Snowboard School so I have another day off tomorrow.  Peak Chair opens Friday and Harmony Chair opens Saturday.  I'm hoping to be able to get Friday off as well and get in line for fresh tracks off the Peak.  Fingers crossed.

Day 9 | horrible

As you can see from the picture, today wasn't exactly an amazing snow day.  The forecast said 70-90cm of snow was expected to fall last night, but freezing temps were hovering around the RoundHouse so instead of snow, it was mostly rain.  And boy did it rain.

Who the heck wants to teach in the rain?  It's way worse than negative temperatures (freezing cold).  I wasn't too keen on getting wet so my fingers were crossed I would get to go home.  We had 5 Lil Rippers and another 8 Riders.  I was assigned level 3's.  We also had five Instructors.  After sorting the classes and figuring who was in what in class, it miraculously turned out that I could go home, if I so chose ... which I did.  I decided to ride from mid-station to the village.  That was horrible!  The freezing level is lowering so hopefully it will dry out some of that wet snow up top.

Day 8 | ratio of 5:1

About 30 kids in Snowboard School including five Lil Rippers.  Gillian and I volunteered to take the little ones.  No biggie as the freezing level was past the Roundhouse and it's suppose to "snow" up to 90cm in a 24 hour period.   

Everyone was sorted with classes by 9:30am and about an hour later, Gunner informed me that the new ratio of Lil Rippers to Instructor is now five to one.  Meaning, one Instructor has to take five Lil Rippers!  and since we had five kids, one of us had to go home.  I volunteered since Irish was riding and I was toying with taking a run with him.  I was told I could leave around noon (or after lunch).  

Of course, the notion of having five Lil Rippers to one Instructor is just ludicrous, especially when the ratio of regular age kids to Instructor is only six to one.  I could spend several paragraphs telling you why it's not possible for one Instructor to take on five 4-6 year olds but I won't bore you with the details.  

Anyway, I spent the morning with the kids and Gillian.  We came in for a break around 11am and stayed inside until a bit after noon.  I couldn't let Gillian take the kids on her own so I decided to stay and help her for most of the afternoon (unpaid) -- I finally left around 2pm.  By this time it was pouring rain at the CLC and I downloaded in the gondola and met up with Shrek and Irish for a nice coffee at The Lift.  Tomorrow I am definitely not taking a Lil Rippers class!   

Day 7 | smells like fish

Sun was shining today!!  I'm not going to mention the amazing powder we saw people cutting on Tokum first thing in the morning.  I also won't mention the knee deep powder found around Crystal Chair (it opened today).  Instead I will talk about the 12 kids signed up for Lil Rippers who were joined by another 19 other snowboarders.  Yup, it's a holiday weekend!

I was assigned Lil Rippers again with Morgan and Gillian.  The day went by amazingly fast and it seemed to be much easier than yesterday.  Maybe because we had three instructors.  Most the kids picked up the edging and balance including a 4 year old who could straight line.  He was really cute.

After our afternoon break, we built a jump for the little guys/girls.  They were so surprised and so happy.  It was cute.  Some of the parents took pics and video from the fence line.  They made such a big deal of the fact that the kids were going over a six inch high jump.  LOL - No matter what happens during the day, all kids go home super stoked after the instructors build them a jump.  That seems to be the only thing they talk about when mom and dad pick them up.

Day 6 | Welcome back Whistler Kids

It's American Thanksgiving and that means it's the first day of work and another new season at Whistler Kids.  Morning meeting started at 8am and it was great to see old friends and lots of smiling faces.  As far as the weather is concerned, it puked all day!  But high winds up top.

We had about 20 kids in snowboard lessons with 8 of them being Lil Rippers.  That program has really taken off!  Morgan, Kat and I volunteered to do Lil Rippers.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love team teaching with Morgan.  He is so great with the kids and the little girls just love him to death.  Kat took one boy who was a solid level 3 and Morgan and I teamed up for the remaining seven.

The day went by relatively fast.  Two of the Lil Rippers were side slipping on their own by the afternoon.  I believe they are both returning tomorrow.  It was a great first day and it feels good to be back teaching.

Day 5 | fifty two inches in seven days

Monday night it snowed 24 inches overnight.  Everyone was stoked to ski or board on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, such high snowfall calls for heavy (and time consuming) avalanche control.  I was meeting  Chris and Izayah in the village at 10am and my plan was to sneak in a couple of powder runs beforehand.  Unfortunately, uploading didn't start until 9:40am and by that time, the line for the village gondola went down past the Crystal Lodge!!!

After waiting around for a couple of hours, the guys and I decided to ride today instead of yesterday.  And today was sweet!  Another 8 inches fell overnight and the snow was light and fluffy.  We spent the day on the greens, with Izayah getting good enough to start hitting side hits and trying to jump.  Chris picked up his turning and was able to ride the chair (he's terrified of heights).

There was a ton of snow out there, especially for the groomers.  We did three good runs down Ego Bowl before we headed in for a water break.  Chris was getting tired fast.  We took another couple of runs after a half hour break and then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, Chris made the right decision to call it a day and download while Izayah and I snowboarded down to mid-station and downloaded from there.

Even though we stayed on Ego Bowl most of the day, I had such a fun time.  I was super excited that Chris was able to pick it up enough so he could take Izayah on his own now.  The snow was amazing and there was so much of it.  I'm glad we took yesterday off and went today instead.  It was a good time.

Day 4 | Hangin' with Hawaii'ans

My friends from Hawaii are in town for their annual time share in Whistler and it was a great day to get out and snowboard with the whole family.  It snowed 7 inches last night and although I heard the runs were epic first thing in the morning, I loved teaching my friends how to snowboard at the Super Carpet.

Izayah and Dad were on top of their game and were able to turn down the beginner area with ease.  Mom and Raicey spent their time zig zagging and getting use to the slippery snow underneath the board.  Everyone did amazing.  We spent about two hours on the carpet then headed up to the Roundhouse for lunch.

After we ate, Izayah and I strapped on our boards and headed down Ego Bowl while the rest of the family downloaded in the gondola.  You might recall Izayah is the boy I've taught every year at this time for the last three years.  He's moved to Washington a few months ago so he's hoping to snowboard a lot more often now.  We ran down Ego Bowl past the Emerald Chair and continued into the Olympic Chair area where there was a ton of fresh deep snow.  We called it a day ourselves once we hit the Super Carpet again.

Forecast is calling for 45-60cm of powder overnight!!  It's been puking all afternoon as well.  I'm planning on getting first chair at Creekside tomorrow before meeting up with Izayah and his dad at 10am.

Day 3 | Hiked Harmony

Day three on the mountain and we haven't had any fresh snow since before opening day.  Nevertheless, I still have to get my legs in shape so I met with KCooper at Creekside around 10am and we headed up to shred.  We ran into Pip and Jordan at Red Chair just as we were strapping in.  Perfect timing.

The lift up Red Chair was a bit chilly as temps were around 12°-15°F but with no wind, it didn't feel that cold.  Nothing was groomed except for the cat track that winds through the park and down to Emerald.  We all ran that pretty fast which was actually fun.  After a second run in the same area, KCooper asked me if I wanted to hike Harmony.

"What the hell", I said.  It was better than riding crowded ground up groomers all day.  So we exited Green Chair and started hiking up Pika's Traverse.  It took me about 45minutes to reach Harmony Ridge and I was sweaty and tired by the time I made it.  I was crossing my fingers the ride down was going to be worth the hike up.

After taking a few photos (and a breather) atop Harmony Ridge we strapped on and headed down to Krummholz.  The snow in this area was virtually untouched and it was close to knee deep.  The run from the ridge to Krummholz was amazing!  We landed on the top of Gun Barrels and they looked good so we took some freshies through the trees.  Oh my god it was just amazing!  Definitely worth the hike.  We finished up with another short fresh pow run to the cat track and made it to Harmony Chair without unstrapping.  WOW!  It was pretty cool.  Definitely worth it.  Made me wish we had time in the day to do it again.

After the hike, we grabbed some lunch then headed to the Creekside Gondola to download and call it a day.  What a great day!  Way better than hitting crowded groomers for hours.  Lots and lots of snow is in the forecast so fingers crossed for some better riding mid week.

Day 2 | JMan

The sun was shining and the skies were blue today.  The temps had dropped a bit, which is normal when there is no cloud cover.  I spent the day with my Club Kid, Jaden.  He's almost 9 years old and he rides with me on Saturdays starting in January.  His parents and I have become friends and I offered to take him up since they weren't going to be on the hill for another couple of weeks because of injuries.

We made it to the Roundhouse at exactly 10am.  Jaden isn't exactly the fastest snowboarder on the planet, not to mention he had a new longer board.  He was a little nervous on the first run, though he did great, but he was slow.  I feel I work my muscles a lot more when I'm forced to go slower than the speed I would normally ride at.  After two runs, I was ready for a rest and a drink.

We rode another two or three laps and then headed into the Roundhouse for lunch.  Afterwards we downloaded to the village where Jaden's mom picked him up.  It was nice quiet day with amazing views. Another step closer to getting my legs back in shape for the rest of the long season.

Day 1 | Commencing the 11/12 season!

Another season is starting here at Whistler Blackcomb.  My how time flies.  I met up with Pippa in the Village around 9:30am.  Neither one of us were interested in getting up early and standing in line.  It has snowed 11inches (29cm) in the last 48 hours.  The base is 27 inches (70cm).  It still has a long way to go but it had enough coverage to open Whistler 6 days early.

Our first run was in the area that is normally part of the park.  We didn't get any freshies but there was plenty of snow to get stuck in.   We stayed in this area for a couple of runs and then tried a run down to Red Chair.  A lot of the runs were roped off and since we are both employees, we couldn't duck ropes as that is a big no-no as a WB employee.  The lift lines weren't as busy as we imagined they would be.  The runs didn't feel overcrowded either.  We took a half hour break then ran another three to four runs before calling it a day and riding to mid-station for a download.

Day 125 | just because

I was hoping to return from a sunny three week vacation to a warm and sunny Whistler.  No such luck.  It's more like the month of March instead of the month of May.  Blackcomb is open until May 30th.  There isn't much else to do around here in the crappy weather (it's still too cold for me to ride the bike park) so we decided to go snowboarding.

Pip dropped us off in the village around noon and Jordan and I headed up the gondola for some "spring" shred.  A third of the way up Excelerator Chair we hit the cloud cover and couldn't see a thing.  We were hoping it was a low laying cloud and we would pop out of it once we got higher.  No such luck!  If anything the visibility got worse the higher we climbed.

We made our way down to Jersey Chair, not being able to see much except ten feet in front of you.  The snow was super soft and spring like but when you have no visibility, it doesn't make it much fun.  We took a lap through the medium park and then called Pip to meet us at Base II as we weren't going to make a day out of it.  I don't think we had such horrid conditions at any day during the winter.  If the sun pops out, perhaps we might try it again before Blackcomb closes on Monday.

Day 124 | That's It, That's All

If it wasn't for Aimee and the $15 food voucher that expires May 30th,  I think my last day of work would have been my final day on the hill.  My brain is in summer mode even though Whistler's weather has been in winter mode for most of the month of April.

Aimee and I planned on going up for a couple runs since the sun was forecasted to shine and we hadn't done any Spring skiing yet.  We hopped on the Blackcomb gondola from Base II around 11:30am and headed straight to Glacier Chair.  The snow up there was still dry and soft packed.  It was really nice.  On our second lap up, Aimee decided she wanted to explore Cougar Chutes, a double black diamond that drops toward Jersey Chair, so we headed for the handle tow and up to 7th Heaven.

The warning signs on the entry to Cougar Chutes read:  STEEP TERRAIN!  NO WAY OUT!  There was plenty of soft pow to be found down the vertical run and we even got a couple of fresh turns.  We made our way through some awesome trees as well.

We took a lunch break around 1pm at Glacier Creek.  Luckily my staff discount was still in full swing so we were both able to eat a sandwich and a cookie for under the $15 allotted on the Ride Tribe voucher I grabbed off a kid earlier in the season.  Sunshine and free lunch.  Can't beat that!

It was a typical fun day with Aimee exploring.  I missed her dearly this season and I'm grateful I was able to get in a couple of days of riding with her this year.  In the two days we rode together, I checked off two double black diamond runs that I had never ridden before.  Not only that, but I now have the confidence to ride them again next season (even if she's not around).

We called it a day after lunch, heading up Jersey to make one last run back to Base II.

This season I rode one hundred and twenty four days.  Yet, this time of year, I always feel like I didn't ride enough (at least not in my free time).  It was the second snowiest season on record for Whistler Blackcomb.  I had good friends come out to ride and finally made it to Mt. Baker.  I went out of bounds down McConkey's Trees,  Khyber and Singing Pass.  I'm sure the off season will go by just as fast as the snow season did.  I'll be back blogging my days in six months!  Thanks for reading.  

Day 123 | the final curtain

I ended my season at work the same way I started my season:  with a Lil Ripper class.  We had six kids pre-booked into lessons but ended up with a total of nine kids in four different classes.  We squeaked through with just enough Instructors scheduled.

I contemplated taking the one level five kid even though he is the most annoying kid on the planet.  I hate to sound so negative but the kid really is odd and it's very very annoying.  Zac asked if he could take him so I opted for the five year old Ripper instead.

It wasn't the perfect sunny Spring day you picture for your last day of work at the end of April.  It was cloudy and pretty chilly.  Betty, James, and I spent the morning on the Magic Carpet with the lower levels wasting as much time as we could eating cheese & crackers and coloring.  My kid wasn't too thrilled with the idea of snowboarding so we spent a lot of time in the CLC.  He was kind of a muppet as well.  He couldn't get off the Magic Carpet without falling even by the end of the day.

James built us a huge jump to kill time in the afternoon.  It was kind of sad as it was the last jump of the season.  My kid's Dad watched him hit the jump one time before downloading in the gondola with us.  The day went by pretty fast for the last day.  The CLC staff spent the day packing up the kitchen, washing the bibs, and putting everything in the Mini's room away.  Another Whistler Kids season is in the books.  I feel happy and sad at the same time.  I'm ready for summer for sure.

 

Day 122 | called in for overtime

After working a ten day week, I was looking forward to a weekend off but my Scheduler called on Saturday asking if I could work today.  No problem as it's overtime and I only have one more paycheck left before I enter the world of unemployment (and poverty).

Surprisingly there were close to 20 kids in snowboarding lessons.  Since I was on the overtime clock, I wanted to work.  I didn't care what level I was given just as long as I worked.  I was given the seven level twos.

We spent the morning working on toe edge sideslips.  After lunch we worked on S turns.  A couple of them were turning by the end of the afternoon.  The day dragged on pretty slow.  It was cloudy and cold.  At least when the sun shines, a day on the Magic Carpet isn't so bad.  Of course we built a jump as that always helps the time pass quickly.

Tomorrow is the last day of Whistler Kids.  We have four Instructors scheduled and three kids pre-booked. I hope the sun shines but the forecast calls for another return of winter.

Day 121 | a very good Friday

I promised my two Adventure Camp kids that we would hit the GMC Race Centre first thing in the morning.  They wanted to run down it before the course got chewed up.  Of course we had a new level 5 Destination show up and we needed to evaluate his riding before starting our day.  So we grabbed the level 6 class and headed down Lower Olympic.  It wasn't too long before I realized the new guy was actually a level 4.  Luckily, that class was right behind us so it was easy to put him into the correct level and my kids and I took off.

We rode the Peak 2 Peak over to Blackcomb and squeezed in two runs on the race course before heading down to the village and in for lunch.  Our plan of attack for the afternoon was to hit 7th Heaven.  We made it out there by 1pm and took a run down the vast openness.  Seems like everyone had the same idea as it was crowded when you first got off the chair.  Of course, the sun was beating down like crazy and the weather was amazing.  I also forgot that today was Good Friday and everyone was off from work so the slopes were a little busier than earlier in the week.

The kids also wanted to take a couple laps through the terrain garden so I decided to ride the back of 7th to get out of there.  That turned out to be the best decision of the day.  We headed down Blue Line where the snow off the groomer was soft and dry.  Max and I enjoyed the wintery conditions while Lottie stayed comfortably on the groomer.  We found a couple of rocks to drop and some soft moguls to explore on.  It was really fun.

Before taking our last run of the week, we stopped at the Rendenzvous for some water and a bit of a break.  Both of the kids were bummed that today was their last day and they were both headed back home (Hong Kong and England) tomorrow.  After our terrain garden lap we kept riding south to the village with Lottie staying on the groomer and Max and I jumping hits on the sides.  We met up with their Dads right on time.  The kids collected their Adventure Camp toques, I collected my tip money and we all said goodbye for another season.  It was a great last week of work and the fun I had with these kids was just another reminder of why I love my job!   

 

Day 120 | Beaver Tails

5cm of fresh snow fell overnight.  We are almost into May and it's still snowing.  At least the sun was shining today making it a great day.

I'm having a great week with my Adventure Camp kids.  The two Destination kids we had earlier in the week have been riding with their family .... but a different level 5 guy showed up today.  The first thing we did was take a run down to the village with James and his level 6's to see what group the new kid would fit into.   I was happy to see that he fit perfectly with James, leaving me with only two kids! 

I opted for the noon lunch leaving us plenty of time to do anything we wanted in the morning.  The first thing we did was warm up on Whiskey Jack.  The run was soft packed with fresh corduroy.  Simply heavenly.  Next we took a run through the Terrain Park.  Upper Peak to Creek was the run of the day so I came up with the brilliant idea of hitting that to Highway 86.  The snow up there was dry and mostly untracked.  Max and I followed the trail off piste getting sweet freshies while Lottie stayed on the groomer.  We made our way down Highway 86 getting fresh tracks on the side of the cat track.  We eventually made our way back to the CLC around 11:30am and refueled with lunch.

Yesterday the kids planned on bringing money to buy a Beaver Tail today.   They decided to buy one after lunch and ate it in the gondola.  We took the Peak 2 Peak over to Blackcomb to hit the race course and terrain garden again.  They closed the race course early but we were able to get one run down it.  The snow at the top of Blackcomb was soft packed and lots of it.  We hit a bunch of treelines and there was so much snow in some spots and lots of fresh lines.  Max worked on his ollies on the flats, off of jumps, and down drops.  Lottie just rode around.  I hit the jibs with Max.  It was a really fun day and we did a lot of snowboarding .... over 20 miles to be exact!  I took lots of pics of the kids.  Last day of AC is tomorrow and my fingers are crossed that we don't have any other kids who have to ride in our group.    

  

Day 119 | i don't have a title for today

Day three of Adventure Camp:  hump day!  I'm getting tired but the week is still going good.  I only had three kids.  We were on the move by 9:30am and heading up the gondola.  It was pretty chilly in the morning and still cold later in the day with snow at Rendezvous all afternoon.

We spent the morning in Whistler green park.  Even though the kids are level fives, they are still terrain park rookies.  I showed them the ropes and then sent them on their way down the jumps.  The girls were a bit shy and timid and only tried one jump while Max rocked all four plus all the boxes.

After lunch we ran down to the village and uploaded on Blackcomb.  We took a couple of laps in the Terrain Garden and then raced each other at the GMC Race Center.  That was fun and the kids wanted to do it again.  Unfortunately, by the time we got back over to it again, they had closed the course because it was almost 3pm.  We ran down Zig Zag to finish off the day.  It looks like we snowboarded another 16.5 miles.  whew!  No wonder why I'm tired.    

Day 118 | snow in my driveway AGAIN!!!

Yes, there was about a centimeter of snow in my driveway when I woke up this morning.  It's almost May!  The weather was a mixed bag all day with sun, clouds, cool temps, and lots of isolated snow showers.

My level four/five AC kids picked up two Destination kids:  one from yesterday and a girl from New York.  I was worried she wasn't going to be as good as the other kids but she fit in perfectly.  I promised the kids we would ride Peak to Creek after lunch so we warmed up through Enchanted Forest trees and Marmot trees.

Dark clouds were moving through all day and I was hoping Peak to Creek would be clear once we got up there at noon but no such luck.  The first 200 or so yards were completed sopped in with fog.  The kids were a little nervous since the visibility was so poor but we all stuck together in a pack and they made it through with no problems.  The run was mostly small moguls most of the way down.  We made it to Dusty's Creekside in less than an hour.  Not bad.

After that we were able to fit in a run from the bottom of Red Chair to the village and then back up to the Roundhouse for a last cool down run to finish the day.  We covered about 14 miles when it was all said and done.

Day 117 | Wallace Churchill the fourth

I am happy to report I found the joy in snowboarding once again today!  It's Easter Week and the last Adventure Camp for the year.  I was given level fours and the kids in my class are really cool and fun to snowboard with.  It probably didn't hurt that the sun was shining all day and the snow was soft packed.

Once everyone was up at the CLC and accounted for, I believe we had about 30 kids in lessons.  I had three ACers and one destination.  Lunch was early so we only had time for two runs in the AM, one down a green and one down a blue.  That was just enough time to realize I had quite a split on my hands.  Three of the kids were level four/five and one kid was a level three.  After speaking with the level three Instructor during lunch, I decided to keep the split.

After lunch the kids told me where they wanted to ride. One wanted to ride Harmony Ridge and one wanted to ride The Saddle.  So we made the plan to head up to Harmony, then up Peak Chair, and finally down to Highway 86.  By the time we went from one end of Whistler to the other, the level three kid was exhausted.  I decided to head to the CLC to give everyone a much needed rest.  I informed my Supervisor that Alejandro would be joining James in level three AC tomorrow.  Instead of spending an hour on a jump at the CLC, the kids decided to take one more run from the Roundhouse to end their day.

We had such a great time that the Destination kid is going to return tomorrow.  I promised the kids we would run Peak to Creek.  If we get lucky and don't have a split, I think we can snowboard about 20 miles.  Today our flaiks reported we ran 16.5miles.

Day 116 | blizz-fest

It's day three of Telus Fest but you'd never know it by the weather.  When one thinks of Telus Fest, one thinks of sunny spring warm weather.  Not this year, at least not yet.  At 2pm this afternoon, there was literally a blizzard at the Roundhouse!!  Actually the weather was weird all day.  It jumped from sun, to clouds, to snow, to ice, to sun, to clouds ... etc.  And the temps are cooler than normal.  Definitely not Spring.

At the morning meeting, we had seven Instructors working and three kids pre-booked for lessons.  All of our mouths dropped when we were told the numbers.  I thought my Supervisor was kidding.  I'm happy to report that eight more kids signed up in the morning, topping our numbers off for a total of eleven kids, five classes.

I couldn't bring myself to deal with another Lil Ripper class so I opted to take the Level four class.  There were two boys in level four and one boy in level five.  I took all three up Garbanzo to see if they could fit together.  We headed down Whiskey Jack and ran down Ptarmigan.  Once on Ptarmigan,  I quickly realized I had two level fives on my hands and one level three.  I gave the level fives to Devon and I took the one level three.

He was a chilled guy from Vancouver who was in Whistler Kids back in March.  He wasn't into side hits, trees, or jumps.  He liked riding straight down the middle of the run.  Fine by me as the groomers on Whistler were soft packed and really nice.

After lunch he wanted to head over to Blackcomb where we spent our time on the blues.  It was a nice afternoon even with the blizzard like conditions from time to time.  By 2pm he was ready to have a break so we took the Peak 2 Peak back to Whistler, rode down to the CLC and chilled out on the jump til it was time to download.  

Day 115 | still not Spring

Nope.  I jumped the gun.  Spring has yet to show it's face in Whistler.  At noon it was snowing on the Magic Carpet.

I opted out of taking one level four guy to share a class of Lil Rippers with Jordan Decker.  We had two four year olds and two six year olds.  One guy I had the other day, one guy barely spoke English, one guy just turned four like a day ago, and one girl who I had back in December.  Needless to say .... it was a long day!!!  And pretty much the same as any Lil Ripper that I've been having for the past two weeks.  I think I need to get back to teaching regular aged kids.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. 

Day 114 | Percy's

I haven't had a freeride day since March 26th.  As you know, I'm pretty much over the cold weather / snowboarding thing.  But I recognize there are still another two weeks of snow before I hit the beach and the sunshine so I should enjoy some Spring skiing before I leave.

I was scheduled to work but Morgan was nice enough to cover for me so I could spend the day with Aimee and Maddie and Oscar Percy.  They are kids from Oz who were with Aimee last season in Whistler Kids and their parents hired Aimee to spend two weeks with them as they holiday in Whistler again this year.  I spent a lot of time with them as well last season and since today was their last day in Whistler, I wanted to ride with them at least once before they left.

It's the first day of the Telus Fest and the sun was shining!  Not to mention, the snow is amazing for April.  The conditions are like February (middle of winter) - not to mention, with all the fresh snow, you can still find some fresh tracks.  Needless to say, the day was going to be amazing!

Maddie wanted to hike up Spanky's Ladder so we did that right out of the gate.  From the Glacier Chair you could see a line of people hiking up like an army of ants.  We decided to hit Ruby Bowl since it was something we knew the kids could get down.  The snow up there was amazing!  It's so hard to believe that it's actually April.  After Spanky's, we hit the Glacier Creek for lunch.

We then decided to cat track over to 7th Heaven and head over to Couloir Extreme, a double black diamond which is one of the top ten steep in-bounds runs in the world according to Skiing Magazine.  The snow down there was soft and although we didn't get freshies, the run down was still very nice.  It's awesome to check that popular run off my list.

The kids wanted to hit the Terrain Garden, then ride down to the Village and go up Whistler.  So that's what we did.  We met up with Pip and Jordan for a quick run through the Whistler Park.  We then made our way back down to the Village for a much needed smoothie.  I said my good-bye's to the kids and came home to rest up for another day of work tomorrow.

Day 113 | GRRRR ....... !!!!

Another 8cm of snow fell overnight and it's officially the second snowiest season on record for Whistler Blackcomb.  We've received 49 feet of snow and it's still snowing as I write this.

I was assigned level threes at the morning meeting but I opted to take the same Lil Ripper I had yesterday.  I don't think we ended up having a level three class so I made the right choice.  We had another 20+ kids signed up for lessons plus a total of three Lil Rippers.  One girl was going to be 7 years old next week so we put her with the level two class and I took the six year old who had never snowboarded before.  He got along great with my other guy and was really keen to snowboard.

For Kingsley (the four year old), he was more about the socializing than the snowboarding today.  But he was great at helping me show Braeden how to put on and take off his bindings.  It was quite cute to watch a four year old give instruction.  Once we got up the Magic Carpet, Kingsley mostly played in the snow while Braeden wanted to learn how to ride.

We ended up taking a pretty long break/lunch but spent most of the afternoon outside.  Having all these Lil Rippers has given me a chance to brush up on my face painting skills and I have to admit I'm getting quite good at it (see pic).

Kingsley's Dad checked him out at the CLC while Braeden and I took the gondola down to meet with his Mom and Dad.  The day went by pretty quick and Braeden should be returning tomorrow.