Day 120 - out with a bang .....

..... or should I say:  Out with a break!

Last day of Whistler Kids for me.  I'm finishing up a day early so I can start my holiday.  We had a total of eight kids in Snowboard School including one Lil Ripper.  I was assigned to the level 2/3 kid and we spent a bit of time getting reacquainted with his snowboard and turning.  Around 10am I thought he was ready to ride to the Village.  The snow was super slushy but he managed pretty good with his turns.  Once we hit the bottom, we still had a while to go before lunch so I decided to take one lap from the top even though Morgan said it was pretty icy up there.

We got off the gondola at 10:30am (plenty of time for one run before lunch).  We ran into the kid's Dad and I told him James was turning well and we're about to take a lap down Whiskey Jack.  We strapped in our bindings and headed down under the Peak 2 Peak.  When I looked up, James was on the ground grabbing his wrist in dire pain.  To make a long story short, he broke his wrist and it looked pretty painful.

That left me with no class at 10:45am.  I rode down to the CLC expecting to eat lunch and go home.  Scotty, who had three never-ever kids, told me that his boy was practically turning down the Magic Carpet and if I wanted to stay and teach, I could take him to the Super Carpet.  Done.  That was easy.

That kid, named Liam, spent about 45 minutes on the Super Carpet, where he was turning with no problem so we took a run to the Village and finished the day back at the CLC at the jump.

Day 119 - thank you for teaching us

six little kids - five big kids.  Morgan took the three I had yesterday while Scotty and I took the level one and two.  It didn't take us long to realize they were both level one.  It was sunny, warm and the CLC was serving butter chicken for lunch.  Scotty stayed until lunch then took off.  Both the boys were practicing edges and after lunch I took them to the Super Carpet where the never-ever started turning perfectly.  The other kid wasn't quite picking up the turning idea but he was close.  Later in the afternoon I built them a jump.  Both guys had a blast today and they said they learned a lot.  The nicest part of the day was when they both  said "we had a blast.  thank you for teaching us."

Day 118 - Kiss My Shoes

Let's see, we had four Lil Rippers and six big kids in classes.  I was praying I wasn't assigned to Lil Rippers again.  Prayers were answered I was assigned to level threes but Daz was kind enough to give me the level four class since another AC kid of mine from last season is taking lessons this week.  I had a total of three kids including Handsome Ransome.

It was cold first thing in the morning and we had a good two hours to kill before lunch.  The snow wasn't bad.  Definitely not hard packed but nothing fresh to be found, at least not in the green chair zone.  We ran through Marmot Trees, through the terrain park and stuck to a couple of groomers.  I did have a bit of a split in the class as Ransome and Ben are level fives and the new kid, Aiden was a low, very low, level four.  This kid was tired by the end of the day.  

The place had warmed up by the time we finished lunch so the afternoon went by faster than the morning.  Since there was only three kids, we did what they wanted to do.  Ransome just wanted to do Marmot Trees, Ben just wanted to ride park, and Aiden just wanted to ride groomers.  So we did a bit of everything.

Day 117 - half price BC day

WB lift tickets were half price today for BC residents.  We had a total of 20 kids in Snow School and eight of them were Lil Rippers.  I was assigned my returning level one star kid (muppet) from yesterday and another one also showed up.  We were an Instructor short with the Lil Rippers so once the never ever kids got up to speed and to the top of the Magic Carpet, I handed my kids over to him and then I helped with the Lil Rippers.

It was suppose to rain but the sun was out for most of the day.  Megan took the higher level Ripper and wandered off from the CLC area to get her turning.  Clare and I stuck with the remaining young ones.  Half of them were keen to ride and half of them were keen to play in the fort.  The day went by fairly quickly so I can't complain.  There are four more work days for me and I'm imagining them being torturous down to the bitter end.

Day 116 - dark purple = pinky purple

It snowed yesterday.  And it snowed a lot!  And it was cold, really cold!  I had to work and my fingers were crossed for a high level class or not getting a class at all.  Neither happened.  I ended up with one never ever.  Only 12 kids were signed up for lessons and there were three girls in level two.  As I loaded the gondola, I was hoping to get my kid good enough for the level two class by lunch so I could still shred in the afternoon.  Five minutes after strapping in his first binding, I knew I had a muppet on my hands and I was going to be at the CLC all day.

15cm fell with the storm on Friday and it was a partly cloudy/partly sunny day.  It was cold but felt much warmer when the sun came through the clouds.  Clare had three Lil Rippers and I helped her a bit when they needed an extra hand.  Aimee rode for most of the day and said the snow above the Roundhouse was amazing.  The snow below the Roundhouse was horrible.  I'm guessing this is the last of the fresh snow for the season (at least for my season anyway).

Day 115 - Me, Aimes, & Car

Aimee and I didn't do anything too productive yesterday so we said we were going to ride today no matter what the weather.  We weren't in a rush to get up there as no new snow fell overnight and conditions were looking all that great (meaning no sun).  Symphony didn't open yesterday so when we exited Red Chair, we headed there via the Peak Chair.

Looking into Symphony was deceiving, as it looked like there was plenty of fresh lines to be had ... and there were.  It wasn't until you dropped off piste that you realized why, the snow was crunchy with a hard layer covering the top.  The groomers were soft so we stuck to those.  On the second run, we headed down towards the lake and took some pictures.  The sun had started to pop out here and there between the fast moving clouds.  We took fresh lines from there down towards the boot pack for Flute and into the bottom of Flute.  The was the same, crust on top, but it wasn't bad and we rode fresh to the flat part.  Kinda cool.  Off piste to the chair from there was terrible as the crust made it hard for your board to turn. We both almost fell into a tree well.  

We decided to head to Harmony and hit Low Roll.  The snow was semi soft out there but definitely chunked up.  We got back on Harmony Chair and headed to Emerald zone via Pika's Traverse.  We ran through Emerald a couple times before heading in for lunch and meeting up with Carly.  After lunch we did a couple more laps (on the groomers) through the Family Zone then called it a day.  It was cold above the green chair so the soft never really softened up.  And of course, the lower you made your way down, the slushier the snow got.  We ended up riding for five hours, a lot longer than I expected.

Day 114 - Ain't Nobody Got Time For That

What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday the sun and warmth was awesome.  Today it was cloudy/rainy, cold and icy.  Running off piste wasn't any fun so the boys and I stuck to the groomers.  We had to contend with one extra kid in the AM but since lunch was at 11am, he didn't stick with us for too long.

After lunch we ran a lap down Green Acres with Maree and her level threes.  We stuck to Whistler today as I didn't feel like lapping park all afternoon.  The boys (Finn & Ronan) were keen to advance their riding skills so we worked on riding switch on blues, ran a mogulled black diamond run, and also practiced 180's off small side hits.

Although the riding conditions were less than favorable with the heavy fog and rain close to Garbo Chair, we made the most of the day and the boys had fun.  I've been called off for tomorrow since it's quiet.  Snow is in the forecast, however freezing levels are high.  Not expecting much riding on the days off.

Day 113 - Big Jugs

Things are winding down in Snow School, only 12 Riders came for lessons with another 6 Lil Rippers.  I was assigned level fours and wasn't expecting to get a class.  Suddenly I remembered a kid I had last year was signed up for the week and he was a level four.  Around 8:30am, Finn rocked up and we ended up riding with another kid named, Ronan.

2cm of snow fell overnight and I wasn't expecting much in terms of powder.  The forecast was calling for sun all day and warm temps in the Alpine (+ 4°C) so I knew the afternoon was going to be nice.  We strapped in our bindings and headed down for our first run around 9:30am.  We went down Ego Bowl and were pleasantly surprised to find some nice powder off the groomers.  We spent our short morning running down Green Acres, on the groomer and through the trees.  Even hitting some side jumps here and there.

After lunch the boys wanted to go to the Terrain Garden on Blackcomb so we took the Peak 2 Peak over and met up with Aimee, who was riding alone.  We ripped through the TG three times, where both boys improved on their jumping skills.  Back over to Whistler to finish the day at the CLC on the box working on board slides.  Both guys are coming back tomorrow and I'm pretty confident I will be able to take them again.  I'm hoping no one else comes with the group as the two boys fit together really well skills wise, and they're really chill/cool to hang out with.

Day 112 - Retro Weekend

It was the last day of Club.  All three of Morgan's kids showed up and I had Amalia.  Temperatures were cold, in the Village and on top of the mountain.  I took Oak and Amalia for one lap from the Roundhouse before lunch.  It was foggy and the snow was icy off the groomers.  Needless to say we stuck to the groomers.

The kids weren't into riding and to be honest, neither were the Instructors.  We took a looooong lunch and then did a lap to the Village with Rowan and Morgan.  Rowan was tired so he only wanted to do one run so I took Oak and we rocked down for another lap.  We had apres planned at Showcase again so we didn't spend too much time in the CLC after the second run before it time to take our last and final lap of Club.  The kids enjoyed the cake and the free hats and sunglasses.

Day 111 - AVOCADO!!!!

It was the last day of Saturday Club and everyone showed up with the exception of Cooper, who was going to an LA Lakers game.  It snowed overnight and WB had recorded 8cm at Pig Alley and up to 15cm on the higher elevations, with more during the afternoon.  I wasn't expecting much in terms of powder so I was pleasantly surprised when we found good powder, sometimes knee deep powder in the green zone.

We hit Whiskey Jack to the powder stash down to Ego Bowl as a first run.  The snow was good though you could feel some crusty parts underneath.  We ran through Enchanted Forest, which was only nice on the groomed part.  Second and final run before lunch was down Green Acres, through the trees in the Terrain Park and then through Coyote Trees.  Again, nice powder with some crust underneath.  The kids really enjoyed it.

After lunch the sun popped out for two runs making it feel super hot.  At one point, it was sunny and snowing at the same time.  I was contemplating going up Harmony as I really wanted to ride some powder but the kids were keen to just stay in the green zone and ride the trees and through the park so that's what we did.

We finished the day with apres at Showcase where we had chocolate cake.  The kids got some swag and gave me some nice cards.  It's funny how quickly time flies when you live your life season to season.  Half of my kids moved up to level five and three of them moved up to level four.  They were all happy with that.

Day 110 - carm the farm

After a super long day of shopping in Bellingham yesterday, Aimee, Irish, and I had tentative plans to do Fresh Tracks this morning, however, when my alarm went off at 6am, my body had other plans and those plans involved additional sleep.

Instead, Aimee and I met up with the Percy's around 10:30am.  Alex was racing in the World Cup so the Percy's are back in town.  After a long catch-up at The Lift, we reached the Roundhouse around noon.  8mm of rain and 10-15cm of snow (somewhere up there) was being recorded as overnight precipitation.  It was icing a bit when we reached the top and the visibility was next to nothing.  I started wondering what the heck I was doing out there on a snowboard.  In fact, one of my fellow co-workers asked me the same thing.

We ran down to Dave Murray, where the race was taking place.  Aimee and the kids stayed to watch Alex who was going to run in about a half hour after we got there.  I decided to just go home and take a nap on the couch.  It was nice and slushy for the ride down, but the fog was thick and heavy.


Day 109 - pop goes the weasel

It's been a long week for some reason.  I'm so glad it's my Friday.  I wasn't too thrilled to be put on Lil Rippers today but I struggled through it.  Snowboard lesson numbers are going down a little each day but we still had close to 40 kids riding.  Ali and I split five Lil Rippers.

The morning went by pretty fast as lunch was at 11am and we spent about an hour on the Magic Carpet before getting a photo taken and then going to eat.  In the afternoon, Ali took the three strong Rippers and spent most of the day on the Super Carpet.  The three that stayed with me weren't too keen to snowboard so we spent most of the day lounging in the afternoon sun and having a tea party.  Not a bad way to spend a "Friday" afternoon, especially when I was so tired to begin with.

Day 108 - Sponsored by Tic Tac

Temperatures were finally back to normal today with clouds and lots of fog on the mountain.  We had about 60 kids in Snowboard School, including Adventure Camp kids.  Myles wasn't feeling it today so he gave me his class of level twos and I started with four of them.

The line for the gondola in the morning this week has been crazy.  The Fitz Chair doesn't seem to be running any longer so all 400 kids in Snow School are heading up the Whistler Gondola, making for extra long queues.  My class reached mid-station around 9:30am.

We spent the morning on the Magic Carpet, making sure the kids could side slip on both edges.  After lunch, Thomas gave me one more and we went to the Super Carpet where we worked on turning.  A couple kids were "getting it" and a couple kids were at least improving their control and balance.  I decided around 1pm to take them to the Village.  That killed the remaining part of the afternoon and we finished the day on the jump at the CLC. 

Day 107 - April Fools

I was scheduled to work at Ride Tribe and I enjoyed the extra half hour sleep in.  I was assigned to be a floater but was quickly recruited to help out Coochiepeace with level fours.  We split nine.  She took the fast five and I took the slow four.  Technically the slow four were really level threes and not fours, but whatever.

The lift line was super long at 9am and we didn't reach the Roundhouse until after 10am!  It was another hot sunny day and it didn't take too long for the ice to warm up to slush.  We did our first run down Green Acres to help sort out the split and then we only had time for one more run before we had to meet up for lunch.

My team wanted to go through the Terrain Park so we lapped that twice.  Boy it was crazy in there.  We took a run down to Red Chair and then one more run through the Family Zone before ending the day back in the Village.  The kids weren't too engaging.  They were more interested in throwing snowballs at each rather than what I had to say regarding improving their riding.  So whatever, I just shredded around and enjoyed the sun and soft snow.