Day 5 - Sammy

The weather is wreaking havoc on us this season.  Yesterday's rain was a lot of wasted precipitation that didn't come down as much needed snow.  The temperatures dropped significantly overnight and the clouds moved out with heavy winds.  We were greeted with solid ice on the runs.

We had about 30 kids in snowboard lessons.  I was assigned to Lil Rippers and we had three signed up.    Luckily our "regular" named Sammy showed up.  She is a level two so that created a split and allowed two Instructors for the Rippers.  I took Sammy and had a pretty easy day.  We spent the morning on the Magic Carpet and then did a few runs on the Super Carpet after lunch.  We spent much time colouring and drawing.  It was quite an easy day.

Day 4 - This blows

First day of Whistler Kids and I was assigned to Ride Tribe.  I wasn't too thrilled with that as I assumed I wouldn't get a class.  There were 6 skiers and 6 riders signed up for lessons.  Luckily for me, one level 2 showed up right before 9am and I grabbed him and headed for the Super Carpet.

Khai was from San Diego and he was pretty cool.  We started off at the bunny hill where he was turning but needed some pointers and some confidence.  It rained on and off throughout the morning but it wasn't anything too significant.

Khai built up his confidence quite quickly and I knew that he would be ready for Emerald Chair after lunch.  Unfortunately, it was raining like crazy in the higher elevations.  Within an hour of being outside, the two of us were drenched.  By the end of the day I had puddles in my boots.  I had never been so wet after a day of work.  It was horrible.  Happy first day of the new season.

Day 3 - Izayah, a seven year tradition

My annual shred with Izayah.  It's probably the only day we have to ride together this season as it's suppose to rain tomorrow and then I start work on Thursday.  We reached the Roundhouse just before noon and we were met with snowflakes, fair temps, and light winds.  The snow was very nice but only groomed runs are filled in so terrain is still very limited.  The base has reached 62cm at least.

We warmed up down Ego Bowl and on our second lap we hit the new bike trail off Whiskey Jack.  So much fun.  Too bad we won't be allowed to take our classes through there once work starts.  We then made our way down to Red Chair.  The conditions at lower elevations are a bit more icy, especially on the narrow cat track just before the lift.

Chris took Izayah's brother and cousin to the Super Carpet and Izayah wanted to see how they were doing so we made the decision to ride down via Olympic Run.  It's a temporary boundary right now which means it's not groomed and it's not patrolled.  I knew it was going to be an adventure.  The first half of the run was lots of heavy snow.  We quickly ran into a couple of creeks and lots of grass sticking out of the snow in spots.  It took us a while and we were both exhausted by the time we reached mid-station but we did finally reach our destination.  We found Chris and the kids and helped them on the Super Carpet for the remainder of the afternoon.

Day 2 - RST on the snow

For the first time in all the years I've worked at Ski School, this is the first time they've scheduled training before we actually start work.  Good idea because I didn't have to take a day off to do five hours of training, nor did I have to spend a day off doing training.

It was great to see most of the gang back:  Gunner, Ellen, Jon, Steve, Mathias.  We met with Tall Sean at Whistler Kids for 10am and loaded into the gondola.  Conditions up top were heavy winds and lots of snowfall.  We took a few runs and talked about Safety, new Flaiking, etc etc.  It was quite busy on the trails for a Monday.  I guess some of the local schools didn't have classes today.  We spent a couple hours at the Roundhouse discussing more and then took another lap after lunch.  We finished up just around 3pm.  It snowed in the Village for most of the afternoon and evening.  Still only three runs open.

Day 1 - Happy Opening Day!

Whistler opened with a whopping 34cm base today.  It's mid-November, and we haven't had any snow in the Village yet.  It's not a good start to the season but fingers are crossed it gets better.  I met Pippa in the Village at 9am.  We climbed into a new gondola cabin and headed up to the Roundhouse.  As you can guess, a 34cm base doesn't leave much open for runs.  We headed for Red Chair as we worked the kinks out of our muscles.  I managed to muster up three runs in total.  The snow to the Emerald Chair wasn't bad.  Ego Bowl was the place to be, and everyone was in Ego Bowl.  I made it back to the locker room exactly two hours after reaching the Round House.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  For those who braved the limited amount of runs until the end of the day, they suffered standing in the download queue which reached the Red Chair.   Let the season begin.