Day 28 - The Snowdogs

Another sunny bluebird day in Whistler Blackcomb with a high temperature inversion.  The Alpine reached +2C by mid-afternoon.  The runs are still hard packed with lots of snow being pushed to the sides of the runs.  No new snow for a quite a few days.

50 or so kids were in Destination Ride.  I'm having a super chill week with my two girls who showed up close to 9am ready to snowboard.  We took the gondola to the Roundhouse and headed to the Chic Pea for photos.  Once that was finished, we continued back to the CLC for a quick break.  There, we picked up Kat and her Lil Ripper, Travis and headed to Marmot Trees.  That was quite an adventure as the snow was soft and the kids kept falling every 5-10ft.  But they had fun and that's all that mattered.

After lunch, we had time to take a lap to the Village before our ice cream apre.  That was pretty much the day.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Day 27 - mixing up the classes

Record setting snowboard lessons day: 80+ kids!  At the meeting, gunner, Lur and I were told we needed to combine two classes because an Instructor was needed to take a level three class.  I spoke up and offered up my two boys to Lur in order to take two very nice 7 year old girls who are cool to shred some easy greens and blues for the week.  Ahhhh, I felt so much better not having the pressure of entertaining two high level boys without any chance of snow coming this week.

There was a huge inversion with temps today. -1C in the Alpine and -16C in the Village. It was a nice sunny day up top and my girls were happy cruising the Family Zone.  Luckily the snow wasn't as icy as yesterday but conditions are still hard packed.

Day 26 - another group of AC'ers

I had a very restful two days off and recovered for another week of Adventure Camp.  Whistler Kids is crazy busy this week with 250 Destination skiers and close to 70 Riders (including Adventure Camp).  I was assigned Level fours AC and though I was happy, I was also annoyed because the snow conditions right now are terrible.  No new snow in a couple days, no new snow forecasted AT ALL, and runs are super icy.

Today was a cold one.  -16C on top the mountain.  Four level 4's signed in with me and Lur quickly took one as he only had one level five and the two boys rode together last week.  That left me with one regular girl from Vancouver (Caileigh) and two older boys.  After a long sign in process and an even longer wait in line to get up the gondola, we managed to squeeze in a run from Ego Bowl back to the CLC to warm up before having to head back out.  I quickly gave my girl to a level three class as the runs were too icy for her to turn down.  That left me with a couple of pretty quick boys and no idea where to take them for something fun.

In the afternoon, we followed Gunner and Lur through the Terrain Park for a couple laps.  That was more of a nightmare than anything else.  The park is so hard packed right now, but the boys had fun.  We finished by 3pm and downloaded before the mega-line queued up for downloads.

The snow base now is 120cm.  Hoping to run through Harmony tomorrow and find some softer snow to play around in.  It's going to be a long week in these conditions.

Day 25 - end of AC

Friday!  Last day of Adventure Camp and after yesterday,  I was curious to see how the day was going to go.  The kids all arrived before 8:45am and we were heading up to Roundhouse before 9am.  The weather has been clear and cold as of late with no new snow and nothing in the forecast.  Heavy traffic'ed runs are starting to get quite icy.

We took a warm up run down Ego Bowl and kept on trucking back to the CLC to warm up with a nice cup of hot chocolate.  We managed to squeeze in a couple more runs before lunch including a lap down Raven (black diamond).  After lunch, I promised the boys we would go through the Terrain Park.  We only had time for one more run after that before calling it a day (and a week).  It was a fun group of kids this week so the week went by fast.

Day 24 - a box of surprises (Merry Christmas)

In keeping with tradition, Irish and I headed up Whistler for the Fresh Tracks breakfast.  I invited Pippa and my temporary roommate Kadey to come along.  We all met up at the gondola for 7am.  It was a clear morning with low lying clouds and we were greeted with an amazing sunrise.

Because I had to work, I had to eat and run.  I met with my kids just before 9am.  We went straight to the top of the gondola and the weird/amazing day began.  We got to enjoy five snow-rainbows.  One of my girls had a bit of a mental breakdown so it took us a very very long time to get back to the CLC.  After a quick hot chocolate break, we took a quick lap to the Village and then came in for lunch.

The afternoon was fun as the girl who was having a difficult last couple of days, decided to go home.  She was a huge split in the class.  After lunch, we were able to do two full laps of Whiskey Jack, Orange Peel, Dave Murray hitting most of the jumps along the way.  We saw two white doves off of Dave Murray.  On Whiskey Jack, we stopped at the SLOW sign and got some Hersheys Kisses from the Safety "elves".

We finished at the CLC around 2:30pm.  Chris spent some time on the jump that Gunner built before we stood in the long download queue.  

Irish and Pippa had quite a day hiking Flute three times.  They said the snow was amazing.  I have to admit I was a bit jealous.

Day 23 - xray snow goggles

I had my AC kids meet a little earlier today because I wanted to ride on Blackcomb in the morning.  By 8:45am we were on the Whistler gondola heading up to start our day.  We needed to stop off at the CLC to get our group picture taken then we continued up to the Peak 2 Peak.

I wanted to ride Blackcomb today because I wanted the kids to start riding more blue runs.  I've always had a split in the class but the split is getting bigger and bigger as the week goes on.  One girl is painfully slow and doesn't take risks at all.  In fact, she starts to freak out when I challenge her on tougher terrain.  She didn't have an incredibly strong day today.  She fell a lot, cried a few times, and if anything, she stepped her riding back more than she improved.

It was a blue bird day with low lying scattered clouds.  The views were amazing.  It's Christmas Eve and there weren't a lot of people out on the slopes.  4cm of snow fell overnight and the runs were soft packed, though Whistler felt softer than Blackcomb.

Day 22 - ladybug gloves

It was raining/snowing in the Village first thing in the morning.  It didn't take too long to get damp after our morning meeting.  Only 2cm of fresh snow fell overnight.  I told my kids to meet me at 8:45am and I helped check in Destination kids until they arrived.

Once we gathered the team, we headed straight up to the top of the gondola where we were met with lots of soft snow and perfect corduroy on the groomers.  The boys started getting a bit adventurous by going over some natural jumps and drops and powder on the side of the runs.  The girls kept to working on their turns in the middle of the run.  We ran all the way back to CLC on the first run to warm up and enjoy a quick hot chocolate before heading right back up and taking another lap before lunch.

After lunch we headed over to Green Acres and found ourselves on the ungroomed powdery run.  That took some time with the weakest rider but in the end she made it and had fun.  On the next run we dropped off Whiskey Jack and into the powder back to Ego Bowl.  It wasn't anything crazy but it gave the kids a sense of what the powder feels like … and they loved it.  Before we knew it, the day was over.  We were told to download at 2:45 but the gondola ended up breaking around 3pm so we snowboarded back to the Village in the chaos.  The kids had a great day and I really enjoyed the soft snow.

Day 21 - Let the crazy begin

It's the holiday season.  The crazy crowds have reached Whistler Blackcomb.  Snowboarding has Adventure Camp for the next two weeks and I was given a level three class.  We had 20 kids in Camp with another 6 Lil Rippers.  I never did find out how many Destination riders we had.

I spent most of my morning sorting out my class and making sure they were in the right level with the right kids.  The most we accomplished before lunch was a rip down to the Village from mid-station.  Conditions there were hard packed with icy spots.

After lunch we went to the Family Zone from the Roundhouse.  Conditions up there were soft packed which gave the kids a bit more confidence with turns.  We received another 9cm overnight and winds were light.  We managed to squeeze in two runs before heading back to the CLC for a break and then we hit the jump.  It was a long wait in line to download at the end of the day but my kids' parents were ready and waiting when we reached the Village so sign-out went quite quickly.  I'm looking forward to having the same kids all week.  Hoping they reach level four by Thursday.

Day 20 - back leg burn

21cm overnight.  7:00am alarm.  7:45am standing in line at Base II.  8:30am shredding knee deep fresh pow all the way down Excelerator Chair.  9:30-10:30am standing in line at 7th Heaven.  10:45am shredding knee deep fresh pow all the way back to 7th Heaven chair.  Managed to get in another two more runs before the crowd sets in, fresh tracks most of the way.

Amazing day.  Waking up early was well worth it.  Standing in line for an hour … again, well worth it.  Conditions were awesome.  Snow was deep and not too heavy out in 7th.  The lower you dropped, the heavier it got.  We managed to get in a couple of good tree runs off the cat tracks as well.  Found lots of powder on the side of Ross Gold late in the afternoon.  Ran down to Blackcomb for a sandwich at Portobella's before calling it a day.  So glad we woke up early as the 9am lift line at Creekside was over the bridge.

      

Day 19 - freeride pow day

Irish and I had the day off and we decided to get up early to enjoy the 14cm of snow overnight.  Another 14cm was forecasted to fall during the day.  After a quick breakfast at Dusty's Backside, we headed up the Creekside gondola.  Winds were high and the only sheltered chair was Garbonzo.  We headed down Dave Murray to check out what was happening off the Garbo chair.  There was plenty of soft pow to be found on Dave Murray.  Raven was out of bounds and looked untouched so we gave that a whirl on the second lap and found a ton of knee high powder on that run.  We hit that twice, the second time going all the way down Ptarmigan.  Fresh tracks the whole way.  

The high winds kept the Peak Chair closed so we hit Harmony around noon.  Visibility across the ridge was terrible but once you hit the big field, it was powder powder powder.  We took a couple of runs through Gun Barrels and decided to give Symphony a try.  By now it was after 1pm and the storm had settled in, making visibility next to nothing.  I couldn't see on Burnt Stew at all and kept getting vertigo so we basically ran back out of Symphony and made our way back to Creekside gondi to download before the crowds.  

It's been snowing for the last couple of hours and we're hoping for more powder turns tomorrow. 

  

Day 18 - Covered Carpet

Exciting News:  the new covered carpet opened at the CLC today!!  Snowboard lessons still weren't too busy with only 21 kids.  I managed to get myself the level 2 class and I only had three kids, one of whom left right after lunch.  Of course, we spent the entire day on the new carpet.  Neither kid made it to level three.

14cm fell overnight and conditions up top were amazing (so I heard).  Another 4cm fell during the day. At the CLC, it snowed on and off while it rained most of the way down to the Village.  There is currently a 108cm base.

Day 17 - sharked

Another 3cm overnight with a potential storm on the horizon for the next three days.  Snowboard lessons are picking up as today we had 23 riders.  I shared a Lil Ripper class with Matt.  We didn't really need to split the class but Matt wanted work and no one really questions Lil Rippers so we said we had a split.  The little girl, Anna, from the other day returned and I knew I wanted to take her on the Super Carpet so technically I guess we did have a split.  One kid was a never-ever and one had been snowboarding before.  He was able to side-slip on his heels.  We stayed on the Magic Carpet for the morning and after lunch I took Anna to the Super Carpet.  She was able to turn from heels to toes with the help of me holding the hula hoop.  She got tired after four runs in the longer area, but plans on returning tomorrow.

Day 16 - I did not get a class

3cm of snow fell overnight.  Ski School was busier than Snowboard School with 70 skiers compared to 12 riders.  I was assigned to RFID the skiers and Sean hadn't assigned me a class.  I knew that meant I wasn't going to work and I was a bit upset about it.  I headed up the gondola around 9:30am with Nick and Steve, who also didn't get classes.  We hung around for about 45 minutes before Shimmy told us we could head down and check in with Adults.

It was lightly snowing in the Village when I left and I decided to drive down to Squamish and ride my bike.  So that's what I did.  It made me feel a lot better about not getting to work today.  Scheduled to work the next two days, when things are picking up for Christmas, so I guess it won't be so bad in the long run … and by long run, I mean my paycheck.

Day 15 - Jameson & Guinness

Mid-way through December, our snow base is 90cm and most of that is man made.  Most runs are still closed, including Lower Whiskey Jack and Jolly Green Giant area.  We haven't had any new snow in a couple of days and runs were a bit icy today.  Snow guns are still firing here and there.

We had 10 kids signed up for snowboard lessons and I had one Lil Ripper.  It was a typical Ripper day with runs on the Magic Carpet, long breaks and colouring.  Anna was from England and she had the best accent.  She was quite a talker and quite a rider too.    

Day 14 - guns ablazen'

No new snow overnight.  It was sunny in the morning and clouds rolled in during the afternoon.  Temps have been cold enough to blow snow on the lower elevations so the guns were going full blast today.  We are getting a new carpet at the CLC so there were about four guns blowing in the kids area and it was so loud, you couldn't even think.

Busy day in Snow School.  Over 100 skiers in Adventure Camp, another 50-75 in Destination, and 23 riders.  I shared a level two class with Kat and we had eight kids.  We spent the morning at the Magic Carpet and spent the afternoon on the Super Carpet.  The class was an even split with half of them confidently turning by the end of the day and the other half still needing another day of practice.

Day 13 - Peak, 7th, Harmony open

The pineapple express moved off on Wednesday but left behind about 30cm of snow in the higher elevations.  Whistler Blackcomb opened Peak Chair and 7th Heaven on Saturday.  Irish was willing to get up early and give it a go but I said I didn't want to.  I hated the idea of getting up early for a couple of good turns and then waiting in line forever.  I heard the snow was awesome but the lineups were crazy.

Today, Whistler opened Harmony Chair.  People said the snow was filled in like it was mid to late February (everything is covered) and the snow was amazing.  I worked and didn't get a chance to sample the goods.  We had about 20 kids in snowboard lessons today and another 5 Lil Rippers.  I was given one Lil Ripper who was a level 3.

We spent the morning on the two carpets and after lunch we rode down to the Village then took one lap from the Roundhouse back to the CLC.  The snow was nice from RH to 3/4 of the way down Emerald Chair, where it started to get icy.  Luckily it was cold enough for the snow guns to cover most of the ice from Emerald back to the CLC.  The day went by fairly quickly as my kid provided some great entertainment for the day, including mimicking Macauley Culkin from Home Alone and telling me that Brandon Semenuk was his older brother.  Gotta love 6 year olds.    

Day 12 - Please, no more rain!

I was called off yesterday and I didn't complain.  It rained (poured) all day and although the winds weren't as high as Tuesday, conditions were still just as terrible.  This morning the rain stopped and 9cm of snow was reported overnight.

We had the same seven kids signed up for lessons and I was assigned level 3 and ended up with Greg, the same kid I had on Monday.  Terrain was limited in the morning with Olympic Chair being closed, the run to the Valley was "marginal", Olympic run from Emerald to mid-station was "marginal", and Expressway was closed.  Greg and I headed up to the Roundhouse and managed to do three runs lapping the Emerald Chair before we needed to download for lunch.

Conditions at mid-station were horrible, with lots of "rivers" running across the area.  I think there is more dirt than snow.  Conditions at the Roundhouse weren't bad.  In fact, it looked like a winter-wonderland from the gondola but the runs were actually hard packed.  There was about 6 inches of fresh heavy pow in the areas that weren't groomed and I managed to get a couple of first pow turns in on the side of Ego Bowl.

 

Day 11 - EVAC!

Interesting day all around at Whistler Kids.  Seven kids were signed up for lessons.  Four showed up on time, one was a no-show, and two showed up at 9:30am.  Pippa and I were assigned to the levels for the two kids who showed up late.  It was pouring rain from Village level to the Peak Chair and winds were gusting over 100km.

Pippa and I got our kids ready for the CLC and we boarded the gondola around 9:45am.  We unloaded the gondola (at mid-station) at 10:15am!  High winds were causing constant stops and finally Lift Ops separated the two lines and eventually closed the top line.  Blackcomb also ended up closing due to high winds.  Because of the Pineapple Express, the warm weather also wreaked havoc on the snow.  The CLC was nothing but slush with big "snow puddles" everywhere.  My boots were soaked before lunch.

I had a Lil Ripper and he was keen to be outside and learn how to snowboard but conditions didn't allow for much teaching.  By noon, both mountains were closed and we were waiting to get permission to go outside.  There was lots of talk about how we were going to download since both lines of the gondola needed to be stopped due to the wind.  Cats were discussed but in the end we downloaded around 1:30pm.

Snowboarders aren't ones for hanging inside the CLC for too long, so after lunch, we were the only crew outside on the Magic Carpet, in the pouring time, snowboarding on the minis side.  We even built a jump!!!  The Carpet wasn't running and all the fencing was either blown down or taken down.  It was a rare sight …. and interesting day, that ended an hour early.  Forecast for tomorrow doesn't look like much will be improved.

Day 10 - Stinger to the Face

A huge band of precipitation has moved into the region, unfortunately, it's mostly in the form of rain.  Today stayed fairly dry around mid mountain with sprinkling rain on and off.  Snowboard lessons had a new batch of kids, most of which are signed up for 5 days (8 kids total).  I was given level two and I only had one boy from Mapleridge.  Spent the morning on the Super Carpet getting confident on his S-turns then spent the afternoon riding down to the Village.  He finished as a level three.

Day 9 - Spinning a web of lies

Back to work and conditions haven't improved in the last three days.  (sad face)  No new snow to report.  It was clear today and not too cold.  The runs were hard packed, very hard packed.

We had eight kids in Snowboard School and when the day first started, it was looking like I wasn't going to get a class.  I was assigned level one's and all the kids who signed in, came in as two's or higher.  Luckily Riley had a split with level 2 and I was able to stay and take one girl, Kalynne, who remained a level one star by the end of the day.

Day 8 - We can ski to the Village!!!

We can ski to the Village!  Exciting news!  Cold temps had the snow guns running full blast, non stop and they made enough snow from mid-station to the Village so we can now ski out.  yay!

Two new kids signed up for snowboard lessons today, making our total of 6 kids!  Riley had three level ones, I did a Private with my level 2/3 girl, Gunner took the level four boy, and Jordan had his Park Rider.  I started off on the Super Carpet for a few warm up laps before heading to the Roundhouse for a lap before lunch.  Taylor, my kid, was turning perfectly down the Carpet but she froze and wouldn't even try to turn on her toe edge down Ego Bowl.  She did the same thing yesterday and I got so frustrated because I couldn't make her do it and I couldn't do it for her.  Grrrr … I wanted to scream at her because I knew she could do it if she just gave it a try.

After lunch I decided to take Taylor back to the Super Carpet to make her do some fast moving J-turns on her toe edge.  That worked and it built her confidence up enough where I thought it would be good to take her down to the Village.  She managed to turn most of the way down Olympic, getting over the "block" she had.  I was so excited and so was she!!!  She even popped off the jump we made at the CLC at the end of the day.  It was a great way to end my week.

Day 7 - I C U P

Another quiet day in Whistler Kids.  We have four snowboarders and I took the same two as yesterday.  We took a couple of laps on the Super Carpet first thing in the morning to warm up.  Both we ready to hit the Emerald Zone up top even though I knew it would be challenging for the girl.  After a quick hot chocolate at the CLC, we headed up to the Roundhouse before lunch.

It was a blue bird day and views were amazing.  The snow is getting icy in spots.  We ran Ego Bowl a couple of times, which created a huge split between the kids.  The boy was running fast and strong, while the girl was using my hand to turn onto her toes.  A bit frustrating but I made it work.  Tomorrow they will definitely be split up.

Day 6 - still cold still no snow

Back to work today after not getting a class on Saturday and having Sunday off.  Conditions in Whistler are still the same.  Snow base is at 50cm but no terrain is available to ski except for Ego Bowl, Whiskey Jack, and a run down to Red Chair.  The good news is temps have dropped so the snow guns are blasting snow like crazy.  We might be able to ride from top to bottom soon thanks to man-made snow.

We only had 5 kids in snowboard lessons today.  I had two level 2/3 kids who spent most of the day on the Super Carpet practicing their turns.  The day went by quite quickly for some reason.  It was quite cold today so we took quite a few breaks.  I'm sure that helped pass the time.  Looks like it will be slow all week in Snow School but I should get the same kids for a couple days in a row.