Day 3 - Machine Groomed
Storm blew in
Sightseeing
Unofficial Snow Report
Day 2 - back to the Winter job
The sun was shining today with a bit of an inversion so the snow guns have been blowing like crazy trying to get the ski out ready. The snow base is holding steady at 80cm. I was assigned level 3 and had four of them. We spent some of the morning at the CLC and then took a couple laps down Olympic Chair. After lunch, we headed up to the Roundhouse and alternated between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl. First day of work was way better today than last year. : )
Day 1 - Return Staff Training
But summer doesn't last forever here in BC. Winter has shown it's face and snow has begun to fall. Whistler Mountain has been open for five days and I finally had to put the bikes away. I dusted off my snowboard and headed up the gondola for Return Staff Training.
Everyone has their fingers crossed for an epic snow season. The snow base is 78cm, about 40cm more than this time last year. There isn't much open for trails right now, the usual green runs down to Emerald Chair and Red Chair. I have to admit, it was fun to get back on the board……
Opening Day Thursday Nov 19, 2015 !!
Day 96 - four days short of one hundred
Once all the kids signed in and were sorted, it turned out there were no level threes so I was off for the day (and the season). I headed up to the Roundhouse to take a quick lap. If I was smart enough to bring my ski jacket, I would have easily spent much more time up there ripping around in the best pow of the season but the only jacket I had was my uniform and I didn't want to ride in uniform. So I dropped into into the powder from Whiskey Jack and enjoyed a soft packed rip down Olympic where it was fresh corduroy the entire way. I met with Georgi a half hour later and ripped Tunnel Vision on the new steed. That's it, that's all for 2014/2015. Pray for snow in 2015/2016!
Day 95 - winter arrives
Ten kids came into snowboard lessons today and I had two from England who were never-evers. They were both 12 year old high level skiers wanting to give snowboarding a go. I thought they would do well and I was correct. By the end of the day, they were both turning down the Covered Carpet. The day went by quite quickly for having level ones. Both kids were quite athletic, highly intelligent, and very engaging. I enjoyed teaching them.
Day 94 - final weekend of Club
Jessie and Teppei were stoked to ride some powder today. They are low level 4's so I knew I couldn't take them into Harmony or up the Peak so I had to do my best to get them off the groomers and find some soft snow. The Whistler Park is now relocated by the tbars so the entire area of Green Acres is wide open and there was lots of soft snow and fresh tracks to be found exploring through there. The funnest part of the day was riding down the moguls just outside of Marmot Trees. We ran that run twice, each time the boys were jumping off anything they could find. They had a blast!
I'm scheduled to work the next two days, however numbers are low, so I might not be getting a class. Destination had four Riders in lessons today. Tomorrow there are nine signed up already. It's suppose to rain all day so I'm hoping to get the day off. Stay tuned.
Day 93 - April is the new Winter
Because it was the last day of Club, a few of us Instructors dressed up in one'sies. Riley let me borrow a kangaroo. Only three out of my five Saturday Club kids came for the last day of riding. Jack, Charlotte and Dylan were excited for a powder day. We dropped into the powder off Whiskey Jack to Ego Bowl where we found it to be knee deep in spots. On our second run, we headed into Green Acres. By this time, Charlotte had to pee so we headed down to the CLC where the kids decided to call "early lunch" so we only got two runs in before lunch. I was a bit disappointed in the team as I knew the snow was getting chopped up fast and we probably lost our chance to find any fresh tracks in the afternoon.
After lunch, Jack wanted to drop off Whiskey Jack again so we did that and then we headed to Harmony. In Harmony, we ended up off the left side of Gun Barrels where the snow was really deep and really soft. There were no fresh lines but the snow was still amazing and fun. We then traversed into the Gun Barrel area and ended up having to skate a bit back to the chair. By this time, the kids were exhausted, especially poor Jack who is only 6 years old and tiny.
Gunner had planned a snowboard group run from the Roundhouse around 1:30pm. All of Snowboard Club took a run together down Ego Bowl to mid-station. Between all the groms and Instructors dressed as animals, we were quite a sight. And it was pretty fun. We finished the day with a big group photo at the CLC and then downloaded the gondola to finish Saturday Club for the season.
Day 92 - I'm so sore, I'm so warm
It was a sunny day and very warm (which is what Freddie kept saying). Our kids were pretty good, three of them were turning on a gentle slope by the end of the day. The afternoon dragged on a bit but we built a jump and some of the AC classes joined us for a jump session just before it was time to download. Colder temps and lots of snow are in the forecast for the weekend. It seems like Winter is finally showing its face, just when Spring should be hanging around.
Day 91 - Hugh in Blue
The day didn't turn out so bad, though it was quite hectic. Another Instructor came to help me and we shared eight kids. We worked on both edges, J-turns, and finally I built them a jump to help pass the time at the end of the day. Everyone went home tired and happy.
Day 90 - Snowfie
Day 89 - Happy Easter
Day 88 - best day of 2015
I decided to head up Harmony Chair, and on the way over, we found lots of fresh tracks through some trees and under the chair. Once at the top, we made our way towards the t-bars and dropped down in more fresh and soft snow. After lunch, it was more of the same. This time we went up Peak Chair, my first time up Peak this season! We dropped into Whiskey Bowl and headed towards Doom & Gloom. The kids did amazing. It was the first time this season I was able to watch them in the powder and assess their advanced riding skills. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. They all killed it.
It was snowing like crazy at the CLC at the end of the day. I don't think the forecast calls for much snow overnight but my fingers are crossed that the weathermen are wrong. I wouldn't mind another soft snow day for tomorrow.
Day 87 - stop the gondola!!!
I was assigned level four's and had a full class. After a lap down Whiskey Jack, I realized I had one girl who was a level three. Luckily Nick called. He was teaching level three, had a full class, and had one to move up so we ended up doing a quick kid swap before lunch.
The snow had softened up after lunch and the boys and I ran a little bit of everything. We worked on advanced turning, ollies, rode down a black diamond, practiced switch, and finally headed over to Green Acres and jumped all kinds of natural rollers and moguls. It was a pretty fun day and it's my Friday.
Day 86 - peeslosh
We had over 70 kids signed up for snowboard lessons between Destination and Adventure Camp. I was assigned level one's and oddly enough, only three kids were in that level. Most everyone else had a full class of six. My three boys were good, both athletically and with their behavior. I enjoyed teaching them. The snow conditions in the morning were literally a sheet of ice. That made it easier for the boys to start off by learning the toe edge. It didn't take long for the snow to soften up and after lunch the kids practiced their heel edge. We ended up the day on the Covered Carpet, where someone had built a jump.
Day 85 - two thumbs up awesome
Freezing levels have raised since yesterday and snow conditions have changed to sticky and wet. It rained on and off for most of the day, from the Village to the Alpine.
It was a pretty chill day. There isn't much snow at the CLC and there are lots of kids so teaching has become interesting. Because the snow is so wet, snowboard boots become drenched within an hour of walking around in the snow … that includes kids and Instructors.
Day 84 - off road
The boys had never had a good powder day as it's been a warm, dry winter this season. I wasn't sure how well they would do and I thought they would get tired quite quickly. We dropped into the open area between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl where we found knee deep powder. Wow! I was shocked at how much snow was in there and it was decent snow ... in other words, it wasn't cement like I had assumed it would be. To my surprise, the boys killed it in the powder and they loved it! We spent the day in the Green/Blue areas of the Emerald Chair. We hit lots of moguls, turned them into jumps, went through some open trees and found powder up to our knees. It was a really fun day. I wish I had my Go-Pro with me to video how awesome Jessie and Teppei were riding.
Day 83 - lost 18cm in two days
Only two of my Club kids showed up as it's Spring break for most Whistler schools and I think everyone is on holiday. We took a couple runs in the morning before lunch. There was 3cm overnight which was just dust on crust. Conditions were soft and slushy by mid-morning and it wasn't too busy all day. My kids were pretty tired for some reason so the afternoon was a lazy one. I was tired too so I didn't mind. Plus the conditions were groomers only. Lord knows I've had enough of groomers to last me until next year. Fingers crossed the temps come down and this next wave of precipitation brings snow and not rain.
Day 82 - you are so kind
Another busy day with over 40 kids in lessons. I was once again assigned level 3's and had a full class by 9am. We headed up the gondola and found lots of powder between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl. The kids had fun, heck … I had fun! We managed to find fresh snow all the way to Emerald Chair and we managed to sneak in two laps before lunch! Even though we were in the Family Zone, it was quite fun.
After lunch was a different story. The snow had turned to light rain and the powder had disappeared. Conditions turned to mostly soft and slushy. I wanted to keep things fun for the kids so we ventured into Marmot Trees. That always kills a ton of time, so we only had one more run to do before it was time to head home for my weekend.
Day 81 - the Weird Family
I was assigned level 4's but ended up taking level 3's. I had a full class card as over 40 kids were taking snowboard lessons. My class ended up being three boys from Whistler who were high level skiers and three "destination" kids. Typically with level three's, they start the day with very bad technique and we spend the day trying to correct that technique. Today was no different. We spent the morning on greens -- nothing exciting. The best part of the day was venturing into Marmot Trees. With all the recent snowfall, the trees are covered and Marmot was packed down with soft snow. It was a pleasant surprise. The kids loved it and it was fun to finally venture off those boring groomers that we've been shredding since the beginning of February.
Day 80 - Settle Ryan Settle
Busy, busy, busy. Over 65 kids in snowboard lessons today. Lots of low levels which meant lots of people on the Magic Carpet. I was assigned level two's and quickly filled up a class of six. Unfortunately, I spent the entire morning shuffling kids around from level to level. My six were strong and they practiced their turns on the Covered Carpet before lunch. All of them were turning and since the snow conditions were quite soft and slushy, I took them up to the Roundhouse in the afternoon. The kids did great and all finished their day as level threes. The snow up top was nice. Soft packed for sure. I didn't slash any fresh lines but it was nice to sink an edge in. Below Emerald Chair turned to slush quite quickly.
Day 79 - SNOW!!!!! and rain ….
I was assigned to take a girl from an Adventure Camp class who wasn't too thrilled with her AC Instructor. I was told she was a level 4 but then I was also told she was a level 3. Since she was the only one assigned to me, I decided to team up with Maree, who was coaching level 3 and had five kids on her class card. We made the decision to try and split the class from the top of the mountain instead of splitting them with a run down to the Village because it was raining quite heavily in the Village first thing in the morning. Egobowl was where I found some nice fresh powder turns. Forgot what that felt like! But by the time we reached the top of the gondola, the fresh snow was quite turned up with no other fresh lines to be found. Most of the kids had a difficult time turning as the snow was also quite sticky. Maree and I quickly realized we had a couple of level two's on our hands and even one level one! She took those kids up the Emerald Chair and downloaded back to the CLC while I continued to snowboard with the stronger kids.
After lunch, we got the kids sorted out and in the end I had two low level three boys and we spent the afternoon doing laps down to the Village, where it rained most of the day. By the time the lesson was over my feet, hands, and legs were soaked. More precipitation coming for the next couple of days with high freezing levels. Hopefully the forecast is wrong and it stays a bit cooler than expected.
Day 78 - Mr. Serious
We spent the morning on the lower half of the mountain because lunch was at 11am. The afternoon was much nicer with softer snow on popular Family Zone runs. The kids really wanted to do a jump so we ended up back at the CLC around 1:45pm and built a jump before the small box near the Covered Carpet. It was a slushy ride down at the end of the day.
Day 77 - Irish you a Happy St Patrick's Day
We had about 25 kids in Destination to add to the already 25 or so in Adventure Camp. I was assigned level threes and ended up with five for the majority of the day. We started with turning tests on the Magic Carpet to make sure everyone could transfer from edge to edge. We managed to squeeze in one run from the Roundhouse before early lunch at 11am.
My kids: Koji, Seigo, Matt, Enrique, and Jesse were all really cool engaging kids. They started as low level threes who needed a lot of work on their technique. They were all very eager to learn and improve so we spent the day doing lots of different exercises. By the end of the day, they all raised their level from low three's to high three's. Needless to say they were all super stoked at the end of the lesson as well!
Day 76 - twelve Lil Rippers
Busy busy. Spring breaks have started and things have picked up at Whistler Kids. We had over 50 kids taking snowboard lessons and I was assigned Lil Rippers. Snowboard Adventure Camp is also happening this week so we had 6 Rippers in AC and 6 Rippers in Destination. Luckily Maree was floating and graciously offered to help me out with my six kids who were only in lessons for a day. Stef and Freddie were on AC Rippers and we all hung out together for most of the day. At least during all the breaks and play times. Needless to say, I never left the CLC area.
Working Rippers is a lot of work. It's very different from teaching older kids and it's exhausting at times. Today seemed to go by pretty fast but even with four Instructors, I hit the couch as soon as I got home and didn't move for a couple of hours.
Day 75 - Maverick & Goose
Back to work today. It was cold, windy and cloudy. Only Peyton and Teppei showed up and we headed to the Roundhouse first thing in the morning. Snow conditions were quite horrible -- well at least in the Family Zone. Runs consisted of ice and piles of shaved ice, but in the piles of shaved ice was lots of snow cookies. It was very bizarre and not the easiest conditions for my guys to slide around in. It was also very very busy on the slopes. It's the start of Spring Breaks and people have started to roll into town. This coming week should be a busy week.
Day 74 - rain
We didn't have too many kids in lessons. Lots of Lil Rippers: 7 of them with a two being higher levels. There were only five big kids. I was assigned level two and took a six year old girl who had lessons yesterday. She was turning seven next month so we could justify her going into her own class. Casey had one level one while Kat and Jordan took care of four Lil Rippers on the Carpet. Once we got all the kids going, it was quite clear all the kids were the same level so I volunteered to go home after lunch. I ripped down to the Village in the rain and through the slush to start my weekend.
Day 73 - last of the sunshine????
Day 72 - pass you my what???
Day 71 - nothing new to say
Like I said, what is there to report today that hasn't already been said twenty times? It was +3 in the Alpine today with sunny skies/ partly cloudy later in the afternoon. One of my boys didn't show up again today (yay!) -- so I only had two kids. We did a lot of snowboarding, probably the most we've done in one day so far this season. The snow wasn't too bad, icy in spots but overall, with the warmer temperatures it was easy to get an edge in. The lower you went, the slushier it got. We spent the afternoon on Blackcomb and by the end of the day, both boys were exhausted.
Day 70 - fifty seven degrees in Whistler
Saturday is my "Monday" so it's tough for me to start the day. But Saturday is also my favorite day because my Club Kids are my favorite kids, plus they are level five so it doesn't take long to get back into the swing of a work week.
Still no new snow and temps were above freezing past 2500 meters. The snow was nice, it really softened up as the day went on. Of course, some trails had their icy spots. Same as it's been for the last three weeks. We worked on carving in the afternoon and took a couple of laps through the Park. It was definitely a goggle tan day.
Day 69 - fiddle sticks
The weather was sunny but temps were colder. Cold enough to keep most of the snowguns blowing all day. The "gunned" snow was fairly soft at the Magic Carpet so it was good for level ones to practice on. The morning went by quickly but the afternoon dragged on. Matt had five Lil Rippers so I helped him out a bit here and there with the little ones since we were spending the day in the same area. I've been called off for tomorrow so I guess I can enjoy another three day weekend. Three days off is beginning to be the norm for me this season.
Day 68 - fast and furious
I spent the morning following Jon and his kid around. The two boys were evenly matched riding groomed runs but the difference lied in the Terrain Park. The level 6 was riding medium jumps and features while Luca is still not clearing small jumps. It was a long morning following these boys around. Man, they ride fast. I checked the GPS for the day and my fastest speed was close to 30mph and I think that's the speed the boys were riding all day long.
After lunch, my kid fell on a jump and wanted to head back to the CLC. We ended up spending the rest of the day there as I made him a small jump to work on his 180s. He is all about socializing as well as riding so he was happy to talk to the lower level riders hanging out on the carpets today.
Day 67 - I like your S
The morning started out as partly sunny and finished cold and cloudy. The mountain has been able to blow snow and it felt good to get an edge into something other than ice. Trail conditions are the same as they've been for the past two weeks: icy in spots, sugar snow in spots, slushy in spots. As I mentioned earlier, the temps dropped during the day and it even started snowing in the Village by 4pm.
