Day 48 - please snow already

The snow base is now down to 121cm on the last day of January and it feels more like Spring than it feels like Winter.  Even I've been biking three days in the last two weeks and bike trails in Squamish are pristine right now.  On the snowboarding front, today is my Monday and it's my favorite Club day.  Oak is now riding half with Ellen and half with me so he goes with her in the mornings.  My other three kids always show up on time and we were on the gondola before 9am.

The morning went by quick as Charlotte fell and hit her head.  We ended up having to call and wait on Patrol at the CLC for about 45 minutes.  After lunch, we grabbed Oak and headed up to the groomers to practice our riding stance.  We also worked on switch.  I made the kids do drills for about three laps and then they were rewarded with a run through the Terrain Park.  The day went by pretty fast.

The conditions aren't horrible as the snowcone-like snow is piled up enough on the runs to keep you from hitting ice most of the way down.  But we could definitely use some snow.

Day 47 - request from DFX

Not sure what information to start with first.  Yesterday, six kids were signed up for snowboard lessons.  The snow base is 122cm.  It was a nice sunny day but the runs were a solid sheet of ice, especially hazardous from mid-station to the Village.  Today's total number of snowboarders was 15.

One of my kids from the summer who rode with me in DFX requested to have me as his Snowboard Instructor today so I was assigned level 3 because that was his level.  I signed in one other girl who was also a level three while Steve had a couple of level 2's and Penny had one level 1.  All of us spent the morning on the Magic Carpet sorting seven kids:  Penny ended up with two level 1's, while I ended up with Jadyn and another level 2, and Steve took the kids who were actually level 3.  It was an easy day at the CLC, the temps were warm and the sun was shining.  By early afternoon the kids were getting bored with trying to learn how to turn down an ice rink so we decided to have a toboggan race … all the kids sliding down on their snowboards like a sled!!  Boy did they love that, including the three Lil Rippers.  That was the highlight of the day.  Around 2pm I took my class down the Olympic run to the Village where it was literally a sheet of ice the entire way down.  Not fun but it definitely killed the remainder of the afternoon.

Day 46 - moto moto moto moto

Kids were out of school today so snowboard lessons were rocking!  Three level one classes - ten Lil Rippers - a level 5 class and a level 6 class.  Crazy.  I think we had close to 45 kids learning how to snowboard.  Most of the level one classes were local kids who are very good skiers and are now wanting to give snowboarding a try.

The weather today was also crazy.  +9 in the Alpine with sunny skies.  It was a magnificent day at the CLC with the sun shining on the carpet all afternoon now that the days are getting longer.  Lur and I was assigned to Lil Rippers and I ended up with five 6 year olds.  Conditions were great once the snow softened up.  We made an obstacle course and finished the day with a nice jump.  

The rest of the week is quiet.  I've already been called off for tomorrow (Tuesday).  As of 4pm, we only had 5 kids signed up for lessons.  The next two weeks will be the calm before the Presidents' Week storm.  Hopefully we will get some snow in the meantime. 

Day 45 - crab people

Only 2 out of my 3 Club kids showed up for lessons today.  The rain has stopped, though it was still warm and cloudy.  We started the day on the Super Carpet where one kid mastered his turns and the other kid just couldn't get it.  After a snack break, we practiced again at the CLC before eating lunch.

After lunch we managed to fit in a couple of runs down to the Village.  Conditions were Spring-like and slushy.  It didn't seem too busy on the hill overall.  I heard the slopes up top were quite icy but I don't know that for sure.  I still finished the day with wet socks but the day went by quite quickly.

Day 44 - Pineapple Express rain rain rain

January is turning out to be a not-so-epic January.  Yesterday it rained all day up to 3,500 meters.  I didn't work (thank goodness) but I did spend the day on my couch watching the rain.  Today was no different … it was a wet one.  Snow base has dwindled down to 135cm.

My Club kids were promptly ready at 8:45am to roll so we headed to the Roundhouse.  The snow was soft and it was best to stay on the groomers.  We did close to three runs in the rain before heading in for lunch.  It was about this time I could start to feel the water seeping into my socks.

After lunch,  Ellen wanted to ride together since she has Amalia and I have Oak.  Amalia and Oak are two different levels now and they aren't having any fun in Club being separated.  We went over to Blackcomb and ran down the GMC race course then took a lap through the Terrain Garden before heading into Rendezvous to dry off and warm up with some hot chocolate.  The rain had dried out a bit in the afternoon but we were already wet so it didn't matter.  The kids enjoyed doing lots of penguin slides on the last run out.

Day 43 - tree up my butt

Conditions this week are pretty good, especially the higher you go.  It hasn't snowed in almost a week and lots of rain is forecasted for this weekend.  Snow base is currently at 152cm and runs are machine groomed, soft packed.

I was assigned to float but Steve was kind enough to give me his level three class.  I started with four kids in the AM and finished with five kids after lunch as Kat gave me a level four that wasn't quite up to par.  We started the morning from the Roundhouse where I was very pleased to find soft groomers.  I drilled the kids all morning trying to correct counter-rotation.  After lunch I decided to have some fun so we hit Marmot Trees.  The kids had quite a difficult time through the trees but they loved it.  It exhausted them and it killed a lot of time.  We took Emerald up to Roundhouse to get some water then made our way back to the CLC where I wrote out report cards.  We finished the day downloading in the gondola as the slopes from mid-station down were quite icy and I didn't want to deal with that after having such a nice day up top.

Day 42 - coach life

No new snow overnight and the sun was shining all day as it was a cold blue bird day.  Snow base is currently at 158cm, which isn't much.  It is still quite bare underneath Garbanzo Chair.  We had around 25 kids signed up for snowboard lessons.  I was assigned level fives and made a big mistake today.

I signed in two kids who had been in lessons previously and they were strong level fives.  Just as I was leaving the Village, Lur signed in Torren, a level 3 Lil Ripper who was in my Club class last season.  I wasn't interested in spending a lot of time in the Park but I know both kids wanted to take some Park laps.  We ran a couple laps around Emerald trying to find some soft snow.  There were bits here and there off piste but nothing fantastic.  Then we took a lap in the Park where the boys wanted to hit some of the medium features.  I can't demo medium features in the Park, so I didn't allow the kids on the bigger side and they were pretty good on the small side.  Just as we were heading back to Emerald Chair, I saw Lur riding with Torren and I asked Lur if he wanted to switch classes because I wasn't comfortable taking the boys through the bigger side of the Park.  Lur was more than happy to switch.

I continued down to the CLC with Torren where we took a small break before it was time for lunch.  To make a long story short, after speaking with Gunner, an Instructor who normally takes levels five and six, he told me that level five kids aren't allowed to do the bigger features in the Park.  Level five riders are still learning how to do the small features.  I felt pretty stupid as I should have checked my manual about the rules on different levels and where they can ride.  Instead, I gave away a nice level five class who probably would have been fine searching for powder in Harmony and on Peak.  Oh well.  I had a nice afternoon with Torren as he could shred so I didn't spend the entire day on the carpets.

Day 41 - oh the irony

It was quite busy with over 40 kids signed up for snowboard lessons.  I was assigned to "float" but I knew with so many kids, it would be easy to get a class.  I filled up a second level two class card with five boys and one girl.  After taking a few laps on the Magic Carpet, I put one kid in level three and one kid fell pretty hard on his tailbone and he wanted to quit.  He asked if he could switch to skiing and that's an impossible request once the kid is at the CLC.  I brought him inside to take a rest in the den.

My kids and I spent the remainder of the day practicing turns off the Covered Carpet.  A couple of them were moved up to level three and a couple of them will be spending quite a few more days getting the hang of transferring from one edge to the other.  The kid in the den was dead set on NOT snowboarding any longer so we called his parents after lunch.  He spent the remainder of the day in the den while the Scheduler spent the entire day trying to contact his parents.  They even had to hot list their lift pass.  Finally around 2:30 his parents met up with him at the CLC and staff told them about him not wanting to snowboard.  The irony of the story is that after spending the entire day inside the den and NOT snowboarding at all, his parents ended up making him snowboard down to the Village when they picked him up.  I felt so bad for the boy cause he was crying every time someone asked him to go outside and snowboard.  He wanted no part of it at all.  But mom and dad had other plans I guess.

Day 40 - half bloods

Wind.  Rain.  Blizzard.  Mush.  Those are four words used to describe the weather and snow conditions today.  My three Club kids were ready to rock by 9am, however the high winds kept the gondola from turning.  I think we made it to the CLC around 9:45am.  Time wasn't a factor though because the snow was soft and slow, like riding in oatmeal.

14cm fell overnight but high winds kept the Alpine from opening.  It was also super busy with MLK weekend and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship playoff.  I didn't get a chance to go up to the top since my guys are level two and we spent the day at the CLC but I heard it wasn't the best snow.  Temps raised and half way down Ego Bowl, the snow was marbled, wet and compact.  I didn't miss anything.

Day 39 - Bet I can make you say ….

SNOW!!! SNOW!!! SNOW!!!  Pig Alley is reporting 9 inches in the last 48 hours but there was a lot more snow than that in certain spots!  Snow base is now 144cm with more coming overnight.  Saturday is quickly becoming my new favorite day to work.  I've washed out the Club kids and it looks like I should end up with four kids (3 boys and 1 girl) -- level 4/5 and man can they shred!!!  One kid is only 6 years old but he can keep up with the big kids (who are only 8 years old anyhow) with no problem.

I was surprised when we first dropped into the powder towards Red Chair at 9:30am.  There was a good amount of snow on top of the "crust" that you could feel mostly off piste beside the Roundhouse.  The groomers were nice with corduroy underneath.  The best snow was found between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl and then between Green Acres and the Terrain Park.  It snowed for most of the day and we rode decent powder on every run.  Ptarmigan had fresh tracks most of the way down and that was after 2pm.  Today was the best working day I have had this season.  The kids are ripping, they're all very nice and polite, they're all the same level, they're super stoked, and that makes for fun Saturdays!  Hopefully it will just keep snowing for the remainder of the season.

Day 38 - Whistler's in Whistler

I'm exhausted.  I asked to be used as a floater today with hopes of not getting a class.  We had 22 kids come into lessons and 3 Lil Rippers.  We had plenty of Instructors so I was able to take the day off.  After snaking into a group photo with the level two classes, I grabbed a quick tea then headed down to the Village.  Snow guns were blowing on the lower mountain due to the big inversion and I was able to find corduroy most of the way down.  Sun is shining and no new snow to report.

Day 37 - another day on the carpets

Not as busy today as it was yesterday with snowboard lessons.  I think we had around 30 kids.  I was assigned level twos, which meant I was going to teach most of the kids I taught yesterday in level one.  It was a partly sunny, partly cloudy day.  Temps were slightly below freezing at the CLC level.  No new snow to report and the snow base is currently 124cm.  The lack of snow is noticeable under the gondola line and under the Garbanzo Chair.  My favorite run, Tokum, has yet to open this season.  The snow up top was described as "sugar-like".

I knew the kids I had today were going to have a hard time learning how to turn and I was right.  We spent the day on the Covered Carpet and with a 11am lunch, it was a very long afternoon.  Ugh!

Day 36 - still busy still no snow

I was assigned level fives today.  Out of 50 kids in lessons, you'd think a couple of level fives would show up but no.  By 9:15am, I volunteered for one of the three level one classes because I wanted to work.  I didn't care what level I had, with no new snow in so long, who cares what level you teach.  At 9:30am, a level five kid rocked up and Lisa offered to take him since I was already bonding with my level one class.  It turns out, the five ended up riding well with Lur and his level fours so Lisa ended up going home early which was exactly what she wanted, and I ended up working a full day, which was what I wanted.

I have a full class card with six kids, all around the same age …. three boys and three girls.  Conditions on the Magic Carpet today were hard packed and it never softened up even with 4-5 classes using the area.  We spent the morning working on toe edge then worked on zig zags in the afternoon.  Mostly the kids just wanted to free ride so I built them a jump and they did whatever they wanted for most of the afternoon.

Day 35 - Sunday Club new season

I had no idea what level I was going to be assigned for Sunday Club but I was hoping it wasn't going to be Lil Rippers.  I was happy to be told I would be taking level ones, as that means taking a bunch of kids new to snowboarding.  I signed in two kids and Lisa, signed in one level two.  We spent the morning together working on toe edge side slipping.  It didn't take us very long to figure out, all three boys could easily go together if need be and by lunch, Devon needed another Instructor to help help with level four so I asked Lisa if she wanted to take the higher level.  She was happy to accept.  I spent the day on the Magic Carpet but it won't take my boys long to make it to level three.

It was a cloudy day, warmer temps.  Freezing level around 1300 metres.  Destination had around 20 boarders including Rippers.  No new snow and conditions are "sugar" up top, very Spring-like.  Snow base is 124cm.  Clouds and warm temps forecasted for the next couple of days.

Day 34 - Saturday Club new season

The season is trucking on by and it's time for weekend Club again.   My classes are mixed up a bit this season as my kid, Oak, who usually comes on Sundays, has switched to Saturday.  Oak is a high level four/low level five, so we filled up the class with kids of a similar level.  After it was all sorted, I ended up with five kids, all 8 years old, except for one 6 year old who can shred.  Oak, Dylan & Killian from bike camp, Charlotte - the only girl, and Jack, who is technically a Lil Ripper.  The kids are fast and we will be doing a lot more riding than drinking hot chocolate this season.  They're also all keen to hit the Terrain Park so we will be doing a lot of that as well.

Temps were around zero degrees in the Village and in the Alpine today with no winds.  The snow is that popcorn type snow, mostly spring-like and soft.  It wasn't too busy being Saturday, but that's probably because we haven't had any new snow in almost a week.

Day 33 - ice rink

No new snow since Monday and the snow we have is melting fast.  The high in the Alpine today was +7C!  It's still busy with lots of kids in Snow School, especially Adventure Camp.  We had about 40 kids in snowboarding and that included nine Lil Rippers, and of course, I was assigned to Lil Rippers with Penny and Beatrice.

We signed in all nine kids close to 9am and we headed up the gondola to the CLC.  Most of them had a lesson previously so there were only a few who needed to learn how to put their bindings on and off.  We stuck together for the morning but one little guy was turning down the Magic Carpet so we needed to take him down to the Village for a lap.  I volunteered to take him down while Penny and Bea stuck with the other eight at the CLC.

Riding down to the Village is usually a great time waster but today it was like torture.  The entire run was hard packed ice from top to bottom.  There wasn't even any shaved snow on the sides of the run.  I think I sideslipped 90% of the way.  The kid did a great job of turning and by the time we reached the Village, he was exhausted … which is exactly what I was hoping for.

Day 32 - Tuesday

The warm temps have settled into Whistler nicely making for Spring-like conditions.  Snow base has gone down to 128cm.  Around 40 snowboarders came for lessons and I was once again assigned level two's with Kat.  We signed in twelve and split them by age.  I quickly realized a couple of mine were still level ones so once everything was "washed out" I ended up with three kids and they were all really chill.

We had 11am lunch so we spent the morning at the CLC.  After lunch we headed to the Super Carpet because that place always seems to help kids who can't quite figure out how to turn but physically they can turn, they just get confused with which way to go.  We lasted there for about 45 minutes before the kids were ready to test their skills on Olympic Run which takes us down to the Village.  They managed to run to the Village twice!  I was quite impressed.  Snow was soft so it was easy to keep them trying to turn.

Day 31 - pickles!

44cm of snow fell in Whistler (and Squamish) between Saturday night and Monday morning leaving a 154cm base.  Most of the snow arriving Sunday afternoon and into the evening, making driving the Sea to Sky on Sunday a complete nightmare.  Irish and I decided not to snowboard on Sunday and elected to tube at the Sea to Sky Gondola instead.

Back to work today and it was quite busy.  We had over 50 kids in snowboard lessons and I was assigned level 2's.  It took me most of the morning to sort kids out because about ten of them showed up around 9:30am.  When it was all said and done, Kat and I had five kids each.  After lunch we headed over to the Super Carpet where I was able to get most of my kids turning.  The snow was wet and slow as it was warm at mid-station and it started to rain.   Kat and I decided to take the lot down to the Village.  That took us over an hour and took care of the rest of the afternoon.  The snow to the Village was amazing!  So I was able to get some nice turns on soft packed snow.  The day went by unbelievably fast.

Snow conditions over the course of the day worsened with warm temps in the Alpine and lots of rain.  I didn't miss any epic powder by only having level two's today.

Day 30 - last day of Holiday Adventure Camp

The temperature inversion has left the area leaving normal temps, winds, and clouds in Whistler.  It wasn't too cold, no new snow has fallen, and it was cloudy for most of the day.  The runs on both mountains were super icy.

The girls and I ran from Roundhouse back to CLC first thing in the morning.  Yesterday they wanted to practice jumps but we ran out of time so today we made a jump off the Magic Carpet before lunch.  The girls both had about four go's each on that.  After that we headed over to Blackcomb because I promised them we would go to the Castle.  We met up with Cailegh's Dad and he took a run with us down Rosses' Gold.  As I mentioned, the runs was mostly ice.  We then went over to the Castle where the girls slid down the slides and fed the birds.  Back up Cat Skinner and back to Whistler to finish out the day and the week.

Day 29 - googol

I'm loving the huge inversion this week. Again, temps in Alpine were +2C while temps in Village hovered around -10C.  The warmer weather is softening up the snow though there are still icy patches on high traffic areas.  The girls and I rode a lot today. Their speed picked up tremendously.  It only took them seven minutes to get from Ego Bowl to Emerald Chair. They need to only ride blue trails now so we took a long lap down Ptarmigan with Ashlyn's mom and dad. I think we nearly killed her mom. Lol. We also spent a little bit of time at the Tree Fort and in the new Burton Riglet Park built behind the CLC.  It was a fun day.