Day 96 - four days short of one hundred

I was on the schedule to work and assigned to level threes today.  With only 6 kids signed up for lessons, I was happy to work but I was also happy to not get work.  Between the amazing snow conditions and a new bike sitting in my living room, I knew I could find more fun things to do.

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

Whistler Blackcomb reported only a few centimeters of new snow fell overnight.  It snowed all day.  In fact, it was a blizzard for most of the day at the CLC.  In the last 24hrs, we received 10cm of snow but I think that is a highly conservative number.  I was at the CLC all day but I overheard people, who had an opportunity to ski up top, say that the snow was amazing and it was a proper powder day.  The snow base is officially 207cm,  the highest its been all season.

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

Cloudy and cold with snow.  That was the weather today.  7cm of snow fell overnight.  It's the final day/weekend of Club and a bunch of Instructors dressed up again.  We also did another "team" run down Ego Bowl.

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

17cm of snow fell overnight and the snow base is 196cm.  The sun disappeared Thursday evening and the rain rolled in on Friday.  I only have four more days of work and Winter seems to have finally showed it's face.  Another 23cm of snow is forecasted to fall between Monday and Wednesday.  Weather today however was a mixed bag:  sun, clouds, snow, fog, and high winds.  It was even snowing in the Village around 4pm.  Kind of annoying since it's been so warm and sunny lately.

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

"Friday" yay!  I've been trying to not get a class all week and today I gave it my best but ultimately I failed in the final hour.  Twenty five riders were signed up for lessons and I was assigned to level 4.  I  gave that away to "float".  All classes had left for their lessons by 9:00am and it looked like I was going to get the day off until …… a random kid showed up at 9:10am and he was a never-ever.  Freddie had a full class of six in level one and this late kid meant that I was now working… so Freddie and I spent the day at the CLC sharing seven level ones.

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

Another goggle tan day with lots of sunshine across Whistler today.  Numbers are slowly going down as we only had about 20 kids in Destination.  Adventure Camp is still holding strong with about 30 riders.  I was assigned level 2 and signed in a full class of six.  Once we started warming up, I realized three of my kids were still level 1 but the level 1 class already had four kids on roster.  After some shuffling around and talking with the level 1 Instructor, I ended up with seven kids in level one and someone else took three kids in level 2.

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

Easter Week is busy with Adventure Camp for snowboarding and Destination.  We had just over 60 kids in both programs today.  I was assigned level ones and tried to not get a class today.  Once everyone was checked in, I succeeded in not getting a class but then my Supervisor needed someone to stay until lunch in case there was some shifting around once kids got on the snow.  Most of the classes were full so I knew there was a good chance I'd end up working.  I headed up to the CLC and checked in with a few Instructors.  It turns out, Jon had a couple of level two girls who were in need of more practice on their edges.  So I took them and Jon took the rest of his kids to the Olympic Chair.  The girls and I spent our day on the Covered Carpet.  The day was mostly sunny with some cloudy periods.


Day 89 - Happy Easter

Partly cloudy/partly sunny Easter day.  1cm of new snow overnight.  Only 1 of my 3 Sunday Club kids showed up.  I was hoping to tag team with another Instructor so it wasn't just me and him alone all day but all the other classes had left before we had a chance to get to the gondola.  So I spent the day with one kid.  It's normally a "long" day when you only have one kid, and Teppei isn't very engaging so the day felt even longer.  We didn't ride any higher than the Roundhouse so it was a typical hard-packed groomer day on popcorn snow.

Day 88 - best day of 2015

When I arrived at work this morning, I wasn't expecting to have the most amazing Saturday afternoon of the season.  Four out of six kids shared in the best day of Club.  5cm of snow fell overnight and it was snowing at CLC when we were heading up to the Roundhouse.  Maree wanted to take a run with us so we headed over towards Rat Fink and Marmot and rode down Green Acres.  The snow was surprisingly soft and we had an awesome warm up run over moguls and natural jumps.  The kids had a blast.

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!!!

Morning statistics:  cloudy and cool with calm winds in Village.  Snow conditions upper mountain:  dust on crust, hard packed.  I heard the snow in Harmony was really soft so upper Alpine is probably quite decent, just nothing "fresh" to be found.

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.