Day 58 - it's getting hot out here

Things are slowing down a bit for the end of the week before vamping up for next week.  We had 28 big kids and 3 little kids in lessons.  I was assigned to float and helped Dylon with his level 3 class, then hung around with Adam and the Lil Rippers as there was a significant split between a three and two ones.  I probably could have been sent home at noon but I wanted the hours so I stayed ….. needed the money and to darken the goggle tan!

Day 57 - floater

It's officially 66°F in Whistler as of 1:30pm.  We were a bit slower in snowboard lessons today with only 40 kids and I was assigned to float.  All the classes filled up quite quickly and even after some shuffling around, they didn't need me to work so I ran down from mid-station around noon to enjoy some afternoon sun.

Day 56 - The Legend Returns

Sixty kids in Destination Snowboard today and another 28 in Adventure Camp.  I was assigned to float and ended up team teaching Lil Rippers with Bea.  We had six but one was signed out before lunch.  It was an easy day on the Carpet, in the sunshine.  Three of them were turning on the gentle slope by the end of the day so that's always a bonus.

Day 55 - Mexican Week has arrived

I was scheduled for Adventure Camp and assigned to level two.  No idea why I let a rookie Instructor sign in level two's before me but I did.  This put me into "floater"status since only three level two's showed up for AC.  After hanging around and helping out until after 9:30am, I was given Adam's class of young level ones including one 6 yr old.

It was a goggle tan day, especially if you spent the day at the CLC like I did.  I don't know how conditions were up top.  The forecast calls for sunny, warm days for the rest of the week.  

Day 54 - Happy Easter

4cm of snow overnight and it's Easter Sunday.  I was assigned to Club and to take Riley's class but I knew she shared a class with Kat and she only had six kids so I wasn't sure exactly what my duties for today were going to be.  The Club Supervisor said it was okay for me to work and help Kat, even after she only had four kids show up.  So I spent the day touring around Whistler and Blackcomb with five year olds who can shred.  A fun scavenger hunt was set up for all of Club so we shred back and forth between two mountains looking for clues and taking pictures.

It was cloudy most of the day with dust on crust in some areas.  It wasn't as busy as one would think for a holiday weekend.  

Day 53 - Down the Mountain

It's Easter Weekend and things are hopping in Whistler.  I'm scheduled to work the next seven days, today was day one (Saturday is normally my day off).  We had about 60 kids in snowboard lessons and I was assigned to level two.  I signed in five kids to my class card and got to the CLC around 9:30am.  We went the morning at the Covered Carpet where I somehow got all the kids doing J-turns onto their toes.  I decided that after lunch we would go to the Olympic Chair.  I had the feeling the Chair was going to be a gong show but somehow all the kids ended up staying in control and turning.  I was quite pleased.

Weather today was hot!  Sunny all day with 1cm overnight.  Snow base is currently at 325cm.  No idea how conditions were up top, but at Olympic Station the snow was soft packed.

Day 52 - Happy Day

10cm of snow overnight but I did not check out the conditions.  I was assigned to "float" in Destination.  We had about 80 kids and plenty of staff.  After spending the morning wandering around from different classes, helping out here and there, I left around noon and ran down to the Village in the slush.

Day 51 - another day with Rippers

For some reason I was scheduled for Lil Rippers again.  Today we had 20, four more than yesterday.  I knew I would eventually get a class so I let the other Instructors fill up two class cards before I started a card.  To my surprise, three Rippers showed up who could actually shred.  In the morning, we did a run from the Roundhouse back to the CLC.  After lunch, we did the same.

Conditions below the Roundhouse were hard packed groomers.  By the time you hit Emerald Chair, the snow softened up.  Below the chair the snow was spring-like.  The sun was shining in the morning and it was snowing by the afternoon.  Snow base is 325cm.

Day 50 - Coaster and my sister Roller

Back to work and man is it busy.  100 kids in snowboard lessons alone!!!!  I was assigned to Lil Rippers and there were 16 of them.  Since we had five coaches to cover Rippers, that meant we all only had to take four …. so I filled up the first class and we headed to the CLC before 9am.

It was a partly sunny/partly cloudy day.  It didn't take long for the snow to get super soft on the Covered Carpet.  None of my four kids were all that keen to snowboard and when I did manage to get them up on the board, none of them could quite grasp the concept of staying on their heel edge.  No idea how conditions were up top.

Day 49 - lazy morning

The best thing about days off are lazy mornings. Big White had no new snow overnight so we weren't in a hurry to get up and shred.  I think we hit the slopes around 11:30am. We went back to the Gem Lake Express area and stuck to the groomers on that side. Temps had warmed up a bit so trails were running considerably slower than yesterday.  We still managed to have a good time.

Day 48 - Big White

Kevin and I decided to take a long weekend and come to Big White in Kelowna. Neither of us had ever been. There is a banked slalom competition going on and most riders from Whistler are here.  Not that we have ridden with any of them, but it's nice to see a familiar face in the lift line.

It was partly sunny today as we hit the first lift around 10am. No new snow for a few days but the groomers are running amazing.  We stayed on the Gem Lake Express side for most of the morning/early afternoon with a nice coffee break at the warming hut. Later on we made our way to the T-bars, Cliff Chair, and Black Forest Express.  After a long lunch we came out for some night skiing where the sun set with a spectacular color. We ended the day with a small fireworks show down in Happy Valley. 

Day 47 - Hobo Joe

Another sunny day with 50 snowboarders.  I asked to be a floater today and my wish was granted.  I spent the morning taking a level 3 for a lap from Roundhouse to CLC, helped with some Lil Rippers, and fetched a different snowboard for a kid on the Magic Carpet.  Before I knew it, it was lunch time so I grabbed myself a salad and was sent home to enjoy my four day weekend!!

Day 46 - Today's Lift Operators: Shaq + Kobe

The sun has finally come out in Whistler bringing the heat of sunshine to our faces.  There was a trace of new snow overnight and freezing levels at 1200m.  Another 50 kids signed up for snowboard lessons and I was in charge of one Lil Ripper who could shred.  We took about four laps from Roundhouse to CLC throughout our day and we found soft packed conditions on the groomers.  Still lots of amazing powder to be found in the Alpine from what I hear.

Day 45 - condolences to WB Staff

Continued busy-ness in the Village with 56 kids in snowboard lessons.  I was assigned level 3's and quickly filled a class card of six.  Once we reached the CLC and got the kids sliding down the carpet, I actually had two level two's, one level one, and three level three's.  Another Instructor who was on my level had three kids from yesterday so I gave her my kids and started teaching level two's.  It was an easy day as I only had four of them.  With a late lunch, I quickly got bored of the Covered Carpet so took them for a few laps on the Super Carpet and then for a lap down to the Village.  They failed their turning test on the way down to the Village so we spent the afternoon back on Covered Carpet.

In other news, with all the snowfall on the mountains this season, gladed tree runs have become quite dangerous with super deep tree wells.  The Whistler Blackcomb family has lost a member of its staff today who had fallen into a tree well out in the 7th Heaven area and suffocated.  She was a member of the Whistler Kids management team working on Blackcomb.

Day 44 - Happy π Day

Spring Break'ers are hitting Whistler including the Vancouver and Toronto school systems.  We had over 50 kids in snowboard lessons.  I was assigned to level two with Gunner.  We shared seven of them with Gunner taking control for the day.  We spent the day on the Covered Carpet and I picked up a few coaching tips for level two.

It snowed on and off all day with 10cm overnight.  Our snow base is 374cm.  I have no idea how conditions were up top but the snow was soft and fluffy at mid-station first thing in the morning.

Day 43 - Conquer fear is why we're here

In the last 48hrs, Whistler Blackcomb has received 53cm of snow.  Our snow base is currently at 369cm with another 20cm forecasted to fall tonight.  Unfortunately, visiting friends from back home kept me off the slopes for Friday and Saturday.  The snow on Saturday was unreal on Whistler according to Kevin who has fresh tracks through the Gun Barrels in Harmony.  He said it was the best run this season.

Anyway, today I was scheduled to float for Club and I knew all the regular coaches were going to be at work.  No one called in sick so Club didn't need me.  Destination only had 20 riders and they didn't need me either.  By 9:30 I was loaded on the Fitz Chair to meet Kevin at the Roundhouse.

My run down Raven was through super light powder and I was so pleasantly surprised that the light snow continued down to Emerald Chair.  Kevin and I lined up at the T-bar where we got a fresh line back down to the T-bar before heading over to Harmony.  Symphony cracked just before we loaded the chair so we found fresh amazing snow down Sunbowl.  Four or five laps through the Symphony trees where the snow was light and it was deep!!!

Day 42 - Whistler closes above mid-station

Another storm has blanketed Whistler dropping 35cm overnight bringing high winds and potentially another 20cm tonight.  Lower lifts were running fine until 9am when they closed the top of the Village Gondola redirecting people to Garbanzo Chair.  Around 10am, Garbanzo Chair closed along with Red Chair leaving only Emerald open until about 11:30am.  Patrol was trying to usher out people in the Roundhouse so Whistler could close early for the day.  Winds gusting past 100kph.  Blackcomb remains open with Wizard Chair and Solar Coaster open.  Snow drifts are rumored to be "up to the armpits" !!!!!

My kid didn't show up today (and I couldn't blame him) -- I took a level 3 Lil Ripper and tagged along with Steph and a regular aged level 3 for the morning.  With everything closed, there was no reason why the two kids couldn't go together so I handed them off to Steph and left before noon.  

Day 41 - DERF

Another ten kids in snowboard lessons and I was able to take the same kid I had yesterday as a request. There wasn't any new snow overnight but conditions were still amazing.  Groomers are soft packed and really fun.  Powder off piste is soft and fluffy, though there is not much left to be found.  We rode Blackcomb in the afternoon to get the mileage on steeper runs.  Nico is determined to get to Level 5 after five days of never being on a snowboard before.  The little bugger is on his way for sure!

Day 40 - today was a good day

Things are slow on the snowboard front this week at Whistler Kids.  We had a total of 10 kids in lessons and it's not getting much busier as the week goes on.  I was assigned to level 3's and I knew at least three kids would be in my group.  We started the morning by going to the Roundhouse where the groomers were soft packed.  I needed to put one girl back down to level 2 so in the afternoon I just had two boys who were keen to shred and even keener to learn.  We did a lot of exercises and games, including dropping into some powder and doing some freestyle down Green Acres.


Day 39 - Justin Bieber tracker

Another 10cm of snow overnight.  Busy at work with over 30 kids in snowboard lessons.  I was assigned level twos and wasn't expecting to see any nice snow.  We started on the Supertube where the snow was fresh, wet, and slow.  The kids took a few laps and I could quickly see that they weren't going to learn anything on that gentle slope as it was too slow so we headed to the Olympic Chair.  The kids were easily turning down Olympic so headed up to the Roundhouse after lunch.

It snowed up top for most of the afternoon.  I took my kids down the powder between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl where the snow was easily over two feet high.  It was also light.  Conditions were soft packed above Emerald Chair and slushy under the same chair.  We only had time for run one up top and I was pleasantly surprised to get that run.

Day 38 - Kai-napple

Work was fun today.  I covered Muffin Sharks in Sunday Club and only two of the three kids showed up.  8cm of snow fell overnight and it snowed all day.  The snow was nice in the morning.  Definitely soft packed with nice pockets of powder to be found off piste.  As you rode closer to the bottom of Emerald Chair, the snow was a little crunchy on top but not horrible.

After lunch it was a white out blizzard.  We rode Green Acres all afternoon and it was snowing so hard that our tracks were covered with snow by the time we reached the trail again.  We stayed on the sides of the trails and it was super soft fluffy powder.  It was fun.  The kids were exhausted.  March is coming in with a bang!

Day 37 - R2 SKI2

We are in the middle of a snowmagedon in Whistler.  30cm of the white stuff fell overnight, with 58cm in the last 48hrs.  The snow base is currently 318cm and more snow is coming this week.  

Kevin and I were up early and got to the top of Excelerator Chair by 8:20am.  Fresh tracks to Solar Coaster, legs burning as the snow wasn't super light but it wasn't super heavy either.  Well, it was a bit heavy the closer you got to the bottom of the chair but it wasn't anything to complain about.  We managed to get a few good runs in before we took a coffee break and waited for 7th Heaven to open.

7th cracked before noon and we were lucky enough to get to the chair before the crowds formed.  The snow was very wind blown and bare in spots but most places the snow was amazing (and deep).  Plus the sun came out so it was a beautiful blue bird day.  It didn't take long for the queue to go past the gates but the wait allowed us to give our legs a good break.  Plus the temps were warm, hot even with all the layers on.  It was another awesome day out in 7th Heaven.





Day 36 - Lil Rippers AGAIN

The March snow has arrived in Whistler.  9cm was recorded overnight but it snowed for most of the day.  Our snow base is creeping up to the 300 stage … we're currently at 287cm.  Conditions up top were great today, but it was quite blustery with the snow and the wind.  Snow Forecast is currently calling for 60cm to fall over the course of Friday and Friday night.

I wasn't able to enjoy the snow as I was once again assigned to Lil Rippers.  We had 3 with another 10 kids in lessons.  All the Rippers were keen to ride and they could put their own bindings on so it was an easy day (as far as Rippers go).

Day 35 - platypus in a mirror

I was called off yesterday and today I could see why:  we only had 8 kids signed up for snowboard lessons.  I was assigned level ones but most of the kids were level threes and fours.  I offered to take the level two class so I started the morning with two kids, but by lunch, I had moved one up to the next level.  That left me with one girl who was turning by mid morning and we headed up to Emerald for the afternoon.

31cm of new snow was recorded in the last 24hours.  The snow base is currently sitting at 282cm with lots of the snow forecasted for the next three days.  Conditions up top were soft packed down to Emerald Chair.  I heard the Alpine was really good.