Day 7 - I can do a lot of things with my tongue

One!  We had one kid in snowboard lessons.  I had a shadow so I was assigned to be his Instructor.  He was a level two so we spent some time on the Covered Carpet, spent some time on the Super Carpet and after lunch we took him up Olympic Chair.  He was signed out early and at the Roundhouse so I was able to get a lap in.  The snow was still soft packed until the top of Olympic Chair.  Both Peak Chair and Olympic Chair opened today.  No new snow overnight and small flurries all day.

Day 6 - three kids

After Thanksgiving, things slow way down at Whistler Kids.  We had two snowboarders booked in for lessons and had a third show up from Creekside.  Luckily they were all low levels (1's and 2's).  Bea took the one's and I took the two.  Spent the day on the Covered Carpet where the snow is surprisingly still soft packed.

The Olympic run was officially opened today.  No new snow overnight and the base has dropped to 180cm at Pig Alley.  Still no ski out to the Village.

Day 5 - Rippers outnumber big kids

Things are winding down a bit.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we had close to 30 kids in snowboard lessons.  Today we had only 8 big kids but we had 12 Lil Rippers!!!!!  Thankfully I was assigned level three and I only had one.  Needless to say it was quite an easy day for me. 

5cm of snow fell overnight and it was an overcast sky for most of the day.  The sun popped out on Blackcomb for a bit in the afternoon but Whistler stayed cloudy.  It was quite windy as well.  Harmony never opened but the t-bars opened.  Snow conditions are amazing with soft packed groomers.  I couldn't venture off anything out of bounds in uniform and most snow was tracked after yesterday.  Line ups were still busy with only the few chairs open.

Day 4 - knee high at the CLC

Whistler had another 48cm of snow fall in the last 24hrs bringing the snow base to 206cm (81inches).  To give you an idea of how much snow this is:  the base didn't hit 200cm until the middle of January last season.  In 2015, it never hit 200cm.  So we are off to a great start this year in BC.

I was assigned level two's again and ended up with five who were keen to shred.  When we walked off the gondola at midstation, there was a over a foot of fresh light powder covering the ground.  I quickly taught my kids what "fresh tracks" were and they ran over to the covered carpet to scoop up their own tracks.  We literally spent the morning taking powder laps down the bunny hill.

After lunch I took them over to the Super Carpet where we were able to practice some J turns.  It snowed all day.  We headed back to the CLC to shred more powder on the mini's side.  The snow there was up to my knees.  Quite amazing as it was super light as well.  Finished the lesson off with a small ramp then headed home. 

Only Emerald, Red, and the Village gondola were running on Whistler today.  Here's a picture of the gondi upload queue around 11:30am.




Day 3 - another 35!!

Woke up this morning to find it snowed another 35cm overnight in Whistler.  In the last week, it has snowed over five feet.  That will set a season up quickly.  We haven't had a November like this since 2009, when we received seven feet in seven days and then added another 43inches in the next two days.  (November 09 archive)

Unfortunately for me, I was assigned level ones today and didn't get to enjoy any of the magical powder at all.  But I had a fun group of kids who were all enthusiastic to board so the day didn't drag on.  There isn't enough snow to run the Olympic area so we are sharing our covered carpet with the Adult instructors.  It makes for a long wait in line when skiers and snowboarders have to use the same side of the terrain. 


Day 2 - WKids and 40cm overnight!!!!

First day of work and we were greeted with 40cm of amazing fresh snow overnight.  Of course, I was given level twos and was stuck on the Covered Carpet all day.  Nevertheless, it still snowed another 12 inches at the CLC over the day. 

It was a rocky first day of Whistler Kids as we weren't scheduled to use the CLC today. There was no snow at midstation on Tuesday afternoon.  The two feet that overnight was a welcome surprise so the Minis, level ones and level twos, and adults were at the covered carpet.  It was a bit of a gong show as you could imagine.  Nothing was groomed, it was overcrowded, and the snow was sticky.  Everyone made the most of it.

Opening day on Blackcomb was insane with huge lift lines -- but so worth the wait as the snow was almost waist deep in parts.  One of the best opening seasons we've had in a long long time.  Snow base is currently 176cm. 


Day 1 - holy moly it's AMAZING!

The last time we had an opening day snow base that was close to 100cm was way back in 2010 (it was a 97cm base).  Whistler opened the 2016/2017 season today with a snow base of 130cm and it was an amazing 130cm!!!

As far as Thanksgiving traditions go, snowboarding with Izayah dates back almost ten years now.  We waited for the mile long line to dissipate and headed up the gondola around 10:30am.  Two chairs were open and later on the Tbars opened.  It was crowded in the lift line but didn't feel too crowded on the runs.  The snow was soft packed and easily over 30cm of fresh could be found if you knew where to look.  We ducked some ropes here and there throughout the day but we didn't venture too far off piste.  Although the snow base is over 100cm, you could see there is still a lot that needs to be filled in.  It was light snow and soft packed down to Emerald Chair.  I don't know where snow conditions changed if you headed down to Red Chair.  All and all, it was the best snow on opening day in a long long time!  Another 28cm is forecasted to fall tonight and another 37cm is forecasted for Thursday.   




NOT so early opening!

It's been a wet autumn in the Sea to Sky corridor this year.  With 28 days of rain in October and nearly rain every day in November, there was a lot of precip that could have resulted in an epic November for skiing and riding enthusiasts.  It was looking good in mid-October when the Alpine received over three feet of snow early on.  But once again, an old Pineapple Express blew it's way through bringing with it lots of rain which washed most of that early snow away.  Yesterday Whistler Blackcomb announced their "early" opening for the 2016/2017 season:  Wednesday, November 23rd.  Since the original opening was scheduled for the next day, I hardly call this an early opening but nevertheless,  the new snow season is finally upon us.