Day 51 - sunshine all day long

Sunshine!  Sunshine all day on the carpets at the CLC.  Finally!  At the beginning of winter, the sun isn't high enough to shine at the CLC as it is blocked by the mountain.  Today was the first day the sun was high enough in the sky to shine at the CLC all day.  Yay!

I was originally assigned to level two but ended up helping Scott with Lil Rippers.  We only had six and they weren't that much of a handful but it is exhausting and sometimes quite boring.  The day dragged on for sure.  The sun helped. 

Day 50 - Bulletproof

Had a wonderful three day rest/days off from a snowboard and Whistler mountain.  We haven't had any new snow in over a week and no snow is in the forecast.  We are in desperate need of some snow.  Trails are getting hard packed and there is nothing fun to play on off piste.

We had 23 kids signed up for snowboard lessons and I was assigned to level 3's.  I was the first coach to sign in a class of six and headed up the gondola before 9am.  We headed straight to the Roundhouse and I quickly discovered I had a huge speed split.  We made our way down to beginner area at mid-station to sort out the split with a couple of other Instructors.  After lunch we sorted the splits and I ended up with three kids and we spent the afternoon riding the Family Zone.  Trails up top weren't too bad.  I would describe them as medium packed.  We made two runs down to the Village and that trail was bulletproof!!!!  I won't be riding down again until we get some significant snow or temperatures really warm up.  Unfortunately, never one of those things are coming any time soon.

Day 49 - I'm so glad it's my Friday

It's been a dry week (no new snow) but it hasn't been freezing cold, so that's good.  Things have also slowed down since the Christmas rush so that is also nice.  We only had 16 kids in lessons and I was assigned to level three's.  I had four kids, two of them I had on Monday as level ones.  We went to the Olympic Chair straight away as a warm up then headed to the Roundhouse.  The kids loved going to the Roundhouse as it was their first time.  It was a typical level three class, ambling the green trails just getting mileage under the boards, building up confidence.  Trails were hard packed up top and granular below midstation.

Day 48 - Drama Llama's

Today was much the same as yesterday.  Well, the weather was cloudy but there was no new snow overnight.  We had 16 kids in snowboard lessons and I had two kids in level one.  Spent the day at the CLC hanging out with Bea who had one Lil Ripper.  Nothing exciting.

Day 47 - elected to run the board

Weather was sunny with Alpine highs of -5°C.  No new snow overnight.  +1°C in the Village.  Trails are officially hard packed and I was told all the powder has been scraped away from everything off piste.  No new snow in the forecast until February.

Fifteen kids signed up for snowboard lessons.  We are all taking a much needed long deep breath and enjoying the "down" time after the hustle and bustle of the craziness we call Christmas and New Years.   I offered to be a floater as I wanted to get the day off.  We had kids in every level and two classes of level two.  Luckily for me we had eight instructors scheduled, which meant, I was able to leave at 10am.  I happily grabbed my board and headed down to the Village from the CLC to enjoy a quiet day off.

Day 46 - google translate

It's nice that things are slowing down in Village Destination.  Just over 120 kids in Adventure Camp, another 100 kids in daily skiing, and only 28 kids in snowboarding.  It was a beautiful sunny day with very little new snow to report.  Snow base is currently at 238cm.

I was assigned to level ones and I filled up a class card of six before 8:30am -- four boys from Australia, and two boys from France who didn't speak English.  Naturally we spent the day on the two carpets learning how to edge.  I used google translator to help communicate with the French kids.  The other boys used it as well (at lunch) so they could talk to each other.  I thought that was really nice.  I made the kids a jump at the end of the day and they all ended the lesson with huge smiles on their faces.  One kid even said, "That was fun.  Thanks for taking us!" --

Day 45 - Gumbunzo

I filled in as coach for Ellen's level 5 Sunday Club class.  She has a class of seven amazing kids between the ages of 6 and 9.  These kids can shred.  I was a bit nervous at the start of the day as I'm not comfortable on Alpine terrain with kids, even though I know these kids wouldn't have a problem.  The groomers were hard packed and I surprised myself by finding soft snow without hitting Peak or Harmony.  We took a couple runs through Marmot Trees and those were nice.  We also went out to the Meadows and found some really soft snow in there.  The day went by super fast and I had a fantastic day.

Day 44 - Symphony

It was a day off from work and we took our time getting up to Whistler.  5cm of new snow fell overnight bringing the snow base to 238cm.  Symphony never opened yesterday and I wanted to get out there sometime today.  We reached the top of Red Chair at noon and since Symphony wasn't open yet, we headed up the Peak and went out to Christmas Trees.  The snow was super soft where we dropped in and continued to be soft for the entire run.  A few people had been through there but it wasn't tracked out completely.  We definitely found a couple fresh turns here and there.  By the time we got back to the bottom of Red Chair, Symphony had opened and we headed straight there via the Peak Chair.

We dropped off Burnt Stew and got some nice lines on the south side until we finally had to run onto the groomer.  We continued out as far as we could and hit some trees that were close to where we normally run from off the chair.  That was super soft and definitely untracked.  It was fun until we reached the chair and then stood in the queue for an hour as maintenance tried to keep the chair running.  By the time we made it up, they closed Symphony and we had to make our way back to Harmony, cat tracked down to Emerald, then loaded Garbanzo to make our way back down to Creekside.  It wasn't much of a day but the couple runs we had were absolutely amazing.

Day 43 - SICK DAY

It's been a wet week and yesterday I didn't get a chance to ride higher than the CLC, I heard conditions were nothing to write home about due to the higher temperatures.  Another 23cm fell last night bringing our snow base to 240cm.  I was assigned to level 3s and I jumped on the chance to take a group of six kids that I taught at the beginning of the week.  I knew they were going to be fun to ride with and I knew they would be able to handle whatever snow we found up top.

Our first run was my guaranteed powder run between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl.  It looked like there was a lot of snow in there but I had no idea exactly how much snow was in there until I dropped in.  I literally surfed through snow up to my knees!  Super soft snow and way more than just 23cm!!  All the kids (except one) got stuck and had to walk out.  The rest of the afternoon was just that, heading to the "easier" powder spots while staying away from trees.  The kids all had a blast.  I had a blast.  It was a SICK DAY!

Day 42 - oh, skis inside??

29cm of snow overnight!  Heavy snow from what I heard.  First few turns are okay but it wasn't nothing to get excited about.  Good because I was assigned to Lil Rippers and wasn't going anywhere near the top of the mountain today.  It snowed at the CLC first thing in the morning but gradually turned to rain as the day went on.  I only had one Ripper (thankfully) so it was an easy day and we spent most of the time inside keeping dry.

Day 41 - pee nut butt er

Storm came in mostly in the form of rain or heavy snow.  It was still quite busy in the Village first thing in the morning.  High winds caused the gondi to run super slow and with over 300 kids in Snow School, the lift lines took forever.  I didn't mind as the longer you stayed in the queue, the longer you stayed dry.  Also, because of the winds, the only lifts running for awhile were Village Gondola and Creekside Gondola.  Garbanzo got up and running around 10:30am but I don't think Emerald Chair ever ran.  If it did, it wasn't until the afternoon.

I was given level three's and I filled up a class card quite quickly.  We did a run from Roundhouse back to the CLC.  I had a big split in the class but I managed to keep it fun for everybody.  Besides, it rained all day so it wasn't like we spent too much time snowboarding anyhow. 

It was snowing at the top of Roundhouse and the snow was heavy.  Once you got to the bottom of Emerald Chair, it changed to freezing rain with rain definitely at mid-station and into the Village.  8cm were recorded overnight.  Lots of precip coming tonight into all day tomorrow with forecasted freezing levels at 2000 metres.

Day 40 - the calm before a storm

Local kids had a day off from school and another wave of Australians have hit Whistler Blackcomb, making for a busy day in snowboard lessons.  We had 50 kids signed up first thing in the morning, but I think we ended up with close to 70 in classes.  I was assigned to level ones and I had a full class of six.  Five of them were from Australia and one was a local girl from Squamish.  They were all excellent skiers trying snowboarding for the first time.  By the end of the day, they were kind of linking turns on the covered carpet.

A massive storm is moving into the area for the week.  Snow Forecast is calling for 65 inches of snow between tonight and Sunday morning.  Unfortunately, with that system comes high freezing levels.  Will be curious what the system brings.

Day 39 - Club Sub

Today was the first day of Club for 2017 and although I'm not teaching a class myself, I am floating or filling in for people who can't make it to work.  This week I covered for Devon, who was absent with the flu.  Devon was given a class card of eight level four riders, though only six showed up.  There were also two other level four classes and one level five class.  We spent most of the morning sorting about 24 kids into four different groups.  By the end of the day, they still need an extra Instructor to make one more class.

It was sunny and the temperatures have warmed up quite a bit.  No new snow in a quite some time and our snow base is currently at 175cm.  Despite the lack of new snow, it was busy being Martin Luther King weekend.  Runs were mostly hard packed. 

Day 38 - breaking in board, boots, bindings

Day off from work but since I didn't technically ride my snowboard at all this week, I didn't mind going for a few rips on the groomers today.  Temperature inversion lead to warmer weather up top, around -2°C with little to no wind.  Groomed green runs were a bit busy but there were no line ups at the chairs.  I bought a new board and boots so today was my first day on the new set up.  I spent most of the time adjusting the bindings and getting use to the boots.  We did three laps down to Emerald and then ran Peak to Creek to finish the day.

Day 37 - easiest Lil Ripper day ever

Cold temps are still here.  Still fairly busy with 40 kids in snowboard lessons (including Lil Rippers).  Instructors are filling up classes as most of us are starting to get sick and taking sick days.  I called out twice this week and wasn't surprised when I was assigned to Lil Rippers.  There were only four of them and lucky for me, they had been in lessons all week and they were legit level twos.

We spent the morning on the two carpets at the CLC where I tried helping them turn.  They could all do both edges individually but couldn't link the two together.  I noticed quite quickly they all had great edge control so I made the executive decision to take them down to the Village after lunch.  They did amazing on the run to the Village even though it was mostly side slipping.  To my surprise they made it all the way in only 45 minutes!!!  It was quite an easy day for having Lil Rippers.

Day 36 - powder to the peaceful

I called out sick yesterday.  It was a powder day with 18cm overnight.  Last night we had a trace of new snow bringing the snow base to 189cm.  We have yet to receive any heavy/wet snow.  Everything so far has been light and fluffy.

Snow School is still busy with 45 kids in snowboard lessons.  I was assigned to level two's.  Tweedlie and I signed in seven and spent the morning on the covered carpet sorting them out.  It was another unseasonably cold day, which is starting to feel like the norm these days (four days of regular temps followed by a week of Arctic temps).  After lunch we gave one kid away and I spent the afternoon with the remaining six kids on the super carpet.  They all got their turns dialed in on a gentle slope and I made them a nice jump to finish off their cold sunny day.

Day 35 - HIKA

Walked out the door this morning and there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground in Squamish.  I was happily surprised.  I haven't been riding up top all week and I knew conditions had been hard packed.  Whistler only reported 1cm of new snow overnight so I wasn't expecting much in changing conditions.

We had another 60 kids in snowboard lessons and I was assigned to level fours.  Not a bad level to take on your Friday especially when the Arctic freeze and left the area for a few days.  We started the day with a quick warm up from the Roundhouse down to the CLC.  After that we did a lap through Marmot Trees.  It snowed lightly most of the day.  That, combined with snow guns blowing most of the day, was enough to change the hard packed conditions to mostly soft packed.  After lunch we ran Dave Murray to Creekside, and again, it wasn't icy at all. 

Day 34 - Cheese on Skis

Today was the day I have been dreading for a couple weeks:  getting assigned to Lil Rippers.  Ugh.  Another 60 kids in snowboard lessons with ten Lil Rippers.  James and I shared nine of them as one was a level four.  The day was sunny and not as cold as it has been.  It was a typical Ripper day and the weather was much like it has been the last three days so that's about all I have to say.

Day 33 - full day / half day

Another cold day, no wind with lots of kids.  70 in snowboard lessons alone.  I was once again assigned to captain level 2's and I chose to not put myself on a class card.  Once everyone was signed in, I hung around the Village waiting for any late comers.  I thought my Supervisor was crazy when he asked me to hang out until 10am.  Parents are told to drop off their children for lessons between 8:15-9:00am.  Why would anyone show up at 10am?  You'd be surprised and of course, one snowboarder showed up after 10am (he was brought to Blackcomb where snowboard lessons don't even exist).

I spent the morning hanging out and mostly widening kids snowboard bindings.  I think I fixed about six different snowboards by the end of the day.  After lunch I was given three kids who were in between levels two and three.  We took a run to the Valley, a lap on Olympic chair, and I made them a jump. 

Day 32 - put me down peacefully

Skier visits have not slowed down at Whistler at all.  We had close to 600 kids in Whistler Kids (300 in AC, 200 in Destination, and 80 in snowboard).  We are also in the middle of another Arctic front, luckily the winds were light.  No new snow overnight and our base is at 189cm.  High temps in the Alpine today were -14°C.

I was assigned to "captain" level 2, which meant I signed in six kids to a card and then handed a card to an Instructor and they took their class up the gondola.  We had four Instructors working level two today and we all got a class.  I was the last one to sign in the kids who were late and I signed in three kids.  By the time we got to the gondola queue, the line was almost to the car park by the Springs building.  We waited in line for 45 minutes before finally embarking on the gondola.  That meant I got to the CLC around 10am.  Needless to say it felt like a short morning.

After lunch I decided to take my kids down to the Village, so I picked up three more kids from other classes who were also ready to hit the green slopes.  My kids weren't actually ready but I was tired of the Olympic zone and I knew they could get to the Village even if they side slipped.  Once up the gondola, we went for a run on the Olympic Chair and that was the end of the day.

Day 31 - H2no

Another week of Arctic temperatures have arrived in the Sea to Sky corridor and today was a doozy.  Winds were gusting up to 50kph from the north all day.  That means, that instead of riding with the wind to your back once you get onto a trail, the wind was in your face for the entire run on Whistler.

I was surprised to be assigned to level fours and after shuffling a couple of kids around in the morning, I ended up having two boys.  I have to say I didn't teach much today.  The day consisted of strapping on our bindings at the Roundhouse and basically racing down to the CLC to get in from the cold.  I think we managed about 3-4 runs including going down to the Village.  Lift lines were small but the gondola line was big.