Day 94 - girls and groomers

Lessons were even quieter today with only 23 kids signed up for snowboarding and that included Lil Rippers.  I had a request in level four again so I was lucky enough to take the high level once again.  No new snow overnight and the warm sun of yesterday left hard packed/icy conditions off piste and between trees so we had to stick to groomers all day.  I started the day with five kids, four local girls and one boy from LA.  He was signed out at lunch so that left an all girl band.  fun fun

We spent the afternoon on Blackcomb as it has more advanced groomed runs.  It was a mostly cloudy day, temps were mild, close to freezing I would guess.  The groomers were really nice, soft and groomed very well.  The day went by fairly quickly and we all had fun shredding around.

Day 93 - I haven't seen the sun since I left LA !!

The sun!!!  The sun came out today!!!  We had less than 30 kids in snowboard lessons and I was assigned to level 4's.  Mark Pettit and I shared two classes during the morning and once we shuffled kids around to their appropriate levels we had seven kids in level four.  Bea had one kid in level 5 who was signed out at lunch, so after lunch, Mark left and Bea and I team taught the remaining kids.  We spent the afternoon on Blackcomb.  We found some nice snow off Jersey Cream and down by the GMC race course.  By late afternoon the snow warmed up from being in the sun all day.  Did I mention today was sunny????  The sun came out today!!!

Day 92 - CLC's on strike

Winter isn't giving up easy this season.  Another 13cm of snow fell in the last 24hrs.  It snowed for most of the day today (even at the CLC).  I didn't get a chance to check out the conditions up top but I do know Harmony and Peak Chair opened.  Snowboard lessons were similar to yesterday, 40 kids with only 3 Lil Rippers.  I was floating for the morning and took one level three girl in the afternoon.  She needed to go back to the carpets to gain a bit more confidence so we spent the afternoon in the Olympic area and got her back up to level 3 speed.  It was quite an easy day.

Day 91 - chicken dierea butts (kids are funny)

Today was one of those days when you're amazed that you actually get paid to play in the snow.  I spent my day shredding the gnar with six level four kids, ranging in age from 8yrs old to 12yrs old.  Whistler Blackcomb posted 8cm of snow overnight but there was a lot more than that when you got up there.  Snow base is currently 345cm with another 20cm forecasted to fall by Thursday.

Our first powder run was between Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl where I literally had a fresh line of deep light powder for the entire run.  Our second powder run was down the trees off Whiskey Jack, between Pony Trail and Bear Cub, onto Jimmy's Joker ... also pretty much fresh and light.

I won't spend the entire post writing where we went throughout the day, but let's just say the runs through the trees were the best runs.  The snow was amazing to the bottom of Emerald Chair.  The Alpine on Whistler never opened due to high winds.  It warmed up by late afternoon and even though it snowed for most of the day, the sun came out for a bit as the day ended.  Like I said, it was one of those days!

Day 90 - HULK!

It's going to be a fairly busy week with lessons.  Various schools are on Spring break and local kids are also on break.  We had 38 kids in snowboarding with another 6 Lil Rippers.  I hadn't been assigned to a class so just after 9am, I was sent to Ride Tribe to take a full level one class.

The weather was all over the board:  fog, light rain, full on blizzard, and finally sun.  I spent the day at the Olympic area but the upper elevations looked nice with some fresh snow that fell overnight.  The kids I had were quite social and all got along really well.  There was no one who was "too cool for school".  The mountain, overall, is quite busy.

Day 89 - TTrriissttaann

It was cloudy with light snow showers throughout the day.  It wasn't too busy in lessons, only 20 snowboarders and 10 Lil Rippers.  I was assigned to level 5 and only had three of them.  Our warm up lap was down to Creekside.  Dave Murray was not groomed and it was pretty hard packed, uneven, with lots of "pot holes" everywhere.  After lunch each kid wanted to do something different so we managed to fit in something for everyone.  We headed up to Harmony where the snow was AMAZING!! but the visibility was crap.  Took a lap through the Terrain Park.  Ran a few tree runs where the snow was nice and soft to the Emerald Chair level.  The kids also wanted to build a jump at the CLC so we did that as well.

Day 88 - I don't like this chair

It's still snowing here in Whistler.  WB social media outlets are reporting 254cm (100 inches!) has fallen in the month of March alone.  The current snow base is 330cm.  Nivek and I didn't rush to get up there this morning.  We reached the top of Red Chair just before 12:30pm.  We headed to the Peak where the snow was nice and soft through Bagel Bowl but the visibility when you first started was terrible.  We then headed to Harmony, where once again, the visibility at the top was terrible.  Fog and flat light.  We decided to head back down to Creekside, even though the snow was so nice in the Alpine, the visibility wasn't worth it.  I am also prone to vertigo when I can't see so I was happy to call it an early day with hopes of it being better tomorrow.

Day 87 - jug it! jug it!

Still busy in snowboard lessons with another 65 kids.  Lil Rippers slowed with only eight instead of sixteen like the previous day.  No new snow overnight and the weather had a bit of everything:  flurries, sun, clouds, and rain at the end of the day in the Village.  I was floating and ended up taking three level one kids.  Two of them could side slip on their toes but not their heels, and one kid had never snowboarded before and he wanted nothing to do with it.  In fact, he did two laps down the Magic Carpet and literally gave up.  There was nothing any of us could do to convince him to keep giving it a go, so he ended up in the Den for about an hour before he joined the rest of the group for lunch.  To my surprise, after lunch he headed out with the other boys and just started to snowboard.  We were all pretty psyched and he ended up having a half way decent day.  But, to quote the kid, "I am never doing this again!" 

Day 86 - first day of Spring

Spring has sprung and so has the spring-breakers!  We had almost 90 kids in snowboard lessons including Lil Rippers.  No new snow fell overnight and it was partly sunny/partly cloudy through most of the day.  Temps were very cold first thing in the morning then the freezing level went up to 1300m by the afternoon.

I was assigned to float and I was happy to do so.  I was sure I was going to get a level one or level two class when two sisters showed up after 9am.  They were both level three but one was a Lil Ripper and her older sister, who was 8yrs old wanted to be in the same class.  I was happy to take the both of them (and only them as it turned out) -- we spent the day slowly ambling down the green runs.  Conditions of the trails were soft packed on the groomers up high and it turned to slush below mid-station by the end of the afternoon.

Day 85 - March Madness

Alarm went off at 5:30am and the snow started at the canyon.  25cm fell overnight and our snow base is currently 319cm!!  We reached Blackcomb by 7am and we were seventh in line for the gondola.  To our surprise, Patrol cleared early... we scanned in at 8:05am and jumped into a gondi.  We had two fresh pow laps back to Excelerator Chair before 9am!  Jersey opened and we had another fresh pow lap back to Jersey before heading to the trees.  By 11am we were heading to 7th Heaven where we had another couple of fresh pow laps!  The morning was amazing and we rode until 12:30pm before finally needing to give the legs a rest.  Every run we took had fresh snow.

Dave and Travers were up from the city and riding on Whistler so we took the Peak 2 Peak over to hang out for a bit.  Did a quick lap with them down to Tokum where we branched off and continued our way down to the Village where we ended the amazing day.

Day 84 - #hashtag #sponsorship

9-12cm of fresh snow fell overnight (depending on who you ask).  We had another 48 kids in snowboard lessons and I was assigned to level threes.  I was a bit excited to get up into the higher elevations and see how the conditions were.  I signed in six kids by 9am and we headed to the Roundhouse.

It didn't take long to discover two things:  (1) Four of my kids were level twos and (2) the groomers, which I thought were going to be soft packed, were quite shit (pardon my French).  After a long run down to the CLC, I managed to get two of the four lower level kids turning to a level three level so after lunch I ended up with only four in my group.

The green groomers were quite hard packed with ice cookies everywhere.  And by green groomers, I mean Whiskey Jack and Ego Bowl.  I decided to head over to Marmot Trees where we found much softer snow on the ride out there.  There was also nice snow off piste between Whiskey and Ego.  It started snowing in the afternoon and that helped with conditions as the afternoon went on.  

Snow-Forecast is calling for 12" of new snow overnight while Whistler Blackcomb is saying only about 3" of new will accumulate.  We will be awake super early to find out who was right.

Day 83 - floater

Another day of warm temperatures on the mountain, and the good news was that the sun came out for  most of the day!  Yay sun!  We had a total of 48 riders in lessons (ten of them were Lil Rippers) and I was assigned to float (run the board).  I ended up helping out with binding adjustments, running kids to different classes, etc etc until lunchtime.  I never got a class and I didn't complain.  Around noon I strapped on my board and headed down to the Village in the soft slush-like snow.  

Day 82 - more lil rippers

Another day of rain.  Another day of Lil Rippers.  Our snow base is shrinking with all these warm temps.  We are back under 300cm.  Whistler Kids is still busy this week.  We had 45 kids signed up for snowboarding and another 9 kids in Lil Rippers.  I was assigned to run the board and ended up taking Lil Rippers with Zelina.  We shared seven of them.  It was an easy Ripper day as only one of the kids was only 4 yrs old (and she had been snowboarding a few times with Dad).  Each of them improved, they were all well behaved (inside and out) and they were all keen to snowboard.  It was a pretty easy day as far as Lil Rippers go.  I was still exhausted by the end of the day though.

Day 81 - Wales can have human babies???!!!!

Current weather status in Whistler:  rain and/or very wet snow.  Snow base holding steady over the three hundred mark at 305cm.  It's busy in kids' lessons this week with over 150 in daily ski lessons, 48 (including Rippers) in snowboarding and over 200 in Adventure Camp.  It rained at the CLC for most of the morning.  I didn't go to the Roundhouse elevation but I heard the snow was "SHMOO"!

I was assigned to help out Lil Rippers.  We had eight of them but two of them could ride in a bigger kid class.  That left six for Sam and I to sort out.  I had the easier job today as I took the one girl who was a legit level 2 and was turning down to the Village.  We made that trip twice during the course of the day.  It turned out that was actually 7yrs old (just turned seven a couple weeks ago).  Conditions to the Village were slush the entire way.  

Day 80 - 300cm!!

With such an epic and endless winter, I'm surprised it took this long for the snow base to hit the 300cm mark.  It snowed 22cm overnight and that meant I was awake at 6am (on my day off!) to shred the pow with Nivek.  We were at the top of Excelerator Chair by 8:30am and the snow was awesome.  We had some fresh lines back to the chair then headed over to Jersey and dropped into Staircase.  After that we headed to the glades towards 7th Heaven.  By the time we reached the lift line at Solar Coaster, 7th Chair had opened and we headed out there for a few runs before taking a break around noon.  

The sun had popped in and out all morning and the temperatures quickly rose warming up the tracked out groomers to the point where the snow was quite bumpy and almost hard packed.  I ran down to the top of the gondola after lunch as my legs were toast.  Kevin took a couple more laps.  Snow base is currently at 301cm but warm temps and potential rain is coming in soon.  

Day 79 - Addi Addi

The number of kids taking lessons this week is dwindling as the week goes on.  We only had 12 big kids in snowboarding - but nine Lil Rippers!!!  (I'm so glad I wasn't on Lil Rippers today!).  5cm of snow fell overnight but our snow base still hasn't reached 300cm yet.  Maybe tomorrow as we are expecting a lot of snow tonight.

I was originally floating but one Instructor from Schools was injured so I decided to take my level three class that I took yesterday.  I started with three but then Beatrice gave me two from level two so I ended up with five for the day.  I made the kids work on their proper turns for most of the day.  The highlight of their day was going through the Enchanted Forest.  

Conditions were soft packed on the groomers and lift lines were nil.  I heard the snow in the Alpine was still nice and soft.  It was partly cloudy / partly sunny for most of the day and then the storm rolled in around 2pm.  Hoping for an awesome powder day tomorrow (on my day off!).

Day 78 - the ladies love me

Another couple of inches of snow fell overnight.  Nothing to get excited about but every little bit helps keep the trails soft packed.  It's been fairly quiet this week with kids lessons.  The average number of kids in snowboard lessons on a quiet day this season is about 15.  Whistler Blackcomb is having a record season with tourist visits and it's showing on the snowboard side of things.  Normally at this time of year, the average number of kids in snowboarding is about six.

I was assigned to level four and Bea was assigned to level three.  Between us, we signed in nine kids and we thought we'd have a three-way split so we took Patrick with us to do a run down to the Village and sort the split.  It worked out just as we thought:  Patrick took two level four boys, Beatrice took two low level three boys, and I took five high level three kids.

Conditions were soft packed and powder was found close to trees and around the ropes.  It wasn't very busy as lift lines were non existent.  Well, Red Chair and Emerald was quiet but Peak Chair and Harmony were quite busy as the snow was really nice in the Alpine.  Unfortunately, I didn't get up there today.

Day 77 - annoyed

March Madnes!  Another 15cm overnight and it snowed all day to the Village.  The snow base is hovering close to 300cm -- with 296cm measured at 3pm this afternoon.  We had 15 kids in snowboard lessons with an additional four guys in Lil Rippers.  I was assigned to level two and filled up a class card of six.  After a quick assessment at the Magic Carpet, I realized I had six high level twos.  Conditions at the CLC were powder packed and the bunny slope was running slow.  Too slow to get kids committed to their toe edge so I decided to go to the Village.  The kids didn't do too bad but they definitely needed to spend their time at the Olympic Chair.  So that's what we did for the remainder of the day.  One moved up to level three but they all improved their S-turns.  The snow was nice and light.

Day 76 - Cooper Cooper

I had a nice couple of days off the snowboard.  Back to work today and with 15cm overnight, I was assigned to Lil Rippers and I had four of them.  It was a relatively easy day as far as Lil Rippers are concerned.  Three of them were six years old and only one was four years old (there's a big difference between a six year old and a four year old when it comes to snowboarding).  To my surprise they were all quite athletic, or at the very least, they could all do up their own bindings.

It seemed to snow on and off quite a bit throughout the day so I decided I would take a "hot lap" after work.  The lifts are open until 4pm now and I normally finish work by 3:30, leaving enough time to take a lap so I headed to the Roundhouse.  The snow was soft packed with the occasional icy patch on some moguls here and there.  I went under the gondola line and onto Ptarmigan which had a lot of soft powder, mostly chopped up but fun none the less.  Down Crabapple back to the Village.  Snow base is currently 289cm.

Day 75 - UGH! lift lines

22cm overnight meant we were awake at 5:45am, out the door by 6:30am, and standing in line at Base II by 7:15am.  It was snowing heavily that early in the morning and the hour wait for the gondola to open seemed to take forever.  It was well worth it though as we were the second gondola up and had two runs of fresh lines all before 9:00am.

The winds were whipping and visibility was next to nothing at the higher elevations all day.  Only Solar Coaster and Jersey Cream had opened before noon so lift lines were long (and painful).  The snow was nice, definitely lighter than expected.  The gladed runs were super soft and mostly untouched.  Hit every chair on Blackcomb except for 7th Heaven.  Snow base is currently 281cm.

Day 74 - tic tac toe

More snow fell overnight.  Not as much as I had hoped for (4cm) but it was enough to change the hard packed conditions to soft packed conditions.  YAY!  I was assigned to level fours and only had three of them.  We started the day with a run from the Roundhouse to Creekside.  The snow was nice all the way down.  Stashes of powder could be found here and there, especially on the sides of the runs.  In the afternoon, we ripped down the jump line in Green Acres a couple times before taking one lap through the park.  It started snowing quite heavily right at 3pm and the forecast for tomorrow morning is calling for 12 inches of more white stuff.

Day 73 - dinosaur hunters

It wasn't much but it was something:  6cm of snow fell overnight.  It was just enough to cover up the crust underneath.  It's a start and more is coming.  Snowboarding has been steady all week with at least 20 kids and another 3-5 Lil Rippers.  I was once again assigned to level two and I didn't mind since I had some returning kids.  I started with six kids and finished with two kids.  Two of them were level ones, one of them signed out after lunch, and one of them I moved up to level three in the afternoon.  We did a couple laps on the covered carpet.  Took one lap down to the Village.  Two more laps on the Olympic Chair.  A last lap down to the Village.  I like having level twos that don't need to stay on the bunny slope all day.  And naturally, they all passed to level three by the time the day was over.