Headed out with Edd, Jenny and Adam.  We parted early so that myself and Edd could ride a few lines before we met up again.  The plan was that we would take Adam and Jenny up the flute along with some of their friends.  After a few runs we all met up again and headed on over to the flute.  We took our time hiking up the flute, and eventually there were 10 of us in the group.

Rather than going down the shoulder, we headed on around the Flute North and dropped in where ever we liked.  One of the girls (Sarah) managed to drop her board and was very luck that it only shot down the slope a little before launching off and plunge into the snow.  Edd dropped a big cornice.  I dropped a much smaller one however.  Once we got into the North Flute the snow was fantastic.

When we all got to the bottom various people had to leave and go to work, such as Edd.  Adam and Jenny also wanted to go and ride to their own pace.  I headed off with the rest of the 'pack' for a couple runs before we headed for lunch.

I got a call from Chris to say that he was on his way up, so I met up with him and we did some runs around.  We headed on up Harmony and headed onto the "Head Wall".  From here the view was fantastic.  There was a drop off to the right back towards Harmony so whilst Chris was looking at it, I just rode up and stright off.  It wasn't too big but I managed to land inbetween a couple small trees. *phew*.

We decided that given the clear weather that we would hike the Flute again.  By the time we got on over there it was the last Symphony chair.  At the bottom of the hike we met a Ski Patrol guy, who said that we would have to hurry and would have to hike out.  We hit the hike reasonably fast and caught up with two skiers who were much further up the hike than us.  On the way along the ridge we could see that a couple people had dropped the big cornice on the main flute.  That was it, decision made.

By the time we were ready the Ski Patroll had caught up with us and was trying to make sure that we had full backcountry gear on.  I did, but Chris didn't at the time.  I dropped a little 12-15ft drop and Chris went for the big 22+ft drop.  We both landed and rode out into really nice lush powder.  Instead of heading out to the bottom of Symphony we headed straight accross the flut bowl and tried to meet up with the "Burnt Stew Trail".  It involved about another 20 minutes hike but was worth it.

We eventually just rode on out, tired but feeling good.

Visibility: Poor
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Choppy soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

A very late start to the day, after last nights leaving drinks for Shiv.  I wasn't really feeling it either.    I decided to hit Blackcomb as I hadn't ridden there for a while.  I headed straight up to the glacier and rode that down.  The visibility was awful and I couldn't see a thing, so even though the snow was good it wasn't brilliant.  I wanted to go for lunch, but I got a call from Chris just before I went to get some so I decided to skip lunch.

Chris had dropped the back of his phone at the bottom of the Excelerator chair, so we headed up Jersey cream to head on over.  On the way however we went through the Blue park.  We both tried a couple of the jumps, but because the snow was quite sticky and slow running, despite straight lining we just hit the knuckles.  We also had a look at the pipe and decided to give it a go.  Not a bad ride and the pipe was in great condition.  I need to work on my pipe riding more!  We then made our way down under the chair and retrieved the back of his phone.

We enjoyed the pipe so decided to head on back up and ride the blue park and the pipe again.  I did a couple more of the jumps but no luck in getting enough speed.  No-one else were having any luck either.  The second run through the pipe was better, but I managed to 'tweak' my ankle again when I hit the transition on over toward the toe side wall.  We headed back up again, but took the boarder cross.  It was running fast, but icy.  There were a few sections where it got the heart racing.

We decided to head on over to Whistler and headed into the Round House for a coffee and a cookie.  On the way over we discussed doing the "Singing Trail" again.  So we headed on over to Harmony and dropped down Robertsons and into the Burnt Stew trail.  Before getting back onto the run in to Harmony, we dropped into the trees.  The snow in here was definitely the best snow on the mountain.  The trees here were also very well spaced and provided you made sure you didn't get into one of the feed valleys there was some good tree rides to be had.

All too soon however we hit the trail.  This time however, there was less trail to ride as we dropped in later on the trail, and we knew what the trail was like.  So we rode it quite fast.  We also managed to avoid all of the nasty bits, but still had to walk a couple times.  After we passed under the gondola, there is the big hole that Ed fell in the last time.  I warned and warned Chris and even shouted as he got close.  However he managed to not stop in time and slide right into the bottom of the creek.  I couldn't help but laugh

The rest of the ride down was really nice, fast and entertaining.  We got to the bottom of the village at about 16:10 and hoped that we could get the gondola back up, but were denied as it was already closed :-(  Oh well, for what started out as a really slow and poor riding day, it definitely picked up.

Visibility: Poor
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Choppy soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: -1 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Headed out on my own today, up Whistler.  It was quite busy on the Big Red chair so I headed on down to Garbonzo.  The visibility was not too good today however.  I headed up Garbonzo up Emerald and over into Harmony.  I was looking for some speed on the slopes again, but the visibility wasn't good.  I wasn't riding too good either as I just wasn't feeling it much.  So I then headed on over into Symphony, where I met up with Ed and Adam.  We decided to hike the flute as Adam had not done it yet.

Myself and Ed decided that we would take Adam over and down the Flute Shoulder.  The visibility was awful so we didn't get to show Adam the sights.  The top of the shoulder was not in that good a condition and was a bit rough and crusty.  Adam took a bit of a tumble right at the top but didn't let him phase him.  We traversed over into the bowl and found the snow to be in excellent condition as we headed down.  Typically the skies cleared a bit as we got to the bottom.  We then took Adam through the trees at the bottom of the flute and back to the symphony chair.

We then rode out to Harmony and did a line down before going back up and headed over towards the top of the t-bars.  We then took the "Headwall" over and back to the top of Big Red and over to the Round House for some lunch.  At this point both Ed and Adam left as they were feeling really tired, but I wanted to carry on.

I headed on up Peak and back over to Symphony.  I only had time to make a couple runs down Rhapsody bowl and then back out to Harmony.  I put in a couple runs down the Harmony Piste and then all the way down to Garbonzo.

The day so far was only 'average', but as soon as I really started to run down Orange Peel and Tokum and back to Garbonzo I really started to enjoy myself.  The conditions of the piste had changed quite considerably and with the falling snow, the piste was riding really well.  It was bumpy and rough but really still soft and you could hold a good edge.  I did this run time after time (5 times) until after 16:15.  There were loads of hits and jumps all over the place and I was really getting some good air and the occasional grab.  By now the day was well late and all the lifts had closed so I took the long fast run down to the village.

Slow start to the day but it really did pick up.

Visibility: Zero to none, with some bright patches
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Visibility: Cloudy with some sunny patches
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Hardpack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Myself and Ed headed out really early.  Initially we headed on down Orange Peel and Tokum.  The slopes were nicely groomed and untouched all around.  So it was a speed day.  I didn't start off too confident and took a while before I got up to speed.  We took Garbonzo up and took Raven into Phtarmegan.  It was running really well so we did it again.  The run was then being roped off for a race, but we sneaked under and did the run again.

We headed on over into Emerald in order to take the G.S. run over into Harmony.  We headed straight over into Symphony and down to the Symphony chair.  Our plan was to hike the Flute and ride the ridge, just inside the boundary.  The 30 minute hike was the usual, but me and Ed chatted all the way up.  We also got a call from Rich, as Ed had arranged to give Aleis(?) a ski lesson.   We rode down the ridge and hiked a little up the next ridge.  Once we rode over the last peak and onto the ridge the snow really improved.  It was silky soft, and 'bouncy' and had very few tracks in it other than some old lines.  We had a really good ride in there and ducked in and out of the trees a little.  It didn't last too long and we found our selves once again at the Symphony chair.

We took the chair back up and headed on to the harmony chair.  We met Rich and Aleis at the top of the lift and all headed down the Harmony Piste.  I do like that run.  We headed on back up and this time myself and Rich headed for the Horse Shoe #8.  Not sure what happened but we ended up at the top of the biggest cornice (instead of the smaller one) and took and easy way in.  We met up with Ed and Aleis on the Harmony Piste again.  We headed on up the harmony chair again and took Pikas Traverse to head to the Round House for lunch.

When at lunch we met up with Jemma and her friend Ella(?), whom Ed had been lined up to give a lesson also.  So after lunch Ed headed off with Jemma and Ella, and myself, Rich and Aleis headed up the Peak chair and back around into the Symphony amphitheater.  The visibility was quite poor at this stage and it did not make for a good start to the "Burnt Stew Trail".  We rode the Symphony chair and the lines down a few times as Aleis enjoyed it and the piste conditions were really good.  Myself and Rich were taking a lot of jibbs on the sides of the piste and some 180's.

The Symphony lift was closing all too soon so we headed back to the Harmony chair and took a couple runs down.  It was here that I managed the highest speed of the season so far (that I know of) of 93km/h.  We headed back up again and then took the Saddle down.  We charged all the way down the slopes and onto the ski-in.  The ski-in was not in that good a condition as it was quite sticky.  Aleis found it really difficult as it was pushing past her ability.  We eventually got down and out.

Visibility: Poor in places
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Hardpack
Wind: Light
Temperature: +2 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Headed out on my own today.  I headed on down the run next to the Emerald chair.  The ride was OK, but the powder was a bit bumpy and rough.  I then headed over onto Harmony and took a couple runs down the Harmony Piste.  The visibility was really bad and it was quite tough to even see where you were going.  I then headed on over to "Robertsons" to see if that was any better.  Even though there was 4cm of fresh powder on the slopes, the crud underneath made the riding really poor.  I got down but gave up on the idea of hitting that again.

After doing "Robertsons" I took a long run all the way down to the Garbonzo chair.  It was good to just have such a long run under my belt.  It was also so good to not have to wait in line for the lifts.  The lifts were empty today after the huge lines on Saturday.

I took a quick run down Orange Peel and back onto Big Red.  After a long lunch (it was tough in the high winds!), I headed on up Peak Chair and over into Symphony.  I could not see a thing until I made it into the trees near the bottom.  In conditions like these you have to rely on your core skills, and you can easily see when people are struggling with these core skills!

After blindly making my way down off the top of Symphony I headed on into the Rhapsody bowl.  Whilst the run was rough under foot there were still some good lines to be had.  I proceeded to hit this run time after time, taking a different line each time.  I was really enjoying it.  Even the liftie commented that there must be something out there that was really keeping my interest.

When I eventually left the Symphony amphitheater I headed on up Harmony for a run down all the way back to Garbonzo.  I really do prefer long runs, without interruption.  I intended to head on up for the last Peak chair, but I was feeling a bit tired.  Instead I took a ride down "Cross Roads" and into the Ski-in.  The ski-in was quite sticky at the top but as you got further down it got icy and fast.  There are a few patches that are getting a little worn down and lacking snow, so I don't think that there is much season left for the ski-in.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 4cm
Piste Condition: Powder on top with crusty pack under
Wind: Moderate to strong
Temperature: 0 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

The lift lines were HUGE today.  It took a very long time just to get up the mountain, not happy, and not enthused about riding today.

I decided to head on over to Symphony and hike the flute.  My first line was off the shoulder and dropping over onto the north flute.  It was quite steep and narrow where I dropped in.  My line wasn't that good but enjoyable all the same as the powder was deep and lush.  When I got to the bottom of Symphony and found that the lift lines were again huge, I decided to hit the flute again.  This time I headed off the shoulder and into the bowl.  It looked quite icy at places from the lift but turned out to be really nice.  I laid down a sweet line and found loads of nice powder.  The hike was very much helped with my having my back-pack on.  It is SO much easier when you do not have to carry the board in your arms.

After the double hike I headed on up Harmony for a blast of speed down the Harmony piste.  I headed on back up and took the cat-track back towards the Roundhouse but carried on down past and all the way out to the bottom of Creekside.  All the way I passed three lifts, all of which had HUGE lift lines so I decided to call it a day.  I can't stand wasting my time in huge lines!  Oh well, better luck the next day.

What a rubbish day...

It was bucketing with rain all last night down in the valley.  That coupled together with quite warm temperatures up the mountain and strong winds closing all the alpine lifts, made for a warm, sticky, wet and frustrating day.

I decided to take out the big Palmer board (162cm) and I headed on up Whistler to find that the lines on big red were horrendous.  Instead I did the usual in this case and headed to Garbonzo.  This too had long lines, but I bared with it.  I headed on down Upper Dave Murry, to find that there was no real fresh powder lines and that the snow was quite heavy.  I already was not liking it.  I headed into the line for Big Red.  Long wait.

I was finding the Palmer quite strange to ride after the K2 Zero, which is so light and poppy in comparison.  I also felt that the bindings were too narrow, but the stance was the same as I have used previously on the Palmer.  Strange.  Will have to try it out tomorrow with an even wider stance.

As there were a lot of punters on the hill and all confined to the lower lifts I headed on off into Franz's Meadow and stayed high to get the lower part of the VD Chutes.  Been I while since I was last in here and it was entertaining.  I was riding the trees only to find myself in a deep tree well.  Took me 5 minutes to get out.  I later found a fallen log that was mostly covered in snow.  Without really meaning to, I ended up riding it in a full board slide and managed to pop off the end and ride out.  Pretty sweet.  At the bottom of the Chutes there is a river valley and I stacked it in the bottom.  Another hike out.

I had already had enough and decided that I was going to take the ski-in.  The snow was heavy and the piste was crowded so I decided that it was best that I go down before re-injuring my ankle.  I rode past the long lift lines at Big Red and took the "Cross Roads" line.  I tried to take the ski-in cat-track but the snow was so sticky that I was going nowhere, so managed to re-join main run back to the Creekside gondola.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 14cm, heavy wet snow and rain lower down the slopes
Piste Condition: Heavy wet powder
Wind: Moderate to very strong
Temperature: +2 at the base to -5 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Heavy

No alpine lifts were open.

Headed out on my own today and up Whistler mountain.  When I got up I found that the alpine chairs had not yet been opened due to high winds and loads of snow.  I bypassed Big Red and headed straight for Garbonzo.  Taking Upper Dave Murry I headed on down taking as much powder lines as I could.  It was already choppy but nice and fluffy.  As the lift lines were large I decided to take the run all the way down to the village.  This was a mistake as the line at the village gondola was big too.

After a very long 22 minutes on the Village gondola I was back on Whistler mountain.  By the time I got to the top the alpine lifts were open, so I headed straight on over to the peak chair.  Flipping a coin I decided that I was to head to the Symphony Amphitheater.  The winds were so strong and the visibility was so bad that it was quite difficult riding the car track to Symphony as there were a lot of snow drifts that could catch you out.

Symphony was however in excellent condition, and I rode a few different lines down there taking a few runs over into the trees over by flute.  Most lines were brilliant until I decided to head more into the flute valley.  Huge mistake.  I got to a point where it was flat and full of powder.  20 minutes later I managed to hike to a point where I could strap the board on again.  It wasn't a long hike, it was just that the snow was waist deep.  At the end of the hike I got a call from Rich to say that he Alex and Amy were at the Symphony chair where I met them a minute later.

At the top of the Symphony chair, the visibility was near zero.  It was here that we lost Amy as she said she could not keep up.  The lads then decided to his the Symphony cornice.  We knew roughly where it was as there were markers, but seeing the lip was impossible.  I eventually pushed forward and found that there was no lip where I was and it was a simple rid out.  Heading back towards the chair there were a number of mogule runs that I enjoyed as they were full of powder and I was hitting them with a good amount of aggression.  Nice riding if I do say so my self!

We decided to hit the cornice again, but this time higher up the line.  The sun just barley gave us enough light to see the edge with just as we got there.  Rich went first and decked it.  My line turned out be be a little easier and it was a simple drop and ride out.  We were going to go and hit some of the steeps over towards the Flute valley, but Alex dropped out so it was only myself and Rich that took these lines.  I managed to stack it on a jump, as it was a lot bigger than expected and I had straight legs on the landing.  Now wonder I stacked it then!  Rich then later stacked it trying to do a tail press!  Not a great idea in the powder.

It was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to hit Harmony so we rode "Burnt Stew Trail" to the lift.  I persuaded Rich that we should do one of the Harmony Ridge horse shoes, #5.  The entrance was scraped and there were a number of exposed rocks.  Once you got past these the powder was excellent however.  We then rode hard left and took the jump between the trees.  I took a line slightly off to the right and stuck the landing.  Rich however took a more straight line and whilst he stuck the landing then proceeded to cartwheel rag doll for a while.  Thankfully he was OK.  I didn't see this, I saw him land and carried on.

The plan was then to go grab a quick chocolate and cookie in the round house but we decided instead to take the Saddle down and get the Peak Chair, for a run at the Ski-in.

We took the Bagel Bowl which was lush, and then on into "Ladies Love".  Unlike the last time we stayed in the valley and had a much better time of it.  Rich however was feeling the exhaustion and kept falling over...a lot.  The further down the valley you go, the fallen trees get really tricky.  This coupled together with some watter holes make for a very interesting run.  The ski in was good and fast and called for a lot of 'S' weaving.

All in all a good day.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 11cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +1 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Moderate

Visibility: Mostly sunny with occasional cloudy periods
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +4 at the base to -3 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Moderate to strong
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

This is what I remember Whistler being like.  Snow, snow, snow and more snow.  Yet another super early day out onto the slopes.  First lift over in Blackcomb.  I headed straight on op to try and get an early Glacier chair.  However it was not open until nearly 10:00, so instead I settled for a few runs up the Jersey Cream chair and down the Jersey ridge.  The snow is now so deep that it is balls deep, and light and fluffy with it too!

After a couple runs I met up with Jess and we headed on up Jersey Cream chair as the line for the Glacier chair was immense.  The runs were just so powder filled that it was difficult to keep a grin off my face .  We then hit the Glacier Express, which was a stroke of luck.  As we got there they opened the Horstman T-bar so we headed on over to 7th Heaven.  The 7th Heaven chair wasn't even open yet.

We traversed on over to Cloud-9 and found some completely un-tracked powder that was balls deep and fluffy.  It was such a brilliant ride that when we got to the bottom and the chair lift, and found that there was no-one waiting for the chair we just had to do it again.  We just hit so much powder and I managed to get quite a few jumps and kickers out there.  As we got to the bottom of the lift this time it was obvious that more people had noticed that 7th Heaven was open.  This time when we got to the top we decided to ride down through the trees.  I have to say it again, so much powder.  We had decided to head on down to Solarcoaster via Sunset Boulevard, and grab a coffee at the Rondezvous.

On the way up Solarcoaster we got a call from Rich to say that he was on the way up the Whistler gondola, so we decided to head on over the Peak2Peak and grab a coffee over at the round house instead.

After a short coffee we three headed up the peak and into the Bagel Bowl.  This too was back to why I remember it being like.  At the bottom of the Bagel Bowl we headed straight into the valley run called "Ladies Love".  We went a very long way down this tight valley with the trees and water holes.  We eventually got out the valley and onto the top of a steep cliff and tree run.  This is where it got a little tricky and was not as enjoyable as the earlier part of the run.  We eventually popped out on one of the cat tracks up by Kadenwood, which we took and eventually joined the Peak to Creak run.

Down in Creek side we got the gondola up and then took big red and then the Peak chair on over into Symphony.  The wind had picked up by now and the visibility was not good.  The symphony was still good riding however, especially when we made it into the trees.  We headed on back up however it was late in the day and Symphony was closing.  We also dropped the cornice on the left of the Symphony run and on over towards Burnt Stew Trail.  On the way there was a lot of hits to be had.  One particularly stood out as I hit it and took off much more than expected and landed quite a big jump.

As we rode the Burnt Stew Train cat-track we looked up into Robertsons and myself and Rich decided that that is where we were going next.  We headed along the Harmony ridge and pulled left on over to the top of Robertsons.  The run down was chock-a-block with powder, the trees were well spaced, the pitch was nice and steep, and I just hurtled down actually whooping like an American because it was so good.  At the bottom we decided to do it again, even though this was the last lift for Harmony.  This time down Robertsons it was good but not as good as it was the last time.

We had to take Sidewinder on over to Emerald chair where we decided to take another coffee at the Round House as it was after 15:30.  We then took a simple run down Orange Peel, past big red and onto the Ski in.  The ski in was difficult at the top as the snow made it really tough to keep your speed to make it past the flat sections.  However the tight steep sections were good and fast and you really had to bang in the turns extremely quick and tight.

Yet another brilliant day on the slopes.  Long may they continue!

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 22cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Light to Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Yet another super early day up the mountain.  Myself and Seth headed on over to Blackcomb.  Thankfully we did, as apparently the line at Creekside was about an hour long!

We headed on straight up Excalibur, Excelerator and onto Solar Coaster as the alpine lifts where not open yet.  However when we got to the top of Solarcoaster the Glacier Chair was on standby.  We decided to risk it and head to the Glacier chair and wait for it to open.  We had to wait about 20 minutes.

We decided to head up Spanky's Ladder.  At the top I asked Seth where he wanted to go, and we headed along the ridge and over to the Ruby bowl.  I DID say to him that this was probably one of the hardest entrances, but we went anyway.  I headed on in first and found that the right side was completely barren and totally rocky.  As such I was in a bit of trouble.  I shouted up to Seth to go left, which he did.  Meanwhile I had to slowly and carefully shuffle on over to the left and away from the danger.

Once we were in the ruby bowl, it was SO worth it.  The sun was out, the powder was deep, light and un-touched, and we made some brilliant lines.  I also pointed out the easier way to get into the lower ruby bowl, so we will save that for the next time.  The run back to Excelerator was brilliant, as it was slick and fast and the first roller was much bigger than normal and you got some good air off it (if you wanted to not).

We got a call from Seth's girlfriend, Pearl, to say that she was over at Seventh Heaven.  We decided to head on there.  We had planned to take the Glacier chair and then the T-bar and meet her at the top, however the line was massive so we took Jersey Cream and the cat-track on to the bottom of the 7-th Heaven lift.  We caught up with Pearl at the top and proceeded to ride down 7th Heaven and through the gladed trees.  There was a big wind lip near the top of the run and I hit it a bit too far to the left and there was too much powder and I nearly stacked it.  I was disappointed as I wanted to get some air and possibly even try a 180. 

We headed on back up and basically did the same run again.  This time on the run in to the wind lip I was totally out of control and just couldn't get it under control before stacking it on the way UP the wind lip.  How embarrassing . By now, Seth had a call from Sam to say that we would meet up in the Glacier Creek restaurant.  We headed back up Seventh Heaven and dropped on over the other side and took the piste run down.

After a quick lunch all four of us (Myself, Seth, Pearl and Sam) headed back up Glacier Chair and headed to the left through the poor visibility.  We decided that we were all to follow Sam.  He made a lot of good runs, jumps, hits, tree runs and drops along the way.  A very good run indeed.  Heading up Jersey Cream we headed on the Jersey Cream run and into the trees again.  We were following Sam again.  This time however he limboed under this tree branch.  There was no way I was able to do it, as I am just not that flexible.  I also had my backpack on which contained my shovel and probe, and I was wearing my avalanche transceiver.

We made another run up the Glacier chair and ended up under the Crystal chair.  It was here that Sam and Seth said that they could get up the Glacier chair and to the Crystal hut, before myself and Pearl could get down to the Crystal chair and up.  The Crystal chair is just SO slow.  4 minutes after we arrived at the Crystal hut they arrived.  So, the Crystal chair is so slow, that you can get to the top of the Glacier Chair and rid down in the time the Crystal chair takes to get up!

We got the Jersey Cream and headed down the face of the ridge and back into the trees.  I managed to catch a tree branch and flip.  Thankfully no damage.  It was really late now so we headed back up Jersey Cream with the intention of having a quick beer at the roundhouse.  It was just too late, so we decided to ride through the terrain garden.  Learning from the other day when I completely over shot the landings, I took it much easier on the ride in.  Rather than heading over to Solarcoaster or taking Sunset Boulevard we decided to take the trees just after the bottom of the terrain garden.  These trees were just too close together and there were a lot of fallen trees, so it wasn't that good a ride.  Sam and Pearl had some real trouble and eventually had to hike onto the side of a piste.  Again, thankfully no damage done.  We then simply rode down to the village for an extremely well deserved apres beer!  Job donw.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 12
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -4 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 16cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top a hard base
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -4 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy

Late start today due to lack of sleep (noisy in the house until after 03:00).  Decided to actually ride around Blackcomb for a change and get some miles in on the mountain.  I headed on straight to the glacier and through the rid out.  Was choppier than yesterday, and with the lack of visibility it made for a tough ride, until the ride out which was in great condition.

I headed on back up toward the glacier.  This time however I cam down the main slope, as it had been a very long time side I did this run.  Again there was little or no visibility, so I didn't ride it as good as I wanted to.  I too the cat-track on over towards Crystal as I already knew that the slope back to the Glacier chair was littered with fallen rocks from an exposed and deteriorating slope.  I just took which ever slope took my fancy and ended up at the crystal chair.  Taking the chair I again just followed my nose and went where the slopes took me.  I passed the Crystal chair and carried on down past the top of Excalibur and down to the "Wizard Express".  Again it has been a long time since I was here.

I met Jess and Cordelia and one of their friends at the bottom of Solarcoaster and took the chair up with them before leaving them to make my way down "Springboard".  I enjoyed that run so took Solarcoaster again and started to do it again when I spotted Adam.  I joined Adam, Emma and her boyfriend (can't remember his name) for a ride in the boarder-cross.  I left them just after as I wanted to continue my ride around.

I headed on back up the SolarCoaster and this time took the run just below the Terrain Garden, as this was where the last time I was here (2005/6 season) there was some extra jumps and rails.  Unfortunately the parkies have not bothered to put any thing in here.  I joined the bottom the Terrain Garden and took in a couple jumps and rails before heading back to wards Solarcoaster.  I had intended to ride on down to the village but forgot and took Solarcoaster up.

I was feeling peckish, but rather than stopping for lunch I decided to take the Peak2Peak and go ride some of Whistler.  I had a quick visit to the little boys room and headed down Orange Peel and Tokum to Garbonzo.  This was, and is, my current favorite ride.  After Garbonzo i wanted to get on over to Harmony/Symphony before the lifts closed.  So I simply headed to Emerald and took the "GS" run to Harmony.  The wind was really blowing at the top and was getting cold, so I headed on over to "Burnt Stew".  I couldn't see a thing so I relied on my wits and riding skills to get down in one piece.

Having been over in the Symphony amphitheater I decided to take Harmony and do the main Harmony run.  This is a good speed place but with todays lack of visibility and rough piste it wasn't as much fun as it normally is.  The Harmony lift had now closed but I managed to get a lift up.  I took the Saddle with the intention of heading up the Peak chair, but was too cold so simply headed on down and out to Creekside.  I knew that I should have put on that extra layer

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: trace
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Today started off with me giving Amy and Sally a lesson.  Both of them had only ridden snowboards for about 3-7 hours in total, so this was going to be a beginner lesson.  They both improved and demonstrated that they have good balance, but need to improve their stance (more weight on the front leg).  They both also were also able to link their turns and improve their pivot and steering.  I left them to head on over to Blackcomb, with the intention that next time we would work on their pressure control as they were quite static.

I headed on over to the Blackcomb glacier as there was supposed to be a group of the house mates and friends having lunch up there at 13:00.  I was there early however so took a run into the glacier myself.  The conditions in the glacier were choppy but surprisingly soft.  It was just before 13:00 by the time I was on the T-bars again, so I SMS the guys only to find out that the plans had changed and it was 13:30 at the Glacial Express.  So I headed once again down the glacier and the lovely long run out (4.8km run out).

I still arrived early at the Glacial express and had to wait around for them.  Eventually Sam, Rich, Edd, Seth and Pearl all showed up and we headed up to the glacier.  I too the lead and hiked up to the top of the glacial ridge, where we all stopped for a little light lunch and to take in the views.  I persuaded everyone to hike on further up to the summit of the ridge and ride the "Ladies First" run.  The hike was reasonably easy if a little treacherous.  We stopped again at the top of the ridge to again take in the scenery and take some photos (I'll need to get a copy of them from Sam).

We then made our way over and into the glacier side of the ridge.  This is where it got really scary and nasty for the hike traverse.  There were a couple times when myself and Rich were hanging on by our finger tips on tiny little ledges, whist there was certain injury on the rocks awaiting below!  The others took a slightly easier way into "Ladies First", but not without incident.  Pearl slipped and was sliding down the slope head first.  Thankfully she was last in the group and Seth managed to grab her.  Thankfully she had the common sense to hold onto her board.  If she hadn't it would have been well gone.

Once we started to ride "Ladies First" the powder in there was the best on the mountain to be had.  Deep, clean, soft and very, very steep...only just too short.  We all headed on down through the glacier and to the run out.  A nice ride I do have to say.  Everyone was really stoked and in some cases a little relieved to get down in one piece.

We headed on back up Excelerator and then on over to Solarcoaster.  We decided to go ride the boardercross.  First however we hit a couple of the big jumps in the blue park.  The first jump, you have to take at a straight-line.  Normally I would easily make the transition but just at the base of the jump the snow was quite sticky and it slowed me down, so I had to ollie more off the lip and pull my knees up so as to not knuckle the landing.  In the boardercross, this time as I had ridden it before I was able to take it with a bit more speed and aggression.  I still rode well within myself so know that I can up the level even further.  Back up solarcoaster we decided to hit the terrain garden.  The first jump was good, however I hit the second jump with so much speed that I completely cleared the landing be a very long way and landed heavily on the flat before bouncing out and wiping out.  It didn't bruise my ego, but certainly bruised my backside!  I too the rest of the jumps a little more cautiously, but even so I still managed to overshoot most of them.  I think they really added some extra lip to them all.  I was hoping that the dragon box was still at the bottom of the park but it wasn't.  I was disappointed and had to make do with an up-box and a pop off the end.  Oh well.

Charged down "Sunset Boulevard" back over to solarcoaster.  On the way I hit my favorite front-side 180 spot with some real pop.  It was time to head on down to the village for some well earned drinks.  So we all charged it on down ("turning is for wimps"..."speed is your friend") into the village.  A good day all around.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches
Wind: Light
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Got up and checked the live mountain weather reports.  It was reported at being -24 degrees with 24kmh wind.  I wanted to do some park riding today so I put on my armour suit and also another layer, so that made 5 layers!  All 5 layers were needed too!

I headed on out with Jenny and Adam and we walked to Creekside and got to gondola and big red up and then took the Peak2Peak over to Blackcomb.  I left Jenny and Adam there and headed off to the Terrain garden.  There were a lot more features there that the last time I was there.  All of the jumps were really nice and they rode really well.  I only took straight air over them all.  At the bottom of the garden it looked like there was a "rainbow-box", so I hit it.  Turns out that it wasn't a rainbow at all, but a whoop-de-do box.  Gave me a bit of a shock to see that come up as I rode over the top of the first rainbow section, and I bailed it!  Thankfully just a little bail.

On the ride back to solarcoaster, the cold was so biting that I had to stop and put a mask over to protect my face from frost bite.  At the end of the Sunset Boulevard there is a nice little side hit that I was getting my usual front-side 180's in.  All day I hit this well and was getting more style and amplitude as the day progressed.  Pity I cant say the same about my back-side 180's.  All day I tried them and they just were not happening.

I headed on straight back to the Terrain Garden and rode it a few times more.  It thankfully warmed up as the sun rose over the trees.  I also took a ride through the boarder cross, which was bigger than I thought it was going to be.  I eventually had to head in for some lunch as it was cold and I needed something to eat.  I met Adam and Jenny in the Redezvous restaurant and headed out with them back over the Peak2Peak and over to the Whistler mountain.

All three of us headed into the Nintendo Park and took the green line through the park.  Jenny hasn't ridden jumps much before so it was mostly for her benefit.  I hit the first jump at the top of the park, which is quite a bit jump.  Nice straight air over the big jump.  The next jump I came in switch and pulled a half-cap.  From there on I was trying some grabs, so as to practice getting my knees up rather than my chest down.  On the way to the Emerald chair and back around again for a repeat performance, I gave Jenny a couple tips to try and help her riding.

After a few runs through the park, Adam and Jenny decided to head off and I went to get the last Harmony chair.  I managed to get two rides down Harmony before the chair closed and got up to a nice 80km/h.  I KNOW that I can got much faster, and just need to stop wimping out on the rises and trust that there are no idiots hidden down just past the rise.

I then hit Orange Peel and Tokum for a couple runs before riding out to the Creekside base for the end of a very cold but ultimately rewarding day.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Light
Temperature: -14 at the base to -24 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

The GPS receiver was unfortunately full, so I got no GPS action today.  Really quite disappointing, as because of the conditions the slopes were extremely fast.

I headed on up Whistler, as this mountain has some of the better long and fast runs, and that coupled with the good light makes for fast riding.  I basically only just rode around the mountain looking for some fast action.  The weather however was really cold and windy.  It was really sore with the wind chill.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Strong to galeforce
Temperature: -10 at the base to -17 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

A really slow start to the day.  When I eventually got up the slopes I decided to just ride around for a while.  It was running quite fast and reasonably smothe, so I just hit it all up.  I initially headed on up the Peak and over into Symphony.  It was no where as near as good as yesterday, but still reasonable.  Not too long into riding I got a call from Jess.  She was still on Blackcomb but was coming on over to Whistler where I was riding.  I headed back up Symphony and over into Harmony.  I rode that a couple times before then heading down sidewinder and up Emerald chair. 

I waited just outside the Peak2Peak gondola waiting for Jess.  I eventually got a text from her to say that she was in Pikas.  After a quick coffee we headed on up the Peak chair.  I took Jess on over into the Bagel Bowl, where it was good, if hard packed and lumpy.  For Jess it was a new experience and she really enjoyed it.  We headed on back up Big Red and back up the peak Chair, but this time on over into Symphony.  i showed here were to go for a good wind-lip drop jump, so that she could give it a go when there is another good snow dump.

We rode the Symphony amphitheater a couple times, using the various hind blow lips as hit's and jumps. Eventually the lift closed and we headed on to harmony for a few runs.  We met Edd and his girlfriend at the chair and took the chair up with them.  We dropped off quite early as Jess wanted to ride some moguls.  They were quite steep but still had a lot of good grip in them.  We then dropped into McConkeys for some bigger moguls.  These were more challenging for jess but the trooper rode them well.

The harmony lift closed and we headed on over the Saddle and down past Big Red and into Garbonzo.  We did my favorite run or Orange Peel and Tokum back to Garbonzo, hitting a few jumps as I charged along.  It was getting late for Jess as she had work to go to later, so we decided to call this the last run.  We again hit Orange Peel and Tokum, past Garbonzo and charged it straight down into the village for a quick beer in the Dublin Inn.

Visibility: Sunny, with occasional light cloud
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

I was supposed to meet Chris at the Village Gondola at 09:30.  However he didn't make it so I headed up myself.  I headed straight up the peak chair and decided to do the face.  Because of the wind the upper parts of the mountains were completely scoured, and the wind also scoured your face.  The face was not that good as there was a lot of under lumps and bumps.  I headed out toward Big Red and on to Garbonzo, taking the Orange Peel.  I got a call from Chris to say that he was on his way.  He was about half an hour away so I did Orange Peel again and Patarmagan then back to Garbonzo.  I then headed on over to Big Red and got another call from Chirs to say that he was at the mid station and I had just got on Big Red.  We met up at the light board.

Myself and Chris headed on up the Peak chair and down into the Bagel bowl.  The wind was really scouring and actually hurt.  The drop into the bagel bowl wasn't that good either.  We traversed all the way over to the other side where the sun was hitting.  We dropped a couple rock drops and headed on out via Highway 89.  The rid out to big red was really fast and furious, as the run was quite hard packed and smooth.

Chris only had time to get another one run in, so we headed on down our favorite of Orange Peel and past Garbonzo and down onto the village.  I like following Chris on this run as he knows where all the hit's are and I can then hit them too.  On every roller and side hit I pop on over them all, each with speed.

I said goodbye to Chris and got on the Village Gondola for the second time today.  From here on in I had a really good time.  I headed up the Peak and into the Symphony amphitheater. Because of the wind there was virtually no-one there.  There were so many drifts of snow that on the way in the bowl there was so many places to hit and pop air.  It was really really good.  Over the last week or two I have kind of lost some of that 'good' feeling that the snowboarding brings, and the going home feeling was there.  Today has got that feeling back.  I hit symphony a few times.  Even when I got stuck on the Harmony chair for over 25 minutes, and in the howling wind, I still took the ride down Symphony.

When the lift closed I headed on over to Harmony for a couple rides.  Again because the piste was wind blown it was quite smothe and there wasn't anyone there. When Harmony closed I headed on down to Emerald and back to the old stomping grounds of Garbonzo.  By now Upper Dave Murray was open (there are a lot of races on and it always appears to be closed lately...well, for the last 2 weeks anyway) and I rode here instead of Orange Peel.  It was really good riding today, if a little bumpy when you hit the tracks of the racers.  I hit Garbonzo all the way until that lift too closed.  I then just took the "Crossroads" run out and back to Creekside.

Today turned out to be a really good day!  I am definitely a 'bad weather' rider (High winds, zero visibility, heavy snow...but not rain!).

Visibility: Sunny, with occasional light cloud
Snow: 1-6cm
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Strong, to gale force - Also, very cold
Temperature: -5 at the base to -14 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Started off the day just getting around the mountain, after yesterdays 'cabin fever' day.  I was really lucky and timed it just right to get nearly the first chair up the Peak when it opened and charged straight around to Symphony.  The snow was deep but very heavy and sun-baked.  However, keeping to the right there was so much un-tracked stuff that it was blinking great and fast too.  I made first lines down into the bowl and all the way down to the ride out.  I was then rewarded with more luck as I was once again near the front when the Harmony chair opened, and didn't have to wait more than a minute or two.  Straight up harmony and back to Symphony.  Again there was so much un-tracked stuff that it was just too good.  By the time I made it around for a third time, everyone else had cottoned on and it got pretty tracked.  Passed this dude for about the third time and he said that the symphony chair was due to open in 10 minutes, so I dropped the cat track out and headed through the trees to the Symphony lift.  Unfortunately it was about 30 minutes before the lift opened.

As soon as I got to the top of Symphony I headed straight on over for the Flute hike.  So many other people were doing the same too.  At the start of the hike I was 10th, but by the top I was 2nd.  The guy who beat me up was using skins on his skis, and he headed on over to the Flute North.  I instead headed for the Flute Shoulder.  First lines down were amazing and so open.  I carved well into the bowl before heading straight down slashing as I went.  At the bottom I was really stoked, and there decided to hike it again.

On the chair back up Symphony I could see that the Flute Shoulder was already completely tracked out!  Gutted!  I persevered however and made the second hike.  I had a like at the Flute North but it too was already tracked out.  So I dropped in a little further down and carved over to the right before making my way down through the trees.  A good ride but nowhere as good as my first ride.

After hiking flute twice I needed a rest and some lunch, so I headed up Harmony and around the cat-track back to the round house.  Just as I was entering I got a call from Rich and he arrived when I was nearly finished.  After lunch we headed on the Peak chair and around into Symphony.  We went to hit the wind-lip drop.  The landings were a bit sketchy, so I opted for a smaller drop of only about 12ft, but Rich puckered up and went for the bigger 20ft.  Not happy with his first drop, as he bailed it, he went up again for another.  Hitting the same bomb hole he made on his first jump, he again bailed it!  After that we rode Symphony again before heading over to Harmony, as the Symphony amphitheater was done.

We did our usual runs of hitting Orange Peel and Patarmigan and the Garbonzo lift and runs.  All too soon however the day was nearly done and we decided to take the ski out.  On the way down, before we got to the first set of 'bumps' I bailed it and nearly slid out into the thick trees.  Didn't do my nerves much good, and then nearly bailed it again on the final stretch.  Glad the ski out was the end of the day

Visibility: Sunny
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches
Wind: Light
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate