Whistler 23-24

[phatty]

Attachment 481836

No skiing is worth that. I can't fathom that. I love WB, my favorite place I've ever ever skied and that just makes me sad.

[samp]

No skiing is worth that. I can't fathom that. I love WB, my favorite place I've ever ever skied and that just makes me sad.

I mean it’s the first big pow day of the season and it’s a Saturday, was always going to be a gong show. I left Squamish 6:25, got to Creekside parking around 7:30 and end of singles line was at Legends. Took around 15 mins to get on gondola when it opened which I thought was fine considering all of the above.

Made some poor bets on lift opening (harmony and peak opened while I was halfway across P2P) but still a good day.

Snow in upper VD still nice at 14:30.

[The AD]

Keep in mind that photo is a bit deceptive because of the perspective and you're seeing the lineups for both Fitz and the Whistler gondola.

[raypruit]

I’m pretty impressed that the alpine on both mtns was open by 11. I was expecting much worse

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Keep in mind that photo is a bit deceptive because of the perspective and you're seeing the lineups for both Fitz and the Whistler gondola.

Oh, then that’s totally cool [emoji849]



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[MrPow]

Any predictions on crowds for tomorrow Sunday? What time would I have to reach to park at Lot 7,8? TIA


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[phatty]

Keep in mind that photo is a bit deceptive because of the perspective and you're seeing the lineups for both Fitz and the Whistler gondola.

That does make it better, but that's still brutal.

[Clownshoe]

Powder slopes gleaming,
Giant lineups, eager hearts,
North winds, great skiing.

[Clownshoe]

(Haiku idea stolen from rock ski haiku thread)

[samp]

Any predictions on crowds for tomorrow Sunday? What time would I have to reach to park at Lot 7,8? TIA


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Today lot 7 was full and 8 was 80% full by 7:30 https://twitter.com/whistlerblckcmb/...WwtCVwC_qqvDsA but I'd guess will be less busy tomorrow.

[The AD]

Oh, then that’s totally cool [emoji849]

Well it was totally predictable.

[t.odd]

was busy as anyone with a brain expected. but snow quality was exquisite, first peak chair of the year ended up being a monday's - p2c...still definitely thin on p2c with some pole plants to dirt, but was floaty all the way to the bottom first thing

[t.odd]

Oh, then that’s totally cool [emoji849]



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should probably include Excalibur in that too, so 2 primary mountain access gondolas and an 8 pack chair in the main village plaza.

[MrPow]

Today lot 7 was full and 8 was 80% full by 7:30 https://twitter.com/whistlerblckcmb/...WwtCVwC_qqvDsA but I'd guess will be less busy tomorrow.

So today when I drove in at 830am I was the last car in lot 7. Lot 6 apparently was full at 715am.

7th Heaven opened at 915. 20 min wait till noon - after which I decided to bail.




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[Maximus Farcisimus]

Attachment 481836

Lol
Did 4 resort laps, 1 slackcountry lap. Skins are yer friend.
Longest wait of the day was 13min for 7th, got to the top and no one dropped down the N side!

11:03am
Last of 5 runs



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[bennymac]

Shade ski score!

[gramboh]

Saturday was an awesome day all in all. Skied mid-mountain for a few hours then waited at Harmony from 10:15-10:45ish, like others what surprised it cracked when it did, respect and thanks to patrol/AC crew. Was 50ish chairs back but somehow managed first tracks down H5, traversed over to Boomer/Rogers Rush and wow the snow in there was stupid good (no solar). Only had two really painful chairlift waits, one at Emerald and then the second lap at Harmony was brutal, like 45min. Decided to go over to Flute, stellar lap down the shoulder, just immense snow quality, one of my best Flute laps ever. Ended up going back to Harmony for a few as the line had died way down. The tighter trees around Robertsons are still too low tide but fun to poke around and deep. Had to dip out to Creekside a bit early but found more fresh turns on the t-bar face. Drive home was fine at 2:45.

Had debated going for Peak over Harmony, was a perfect day for it, but was worried about a late opening, insane lines and limited time. But wow, so fun to ski good pow and see snow down to the valley and just good vibes all around, a real switch to winter finally.

[kamtron]

I was at whistler for the weekend with friends from Seattle. We'd planned the trip for buddy's birthday and got lucky with the conditions! Backcountry tickets both days worked out great. We got out to the musical bumps on Saturday and farmed some great powder. Today we went to Blackcomb and did a neat tour around spearhead peak to corona bowl. The glaciers are pretty open and the bowl was full of sharks. But the snow was great overall. Saw people pushing into some very spicy lines with minimal avalanche activity. Nice start to the season, here's hoping we all get more soon

[knowsam]

Is it just me, or have W/B avy crews been clearing the alpine faster this year? I know we don't have a large sample size given the limited number of powder days, but it seems like they have getting open at 10:30 - 11:30, what used to take them until 1:30 (or even not at all)? Am I imagining it? Do they guarantee a minimum number of hours and they just have more staff hours to use over the fewer powder days we've recieved?

It's been messing with my smug, skip the crazy pow day line ups and show up late/next day just in time for the alpine to open approach....

[LeeLau]

15cms over the past 5 hours. No wind on my deck at the valley. Not even that much wind at peak

[nortonwhis]

Is it just me, or have W/B avy crews been clearing the alpine faster this year? I know we don't have a large sample size given the limited number of powder days, but it seems like they have getting open at 10:30 - 11:30, what used to take them until 1:30 (or even not at all)? Am I imagining it? Do they guarantee a minimum number of hours and they just have more staff hours to use over the fewer powder days we've recieved?

It's been messing with my smug, skip the crazy pow day line ups and show up late/next day just in time for the alpine to open approach....

Peak still closed now (nearly 12pm) and 7th just opened. I think on saturday they had the heli and that allowed them to get shit moving faster, but this morning was slow going. Jersey didn't open til nearly 10, though they had AC. Even Crystal had AC but opened much after that was given. Maybe there was issues with grooming or something?

[KevLar]

Buddy said alpine winds were very high overnight, dropping in the morning. Odd 7th finally opened but not Peak. Too bad, was super busy for a Tues.

[LeeLau]

Props for alpine opening on the Blackcomb side.

[Clownshoe]

There are so many factors that affect when the avalanche control is finished and when the high alpine chairs open. It’s essentially impossible to know without having inside beta. You can get a good idea if you have a radio tuned in to the Whis or Bcomb ops channels.

Crucial lift maintenance guy calls in sick? Delay.
Bluebird visibility? Faster.
Strong avalanche control teams with lots of experience working that day? Faster.
Still blowing 80+ in the alpine when the sun comes up? Delay.
Gondola upload from the valley for patrol staff delayed by some minor maintenance issue on a gondola or a lift that you’d never hear about unless you work there? Delay.

I could go on like this for pages.

Any speculation you see on any social media about why/when lifts open is almost certainly wrong. In the end you can be sure that the plan is to open everything every day.

[gramboh]

There are so many factors that affect when the avalanche control is finished and when the high alpine chairs open. It’s essentially impossible to know without having inside beta. You can get a good idea if you have a radio tuned in to the Whis or Bcomb ops channels.

Crucial lift maintenance guy calls in sick? Delay.
Bluebird visibility? Faster.
Strong avalanche control teams with lots of experience working that day? Faster.
Still blowing 80+ in the alpine when the sun comes up? Delay.
Gondola upload from the valley for patrol staff delayed by some minor maintenance issue on a gondola or a lift that you’d never hear about unless you work there? Delay.

I could go on like this for pages.

Any speculation you see on any social media about why/when lifts open is almost certainly wrong. In the end you can be sure that the plan is to open everything every day.

All of this makes so much sense, and yet every time you stand in line you hear donkeys complaining about patrol taking too long so they can do laps, or trying to "save powder" for another day. It's just comical to hear. I do my part in Harmony/Peak lines loudly pointing out the days Blackcomb opens sooner to try to migrate more people over there .